Daniel Jess Gibson
2nd March 2005, 05:09 AM
[Ranma][NGE][HPL][AMG][Fusion][Fanfic] Sic Semper Morituri Chapter 42 -
The Price That Life Exacts
Disclaimer:
I do not own any of the characters from Ranma 1 / 2, Neon Genesis
Evangelion, Ah My Goddess, or the Lovecraft Cycle involved in these
stories.
C&C, MSTs are welcome
E-mail: dan_s.comments@worldnet.att.net
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(these are the original versions)
My Little Spark Of Courage Dies
The descent continued uneventfully. The occasional strange fish
happened into their view, but even sharks steered clear of the huge war
machine.
"You getting this?" Jeff asked Ritsuko as a strange glowing sheet
moved past the EVA's eyes.
"Yes, it's beautiful," Ritsuko said.
Bet you wish now you'd gone and looked, he thought, A shoggoth could
probably operate at this depth. `Chasing` these fish was also to keep
everybody awake, the dreams dreamt within an EVA were not to be believed.
The hours and the fathoms ticked by. Nabiki steadily swam the EVA
unvarying deeper, the cable trailing out behind them.
"I should have brought a deck of cards." The boredom pushed Nabiki
to speak. He could hear the strain in her voice, he didn't need the
conversation blocks or the medical readouts.
"Against you two sharks?" Madison exclaimed, "Not a chance."
"I haven't played any games on board," Jeff replied haughtily.
"Word gets around," Madison replied.
"The bottom's coming up, Raccoon," Nabiki said, "Take over."
"Got it," Jeff said as he closed his eyes and let his body drift away.
"Suit up," Madison said, "These plugsuits really need a heater."
"The warm fluid will help," Maya countered, "But it won't prevent
hypothermia totally."
"So that means I have to hurry," Nabiki said, "That's not a problem."
Jeff saw the ruins of huge buildings appearing. The angles of the
buildings were alien to the human mind. Basalt slabs and blocks piled
atop one another, none of the careful interlocking that appeared on some
similar human structures. Merely mass and gravity to hold the structure
together.
"Some modesty would be nice," Nabiki complained.
"That's not what you said earlier," Maya teased.
"And how is your suit feeling?" Nabiki asked.
"Children!" Ritsuko called over the tether line, the volume causing
her voice to distort, "We have a job to do."
The buildings were bare of coral, weeds, any kind of the growths that
studded the nearby rocks and cliffs in profusion.
"Jeff, You're slightly off course, about 4000 meters south-
southeast," Ritsuko said.
"Something's wrong here," Jeff said distantly, "This city was
recently inhabited, something has been using this place. Now there's
nothing here."
"What are you talking about?" Madison asked.
"The place is clean, there aren't fish all over the place," Jeff said,
"So it was recently used. No debris of a panic. Maybe they're all at the
temple. I don't like it."
"At this depth, maybe there isn't much marine life," Ritsuko said.
Jeff didn't want to explain how he knew that was wrong. "Doctor,
life finds a way. Be fruitful and multiply is built into everything that
lives. This place was evacuated, and recently."
He could see she'd connected the dots, and was as worried as he was.
"Proceed with caution," she urged. The others' heart and breathing rates
were elevated.
Jeff checked the other instruments, they were all showing some
erratic readings, from the magnetic compass to temperature meters. The
light from the EVA's eyes illuminated several columns, all covered with
carvings of things that were not human, and some that made his eyes water
just examining them. "The temple is this way." He had an awful feeling
about the area, and it was worst in that direction.
"I'm ready to go," Nabiki told him, the fear block belying her
confident tone.
"This place, do you think it was Atlantis?" Madison asked.
"No, Cuba is the northern edge of Atlantis, this place is too old.
Maybe an Elder Thing city. Whoever built it to last and when they pulled
out, someone else moved in." He thought that would satisfy most of them,
he didn't want to reveal what he remembered, and had no idea where he
remembered it from, and the evidence he saw in some of the frescoes
supported it. Neither Humanity nor the Elder Things built this place, the
Flying Polyps had. The great cities of basalt towers, he'd never heard of
any Great Old One worshiped or respected by those creatures. They warred
with everyone and everything. He wondered if something deliberately sank
the city or if normal geological processes simply did their work. He
wondered if they still lingered, sealed away awaiting release.
"Keep an eye out for Burmashave signs."
"Don't stick your head out, of you safe little shack, it might go
home, as a monster's snack, Burmashave," Jeff suggested.
"Yeah, but we'd never be able to read them," Madison complained.
"What are you talking about? That's what's printed over there," Jeff
pointed and replied, "Properly translated of course."
"You're joking!" Maya said, aghast, peered at the line of pillars.
"Whatever gave you that idea?" Jeff asked.
"Your lips are moving," Nabiki said, "It's a sea story."
The temple that loomed out of the dark sea wasn't the source of the
wrongness.
"Oh Kamis!" Nabiki gasped, more disgusted then fearful. The
architecture was very different, the carvings and frescoes were obscene,
alien things both eating and coupling with each other, or both. Jeff cut
Madison and Maya's external view. He didn't bother cutting Nabiki's, she
was going out there, maybe.
"I think we found the back way in," Jeff said, "Do we tunnel through
or send someone out?"
"I'm ready to go," Nabiki said, he could see she was lying. He was
more inclined to tear the building apart, rather than expose anyone to
what he was seeing. Maybe she's immune, he thought, Like against the
Inspector.
And feeling, he thought, he could feel something out there. Not as
bad as Nyarlathotep, but noticeable enough to have guided him to this
entrance. Maya didn't seem to feel it, from the vital signs neither
Nabiki nor Madison felt it. He couldn't imagine they're feeling it and
not reacting. For him it had had begun as a tickle and was building to a
full-body itch from the worst rash he'd ever had.
"Jeff, are you all right?" Ritsuko asked, he noted his accelerated
heart rate and breathing.
"I can feel it, this place."
"Nabiki just exited the plug," Madison reported, "All systems appear
to be functioning normally. This is weird, the pressure out there is
unbelievable."
"Everything is in a liquid, us, the EVA, the pressure is equalized,
the pressure gradient is almost nothing," Ritsuko explained.
"Nabiki, give a shout if you need anything," Jeff told their intrepid
explorer. She wasn't sending back any visuals, although her life support
telemetry was coming in clear.
He wondered how she could stand it, it was all he could do not to
reel her back in and tear the place to pieces, then go back and demolish
the entire city. The entire place was _wretched_and_vile_._ Every sense,
thought and instinct told him so. He had the power to make it right, to
wipe it clean, and no one could stop him. Except himself.
"You've got barfbags?" Nabiki asked, "The decor leaves a lot to be
desired. Seriously, keep those fish away from me. I feel kind of
unprotected out here."
He moved the EVA closer, the fish scattered. They're smarter than I
am, he thought, as he searched the area for threats.
"Keep giving us updates," Maya told her.
Jeff glanced around, the targets he'd distantly sensed hadn't closed
in. The tiny figure trailing what appeared to be a hair-thin line
disappeared into a small cleft in the rock. His instinct was to charge in
ahead of her, a gentleman didn't send a lady into danger and combat first.
He released two glaives and two prog knives, one mismatched pain in the
foremost hands and the other into the rearmost. He smirked about the
changes Langley had insisted on, the original design couldn't handle this
depth.
In the background, he heard Maya and Nabiki conversing in low tones,
he concentrated on any threat to the girl and was prepared to charge in.
"If this is the tropics? Why's the water so cold?" Nabiki complained.
"All water is cold this deep," Madison said, "I'll explain more on
the way up."
"Oh good, a lecture. Raccoon hasn't given one, I thought I'd
escape," Nabiki said.
"Maybe he's sick. No, he's normal," Maya said.
"Compare to what?" Nabiki asked.
"Americans. Your temperature is down a whole degree," Maya warned,
"You'd better hurry."
"If you were looking at what _I'm_ seeing," Nabiki replied, "Your
blood would freeze too. I almost wish I had a camera. There - these . . .
things are hideous, they're also glowing, light in here almost makes it
worse."
"Have you encountered anything else, anything alive?" Madison asked.
"Either these things _are_ alive, or lava lamps are a Cthulhoid
plot," Nabiki replied, "No guards, no worshipers, no traps either. I'm
worried."
"Can you bring one with?" Maya asked.
"Are you kidding?" Nabiki shouted in outrage, "I don't want to be
near them, let alone touch them." Nabiki's tone changed, "Raccoon . . .
you said you could feel - well the thing . . . you can sense it?" He
didn't need his Synthesia to sense her distress and loathing.
"Yes."
"Like . . . ants, crawling all over your body, _under_ your skin and
in your guts?"
"Yes," Jeff could see her growing panic.
"Well I've got it," Nabiki said.
"Get clear. I'll be there in a moment." Jeff prepared to tear the
stone temple apart. His eagerness to destroy disconcerted him.
"No, I mean I've got it," Nabiki said, "Madison, you go ride with
Maya, or Maya you go ride in back with Madison."
"Are you -?" Maya began.
"Just DO IT!" Nabiki thundered back, "Pilots are immune to close
contact with - these things. The EVA will protect you."
"Maya," Madison told her, "I'll come get you, Davis prep her for a
dive."
"Can you hold your breath?" Maya asked, "There's only one spare
mask." Jeff got the mask settled on Maya, then began checking the
containment rig.
"Yes, whatever this L.C.L. is, it seems to bypass everything I ever
learned about deep diving. Besides, I want the record for the deepest
free dive," he tried to sound jaunty. Jeff could see the fear in his
voice.
They're all afraid, and all I want to do is _attack_, he thought,
tried to concentrate on te job.
"Before you get too heroic, I can loop the back to give you a very
short path surrounded by an AT field tube. Ritsuko cut the top side comm
links, unplug them."
"Why?"
"Because I'm going to generate an AT-field and I don't want the power
surge to blow out communications. When the power drain drops, reconnect."
"We're on it," Ritsuko told them, then vanished.
"Hurry up," Nabiki insisted, horror warred with disgust in her voice.
Jeff helped Maya open the plug hatch. Madison was waiting, hovering
in the middle of the L.C.L. filled tube. "Don't touch the walls," he
warned.
"Why not?" Madison asked, he seemed shocked he could still be `heard`.
"We use AT fields to disintegrate the enemy. What would one do to a
human in a conductive medium, I'd rather not find out."
"Hurry up!" Nabiki added desperately, her voice rising and cracking
with the strain. Maya and Madison increased their pace.
"Is it waking up?" Jeff asked, ready to reploy the field and go to
combat mode. All he could see was Nabiki, not anything she was carrying
or dragging, he wondered if it was insubstantial or somehow invisible.
"No! I just want this over with!" she shouted at the edge of
hysteria.
Jeff finished readying the containment cage. Maya and Madison were
safely sealing in the rear plug before Nabiki approached the hatch,
slipping her cargo into the cage with tightly controlled gestures
performed as practiced ritual, like a tea ceremony. She glanced at him as
she finished, the expression . . . the disintegrating mask of self-control
warned him she was past her breaking point. She tore off her gloves and
threw them inside the containment rig.
The figure that practically threw herself at Jeff and wrapped her
arms and legs around him was shrieking uncontrollably. He suspected the
shuddering wasn't due to the cold. He sealed the hatch, checked the
containment rig and settled himself and Nabiki into the command chair
before he removed her face mask. He wrapped his arms around the shivering
girl, she immediately fell silent. He began the slow accent, he'd already
decided to expedite the rise to the surface. He monitored the containment
and didn't return the prog knives to their housings like he did with the
glaives. If it tried to escape, orders and no orders, he was going to
slice it to pieces.
