Utena, Revolutionary Girl Fan Fiction ❯ Arisugawa's Locket ❯ Ready? Fight! ( Chapter 9 )

Ready? Fight!

"Hey, Juri," Haruka said with a smile, settling down into a seat beside her at the bar. She was dressed as stylish as usual, her short blond hair done boyishly cool, a man's suit tailored to hug her slim form. Juri tried not to laugh at the small crowd of pretty young ladies that were following Haruka around with hearts in their eyes.

Juri raised her glass of colored ginger ale in a small toast to her before pleasantly asking, "Are the others here with you?"

"Michiru's stuck in violin practice tonight, but she'll be by later," Haruka said with a shrug. She looked over at Juri searchingly, "Has Shiori been by again?"

Juri looked at her in honest surprise before sighing softly, "I see the rumor mill is running as fast as ever." She shrugged a bit, "Shiori's been by a few times, trying to talk." She took another drink, suddenly wishing that there was something stronger in her glass.

Haruka shot back her glass in a single smooth movement. "You're going to have to deal with her eventually, you know," Haruka said to her quietly in return.

Before Juri could form a reply, something got her attention. She faintly heard the sounds of a scuffle, and then a soft cry came from down the hallway. Juri sprinted down the passageway to the outside door, throwing it open to see what was going on outside. Bones the bouncer lay sprawled on the pavement, a livid bruise on her temple.

A small, compact man, heavily muscled, stood right above her, his fists clenched. He had a cold sneer on his face, eyes narrowed as he looked towards the building. His hair was his oddest feature, spiked straight up and nearly adding a foot to his height.

He looked up, noticing Juri standing there, and smiled slightly. "With some training," he said to her harshly, nodding to Bones "she could actually be a good fighter." He looked down at her, "But she tried to bar my way, and that can not be tolerated."

Juri quickly knelt down at Bones' side to check her over, then she rose to face him, her expression one of cold fury. "She stopped you on my orders," Juri said, forcing her voice to stay calm, "this is a ladies' bar." She looked him right in the eye as she continued, "And you will regret hurting one of my people."

The man looked at her incredulously, barking out "I am Vegeta, prince of the Saiyan race, and I am here for my woman!" Juri was suddenly buffeted by a wave of force, watching Vegeta crying out to the sky as energy built up all around him. Suddenly, his hair shifted from black to gold, energy arcing around him.

"I'm not impressed," Juri said calmly in reply. She took a guard stance, her eyes narrowed in concentration, and suddenly a battle aura sprung up all around her as well. Her body glowed a fierce orange, shimmering in the darkness, and Vegeta found himself blinking at her in surprise. "You are not coming inside," Juri continued.

Before he could say anything else, two figures came outside to flank Juri. Minagi glowed a sky blue, her energy blade firmly held in her hands, while Ryouko blazed blood red, a eager smile on her face. "You weren't going to leave us out, were you?" Minagi said to Juri with a cool smile on her scarred face.

"Or me," Ranma said, coming up beside them. She swept her red hair back, making it clear she was ready to fight, her own battle aura shining.

The rest of the bar patrons began to emerge, in ones and twos at first, then in groups, all of them assembling against the threat to them all. Vegeta looked the mob over, his eyes narrowed as the combined power they had began to wash over him, and realized that he might just have bit off a bit more than he could chew.

His eyes narrowed in anger, Vegeta snarled out at them, "You will pay for thwarting me!" He rose into the air and in a final burst of power flew off into the distance.

Juri waited until he was gone before letting herself slump in relief, the battle aura fading. She bent down, helping a groggy Bones to her feet, before she noticed the admiring glances she was getting from many of the bar's patrons.

A little smile tugged at Ryouko's lips as she said, "I didn't know you had it in you, Boss." She stepped up to help carry Bones inside.

Several other volunteers stepped up, and in a few moments they had her inside on one of the reading couches. "Sorry, Boss," Bones sighed softly, "I didn't even see the punch coming."

"I probably wouldn't have seen it, either. Congratulations," Juri said with a smile, "You get the rest of the night off." Bones tried to protest, but in a few moments she was sitting at a table with several ladies fussing over her.

"I volunteer as bouncer for the rest of the night," Ranma spoke up quickly, waving her hand. At Juri's slightly surprised look she added with a smile, "I'm almost hoping he does show up again." As an afterthought the redhead added, "Could someone put a kettle on, just in case?" With that, Ranma headed outside.

"Thank the kami he didn't call my bluff," Juri said with a little sigh, "my battle aura is mostly for show."

There was a soft snort of laughter from Nabiki, "Don't be modest, Arisugawa." She grinned, adding, "By the time you left the dojo you were a very formidable fighter."

"My sister has a point," Akane quietly added, "I certainly couldn't lay a hand on you before you decided to leave us." Juri actually blushed a bit, under those compliments, and Nabiki smiled at her knowingly.

"I'd still like to know who he was chasing though," Minagi said with a little sigh.

A woman's voice coming from the upstairs rooms sighed softly, "That would be us." Juri turned to see a older woman with blue, kind of poofy hair and a blonde haired younger woman coming down stairs together.

"Bulma, you couldn't have known he'd follow you here," the blonde said to the other girl.

"Maybe," Bulma sighed, "but I should have expected it, 18."

"18?" Sasami echoed, stepping out of the kitchen a moment. "Is that your name or your age?" she asked with a smile.

18 just laughed softly in reply.

The Staff: The bar's owner is Arisugawa Juri, from Revolutionary Girl Utena. Minagi, Ryouko and Sasami are from the series Tenchi Muyo. And finally, Tendo Nabiki is from Ranma 1/2.

Our Cast This Episode: Shiori is from Revolutionary Girl Utena. Ranma and Akane are from Ranma 1/2. Haruka and Michiru are from Sailor Moon. And finally, Vegeta, Bulma and Android 18 are from Dragonball Z.

Authors Note: I was considering using Goku at first, having him here looking for Videl and 18, but I couldn't see him being mean enough to be a credible threat. So, I decided on Vegeta.