Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Reluctant Bet (2nd Labor) ❯ Team Rocket's Rockin' ( Chapter 8 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Reluctant Bet segment 8: Team Rocket's Rockin'


A world not as far away as you might think:

"Oh no, not THIS reality." Grey, again in cyborg form, winced as he read his computer screen.

"A forest?" Lita looked around the heavily forested area with a smile. "This doesn't look at all bad, actually. Oh, look, wildflowers!"

"Uhm. Well, you remember that i've met a few Akane's i didn't like? Well, there are versions of myself that i really don't like. This is one of those timelines where there's a version of myself running about i really don't care for at all."

"Rei and Mina are asleep. We really ought to let them rest some more." Amy settled down on the grass and looked out over the nearby lake. "If at all possible, we should also get supplies. Just running around in the same clothes... and we could use food and some other things as well."

"Okay, i tend to agree. This world is kinda dangerous though."

"How so?" Amy stretched out and enjoyed the sun with the cool breeze coming off the water. It just felt so much more alive here than on the world where her friends had all died. She could feel the events ready to catch up with and overwhelm her, but she pushed it all back down as they apparently still weren't where they could safely indulge in such.

"This world isn't Earth, though that's what it's called by the inhabitants." Grey sat back and looked around himself. "It was colonized by people from Earth who brought along some plants and animals of their own. The local flora couldn't compete with the Earth stuff and has been largely replaced. The local fauna is a bit more tough. An ancient civilization developed and fell, but they'd also developed some odd technologies. Now, one hundred fifty years after Planetfall, some of those technologies have been deciphered.

"The main species other than humans are a group of egglaying creatures that superficially have reptillian or mammalian characteristics, but are distinctly different from either Earth-based group. There are a lot of species, over 150, that have some level of human intelligence plus the ability to understand if not speak the dominant human language here."

"So these critters are dangerous?" Lita backed away from the flowers.

"Some are. Some won't attack if you leave them alone. Some will flee rather than attack, and some will be quite helpful if you approach them right. They're called 'pokemon'."

------------------

Target Timeline:

Akane picked up the pokeball carefully, then tossed it into the trashcan. No WAY she was going to take the chance of THAT getting loose again. It clattered as it hit the bottom.

SHOOOM!

"AAAAAA!" Akane's eyes popped.

"Ah, mon cheri! We hav been reunited, no? It simply MUST be that we are the Fated Lovers! Come, let us fly away to..." Pepe noticed that Akane was dwindling on the horizon. "Ah, these Japanese. Such curious customs they have. But even Pepe has heard that 'if one runs, the other must pursue'. Besides, le petit Pokemon trainer, she is very 'kawaii', no?"

Moving with a curiously distance devouring hop, Pepe began searching for the Pokemon Trainer. And who knows, perhaps they could indulge a little mutual training.

-----------------

"A goddess on a mountain top
Was burning like a silver flame
The summit of beauty and love
And Venus was her name."

Kasumi brought in a tray and set the tea things out as everyone sat around and watched a video.

"Shampoo think costume have very low armor value."

"She's got it, yeah baby, she's got it!
Well, I'm your Venus, I'm your fire,
at your desire.
Well, I'm your Venus, I'm your fire,
at your desire."

"Shan want to know what mean 'Private Bet' and why girl wear... Ooooh she produce weapon from nowhere! Maybe she Amazon!" She produced a weapon from nowhere, talked about being the summit of beauty and love. Obviously she was an Amazon!

"A chain weapon?" Shampoo mused. "Them can be tricky."

"Her weapon is a loving heart,
A wild horse at her side,
A warrior of ancient art,
And there he will abide."

Shampoo and Shan exchanged a knowing nod. A magical martial artist girl who was take-charge and knew how open affection could keep a male loyal. "Yup, she Amazon all right."

"She's got it, yeah baby she's got it!
Well, I'm your Venus, I'm your fire,
at your desire.
Well, I'm your Venus, I'm your fire,
at your desire.
She's got it, yeah baby she's got it."

"Pass the rice crackers will you, Ukyo?"

"Sure thing, Nabiki."

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" A blur went past the back door.

"Wait for me, wait for your little Pepe, my lil' orange blossom!"

Kasumi smiled in the direction of her little sister's dust cloud. "Such energy!"