"It's okay, Nab-chan," he told her as he stroked her hair, "You did
it, you're safe now." She burrowed into his arms but said nothing.
----------------------------------------
Deus Ex Machinations
"This is it?" Ritsuko stared down at 'it', the Angel the pilots had
captured. "It looks like a fried egg," Ritsuko commented. It looked like
a gray fried egg, an amorphous, slowly changing blob and a large off
center mass.
"Well, that's it," Nabiki rasped defensively, pulling the blanket
more tightly around her. Her voice hadn't fully recovered from her
earlier screaming fit.
Ritsuko softened her tone and expression, "I know that was what you
found, and that you took the risk to bring it back. I was expecting
something more impressive."
"That's all that there was," Nabiki said softly, drawing her knees to
her chest and shivering again, remembering touching the thing with her
gloved hands, feeling the awareness of a malevolent intelligence contained
in the tiny mass of corruption. She'd wanted to kill it with her bare
hands, but managed to follow orders. Worse was the screaming fear that
made a mockery of 'Tendo Nabiki, Ice Queen and Master of All She Surveys'.
All she'd surveyed was this awful _thing_ duty demanded she return to
Rit-chan. And the screaming _need_ for human contact, she would have done
_anything_ to feel Rit-chan's, Ranma's, or Raccoon's arms around her,
telling her she was safe, telling her she'd done a good job, that she'd
been a good girl. Such a show of weakness terrified her, that she'd
gotten all she needed and more without any request for compensation
worried her only slightly less. In the old days anyone would have made
her pay dearly just to keep the secret, leaving out payment for services
rendered. She knew none of those three would take advantage, her health
and safety was payment enough. But that was thought, the aching emptiness
had driven out all thought and emotion. Only the goal had remained.
She hadn't handled it well.
Whatever Ritsuko learned that helped them kill these things would be
welcome. "No golden trinkets, or jewelry. Just that," Nabiki replied.
"Where's Jeff?" Ritsuko asked.
"Getting his ribs taped," Nabiki barely said, "I didn't want to let
go, I didn't guess my own strength, as I should have." I didn't _want_ to
let go, even when we were back aboard the carrier, she thought, full of
shame at her weakness, terrified it could be used against her.
"I doubt you hurt him," Ritsuko reassured her, "Or he would have said
something."
"While comforting a terrified girl?" Nabiki asked archly, "You have
_got_ to be kidding!" She shuddered again at the memory, she'd already
braced herself for the nightmares to follow.
Ritsuko considered, "You're right."
She turned back to the `sample`
----------------------------------------
"There," the doctor finished taping his ribs as Jeff sat on the
infirmary's examining table. "I'd stay away from your girlfriend,
nothing's broken but she popped a rib and bruised four others. Does it
hurt?"
"Only when I breathe. Ha," Jeff replied as he slipped off the table
and gingerly pulled his shirt back on, "Thanks, Doc." Jeff glanced at the
Marine standing at attention at the entrance, trying _not_ to stare. Jeff
ignored it, it was just a reminder of why he should always keep his shirt
on. And they think I'm just modest, he thought, Ha! "How much trouble am
I in Corporal?"
The man snapped to attention. "No trouble, sir. The Admiral just
wants to speak with you."
Jeff didn't like that, any details about holding the Angel would
better be addressed by Rit-ch - Ritsuko, or Maya. Who is either getting
drunk with Madison, or hiding under her bed, Jeff thought, then he
considered Ritsuko with a new specimen, Yeah. I _am_ the only person he
can talk to, he thought. Just breathing hurt, walking pushed him to his
limits, but Nabiki had faced the Great Old One alone. He wasn't going to
let on how badly she had hurt him. He remembered his first contact with
Chaugnar Faugn, that had been through the buffers of the EVA, not handling
it with gloved hands. He also had to admit he'd been flattered, having a
pretty girl curled up in his lap and hugging him until his ribs creaked
because of her certainty that he could protect her life and sanity.
He was still tying his tie when he was issued onto the bridge and
into the Admiral's presence.
"Mister Davis," Admiral Adams acknowledged his presence, and
dismissed the Marine with a wave, he continued to stare out the bridge
windows. "We're on course for Boston. We'll drop your team and proceed
to Norfolk for repairs."
"Sorry about the dents," Jeff told him. He glanced out the bridge
windows. The American battlegroup was arrayed around them. Further out,
the British group was pacing them. The French and Spanish were beyond the
horizon.
"Can't be helped," Adams replied, "What about containing that thing,
what danger to the ship?"
"It's Cthylla, the daughter of Cthulhu, not one of the most
extensively described entities. But typically, mass has a great influence
on power. Something that small shouldn't be very powerful itself. Castor
and Pollux were destroyed by shoggoths who invaded. If you keep the
general vigilance and the speed up, we should be all right. It's her
guard I'm worried about."
"Miss Tendo said there weren't any," Adams replied.
"That's what I mean. If Cthulhu were ever truly destroyed, he'd be
reborn in Cthylla's womb. If that was my ultimate insurance policy, I
wouldn't leave it sitting unguarded. There are lots of things besides the
occasional human in the deep waters."
----------------------------------------
Ritsuko found herself shaking. Not even the Elder Things had been
able to capture a Great Old One. Killed Lesser Ones, but not capture one.
She'd approached this as carefully as she could. Photos, non-invasive
tests were all done. But she was going to have to extract a sample,
either by syringe, or cutting it loose. The creature was still
unresponsive, as if it were asleep, and it might remain so, until she made
her extraction. Then anything might happen.
"Ah, Maya, I'm glad to see you up and around," Ritsuko told her
arriving assistant, "I'm about to begin a closer examination."
"Shouldn't we wait until it's in Boston? Sempai?" Maya said as she
approached.
"Don't worry, the containment system will hold it," Ritsuko assured
her.
"The eye opened!" Maya gasped and jumped back.
Ritsuko was a good deal less willing to proceed. The `yolk` of the
fried egg had parted and a yellow eye gazed out, the pupil jerked around,
never fixing on anything. Ritsuko's own eyes took in every element of the
containment scheme. All were still functioning within normal parameters.
She set her scalpel aside and watched the eye looking around randomly,
dancing around as if everything were equally worthy of attention.
----------------------------------------
"What is that?" Admiral Adams asked as the walls of clouds sprang up
out of nowhere, around the formation. He glanced at the pilot writhing on
the floor. "Medical emergency!" he shouted, "Get the corpsmen to get him
to the Doc. Order the fleet to stand by for a storm." The Admiral
watched a pharmacists'-mate and a Marine carry the shuddering pilot away.
----------------------------------------
Ritsuko watched them carry Jeff and Nabiki into the sick bay, laying
the two kids on the beds surrounded by curtains, then restraining them.
She and Maya quickly checked them over. She could find nothing wrong,
other than that they were unconscious and needed some curare to ease the
muscle spasms. the Navy doctor injected them.
Maya was beside herself, "Sempai, what if they collapsed when the
creature woke up?"
Ritsuko froze for a moment. She hadn't noted the coincidence, now it
chilled her. "I - " she wanted to deny it, but that wasn't a good idea.
"Don't know, I don't - I _hope_ not."
----------------------------------------
The doctor glanced around. The distance from the armored truck to
the door was less than a yard and a half. The armor of the armored truck,
the doctor thought about not leaving the protection of the modified
Brink's truck. The troops were deployed and they would guard him with
their lives.
The blow knocked the heavy truck on its side, the doctor was thrown
against the side of the vehicle. The guards desperately struggled to lift
the door and close it. He heard the screams and shooting, but it went on
too long to assume the guards were winning. He didn't believe that they
had a chance, but it was their choice to die rather than run away.
Fools, he thought as the last guard climbed inside and managed to get
the door shut and shot the bolts. The doctor glanced at the man, looking
so confident, his pistol drawn.
"They'll be here in a moment," the guard told him.
If you believe they'll arrive in time . . . , he thought about the
man's foolishness. Twenty-five chemists, physicists, physicians,
biologists and surgeons had developed the process. Some died of old age,
some got a conscience and had `accidents`, the rest had started dying
recently, violently. No precaution or numbers of guards could overcome
the killer. There could only be two possibilities, one was under close
observation.
He heard the blows against the `floor` of the truck, the bottom armor
was the thinnest originally, so they'd added a layer of concrete and a
metal plate to catch the fragments.
One of the subjects is running around loose, he thought as he heard
the concrete shattering. The guard concentrated on that, intent on firing
as soon as the target broke through.
Water pouring in the air vents told them they had underestimated
their foe. The guard wrinkled his nose, reached down and collected some
of the water to taste. "Doc, that's sea water."
The doctor looked around desperately. Electricity came to mind, sea
water was conductive. He rushed to one of the tiny windows and looked out.
"We're in the Atlantic." It better be the Atlantic, if it's the Pacific
or even the Great Salt Lake the subjects are beyond _any_ restraint
possibilities, he thought. The doctor realized the armored truck was
underwater, he didn't know how deep.
"We were nowhere near -"
"I'm telling you we're underwater," the doctor shouted at the stupid
man. The water poured in until both men were bobbing in the water, then
it stopped pouring in.
"Don't drink the water!" The doctor suddenly realized, drinking sea
water caused all kinds of psychological and physiological problems. Their
enemy didn't want them dead, until they had gone mad.
Or killed each other, the doctor thought. He wondered if exhaustion,
madness or what would bring the end.
----------------------------------------
Shinji was swimming through the inky water. Flying was a better
description, the water was icy cold and it passed rapidly over his skin.
He knew that it was cold, but it didn't give him hypothermia, it should
have. The water and the darkness surrounded him, he shouldn't have been
able to see anything, but he was aware of the huge buildings approaching
him, basalt and twisted in strange angles and eye-watering shapes, some
appeared to almost disappear from this world from one angle, and having a
ponderous solidity from another.
Suddenly warm, white wings enclosed him. He turned to face Rei, she
hugged him tightly, the feathers tickled him. She smiled as they `flew`
through the water, past the alien buildings.
His target was in the distance. Amid the squat, sullen black and
gray buildings was what he had designed. It had never occurred to him
that he could build such a structure, building it underwater.
The faintly glowing crystal, the thin almost ethereal structures so
delicate and beautiful. He looked at Rei who was entranced with the
beauty of it.
He didn't know how anyone had built it, taken his design and - he
stopped. Someone _had_ seen this design, had taken it from him in fact,
he wondered if . . . if he was dreaming or hallucinating. He continued on
to the central towers, the tallest building in the gently glowing city.
The tower was like a needle, reaching up and up. He entered a window, now
he understood why the building had looked that way. Here everyone could
swim or fly, stairs were unnecessary. They swam up the open center,
passing the galleries that lined the inner surface of the tower.
The water grew lighter, slowly the diffuse sunlight overwhelmed the
faint glow of the crystalline walls. The surface of the water shown oddly,
the pair broke the surface and ascended through the air, as they ascended
the sun shown through the crystalline walls grew brighter, while the sky
darkened, becoming midnight blue, then almost purple, before becoming
black. Finally they reached the top of the tower. They stood on the
platform, leaned against the delicate seeming filigreed railing and stared
down at the huge crowd of people assembled across the world. They raised
their voices in shouts of triumph, then mastery over natural laws, their
hands raised to complete the great work, their hopes rose to be free of
the old gods, becoming like gods themselves, the entire race could ascend
to the next level. Abandon their cradle and walk among the gods and stars,
not as subjects or even equals, but so far beyond them that they no longer
mattered.
They cheered those among them who pushed the work forward. Asuka and
Raccoon stood with the builders, Ranma and Ranko with the philosophers.
Nabiki stood with many of those who supposed the efforts by supporting the
builders and philosophers. He looked up, and the stars were falling,
coming back to die in the oceans of their birthworld. Shinji led the
humans up and away from their home as the cities burned, as the oceans
steamed and boiled as the stars landed.
Some people had been left behind or had demanded to remain. Shinji's
heart went out to them, but he abandoned them to their fate as all the
others rose to glory and he led them there.
----------------------------------------
Love Comforteth, Like Sunshine After Rain
Ranma woke suddenly. He'd been in the firing range watching
Megorofeld-chan and Rei blasting away at some unmoving paper targets.
Harmless, unmoving targets. He hated guns. Then it felt like something
had hit him over the head. Now he, she actually, was sitting in the
crater in the side of a canal. She could feel the traces of ki energy
lingering. It was similar to his ki projection, although of a very
different base.
She stood up and looked up at the blue almost cloudless sky, a few
clouds were in a ring surrounding the sky directly overhead. Ranma, she
realized she was thinking about herself as Ranma rather than Ranko.
Interesting, she thought as she walked out. The place reminded her
of something, it was maddening how familiar it all seemed.
'Airen!' She heard.
Oh Kamis! Raccoon's and Asuka's nightmares. She looked in the
direction of the voice. The girl with the pants and shirt, with those
curves it probably wasn't a boy, was charging towards her on a bicycle.
What was shocking was the figure had no face. Not smoothed over
featureless skin, but a void like a hole all the way through, no matter
what direction you looked at it. The hair and neck were there, but no
face.
Ranma jumped over the onrushing bicycle. The girl was so shocked,
she ran into a wall, demolishing it.
Ranma stared at the girl, Maybe riding a bike is harder than I
thought, she thought as she moved off, very quickly.
'Ran-chan!' Another faceless female called at a charge.
Again Ranma dodged the outstretched arms. This one passed by again,
not expecting the dodge.
Weird, Ranma thought as she faced the pair. "Who are you two?" she
asked, she had a horrifying certainty about the answer.
"Cute Fiancee/Wife!" the two insisted, glared at each other, sparks
literally flew from where their eyes should have been.
Interesting, Ranma thought, No question about why _I_ don't remember
them, just a fight between them over _their_ identity. She continued on.
"Ranma prepare to die!"
She turned to watch another faceless one, the edges of this one's
head were visible, the ears and the regions hidden behind the hair of the
other two, he also saw it in the two girls, now that he could see them in
profile.
The boy dashed past the girls. He's serious, he's going to hit me
with that umbrella, Ranma thought, 'I'm going to kill you.' Rei or
Raccoon would have shot him by now. He glanced at the arguing girls and
mentally shrugged. So much for my `wife` and `cute fiancee`, Ranma
sidestepped the entire attack, hitting the boy in the solar plexus as he
passed. Ranma watched the attacker fold up as he continued. Ranma had
delivered a ki attack along with the fist blow. It had homed in on the
other boy's ki center and `detonated` there, disabling him without hurting
him much.
Ranma flogged his mind for the locations of the Tendo home from
Asuka's and Raccoon's descriptions. If Nab-chan was here, then she might
find an ally, or she might be Ritsuko-Nabiki or Asuka as Nab-chan.
_That_ would be interesting, she thought morosely.
----------------------------------------
Asuka raised her head, she thought someone had pounded it flat. All
around her was darkness. Her arms and legs hung down. Her body felt as
if it was lying on something. She tried to feel the edges of the platform,
but couldn't find it.
"Hello!" she shouted, and only because she knew she shouted did she
know that she'd made a noise. She didn't like the idea she couldn't see,
hear or even smell anything. She couldn't figure out how to stand up,
nothing to press against. She rolled off whatever had been supporting her.
She fell with a thud on the edge of something else, slid off and hit
something else on the way down. And something else, and another, and
another.
She was much bruised and battered when she finally struck the `floor`,
there she could stand up. She was surprised that the last thing she had
landed on had disappeared.
"Okay," she said, and again didn't hear herself in the darkness. No
source and no echo. The floor was completely smooth she discovered as she
scrambled around on her hands and knees, there were no seams, fittings or
irregularities. She stood again, her eyes could detect no difference in
the blackness around her.
No, she realized, That section is really dark red. Unless I'm
hallucinating.
She headed off in that direction. She knew this was a dream, she
hadn't the faintest idea what this dream was about. Dreams often made no
sense, but they were often internally consistent. She had to discover
what it was.
----------------------------------------
"Die sorcerer!"
"And who is that?" Ranma ran towards the sound of the shouting.
Ranma watched the blast of lightning that threw the tall, again
faceless, bokken-armed young man out of an alley. Ranma recognized the
attack from rescuing Rei from the Mi-Go.
Ranma charged around the corner and spotted a bewildered and bloodied
Raccoon, this one had a face. Ranko wanted to throw herself into the arms
of a familiar figure, but she stopped herself. He's hurt, Ranko told
herself. She pulled the first aid kit from Raccoon's coat pocket and
pressed the bandage against the cut on his head.
"You okay?" Ranko asked.
"No," Raccoon said. She was glad he had a face, that implied this
was the real one.
"We should get out of here!" Ranko suggested.
"I was on the Coral Sea . . . no, the Bennington," he murmured.
Ranko decided she wasn't going to get much help from Raccoon for a
little while.
"My pigtailed goddess!" the samurai-wannabe announced.
"Protect," Raccoon said and thrust his cane into her hands. She set
Raccoon down carefully and turned to face the amorous moron.
Ranma took the MacBane's Hanging Guard, narrowed her eyes at the
openly weeping boy.
"Oh, her beautiful eyes filled with such fire. Come to my arms my-"
The blow wasn't out of MacBane, Talhoffer or Hope, but it was one
Asuka had taught her. She was certain that just before contact, the stick
suddenly weighed tons. The man's eyes rolled back and his mouth opened
wide, but no sound came out. No mere sound could encompass all the
distress he felt.
Ranma carefully picked up Raccoon who was unsteady on his feet.
Ranma felt the boy's ki was scrambled completely, she wondered how he
could still breathe, let alone walk.
Ranko, you must have hit that jerk, Ranma thought, I'd _never_ do
that to another guy.
"Raccoon, can you teleport us?" Ranma asked, it was awkward trying to
hold the much larger boy up, and a fireman's carry was out of the question.
"Too addled, a few minutes." Raccoon actually had to stop walking to
speak. "We have to find Nabiki," he actually sounded more lucid, "She and
I were closer, maybe the main target. She's no dreamer."
"We have to get you to safety," Ranma said, "Your cane can fly."
Again they had to stop. "Unwrap the hand grip, rope," Raccoon
suggested.
"Oh, tie you up," Ranma told him, "I'm not that kind of girl." Ranma
shook her head when Raccoon didn't comprehend.
'Ranma die!' Ranma knew he couldn't outrun that idiot with Raccoon
in tow. She felt the ki build up, suddenly Ranma had an idea. "Raccoon,
trust me," Ranma told him, "This is probably going to hurt." She swung
Raccoon in front and let her ki flow into him as filaments, making paths,
like Asuka 'shaping' his body during training. The ball exploded from the
faceless boy's hands. Ranma watched it hit Raccoon, felt it drawn along
the paths into the vast voids where he `kept` his mana reserves.
Raccoon stood up straighter. "That's better than coffee." Suddenly
the charging boy's arms were windmilling and his feet lost traction.
Ranma lifted a manhole cover. Raccoon somehow deposited the man into the
open manhole, and Ranma resealed it.
'Ahhh - ahhh! Bweeee!' came from below.
"Let's get out of here," Ranko said as she laughed. The pair ran out
of the alley.
----------------------------------------
Nabiki stared up at the unforgiving sky, even with her eyes closed,
the sun drove icepicks into her brain. She couldn't even manage to turn
over to get out of the sun. Forget standing up, she thought, I can't even
turn my head.
She heard voices approaching, both familiar. She couldn't shout for
help, so she whispered as forcefully as she could, "Help! Help!"
Pathetic, she thought.
"Here she is," the voice said.
"Is that English?" Ranma leaned over her, in her female form. A
moment later Raccoon leaned into her field of view.
He looks fine, the _rat_!_ she thought.
"Miss Tendo, we're going to shoot you," Raccoon told her, "It worked
on me, but Ranko will use smaller charges and an interval between to check
-"
'SWEETO!' she heard and couldn't even flinch. Raccoon drew and fired
his .45, then walked out of her view and fired several more times. He
walked back in view replacing his .45 in his coat.
"To check the progress of revivification."
Her eyes focused on the small gold ball forming between Ranko's hands.
Then it hit her in the stomach.
She rolled up into a ball. "That hurts!" she shouted at them.
"Hey it worked," Ranko said proudly.
She was debating hitting them sequentially or simultaneously.
"What did you do to my sister you pervert?!" A too familiar voice,
"Ranma you idiot."
Nabiki grinned as she saw the faceless girl advancing with a mallet
and an aura of affronted righteousness. The LeMat came out smoothly and
the first shot blew the mallet right out of her hands. "I was having mad
passionate sex with both of them, with both of them. Imagine Ranma as a
girl, suddenly a little hot water. Oh my!" Nabiki wished the girl had a
face to have an expression on, it would have been priceless. "Since
you'll never produce grandchildren for father, someone has to." She
turned her back on the stunned girl and took the hands of the two equally
stunned pilots and led them away. "Oh, I'll have to pay later, I seem to
have forgotten my wallet."
"We'll take it off our tab for last Thursday," Raccoon said, Ranko
was completely lost or shocked. "I'll never think of lamb chops the same
way again."
"Poof!" Ranko added as helpfully as she could, without exploding
herself.
A moment later they were across town on another high roof.
"How'd . . . magic," Nabiki said.
"Passionate sex with lamb chops?" Ranko demanded.
"You obviously don't remember my sister." Then Nabiki covered her
mouth to hide her laughter.
"I figured it out," Raccoon said, "When you wound up in Berlin and
Ranma wound up in Boston, I had a horrible feeling my experience was an
accurate description. I think this indicates that NERV didn't really win.
Nearly indestructible and insane."
"Happosai died rather thoroughly," Nabiki said. She didn't like the
implication that her home was the result of a Great Old One victory and
amalgamation.
"Will he stay that way?"
"We'd better find Ranma," Ranko said, "He'll get into all kinds of
trouble without us."
Raccoon slapped his head. "Good grief! I'm still not thinking
clearly. Do you know where he is?"
"Approximately, I'll go find him. You and Nabiki make sure she's
okay." Ranko nodded at Nabiki.
Ranko moved out, before she could yell at them that Ranma and Ranko
were the same. Raccoon had pulled a feline looking hand puppet from his
coat pocket with a businesslike expression. He placed it on her head.
"Meow." Then on her shoulder. "Meow." Then on her stomach.
"Merraawww!" Then he took the puppet off his hand, ignoring Nabiki's
frown as he replaced it in his pocket.
"Cat scan shows clean," he told her. Mayhem was frustrated by
Ranma's arrival.
"Ranko said you were loading for me," he said.
"Where is she?" Raccoon demanded.
"Scouting ahead," Ranma said.
"With the loonies this town abounds in, you let her go off by
herself?!" Raccoon shouted back, confronting Ranma.
"Hey, that's her problem," Ranma said offhandedly, "She can take care
of herself better than you two can. If she gets in trouble, she'll handle
it."