"Well, at least she's getting some good endurance training out of this," pointed out Nabiki.

-------------------

Pokemon "Earth"

"Here comes trouble."

"And I make it double."

"To inflict the world with devastation."

"To conquer each and every nation."

"To strike out against truth and love."

"To steal even the stars above."

"Nobu," said a man, stepping forth. Goatee, pony-tail, and all black outfit except for a large red "R" on the chest gave him the image of a disaffected member of Generation X more than the villainous look he was obviously trying for.

"Naga," proclaimed a young woman with abundant "talent" who stepped out wearing a similarly black outfit, though decorated with silver skulls and considerably more skin was showing.

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light."

"Surrender now or lose the fight."

"So, that guy is one of your other selves?" Mina pointed at Nobu.

"Uhm, actually..." Grey looked embarassed.

"So we meet again," the woman said, cracking her whip, "now we shall see which of us is REAL!"

"The BIMBO?!" Mina pointed to the girl whose outfit had cleavage down to her navel.

"WHOM are you calling a bimbo?!" Naga looked angry as she flipped a sphere up and down in her hand casually.

"Uhm, Naga," Nobu interrupted. "You ARE a bimbo."

"Well, I suppose that's true," Naga flipped her hair back and posed. "I AM rather magnificent aren't I?" She went into a crazed villain laugh that Kodachi would have envied.

Grey whimpered, being face to face with a version of himself that embarrassed the heck out of him. "This really sucks. Dozens of versions of me and we have to run into THAT one."

Nobu chuckled and drew a pokeball. "Now we'll just take your pokemon!"

"That could be a problem, i don't happen to have any at present." Grey shrugged.

"Then I shall just eliminate a cheap copy!" Naga threw a pokeball. "Oscar Parasect, GO!"

A hermit-crab looking thing appeared and chittered menacingly.

Nobu threw his own pokeball. "Kensuke Lickitung! It's your cue!"

A pink balloon with eyes blinked at them and held up what looked like a microphone.

"NO! Not Jigglypuff!!" Grey, Nobu, AND Naga agreed on this point.

"Ahem," said Jigglypuff. "Jigg-a-liii, jigali. Puff. Jii-"

ZOT!

Rei and Mina woke up. Everyone stared at where Grey was holding a blaster and the Jigglypuff was staring at a smouldering stubby rod in its hands. "Ji-ji-jiggly?!"

"Hey! Just because i don't have any pokemon, don't assume i'm helpless." Grey moved the muzzle towards the crab-thing. "That was setting one. i've now set it for setting seven. If you don't want to lose your parasect, i'd suggest putting the pokemon BACK in the pokeball and get your keisters out of here."

"This violates the rules!"

"Attacking me when i haven't got any pokemon doesn't?!" The gun wasn't wavering.

"But WE'RE the villains," argued Naga.

"You wouldn't dare!" Nobu said, ignoring the way the Jigglypuff started running screaming for the horizon. IT had a clue.

"Parasect, Sleep Powder!"

BLAM!

Parasect looked at the little hole burned directly in front of it. "Para...?!"

"Now, Lickitung, go!"

BLAM!

Nobu lowered the hand that had held the pokeball. "You?! You killed Kenny! You... barbarian!"

"Sorry you had to see that, girls, but i *did* warn them." Grey thumbed the dial at the back of the blaster. "Now, you two. Git!"

"You'll be sorry! I'll show you!" Nobu shook his fist.

"I'll get you yet, you cheap imitation."

Amy watched the two fleeing figures. "Ranma, er,..."

"Yes, Amy?"

Amy bit her lip. "Don't you think you were a bit... harsh?"

"A bit?!" Lita was still hiding behind a tree. Youma, no problem. Guns on the other hand.

"Amy, two people are talking about killing you. I ran them off as opposed to turning them into piles of ash. They're out one pokemon if they didn't have an emergency circuit in the pokeball. Maybe i could have resolved it better, but Team Rocket didn't leave me a lot of options. Now, if you still want to rest, let's get to a different site."

"Why?"

"You don't have to be a Team Rocket scientist to figure that one out. They'll be back."

"So we'll just have to leave this world." Rei came up and grabbed Grey. "Push the button."