"Why you callous, unthinking - " Raccoon advanced with murder in his
eye.
"_HOLD_IT_!_" Nabiki had had enough. "You two will _not_ kill each
other over Ranko!"
"Well he - !" they said.
"_ZIP_IT_!_" Nabiki shouted, "Ranma and Ranko are the same person."
"Raccoon . . . quit laughing for a second and give Nab-chan your
glasses," Ranma said, "She needs them more than you do."
"I concur," Raccoon said as handed the glasses to Ranma. Nabiki's
glare prevented him from putting them on her. Between laughs he told her,
"Ranko is shorter, red headed, and her pectorals are prominent in a very
different way. Wider hips and narrower shoulders."
"I can sing better," Ranma added.
"I've never heard either of you sing," Raccoon commented as he
brought himself under control and replaced his glasses, "Considering how
lovely Rei-san's singing voice is, and how similar she and Ranko sound, I
think she should be a lovely singer."
"I guess she never had proper training," Ranma commented, "Asuka says
everything is training."
"HOLD IT!" Nabiki shouted, "What are you two morons doing?" She was
exasperated, she wanted a bath and a chance to lie down. She still felt
awful, and these idiots were acting completely nuts.
"Just waiting for you to tell us where to go," Ranma said innocently.
"Don't tempt me," Nabiki growled, "We can't go home."
"Why not?" Ranma asked, "We toss everybody except . . . " Ranma
trailed off.
"Kasumi?" Raccoon asked.
"Yeah her," Ranma said.
Nabiki wasn't comfortable with that, Kasumi was as guilty as Akane
and Soun in the debacle. She didn't really want to set foot in that house
again, as satisfying as letting Raccoon and Ranma loose on them without
limits would be. She shuddered. No, I don't want to do that, even of
this _is_ just a dream, she thought.
"I think we'd better find lodging elsewhere," she suggested.
"How about a Love Hotel?" Ranma suggested, "No one would ever look
for us there."
It took several minutes for Nabiki to bring her coughing under
control. Ranma and Raccoon arguing about Ranko didn't help.
----------------------------------------
A Crown Is Merely A Hat That Lets The Rain In
"Have you found Asuka?" Ranma asked Raccoon, he was worried. If she
isn't _here_ where is she? he wondered
"Are you getting sweet on her?"
"No sweeter than you are on Raccoon!" Ranma shot back at Nabiki.
"Nothing, out for 100 miles," Raccoon said as he stood up.
Nabiki pulled the gag off Gosunkugi, she'd discovered it was hard to
gag someone who didn't have an apparent mouth.
Gos immediately began pelting the `wizard` with questions. "It's all
rubbish," Raccoon told the wannabe, "If you need it to cast spells, you
aren't doing magic."
Gos was shocked, he'd only let them raid his supplies in order to get
`higher wisdom`.
Actually because I threatened him and Raccoon intimidated him, Nabiki
thought. Gos had been shocked that Raccoon hadn't asked for any of the
more rare or `mystic` ingredients, so was Nabiki.
"So why are we all here, and she isn't?" Ranma asked.
"I don't know. She could also be in a heavily shielded location,
although exactly how someone would have that kind of shielding, I don't
know. Japan doesn't have the mineral reserves for that kind of shielding
to occur naturally."
"She might not have come here," Nabiki said, "Gos-chan, you can go."
The boy scrambled away. "I lived here. I don't know why Ranma is here he
... . . "
"Arrived in a crater, I _can_ guess what happened," Ranma said.
Nabiki knew her guarded expression told him that she was _still_
hiding a fair amount from him.
She could see he wanted to trust her. "Tell me when you can," he
told her.
The darkening sky clearly showed they would have to start thanking
about shelter. She heard Ranma's stomach growl. And food, she thought.
----------------------------------------
Ranma didn't even bother to hide his concern. He was a bit hungry,
but overall just fine. Raccoon and Nab-chan were both rocky. "What were
you two doing?"
"We'd recovered the Angel," Nab-chan said, "We'd gotten it aboard . .
... I can't remember much after that."
"Cthulhu's daughter," Raccoon said, "Legends have it that if he is
ever truly killed, he will be reborn in her."
"That tiny thing?" Nab-chan asked, then reeled. Raccoon and Ranma
moved, but not before she caught herself. "I'm fine, just tired."
"What about those . . . rest . . . aur . . . rants?" The glare from
the pair slowed Ranma's speech. "Okay, bad idea, don't kick me," he said,
"There have to be eateries beside those two."
"There are, but prices are, well, expensive," Nab-chan said.
"How expensive?" Ranma asked.
"In our time, gold is $40 per ounce, in this time, gold is about $400
and prices are relatively higher as well," Raccoon explained, "Don't worry,
I've got it covered."
"How?" Nab-chan asked.
"A gold double eagle is always valuable," Raccoon tiredly explained.
----------------------------------------
The meal was spartan, Nabiki at nervous about the meal and the money
for one week in the hostel, for all three of them, the hostel was also
willing to supply meals for work. She had little doubt that they would be
able to return `home`, but she was unwilling to do that. And neither boy
would argue, so _she_ wasn't going to be earning her meals, instead she
was making demands on their resources. The fact that nobody had a face
bothered her terribly, but it also bothered her she wasn't contributing.
Imagine, she thought, The Ice Queen of Furikan feeling bad about
freeloading off two swains. She had to admit her previous `freeloading`
contributed money to the household. She'd gotten used to earning her keep
directly. The room, really just a big closet, and cot weren't too private.
Most of the guests were backpackers traveling through Tokyo. She lay
alone in her closet, she'd hidden the LeMat, she was terrified it would be
discovered. She also wondered about Ranma and Raccoon, and the
Nerimaniacs, including her dear little sister.
Are those two safe? she wondered, How much trouble will they be in,
if they defend themselves? She also wondered about Asuka. She didn't
know what to do about the missing girl, or Rei or Shinji. Perhaps they
weren't drawn in, she considered, Only Ranma came with us because of his
connection to us.
She didn't know, the worries chased themselves until she fell into an
exhausted sleep.
----------------------------------------
Sammi spotted Rei nodding off in the infirmary room with Asuka. She
knew Rei wasn't crying, but she was tearing herself up inside. "Rei-chan,
are you all right?" she said as she stuck her head in the room.
"Yes, Kraznyzamok-san." Rei turned her head, remained seated with
her hands clasped in her lap.
"I don't think Asuka would approve of you making yourself sick
sitting up watching her." Rei gave her a curious look.
"With Asuka, Shinji and Ranma unconscious, you are the only one
available to defend the rest of us. To pilot the EVA if necessary."
Rei lowered her head. Sammi knew Rei saw the logic. "Mein
Grosfeldmarschall would want the world protected."
"But you're lonely and worried," Sammi told her, Rei was shocked by
this. "I feel the same, I'm supposed to be protecting them and they just
collapsed. Nobody knows why, and no one knows when they'll recover,"
Sammi explained.
"I will accompany you," Rei said, standing up, kissed Asuka's
forehead and followed Sammi out of the infirmary, and to Sammi's car.
"You shouldn't feel guilty that you weren't affected as they were."
"I am not . . . one of them." Rei said.
Sammi knew how terrible that made Rei feel, the others had gone out
of their way to make Rei part of their circle. Even Asuka and her
abrasive ways also included Rei in her orbit. Now Rei was again alone,
Sammi could easily guess how it made her feel. Rei loved a certain set
reality, she'd adapt to anything as long as it was regular. A string of
constant insults from Asuka was actually soothing to Rei. Sammi had never
told Asuka, because the girl needed to vent, and Rei made a convenient
target and the regularity of that verbal abuse gave Rei a comforting
feeling of consistency.
Now she was suddenly alone again, she had to feel completely lost,
and every seeming sense of normality would accentuate how different the
situation was. Sammi could establish a new paradigm to allow the girl a
new puzzle to solve, rather than brood on what was lost.
The fact _you're_ terribly lonely has nothing to do with it, she
accused herself, she smirked. Erin had likewise invited herself to stay
at Sammi's, 'So they'll only have to call you.' She knew the kids would
be mortified that a bunch of adults were reacting this way about them.
She also knew that the collapse was being kept from the public. Being
down to one pilot invited an attack by anyone who could throw together a
heavy assault force. The remnants of the last attack might be enough to
defeat Rei in Unit 00. What about Rei in Unit 02 or 01? Sammi wondered,
she decided that scheduling the testing would be a good idea, telling Rei
to keep in mind that she was protecting Asuka and Shinji respectively
would enhance synchronization.
Sammi let Rei into the lower level. "You can take any room, I won't
tell."
Rei nodded and headed to one of the `guest` rooms. She heard the
shower go on, and she knew Rei would be a while. Rei was scrupulous about
keeping herself clean. Sammi took the time to brew some tea. She dug out
the last of the cake that Jeff had baked before he left. She realized
she'd gotten a little spoiled. If Jeff didn't cook, then Asuka insisted,
later, if Asuka didn't prevent it, Ranma did. She had their skill, she'd
be cooking for Rei and Erin, Hopefully not long.
She heard the shower cut off, Sammi gave Rei some time to dry herself
and get dressed.
Sammi carried the tea tray downstairs, then remembered Rei's habits
and returned to her own room and collected a clean robe. It was more a
serape with a belt, without seams that itched and abraded her skin. This
will cover Rei like a tent, Sammi lamented as she picked up the tea tray
with one arm, the robe draped over her other arm. As she entered, Rei sat
on the bed, on a towel, drying her hair with another towel. She was
blissfully unashamed of her nakedness.
"You might find this comfortable," Sammi said as she laid the robe
next to Rei and set the tea tray on the table. Rei stared at the robe,
reaching out and touching it warily, then running her hand over the key
seams. Sammi hid her smile as she poured tea for both of them.
Nope, no seams or other hidden scratchers, Sammi thought as she
offered Rei a mug of tea.
Rei sniffed, sipped.
That too is just how you like it, strong and sweet with just a little
milk, Sammi thought as she smiled at the girl as she climbed into the robe,
it did look like Rei had her head out of a small tent.
"Thank you," Rei said quietly.
"It isn't your fault that you weren't affected and they were," Sammi
told her. Rei had fallen like the other pilots, but a few moments later,
she'd been up and around as if nothing had happened. Sammi had only
suffered a moment of dizziness. The other guards had seemingly been
unscathed, but there were reports of outbreaks of violence, insanity,
breakdowns of authority. The governments were getting a handle on the
rioting and other disruptions. Little had occurred near NERV.
Rei finished her tea, stared at the cup.
"You are allowed to ask for more, but you have to ask," Sammi told
her.
"More please," Rei said as she handed the mug back after making sure
the handle was towards Sammi. Sammi refilled it and handed it back, the
handle of the mug towards Rei. Sammi could see the telltale signs that
Rei was sleepy. In many ways Rei was as stubborn as Ranma. She'd insist
she was fine long beyond the time she should have let go.
The other pilots aren't much better, Sammi reminded herself. She
took the mug from Rei and turned down the bed. "Rest," her tone was
gentle, but Rei recognized it was an order.
Rei obediently let Sammi tuck her in and she was out like a light.
That was one thing Sammi couldn't do. She closed the door quietly and
headed back upstairs. She'd have Erin collect Rei's stuff, one jeep load
would be sufficient. She hoped the others recovered quickly, Rei needed
them as much as the world did. Sammi also decided it would be necessary
to ask Ramsey to contact the Azores mission and discover what was
happening there.
----------------------------------------
The Price That Life Exacts
Disclaimer:
I do not own any of the characters from Ranma 1 / 2, Neon Genesis
Evangelion, Ah My Goddess, or the Lovecraft Cycle involved in these
stories.
C&C, MSTs are welcome
E-mail: dan_s.comments@worldnet.att.net
Stories are available in Rich Text Format and HTML at:
http://home.att.net/~danjess.gibson
(these are the most updated versions)
Stories are available in Plain ASCII at:
http://archives.eyrie.org/anime/Ranma/Sic-Semper-Morituri/
ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/archive/anime-fan-works/Ranma/Sic-Semper-Morituri/
http://www.cs.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/ftp/archive/anime-fan-works/Ranma/type/Sic-Semper-Morituri
(these are the original versions)
My Little Spark Of Courage Dies
The descent continued uneventfully. The occasional strange fish
happened into their view, but even sharks steered clear of the huge war
machine.
"You getting this?" Jeff asked Ritsuko as a strange glowing sheet
moved past the EVA's eyes.
"Yes, it's beautiful," Ritsuko said.
Bet you wish now you'd gone and looked, he thought, A shoggoth could
probably operate at this depth. `Chasing` these fish was also to keep
everybody awake, the dreams dreamt within an EVA were not to be believed.
The hours and the fathoms ticked by. Nabiki steadily swam the EVA
unvarying deeper, the cable trailing out behind them.
"I should have brought a deck of cards." The boredom pushed Nabiki
to speak. He could hear the strain in her voice, he didn't need the
conversation blocks or the medical readouts.
"Against you two sharks?" Madison exclaimed, "Not a chance."
"I haven't played any games on board," Jeff replied haughtily.
"Word gets around," Madison replied.
"The bottom's coming up, Raccoon," Nabiki said, "Take over."
"Got it," Jeff said as he closed his eyes and let his body drift away.
"Suit up," Madison said, "These plugsuits really need a heater."
"The warm fluid will help," Maya countered, "But it won't prevent
hypothermia totally."
"So that means I have to hurry," Nabiki said, "That's not a problem."
Jeff saw the ruins of huge buildings appearing. The angles of the
buildings were alien to the human mind. Basalt slabs and blocks piled
atop one another, none of the careful interlocking that appeared on some
similar human structures. Merely mass and gravity to hold the structure
together.
"Some modesty would be nice," Nabiki complained.
"That's not what you said earlier," Maya teased.
"And how is your suit feeling?" Nabiki asked.
"Children!" Ritsuko called over the tether line, the volume causing
her voice to distort, "We have a job to do."
The buildings were bare of coral, weeds, any kind of the growths that
studded the nearby rocks and cliffs in profusion.
"Jeff, You're slightly off course, about 4000 meters south-
southeast," Ritsuko said.
"Something's wrong here," Jeff said distantly, "This city was
recently inhabited, something has been using this place. Now there's
nothing here."
"What are you talking about?" Madison asked.
"The place is clean, there aren't fish all over the place," Jeff said,
"So it was recently used. No debris of a panic. Maybe they're all at the
temple. I don't like it."
"At this depth, maybe there isn't much marine life," Ritsuko said.
Jeff didn't want to explain how he knew that was wrong. "Doctor,
life finds a way. Be fruitful and multiply is built into everything that
lives. This place was evacuated, and recently."
He could see she'd connected the dots, and was as worried as he was.
"Proceed with caution," she urged. The others' heart and breathing rates
were elevated.
Jeff checked the other instruments, they were all showing some
erratic readings, from the magnetic compass to temperature meters. The
light from the EVA's eyes illuminated several columns, all covered with
carvings of things that were not human, and some that made his eyes water
just examining them. "The temple is this way." He had an awful feeling
about the area, and it was worst in that direction.
"I'm ready to go," Nabiki told him, the fear block belying her
confident tone.
"This place, do you think it was Atlantis?" Madison asked.
"No, Cuba is the northern edge of Atlantis, this place is too old.
Maybe an Elder Thing city. Whoever built it to last and when they pulled
out, someone else moved in." He thought that would satisfy most of them,
he didn't want to reveal what he remembered, and had no idea where he
remembered it from, and the evidence he saw in some of the frescoes
supported it. Neither Humanity nor the Elder Things built this place, the
Flying Polyps had. The great cities of basalt towers, he'd never heard of
any Great Old One worshiped or respected by those creatures. They warred
with everyone and everything. He wondered if something deliberately sank
the city or if normal geological processes simply did their work. He
wondered if they still lingered, sealed away awaiting release.
"Keep an eye out for Burmashave signs."
"Don't stick your head out, of you safe little shack, it might go
home, as a monster's snack, Burmashave," Jeff suggested.
"Yeah, but we'd never be able to read them," Madison complained.
"What are you talking about? That's what's printed over there," Jeff
pointed and replied, "Properly translated of course."
"You're joking!" Maya said, aghast, peered at the line of pillars.
"Whatever gave you that idea?" Jeff asked.
"Your lips are moving," Nabiki said, "It's a sea story."
The temple that loomed out of the dark sea wasn't the source of the
wrongness.
"Oh Kamis!" Nabiki gasped, more disgusted then fearful. The
architecture was very different, the carvings and frescoes were obscene,
alien things both eating and coupling with each other, or both. Jeff cut
Madison and Maya's external view. He didn't bother cutting Nabiki's, she
was going out there, maybe.
"I think we found the back way in," Jeff said, "Do we tunnel through
or send someone out?"
"I'm ready to go," Nabiki said, he could see she was lying. He was
more inclined to tear the building apart, rather than expose anyone to
what he was seeing. Maybe she's immune, he thought, Like against the
Inspector.
And feeling, he thought, he could feel something out there. Not as
bad as Nyarlathotep, but noticeable enough to have guided him to this
entrance. Maya didn't seem to feel it, from the vital signs neither
Nabiki nor Madison felt it. He couldn't imagine they're feeling it and
not reacting. For him it had had begun as a tickle and was building to a
full-body itch from the worst rash he'd ever had.
"Jeff, are you all right?" Ritsuko asked, he noted his accelerated
heart rate and breathing.
"I can feel it, this place."
"Nabiki just exited the plug," Madison reported, "All systems appear
to be functioning normally. This is weird, the pressure out there is
unbelievable."
"Everything is in a liquid, us, the EVA, the pressure is equalized,
the pressure gradient is almost nothing," Ritsuko explained.
"Nabiki, give a shout if you need anything," Jeff told their intrepid
explorer. She wasn't sending back any visuals, although her life support
telemetry was coming in clear.
He wondered how she could stand it, it was all he could do not to
reel her back in and tear the place to pieces, then go back and demolish
the entire city. The entire place was _wretched_and_vile_._ Every sense,
thought and instinct told him so. He had the power to make it right, to
wipe it clean, and no one could stop him. Except himself.
"You've got barfbags?" Nabiki asked, "The decor leaves a lot to be
desired. Seriously, keep those fish away from me. I feel kind of
unprotected out here."
He moved the EVA closer, the fish scattered. They're smarter than I
am, he thought, as he searched the area for threats.
"Keep giving us updates," Maya told her.
Jeff glanced around, the targets he'd distantly sensed hadn't closed
in. The tiny figure trailing what appeared to be a hair-thin line
disappeared into a small cleft in the rock. His instinct was to charge in
ahead of her, a gentleman didn't send a lady into danger and combat first.
He released two glaives and two prog knives, one mismatched pain in the
foremost hands and the other into the rearmost. He smirked about the
changes Langley had insisted on, the original design couldn't handle this
depth.
In the background, he heard Maya and Nabiki conversing in low tones,
he concentrated on any threat to the girl and was prepared to charge in.
"If this is the tropics? Why's the water so cold?" Nabiki complained.
"All water is cold this deep," Madison said, "I'll explain more on
the way up."
"Oh good, a lecture. Raccoon hasn't given one, I thought I'd
escape," Nabiki said.
"Maybe he's sick. No, he's normal," Maya said.
"Compare to what?" Nabiki asked.
"Americans. Your temperature is down a whole degree," Maya warned,
"You'd better hurry."
"If you were looking at what _I'm_ seeing," Nabiki replied, "Your
blood would freeze too. I almost wish I had a camera. There - these . . .
things are hideous, they're also glowing, light in here almost makes it
worse."
"Have you encountered anything else, anything alive?" Madison asked.
"Either these things _are_ alive, or lava lamps are a Cthulhoid
plot," Nabiki replied, "No guards, no worshipers, no traps either. I'm
worried."
"Can you bring one with?" Maya asked.
"Are you kidding?" Nabiki shouted in outrage, "I don't want to be
near them, let alone touch them." Nabiki's tone changed, "Raccoon . . .
you said you could feel - well the thing . . . you can sense it?" He
didn't need his Synthesia to sense her distress and loathing.
"Yes."
"Like . . . ants, crawling all over your body, _under_ your skin and
in your guts?"
"Yes," Jeff could see her growing panic.
"Well I've got it," Nabiki said.
"Get clear. I'll be there in a moment." Jeff prepared to tear the
stone temple apart. His eagerness to destroy disconcerted him.
"No, I mean I've got it," Nabiki said, "Madison, you go ride with
Maya, or Maya you go ride in back with Madison."
"Are you -?" Maya began.
"Just DO IT!" Nabiki thundered back, "Pilots are immune to close
contact with - these things. The EVA will protect you."
"Maya," Madison told her, "I'll come get you, Davis prep her for a
dive."
"Can you hold your breath?" Maya asked, "There's only one spare
mask." Jeff got the mask settled on Maya, then began checking the
containment rig.
"Yes, whatever this L.C.L. is, it seems to bypass everything I ever
learned about deep diving. Besides, I want the record for the deepest
free dive," he tried to sound jaunty. Jeff could see the fear in his
voice.
They're all afraid, and all I want to do is _attack_, he thought,
tried to concentrate on te job.
"Before you get too heroic, I can loop the back to give you a very
short path surrounded by an AT field tube. Ritsuko cut the top side comm
links, unplug them."
"Why?"
"Because I'm going to generate an AT-field and I don't want the power
surge to blow out communications. When the power drain drops, reconnect."
"We're on it," Ritsuko told them, then vanished.
"Hurry up," Nabiki insisted, horror warred with disgust in her voice.
Jeff helped Maya open the plug hatch. Madison was waiting, hovering
in the middle of the L.C.L. filled tube. "Don't touch the walls," he
warned.
"Why not?" Madison asked, he seemed shocked he could still be `heard`.
"We use AT fields to disintegrate the enemy. What would one do to a
human in a conductive medium, I'd rather not find out."
"Hurry up!" Nabiki added desperately, her voice rising and cracking
with the strain. Maya and Madison increased their pace.
"Is it waking up?" Jeff asked, ready to reploy the field and go to
combat mode. All he could see was Nabiki, not anything she was carrying
or dragging, he wondered if it was insubstantial or somehow invisible.
"No! I just want this over with!" she shouted at the edge of
hysteria.
Jeff finished readying the containment cage. Maya and Madison were
safely sealing in the rear plug before Nabiki approached the hatch,
slipping her cargo into the cage with tightly controlled gestures
performed as practiced ritual, like a tea ceremony. She glanced at him as
she finished, the expression . . . the disintegrating mask of self-control
warned him she was past her breaking point. She tore off her gloves and
threw them inside the containment rig.
The figure that practically threw herself at Jeff and wrapped her
arms and legs around him was shrieking uncontrollably. He suspected the
shuddering wasn't due to the cold. He sealed the hatch, checked the
containment rig and settled himself and Nabiki into the command chair
before he removed her face mask. He wrapped his arms around the shivering
girl, she immediately fell silent. He began the slow accent, he'd already
decided to expedite the rise to the surface. He monitored the containment
and didn't return the prog knives to their housings like he did with the
glaives. If it tried to escape, orders and no orders, he was going to
slice it to pieces.