-------------------

Target Timeline:

Akane stopped running as a thought occurred to her.

She was a Warrior, the greatest martial artist in Nerima!

She was the Heir to the Tendo Ryuu!

She was able to defeat dozens of opponents every day at school!

She was running from an affectionate cartoon skunk. This did not add up.

Akane bravely turned to face the bouncing little figure. She would face this opponent, AND she would defeat him!

"Ah, mon cheri, you have decided to embrace our destiny! Come let me whisk you away to..."

POW!

"...uhm, mon petit, has Pepe done something wrong? It is merely my way of expressing affection for such..."

WHAM!

"...oooohhh. Well, uhm, if ma'amselle is not receptive..."

THUD! CRACK! BAM!

Akane nodded absently as the skunk's tail twitched from where he'd been stuffed into a trashcan. She'd proven her abilities. She would not tolerate this behavior. Not from Kuno, not from Ranma, not from some striped French rat.

Then the spray reached her.

-------------------

"Saotome, where could that son of yours be?"

"I don't have a clue, but this shrine is supposed to have a powerful exorcist who works cheap."

"What's his name again?"

"Cherry. He's supposed to be VERY powerful."

"I don't know, Saotome, I have a bad feeling about this."

"Trust me, Tendo."

"You need an exorcist?" An unfamiliar voice. "AHHHH! You have a most ominous face!"

The two practitioners finally spotted the exorcist. Their first impression was not favorable.

"AHHHH! It's the MASTER! RUN, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

Cherry blinked. "Most ominous. This is fate."

---------------------

"So, what do we do?" Shan continued to mop the floor of the dojo.

"Besides what you've already set in motion?" Nabiki frowned as she considered. Life had been so simple.

"I will practice the katas and forms that my mother taught me, and see if I can find a tutor for the Tendo Lightning Ryuu of Naginata." Kasumi's voice was calm. This was what her mother wanted, after all.

Thinking of the meeting with her mother as well, Nabiki winced. "Well, I guess I *could* get a few outside interests and take up the school as well."

"Shampoo already enrolled in school, has adopted Ranma as brother. This at least more fun than beating off Mousse everyday."

Nabiki made a mental note to see if there was a "moose repellent" that she could sell Shampoo later.

Ukyo smirked. "Well, *I* have got a restaurant to open soon. We just dropped a few things off at the new place and me and the twins will be doing setup tomorrow. Then we'll be attending school."

Nabiki considered. "Okay, now how can we be sure this ISN'T how the mainline developed?"

Everyone pondered the idea that in the mainline: Shampoo was masquerading as a American transfer student, Kasumi was training to be the Heir of her Mother's naginata based martial arts style, Nabiki had just developed religion as a hobby, two cyborg clones were running around, and Akane wanted nothing to do with Tatewaki Kuno. Akane hit Ranma, and this was supposed to be a sign that she loved him, so...

"Nahhhhh," Nabiki said after a moment. "Couldn't be. If sparks like that are a sign of love, then that would mean... that Akane DOES love Kuno?! Oh my."

Kasumi began considering ways to get this "Kuno-san" together with her little sister. It might calm her down.

-------------------

The Wander Inn, Dimensional Nexus point "82-"17

Grey motioned to a table and let the Scouts take seats. He politely ignored the way their eyes expanded and the way their jaws continued to be open as they STARED at their surroundings.

An elven bard played music softly in the background, "The Ballad Of Tanya Evarre" if he was hearing correctly.

The room itself was largely a replica of the typical fantasy psuedo-medieval Inn and Tavern. The archmage who had originally built the thing had had fond memories of his early days of adventuring and other owners had added their own bits for much the same reason.

The inn itself was a dimensional nexus. Things could wander in from any number of places, and wander back out again. It was a safe haven where villains from one series could have a cup of hot mulled wine with the heroes of another series and nobody had to worry about knives suddenly sprouting from one's back.

Which, of course, led to why the Scouts were staring so badly. There were humans of odd colorations, elves, dwarves, and halflings. There were gods, demons, angels, and others who were neither but simply very powerful. It was the Star Wars Cantina Bar scene without budget limitations.

A creature that looked like a muppet on steroids walked up to the table and asked what they'd have.