"It's okay, Nab-chan," he told her as he stroked her hair, "You did
it, you're safe now." She burrowed into his arms but said nothing.
----------------------------------------
Deus Ex Machinations
"This is it?" Ritsuko stared down at 'it', the Angel the pilots had
captured. "It looks like a fried egg," Ritsuko commented. It looked like
a gray fried egg, an amorphous, slowly changing blob and a large off
center mass.
"Well, that's it," Nabiki rasped defensively, pulling the blanket
more tightly around her. Her voice hadn't fully recovered from her
earlier screaming fit.
Ritsuko softened her tone and expression, "I know that was what you
found, and that you took the risk to bring it back. I was expecting
something more impressive."
"That's all that there was," Nabiki said softly, drawing her knees to
her chest and shivering again, remembering touching the thing with her
gloved hands, feeling the awareness of a malevolent intelligence contained
in the tiny mass of corruption. She'd wanted to kill it with her bare
hands, but managed to follow orders. Worse was the screaming fear that
made a mockery of 'Tendo Nabiki, Ice Queen and Master of All She Surveys'.
All she'd surveyed was this awful _thing_ duty demanded she return to
Rit-chan. And the screaming _need_ for human contact, she would have done
_anything_ to feel Rit-chan's, Ranma's, or Raccoon's arms around her,
telling her she was safe, telling her she'd done a good job, that she'd
been a good girl. Such a show of weakness terrified her, that she'd
gotten all she needed and more without any request for compensation
worried her only slightly less. In the old days anyone would have made
her pay dearly just to keep the secret, leaving out payment for services
rendered. She knew none of those three would take advantage, her health
and safety was payment enough. But that was thought, the aching emptiness
had driven out all thought and emotion. Only the goal had remained.
She hadn't handled it well.
Whatever Ritsuko learned that helped them kill these things would be
welcome. "No golden trinkets, or jewelry. Just that," Nabiki replied.
"Where's Jeff?" Ritsuko asked.
"Getting his ribs taped," Nabiki barely said, "I didn't want to let
go, I didn't guess my own strength, as I should have." I didn't _want_ to
let go, even when we were back aboard the carrier, she thought, full of
shame at her weakness, terrified it could be used against her.
"I doubt you hurt him," Ritsuko reassured her, "Or he would have said
something."
"While comforting a terrified girl?" Nabiki asked archly, "You have
_got_ to be kidding!" She shuddered again at the memory, she'd already
braced herself for the nightmares to follow.
Ritsuko considered, "You're right."
She turned back to the `sample`
----------------------------------------
"There," the doctor finished taping his ribs as Jeff sat on the
infirmary's examining table. "I'd stay away from your girlfriend,
nothing's broken but she popped a rib and bruised four others. Does it
hurt?"
"Only when I breathe. Ha," Jeff replied as he slipped off the table
and gingerly pulled his shirt back on, "Thanks, Doc." Jeff glanced at the
Marine standing at attention at the entrance, trying _not_ to stare. Jeff
ignored it, it was just a reminder of why he should always keep his shirt
on. And they think I'm just modest, he thought, Ha! "How much trouble am
I in Corporal?"
The man snapped to attention. "No trouble, sir. The Admiral just
wants to speak with you."
Jeff didn't like that, any details about holding the Angel would
better be addressed by Rit-ch - Ritsuko, or Maya. Who is either getting
drunk with Madison, or hiding under her bed, Jeff thought, then he
considered Ritsuko with a new specimen, Yeah. I _am_ the only person he
can talk to, he thought. Just breathing hurt, walking pushed him to his
limits, but Nabiki had faced the Great Old One alone. He wasn't going to
let on how badly she had hurt him. He remembered his first contact with
Chaugnar Faugn, that had been through the buffers of the EVA, not handling
it with gloved hands. He also had to admit he'd been flattered, having a
pretty girl curled up in his lap and hugging him until his ribs creaked
because of her certainty that he could protect her life and sanity.
He was still tying his tie when he was issued onto the bridge and
into the Admiral's presence.
"Mister Davis," Admiral Adams acknowledged his presence, and
dismissed the Marine with a wave, he continued to stare out the bridge
windows. "We're on course for Boston. We'll drop your team and proceed
to Norfolk for repairs."
"Sorry about the dents," Jeff told him. He glanced out the bridge
windows. The American battlegroup was arrayed around them. Further out,
the British group was pacing them. The French and Spanish were beyond the
horizon.
"Can't be helped," Adams replied, "What about containing that thing,
what danger to the ship?"
"It's Cthylla, the daughter of Cthulhu, not one of the most
extensively described entities. But typically, mass has a great influence
on power. Something that small shouldn't be very powerful itself. Castor
and Pollux were destroyed by shoggoths who invaded. If you keep the
general vigilance and the speed up, we should be all right. It's her
guard I'm worried about."
"Miss Tendo said there weren't any," Adams replied.
"That's what I mean. If Cthulhu were ever truly destroyed, he'd be
reborn in Cthylla's womb. If that was my ultimate insurance policy, I
wouldn't leave it sitting unguarded. There are lots of things besides the
occasional human in the deep waters."
----------------------------------------
Ritsuko found herself shaking. Not even the Elder Things had been
able to capture a Great Old One. Killed Lesser Ones, but not capture one.
She'd approached this as carefully as she could. Photos, non-invasive
tests were all done. But she was going to have to extract a sample,
either by syringe, or cutting it loose. The creature was still
unresponsive, as if it were asleep, and it might remain so, until she made
her extraction. Then anything might happen.
"Ah, Maya, I'm glad to see you up and around," Ritsuko told her
arriving assistant, "I'm about to begin a closer examination."
"Shouldn't we wait until it's in Boston? Sempai?" Maya said as she
approached.
"Don't worry, the containment system will hold it," Ritsuko assured
her.
"The eye opened!" Maya gasped and jumped back.
Ritsuko was a good deal less willing to proceed. The `yolk` of the
fried egg had parted and a yellow eye gazed out, the pupil jerked around,
never fixing on anything. Ritsuko's own eyes took in every element of the
containment scheme. All were still functioning within normal parameters.
She set her scalpel aside and watched the eye looking around randomly,
dancing around as if everything were equally worthy of attention.
----------------------------------------
"What is that?" Admiral Adams asked as the walls of clouds sprang up
out of nowhere, around the formation. He glanced at the pilot writhing on
the floor. "Medical emergency!" he shouted, "Get the corpsmen to get him
to the Doc. Order the fleet to stand by for a storm." The Admiral
watched a pharmacists'-mate and a Marine carry the shuddering pilot away.
----------------------------------------
Ritsuko watched them carry Jeff and Nabiki into the sick bay, laying
the two kids on the beds surrounded by curtains, then restraining them.
She and Maya quickly checked them over. She could find nothing wrong,
other than that they were unconscious and needed some curare to ease the
muscle spasms. the Navy doctor injected them.
Maya was beside herself, "Sempai, what if they collapsed when the
creature woke up?"
Ritsuko froze for a moment. She hadn't noted the coincidence, now it
chilled her. "I - " she wanted to deny it, but that wasn't a good idea.
"Don't know, I don't - I _hope_ not."
----------------------------------------
The doctor glanced around. The distance from the armored truck to
the door was less than a yard and a half. The armor of the armored truck,
the doctor thought about not leaving the protection of the modified
Brink's truck. The troops were deployed and they would guard him with
their lives.
The blow knocked the heavy truck on its side, the doctor was thrown
against the side of the vehicle. The guards desperately struggled to lift
the door and close it. He heard the screams and shooting, but it went on
too long to assume the guards were winning. He didn't believe that they
had a chance, but it was their choice to die rather than run away.
Fools, he thought as the last guard climbed inside and managed to get
the door shut and shot the bolts. The doctor glanced at the man, looking
so confident, his pistol drawn.
"They'll be here in a moment," the guard told him.
If you believe they'll arrive in time . . . , he thought about the
man's foolishness. Twenty-five chemists, physicists, physicians,
biologists and surgeons had developed the process. Some died of old age,
some got a conscience and had `accidents`, the rest had started dying
recently, violently. No precaution or numbers of guards could overcome
the killer. There could only be two possibilities, one was under close
observation.
He heard the blows against the `floor` of the truck, the bottom armor
was the thinnest originally, so they'd added a layer of concrete and a
metal plate to catch the fragments.
One of the subjects is running around loose, he thought as he heard
the concrete shattering. The guard concentrated on that, intent on firing
as soon as the target broke through.
Water pouring in the air vents told them they had underestimated
their foe. The guard wrinkled his nose, reached down and collected some
of the water to taste. "Doc, that's sea water."
The doctor looked around desperately. Electricity came to mind, sea
water was conductive. He rushed to one of the tiny windows and looked out.
"We're in the Atlantic." It better be the Atlantic, if it's the Pacific
or even the Great Salt Lake the subjects are beyond _any_ restraint
possibilities, he thought. The doctor realized the armored truck was
underwater, he didn't know how deep.
"We were nowhere near -"
"I'm telling you we're underwater," the doctor shouted at the stupid
man. The water poured in until both men were bobbing in the water, then
it stopped pouring in.
"Don't drink the water!" The doctor suddenly realized, drinking sea
water caused all kinds of psychological and physiological problems. Their
enemy didn't want them dead, until they had gone mad.
Or killed each other, the doctor thought. He wondered if exhaustion,
madness or what would bring the end.
----------------------------------------
Shinji was swimming through the inky water. Flying was a better
description, the water was icy cold and it passed rapidly over his skin.
He knew that it was cold, but it didn't give him hypothermia, it should
have. The water and the darkness surrounded him, he shouldn't have been
able to see anything, but he was aware of the huge buildings approaching
him, basalt and twisted in strange angles and eye-watering shapes, some
appeared to almost disappear from this world from one angle, and having a
ponderous solidity from another.
Suddenly warm, white wings enclosed him. He turned to face Rei, she
hugged him tightly, the feathers tickled him. She smiled as they `flew`
through the water, past the alien buildings.
His target was in the distance. Amid the squat, sullen black and
gray buildings was what he had designed. It had never occurred to him
that he could build such a structure, building it underwater.
The faintly glowing crystal, the thin almost ethereal structures so
delicate and beautiful. He looked at Rei who was entranced with the
beauty of it.
He didn't know how anyone had built it, taken his design and - he
stopped. Someone _had_ seen this design, had taken it from him in fact,
he wondered if . . . if he was dreaming or hallucinating. He continued on
to the central towers, the tallest building in the gently glowing city.
The tower was like a needle, reaching up and up. He entered a window, now
he understood why the building had looked that way. Here everyone could
swim or fly, stairs were unnecessary. They swam up the open center,
passing the galleries that lined the inner surface of the tower.
The water grew lighter, slowly the diffuse sunlight overwhelmed the
faint glow of the crystalline walls. The surface of the water shown oddly,
the pair broke the surface and ascended through the air, as they ascended
the sun shown through the crystalline walls grew brighter, while the sky
darkened, becoming midnight blue, then almost purple, before becoming
black. Finally they reached the top of the tower. They stood on the
platform, leaned against the delicate seeming filigreed railing and stared
down at the huge crowd of people assembled across the world. They raised
their voices in shouts of triumph, then mastery over natural laws, their
hands raised to complete the great work, their hopes rose to be free of
the old gods, becoming like gods themselves, the entire race could ascend
to the next level. Abandon their cradle and walk among the gods and stars,
not as subjects or even equals, but so far beyond them that they no longer
mattered.