"Can you flag Shustis? My companions would like to see about getting some more clothes. Also we'll need camping equipment, a new set of pokeballs, and a charger for a type III lightsaber. Uhm, girls, what do you want? They have food and drink here."

Mina looked at the decor and decided to be in genre. "Ale."

Lita blinked, but when in Rome... "Make that two ales."

Rei looked around and decided to ask, just to avoid getting whatever it was that bug was drinking. "Uhm, what have you got that humans can drink?"

"Ale, wine, hot mulled wine, cider, hot mulled cider, hot chocolate, Arborean shine ale, liquid moonshine, cola, philtre, uncola, coffee, kohii, klah, knightwine, dwarvil, Sigil small beer, beer, mead, firewine..."

"Firewine," Rei interrupted, having the feeling that the list could have gone on for hours.

"Uhm. Could I get a sandwich and glass of milk?" Amy timidly asked. "Tuna sandwich, and cow's milk?"

"Very good," the muppet said and walked off.

"Where IS this place?" Lita continued to stare at everything.

"On the border between dreams and wakefulness, in between What Is and What Is Not." Grey set his Planewalker's Guide on the table and began accessing the e-mail section.

"Huh?" Amy took out her own computer and started scanning.

"A dimensional nexus, a point where a number of realities intersect and no single one holds sway."

Grey shimmered and became Ranma. "We just intersected with a Ranma reality. Well, at least that means i can have some tea!"

--------------

Urd watched from across the bar. THIS would work. A little potion in their drinks, and by the time it had run its course (about four hours) the ice would be thoroughly broken.

She watched, grinning, as first Rei, then Lita, then Amy and Mina all sipped from their drinks as the five discussed plans on what kind of equipment they needed.

Urd's grin slipped a little as Lita and Mina went below the table, arms wrapped around each other and lips locked. Urd's grin failed completely as Amy and Rei went off to check out the back rooms, followed by Lita and Mina a moment later.

Ranma, still at the table, cast an unreadable glance towards where the four ex-Scouts had vanished, then hung his head and closed the laptop on the table. After waiting a few minutes he wrote a note, left it with the waiter, paid for their drinks and headed for the bar.

Urd seriously considered beating her head against the hardwood surface of the bar but with Ranma approaching felt that this would have attracted his attention to her. So far he hadn't noticed her and was heading for an empty seat.

She blinked and checked something, cursing when she saw the results. They were currently brushing along the universe of A Tale Of Two Wallets. Girl+girl action was more common than girl+guy. She at least had an explanation for why things had gone so wrong, though it didn't help.

Urd's eyes narrowed. This had become a REAL challenge now. She started forward, one more dose of love potion concealed in her hand, and caught the eye of her co-conspirator. Edema would distract him, she'd put the potion in his drink, and by the time the Binding kicked in, he would already have found SOMEONE. They just had to direct his attention to a picture of a certain girl that Edema had found at the proper time.

-----------------

Eros smirked as he watched Urd's plans unravel like a badly knit sweater. Then, quite obvious to anyone who knew her, Urd went into "Plan B" mode.

"Well, tough," said Eros to himself. He didn't care what Urd's backup plan was.

Eros had more than the one bow, and the pistol sized crossbow he now prepared to use was perfect for his current task. Having taken a few moments to regard Grey's history, he noted the same patterns over and over. What was needed was a way to break the pattern, to have someone see him as other than a friend or trustworthy ally.

To Eros, that meant a Love Arrow. More particularly, considering how many times the boy's heart had been stomped on, it required using such a powerful arrow that it called upon all his experience (considerable) in such things to use it. And his target? Well, he'd had a few things to say about Urd using that "Cupid Of Love" line.

The crossbow bolt was sufficiently powerful that he'd taken an antidote beforehand just so that he could handle it, through gloves, long enough to use it. Eros smiled as Edema and Urd took seats on either side of the sometimes-cyborg, Urd politely asking another goddess to move one seat aside to do so.

He waited carefully, knowing that Urd would make her move soon. There. Edema was talking about some mirror she was gesturing to. Everyone was distracted. Eros shot the bolt.

Urd used the distraction of the mirror to sprinkle a powder into the mug of tea in Ranma's hands, leaning forward as she did so.

Meanwhile the goddess that had earlier moved aside seemed to have similar plans for Urd's drink, reaching over to sprinkle a bit of powder in it.

Eros watched as the bolt slammed home into some Japanese goddess he HADN'T wanted to hit. Though he *could* admit that she'd been kind of lonely lately and was on his list of "try to fix her up with someone as discretely as possible." This didn't fit "discrete" even by ARES definition.

Edema had the expected reaction of a drow elf when the sun flared to life three seats down along the bar. She fled, covering her eyes, and in quite obvious pain.

Urd winced herself at the sudden flare of light. Ranma leaned over and asked the Japanese goddess if she was all right.

"H-h-hai." The goddess in question blinked up at the young man standing concernedly over her with an odd expression.

"Good. Urd, i've got to get back to the timeline i am SUPPOSED to be fixing. Can you arrange transport?"

"That might be considered interference," mumbled Urd as she sat back, wondering what had just happened. She took a sip of her drink as she regarded him while watching Edema lean against the wall. Maybe Keiichi's sister, Megumi, or was she still seeing that one fellow? Or maybe one of those other girls that seemed to get along with him. "That would directly correct a mistake you made, which was using the D-hopper."

Urd's smirk faded. There was something about Edema today...

Ranma nodded as he pondered Urd's words. "Then, in that case, i'll just continue to try muddling through. Good day."

Two goddesses watched Grey leave. Eros decided it was his OWN turn to use "Plan B."

---------------------

Target Timeline:

Kasumi stopped and sniffed the air. "Oh my..." She immediately pulled a hankerchief out and covered her nose.

"Gag, that's horrible! What is that HORRIBLE smell?!" Nabiki pulled the top of shirt up till it was covering her nose.

"It bad. It very bad!" Shampoo pinched her nose shut and tried not to breathe. "Shampoo not smell anything that bad since... Shampoo don't know when."

"Ugh, can't take it..." Ukyo dropped, overwhelmed by the sheer EVIL of the smell.

"Arrrrooo." Genma's panda form, with a more sensitive sense of smell, was in agony. [Somebody kill it quick, WHATEVER it is!]

"Can't... it's... up to you, Saotome!" Soun thought about fighting off whatever was menacing his home, but clearly it was more evil than even their Master.

Genma started throwing up as the smell actually intensified.

Plants started wilting. One of the koi surfaced and was floating belly up.

"Ahhhhggg," Nabiki tried to hold on but collapsed, unable to stand against the waves of evil power communicated in that smell.

A voice could be heard from somewhere outside the Tendo compound walls. "Akane Tendo! My love! I.... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Get away! Get away! NOOOOOOO!"

Shan and Sakyo used their enhanced strength to start gathering bodies up to flee the area. An advantage of being what they were, was that they were more durable than mere flesh and blood. Impending demonic invasions were sufficient cause to reveal some of their abilities at least.

An especially strong gust of the smell hit at the same time of the sound of the Tendo front gate opening. Kasumi began retching, which required her to take the cloth off. Her eyes crossed. Shampoo wasn't doing much better, curled up into a ball and weakly coughing.

Mrs Yamani's dog Bess sniffed the air briefly, then quickly dug a hole in the yard, laid down in it, then began burying herself. A flock of birds hit the cloud, then hit the ground a moment later.

"Tadaima! Kasumi? Nabiki? Dad? Nobody's home? Hmmm. I wonder what's going on." Akane thought a moment but couldn't tell what was wrong. Maybe she should see if there were any leftovers as she'd missed dinner earlier. AFTER a good warm bath to get this smell off.

---------------------

Elsewhere:

Eros, aka Cupid, drew back his bow. THIS time for sure. He let the arrow loose.

His target chose that moment to bow to Grey. The arrow flit past her and ended up going through two OTHER young girls before completely discharging.

Eros closed his eyes, and thought he'd just go off and have a few drinks before he tried AGAIN. Instead of hitting that girl Mihoshi (who was so "straightforward" that Grey could have been certain that there was no hidden agenda) his arrow had struck two on the 'bad matches' list. Then he'd have to come back with the antidote after having a chance to recuperate.

Kiyone stared at the young man, her mouth open slightly.

Sasami forgot to breathe.

"Well, thanks for your hospitality, Masaki-san. I'd better be going though." Grey bowed to his host.

"Wait a minute, can I come too?"