They cheered those among them who pushed the work forward. Asuka and
Raccoon stood with the builders, Ranma and Ranko with the philosophers.
Nabiki stood with many of those who supposed the efforts by supporting the
builders and philosophers. He looked up, and the stars were falling,
coming back to die in the oceans of their birthworld. Shinji led the
humans up and away from their home as the cities burned, as the oceans
steamed and boiled as the stars landed.
Some people had been left behind or had demanded to remain. Shinji's
heart went out to them, but he abandoned them to their fate as all the
others rose to glory and he led them there.
----------------------------------------
Love Comforteth, Like Sunshine After Rain
Ranma woke suddenly. He'd been in the firing range watching
Megorofeld-chan and Rei blasting away at some unmoving paper targets.
Harmless, unmoving targets. He hated guns. Then it felt like something
had hit him over the head. Now he, she actually, was sitting in the
crater in the side of a canal. She could feel the traces of ki energy
lingering. It was similar to his ki projection, although of a very
different base.
She stood up and looked up at the blue almost cloudless sky, a few
clouds were in a ring surrounding the sky directly overhead. Ranma, she
realized she was thinking about herself as Ranma rather than Ranko.
Interesting, she thought as she walked out. The place reminded her
of something, it was maddening how familiar it all seemed.
'Airen!' She heard.
Oh Kamis! Raccoon's and Asuka's nightmares. She looked in the
direction of the voice. The girl with the pants and shirt, with those
curves it probably wasn't a boy, was charging towards her on a bicycle.
What was shocking was the figure had no face. Not smoothed over
featureless skin, but a void like a hole all the way through, no matter
what direction you looked at it. The hair and neck were there, but no
face.
Ranma jumped over the onrushing bicycle. The girl was so shocked,
she ran into a wall, demolishing it.
Ranma stared at the girl, Maybe riding a bike is harder than I
thought, she thought as she moved off, very quickly.
'Ran-chan!' Another faceless female called at a charge.
Again Ranma dodged the outstretched arms. This one passed by again,
not expecting the dodge.
Weird, Ranma thought as she faced the pair. "Who are you two?" she
asked, she had a horrifying certainty about the answer.
"Cute Fiancee/Wife!" the two insisted, glared at each other, sparks
literally flew from where their eyes should have been.
Interesting, Ranma thought, No question about why _I_ don't remember
them, just a fight between them over _their_ identity. She continued on.
"Ranma prepare to die!"
She turned to watch another faceless one, the edges of this one's
head were visible, the ears and the regions hidden behind the hair of the
other two, he also saw it in the two girls, now that he could see them in
profile.
The boy dashed past the girls. He's serious, he's going to hit me
with that umbrella, Ranma thought, 'I'm going to kill you.' Rei or
Raccoon would have shot him by now. He glanced at the arguing girls and
mentally shrugged. So much for my `wife` and `cute fiancee`, Ranma
sidestepped the entire attack, hitting the boy in the solar plexus as he
passed. Ranma watched the attacker fold up as he continued. Ranma had
delivered a ki attack along with the fist blow. It had homed in on the
other boy's ki center and `detonated` there, disabling him without hurting
him much.
Ranma flogged his mind for the locations of the Tendo home from
Asuka's and Raccoon's descriptions. If Nab-chan was here, then she might
find an ally, or she might be Ritsuko-Nabiki or Asuka as Nab-chan.
_That_ would be interesting, she thought morosely.
----------------------------------------
Asuka raised her head, she thought someone had pounded it flat. All
around her was darkness. Her arms and legs hung down. Her body felt as
if it was lying on something. She tried to feel the edges of the platform,
but couldn't find it.
"Hello!" she shouted, and only because she knew she shouted did she
know that she'd made a noise. She didn't like the idea she couldn't see,
hear or even smell anything. She couldn't figure out how to stand up,
nothing to press against. She rolled off whatever had been supporting her.
She fell with a thud on the edge of something else, slid off and hit
something else on the way down. And something else, and another, and
another.
She was much bruised and battered when she finally struck the `floor`,
there she could stand up. She was surprised that the last thing she had
landed on had disappeared.
"Okay," she said, and again didn't hear herself in the darkness. No
source and no echo. The floor was completely smooth she discovered as she
scrambled around on her hands and knees, there were no seams, fittings or
irregularities. She stood again, her eyes could detect no difference in
the blackness around her.
No, she realized, That section is really dark red. Unless I'm
hallucinating.
She headed off in that direction. She knew this was a dream, she
hadn't the faintest idea what this dream was about. Dreams often made no
sense, but they were often internally consistent. She had to discover
what it was.
----------------------------------------
"Die sorcerer!"
"And who is that?" Ranma ran towards the sound of the shouting.
Ranma watched the blast of lightning that threw the tall, again
faceless, bokken-armed young man out of an alley. Ranma recognized the
attack from rescuing Rei from the Mi-Go.
Ranma charged around the corner and spotted a bewildered and bloodied
Raccoon, this one had a face. Ranko wanted to throw herself into the arms
of a familiar figure, but she stopped herself. He's hurt, Ranko told
herself. She pulled the first aid kit from Raccoon's coat pocket and
pressed the bandage against the cut on his head.
"You okay?" Ranko asked.
"No," Raccoon said. She was glad he had a face, that implied this
was the real one.
"We should get out of here!" Ranko suggested.
"I was on the Coral Sea . . . no, the Bennington," he murmured.
Ranko decided she wasn't going to get much help from Raccoon for a
little while.
"My pigtailed goddess!" the samurai-wannabe announced.
"Protect," Raccoon said and thrust his cane into her hands. She set
Raccoon down carefully and turned to face the amorous moron.
Ranma took the MacBane's Hanging Guard, narrowed her eyes at the
openly weeping boy.
"Oh, her beautiful eyes filled with such fire. Come to my arms my-"
The blow wasn't out of MacBane, Talhoffer or Hope, but it was one
Asuka had taught her. She was certain that just before contact, the stick
suddenly weighed tons. The man's eyes rolled back and his mouth opened
wide, but no sound came out. No mere sound could encompass all the
distress he felt.
Ranma carefully picked up Raccoon who was unsteady on his feet.
Ranma felt the boy's ki was scrambled completely, she wondered how he
could still breathe, let alone walk.
Ranko, you must have hit that jerk, Ranma thought, I'd _never_ do
that to another guy.
"Raccoon, can you teleport us?" Ranma asked, it was awkward trying to
hold the much larger boy up, and a fireman's carry was out of the question.
"Too addled, a few minutes." Raccoon actually had to stop walking to
speak. "We have to find Nabiki," he actually sounded more lucid, "She and
I were closer, maybe the main target. She's no dreamer."
"We have to get you to safety," Ranma said, "Your cane can fly."
Again they had to stop. "Unwrap the hand grip, rope," Raccoon
suggested.
"Oh, tie you up," Ranma told him, "I'm not that kind of girl." Ranma
shook her head when Raccoon didn't comprehend.
'Ranma die!' Ranma knew he couldn't outrun that idiot with Raccoon
in tow. She felt the ki build up, suddenly Ranma had an idea. "Raccoon,
trust me," Ranma told him, "This is probably going to hurt." She swung
Raccoon in front and let her ki flow into him as filaments, making paths,
like Asuka 'shaping' his body during training. The ball exploded from the
faceless boy's hands. Ranma watched it hit Raccoon, felt it drawn along
the paths into the vast voids where he `kept` his mana reserves.
Raccoon stood up straighter. "That's better than coffee." Suddenly
the charging boy's arms were windmilling and his feet lost traction.
Ranma lifted a manhole cover. Raccoon somehow deposited the man into the
open manhole, and Ranma resealed it.
'Ahhh - ahhh! Bweeee!' came from below.
"Let's get out of here," Ranko said as she laughed. The pair ran out
of the alley.
----------------------------------------
Nabiki stared up at the unforgiving sky, even with her eyes closed,
the sun drove icepicks into her brain. She couldn't even manage to turn
over to get out of the sun. Forget standing up, she thought, I can't even
turn my head.
She heard voices approaching, both familiar. She couldn't shout for
help, so she whispered as forcefully as she could, "Help! Help!"
Pathetic, she thought.
"Here she is," the voice said.
"Is that English?" Ranma leaned over her, in her female form. A
moment later Raccoon leaned into her field of view.
He looks fine, the _rat_!_ she thought.
"Miss Tendo, we're going to shoot you," Raccoon told her, "It worked
on me, but Ranko will use smaller charges and an interval between to check
-"
'SWEETO!' she heard and couldn't even flinch. Raccoon drew and fired
his .45, then walked out of her view and fired several more times. He
walked back in view replacing his .45 in his coat.
"To check the progress of revivification."
Her eyes focused on the small gold ball forming between Ranko's hands.
Then it hit her in the stomach.
She rolled up into a ball. "That hurts!" she shouted at them.
"Hey it worked," Ranko said proudly.
She was debating hitting them sequentially or simultaneously.
"What did you do to my sister you pervert?!" A too familiar voice,
"Ranma you idiot."
Nabiki grinned as she saw the faceless girl advancing with a mallet
and an aura of affronted righteousness. The LeMat came out smoothly and
the first shot blew the mallet right out of her hands. "I was having mad
passionate sex with both of them, with both of them. Imagine Ranma as a
girl, suddenly a little hot water. Oh my!" Nabiki wished the girl had a
face to have an expression on, it would have been priceless. "Since
you'll never produce grandchildren for father, someone has to." She
turned her back on the stunned girl and took the hands of the two equally
stunned pilots and led them away. "Oh, I'll have to pay later, I seem to
have forgotten my wallet."
"We'll take it off our tab for last Thursday," Raccoon said, Ranko
was completely lost or shocked. "I'll never think of lamb chops the same
way again."
"Poof!" Ranko added as helpfully as she could, without exploding
herself.
A moment later they were across town on another high roof.
"How'd . . . magic," Nabiki said.
"Passionate sex with lamb chops?" Ranko demanded.
"You obviously don't remember my sister." Then Nabiki covered her
mouth to hide her laughter.
"I figured it out," Raccoon said, "When you wound up in Berlin and
Ranma wound up in Boston, I had a horrible feeling my experience was an
accurate description. I think this indicates that NERV didn't really win.
Nearly indestructible and insane."
"Happosai died rather thoroughly," Nabiki said. She didn't like the
implication that her home was the result of a Great Old One victory and
amalgamation.
"Will he stay that way?"
"We'd better find Ranma," Ranko said, "He'll get into all kinds of
trouble without us."
Raccoon slapped his head. "Good grief! I'm still not thinking
clearly. Do you know where he is?"
"Approximately, I'll go find him. You and Nabiki make sure she's
okay." Ranko nodded at Nabiki.
Ranko moved out, before she could yell at them that Ranma and Ranko
were the same. Raccoon had pulled a feline looking hand puppet from his
coat pocket with a businesslike expression. He placed it on her head.
"Meow." Then on her shoulder. "Meow." Then on her stomach.
"Merraawww!" Then he took the puppet off his hand, ignoring Nabiki's
frown as he replaced it in his pocket.
"Cat scan shows clean," he told her. Mayhem was frustrated by
Ranma's arrival.
"Ranko said you were loading for me," he said.
"Where is she?" Raccoon demanded.
"Scouting ahead," Ranma said.
"With the loonies this town abounds in, you let her go off by
herself?!" Raccoon shouted back, confronting Ranma.
"Hey, that's her problem," Ranma said offhandedly, "She can take care
of herself better than you two can. If she gets in trouble, she'll handle
it."
"Why you callous, unthinking - " Raccoon advanced with murder in his
eye.
"_HOLD_IT_!_" Nabiki had had enough. "You two will _not_ kill each
other over Ranko!"
"Well he - !" they said.
"_ZIP_IT_!_" Nabiki shouted, "Ranma and Ranko are the same person."
"Raccoon . . . quit laughing for a second and give Nab-chan your
glasses," Ranma said, "She needs them more than you do."
"I concur," Raccoon said as handed the glasses to Ranma. Nabiki's
glare prevented him from putting them on her. Between laughs he told her,
"Ranko is shorter, red headed, and her pectorals are prominent in a very
different way. Wider hips and narrower shoulders."
"I can sing better," Ranma added.
"I've never heard either of you sing," Raccoon commented as he
brought himself under control and replaced his glasses, "Considering how
lovely Rei-san's singing voice is, and how similar she and Ranko sound, I
think she should be a lovely singer."
"I guess she never had proper training," Ranma commented, "Asuka says
everything is training."
"HOLD IT!" Nabiki shouted, "What are you two morons doing?" She was
exasperated, she wanted a bath and a chance to lie down. She still felt
awful, and these idiots were acting completely nuts.
"Just waiting for you to tell us where to go," Ranma said innocently.
"Don't tempt me," Nabiki growled, "We can't go home."
"Why not?" Ranma asked, "We toss everybody except . . . " Ranma
trailed off.
"Kasumi?" Raccoon asked.
"Yeah her," Ranma said.
Nabiki wasn't comfortable with that, Kasumi was as guilty as Akane
and Soun in the debacle. She didn't really want to set foot in that house
again, as satisfying as letting Raccoon and Ranma loose on them without
limits would be. She shuddered. No, I don't want to do that, even of
this _is_ just a dream, she thought.
"I think we'd better find lodging elsewhere," she suggested.
"How about a Love Hotel?" Ranma suggested, "No one would ever look
for us there."
It took several minutes for Nabiki to bring her coughing under
control. Ranma and Raccoon arguing about Ranko didn't help.
----------------------------------------
A Crown Is Merely A Hat That Lets The Rain In
"Have you found Asuka?" Ranma asked Raccoon, he was worried. If she
isn't _here_ where is she? he wondered
"Are you getting sweet on her?"
"No sweeter than you are on Raccoon!" Ranma shot back at Nabiki.
"Nothing, out for 100 miles," Raccoon said as he stood up.
Nabiki pulled the gag off Gosunkugi, she'd discovered it was hard to
gag someone who didn't have an apparent mouth.
Gos immediately began pelting the `wizard` with questions. "It's all
rubbish," Raccoon told the wannabe, "If you need it to cast spells, you
aren't doing magic."
Gos was shocked, he'd only let them raid his supplies in order to get
`higher wisdom`.
Actually because I threatened him and Raccoon intimidated him, Nabiki
thought. Gos had been shocked that Raccoon hadn't asked for any of the
more rare or `mystic` ingredients, so was Nabiki.
"So why are we all here, and she isn't?" Ranma asked.
"I don't know. She could also be in a heavily shielded location,
although exactly how someone would have that kind of shielding, I don't
know. Japan doesn't have the mineral reserves for that kind of shielding
to occur naturally."
"She might not have come here," Nabiki said, "Gos-chan, you can go."
The boy scrambled away. "I lived here. I don't know why Ranma is here he
... . . "
"Arrived in a crater, I _can_ guess what happened," Ranma said.
Nabiki knew her guarded expression told him that she was _still_
hiding a fair amount from him.
She could see he wanted to trust her. "Tell me when you can," he
told her.
The darkening sky clearly showed they would have to start thanking
about shelter. She heard Ranma's stomach growl. And food, she thought.
----------------------------------------
Ranma didn't even bother to hide his concern. He was a bit hungry,
but overall just fine. Raccoon and Nab-chan were both rocky. "What were
you two doing?"
"We'd recovered the Angel," Nab-chan said, "We'd gotten it aboard . .
... I can't remember much after that."
"Cthulhu's daughter," Raccoon said, "Legends have it that if he is
ever truly killed, he will be reborn in her."
"That tiny thing?" Nab-chan asked, then reeled. Raccoon and Ranma
moved, but not before she caught herself. "I'm fine, just tired."
"What about those . . . rest . . . aur . . . rants?" The glare from
the pair slowed Ranma's speech. "Okay, bad idea, don't kick me," he said,
"There have to be eateries beside those two."
"There are, but prices are, well, expensive," Nab-chan said.
"How expensive?" Ranma asked.
"In our time, gold is $40 per ounce, in this time, gold is about $400
and prices are relatively higher as well," Raccoon explained, "Don't worry,
I've got it covered."
"How?" Nab-chan asked.
"A gold double eagle is always valuable," Raccoon tiredly explained.
----------------------------------------
The meal was spartan, Nabiki at nervous about the meal and the money
for one week in the hostel, for all three of them, the hostel was also
willing to supply meals for work. She had little doubt that they would be
able to return `home`, but she was unwilling to do that. And neither boy
would argue, so _she_ wasn't going to be earning her meals, instead she
was making demands on their resources. The fact that nobody had a face
bothered her terribly, but it also bothered her she wasn't contributing.
Imagine, she thought, The Ice Queen of Furikan feeling bad about
freeloading off two swains. She had to admit her previous `freeloading`
contributed money to the household. She'd gotten used to earning her keep
directly. The room, really just a big closet, and cot weren't too private.
Most of the guests were backpackers traveling through Tokyo. She lay
alone in her closet, she'd hidden the LeMat, she was terrified it would be
discovered. She also wondered about Ranma and Raccoon, and the
Nerimaniacs, including her dear little sister.
Are those two safe? she wondered, How much trouble will they be in,
if they defend themselves? She also wondered about Asuka. She didn't
know what to do about the missing girl, or Rei or Shinji. Perhaps they
weren't drawn in, she considered, Only Ranma came with us because of his
connection to us.
She didn't know, the worries chased themselves until she fell into an
exhausted sleep.
----------------------------------------
Sammi spotted Rei nodding off in the infirmary room with Asuka. She
knew Rei wasn't crying, but she was tearing herself up inside. "Rei-chan,
are you all right?" she said as she stuck her head in the room.
"Yes, Kraznyzamok-san." Rei turned her head, remained seated with
her hands clasped in her lap.
"I don't think Asuka would approve of you making yourself sick
sitting up watching her." Rei gave her a curious look.
"With Asuka, Shinji and Ranma unconscious, you are the only one
available to defend the rest of us. To pilot the EVA if necessary."
Rei lowered her head. Sammi knew Rei saw the logic. "Mein
Grosfeldmarschall would want the world protected."
"But you're lonely and worried," Sammi told her, Rei was shocked by
this. "I feel the same, I'm supposed to be protecting them and they just
collapsed. Nobody knows why, and no one knows when they'll recover,"
Sammi explained.
"I will accompany you," Rei said, standing up, kissed Asuka's
forehead and followed Sammi out of the infirmary, and to Sammi's car.
"You shouldn't feel guilty that you weren't affected as they were."
"I am not . . . one of them." Rei said.
Sammi knew how terrible that made Rei feel, the others had gone out
of their way to make Rei part of their circle. Even Asuka and her
abrasive ways also included Rei in her orbit. Now Rei was again alone,
Sammi could easily guess how it made her feel. Rei loved a certain set
reality, she'd adapt to anything as long as it was regular. A string of
constant insults from Asuka was actually soothing to Rei. Sammi had never
told Asuka, because the girl needed to vent, and Rei made a convenient
target and the regularity of that verbal abuse gave Rei a comforting
feeling of consistency.
Now she was suddenly alone again, she had to feel completely lost,
and every seeming sense of normality would accentuate how different the
situation was. Sammi could establish a new paradigm to allow the girl a
new puzzle to solve, rather than brood on what was lost.
The fact _you're_ terribly lonely has nothing to do with it, she
accused herself, she smirked. Erin had likewise invited herself to stay
at Sammi's, 'So they'll only have to call you.' She knew the kids would
be mortified that a bunch of adults were reacting this way about them.
She also knew that the collapse was being kept from the public. Being
down to one pilot invited an attack by anyone who could throw together a
heavy assault force. The remnants of the last attack might be enough to
defeat Rei in Unit 00. What about Rei in Unit 02 or 01? Sammi wondered,
she decided that scheduling the testing would be a good idea, telling Rei
to keep in mind that she was protecting Asuka and Shinji respectively
would enhance synchronization.
Sammi let Rei into the lower level. "You can take any room, I won't
tell."
Rei nodded and headed to one of the `guest` rooms. She heard the
shower go on, and she knew Rei would be a while. Rei was scrupulous about
keeping herself clean. Sammi took the time to brew some tea. She dug out
the last of the cake that Jeff had baked before he left. She realized
she'd gotten a little spoiled. If Jeff didn't cook, then Asuka insisted,
later, if Asuka didn't prevent it, Ranma did. She had their skill, she'd
be cooking for Rei and Erin, Hopefully not long.
She heard the shower cut off, Sammi gave Rei some time to dry herself
and get dressed.
Sammi carried the tea tray downstairs, then remembered Rei's habits
and returned to her own room and collected a clean robe. It was more a
serape with a belt, without seams that itched and abraded her skin. This
will cover Rei like a tent, Sammi lamented as she picked up the tea tray
with one arm, the robe draped over her other arm. As she entered, Rei sat
on the bed, on a towel, drying her hair with another towel. She was
blissfully unashamed of her nakedness.
"You might find this comfortable," Sammi said as she laid the robe
next to Rei and set the tea tray on the table. Rei stared at the robe,
reaching out and touching it warily, then running her hand over the key
seams. Sammi hid her smile as she poured tea for both of them.
Nope, no seams or other hidden scratchers, Sammi thought as she
offered Rei a mug of tea.
Rei sniffed, sipped.
That too is just how you like it, strong and sweet with just a little
milk, Sammi thought as she smiled at the girl as she climbed into the robe,
it did look like Rei had her head out of a small tent.
"Thank you," Rei said quietly.
"It isn't your fault that you weren't affected and they were," Sammi
told her. Rei had fallen like the other pilots, but a few moments later,
she'd been up and around as if nothing had happened. Sammi had only
suffered a moment of dizziness. The other guards had seemingly been
unscathed, but there were reports of outbreaks of violence, insanity,
breakdowns of authority. The governments were getting a handle on the
rioting and other disruptions. Little had occurred near NERV.
Rei finished her tea, stared at the cup.
"You are allowed to ask for more, but you have to ask," Sammi told
her.
"More please," Rei said as she handed the mug back after making sure
the handle was towards Sammi. Sammi refilled it and handed it back, the
handle of the mug towards Rei. Sammi could see the telltale signs that
Rei was sleepy. In many ways Rei was as stubborn as Ranma. She'd insist
she was fine long beyond the time she should have let go.
The other pilots aren't much better, Sammi reminded herself. She
took the mug from Rei and turned down the bed. "Rest," her tone was
gentle, but Rei recognized it was an order.
Rei obediently let Sammi tuck her in and she was out like a light.
That was one thing Sammi couldn't do. She closed the door quietly and
headed back upstairs. She'd have Erin collect Rei's stuff, one jeep load
would be sufficient. She hoped the others recovered quickly, Rei needed
them as much as the world did. Sammi also decided it would be necessary
to ask Ramsey to contact the Azores mission and discover what was
happening there.
----------------------------------------