"Kiyone?!" Everyone stared at the Galaxy Police officer.

"I'm not going to be able to advance much further in the Galaxy Police under current conditions, and this 'Rival Relief Office' sounds like something I should check out anyway! Mihoshi, can you go check our bags?"

"Right away, Kiyone!" Mihoshi dashed towards the front door.

Kiyone stepped close to Grey, examining the rod. "Pushing that button activates the transport?"

"Well, yeah..."

Grey held the device up. "These rings here are the controls and the button activates it."

"Oh wow," Sasami breathed as she moved in. "Can I see?"

"Don't push that!" Grey's voice, as well as the rest of him faded as Kiyone reached over and pushed the button while grabbing the rod with her other hand.

Mihoshi stuck her head back in the room. "Oh, Kiiiyoneee! We don't have any bags. Kiyone?"

"SASAMI?!" Aeka began not-so-quietly freaking.

Ryoko grinned. Two less competitors down, now if she could just get rid of the main contenders!

------------------

Still Elsewhere:

Urd finished shuddering and opened her eyes.

Urd gasped for breath as the pain stopped and opened her eyes.

Urd looked at Urd who looked back at her.

"Say what?!" Urd asked Urd.

"I don't know any more than you do," replied Urd.

"This is definitely unusual," said Urd to Urd. They both froze as they heard an oddly harmonious groan.

"Uh oh," said BOTH Urds.

"Belldandy, have you seen..." Keichi entered the room and stopped. A cold wind seemed to whip by him.

Urd looked at the small crowd and pondered. "Let's see, I had been hit by some kind of powerful love potion, then when I realized what had happened, I came back here."

Urd nodded. "I remember. I was casting a spell that was supposed to separate the love potion from me. That way I could examine the effects properly, determine who it came from and why it was able to get through my defenses so easily."

"I'm not sure what you're talking about, I came into the room because I needed an aspirin." Megumi looked around the crowd. "And obviously I'm having a REALLY weird dream."

"Of course I am," said Megumi with a nod. "Well, at least I got rid of that headache."

"When I heard the explosion, I came running," indicated Belldandy.

"There was a thick cloud of something, and a great deal of energy present." Belldandy added. Then looked around the room, noting the broken bottles and containers, and excused herself to go get a broom.

"Urd, do you have any explanation for this," Belldandy frowned ever so slightly as she fixed her gaze on her older sister, "this is most... unusual."

"Urd, can you fix this?" Belldandy asked, hands clenched in front of her.

"I'll go fix some tea," offered Belldandy, getting up to walk past a thoroughly dazed looking Keiichi.

Keiichi felt her go by. Meaning it wasn't an illusion. Keiichi, very sensibly, fainted.

Urd turned to Urd with a speculative look. "This may have been an accident, but you know..."

Urd nodded. "I *just* may be able find a use for this."

---------------------

Like i said in an earlier paragraph, i just wanted to explore some strange ideas in this fic, that i haven't seen and that might well make for an interesting bit in someone else's fic.

Most recently:

Team Rockets that are other than Jesse + James, Butch + Cassidy. Nobu + Naga, could just as easily have been Billi + Kidd or Dock + Holliday or some other figure from American history.

A time and space adventuring Kiyone (from Tenchi Muyo), finally away from her "nemesis"/partner Mihoshi. Sorry, Jim, i just don't buy into them being lovers. At the RRO, a chance for her to be recruited by a troubleshooting organization that could: a) really use someone like her, b) set her into all sorts of situations in noncanonical timelines as she goes to fix things, c) let her still be a "cop" but on a grander scale.

Oh and as for Sasami, here's someone else adopting Grey as a brother.

Multiple Urds, Belldandys, and Megumis? How can Keiichi cope?

The love potion goes wrong constant. But if it always goes wrong, might it not also go wrong in such a way that someone actually benefits? In this case, someone who was depressed about her current lack of romantic subplots.

Theme music for Private Bet #8 by Shade

The idea that an overall "flavor" of a fanfic universe might influence those who enter it.

The Wander Inn - something left over from my days playing Champions, oddly enough. Walker, who had the mutant ability to open transdimensional gates, found this place during an adventure and it became a frequent "in between adventures" stop for the group.

back to writing FBT for now...

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