At 13:31 20-05-2000 -0700, Rhea Seraph wrote:
Children of Fire
A Sailor Moon/Ranma Elseworld
Chapter 12, Part 2: All The King's (Wild) Horses, and All The
King's...Men??
Yes! More! :)
By
John Biles
Bailesu-sama!
Nearby, Naoko said, "Maybe I should just stay with
Ranma so no one has to be mad because they lost out."
"Well, if I stay with Haruka," Ranma began.
"We know what happened last time you did that," Rei
snapped.
The 'Love Potion' incident? <grin>
Konatsu looked them up and down. "You're hiding a
character on your forehead, I bet."
"..."
eheheheheheh
I didn't exactly get it the first time around but when I found out just who
they were...
"No!" the woman said. "We're just being stylish."
Konatsu smiled. "As the lady wishes. Are you here to
spy on Minako's friends?"
"No! No!" the woman said.
"Yes." the man said.
He's really blunt, isn't he? :)
"315, then. Very good. Names?"
"Arthur and Lynn," he said.
"No last names?"
"Ummm..." he said. "Dilbert."
"Cosby," Lynn said.
<sweatdrops>
They looked at each other and frowned.
"Arthur and Lynn Dilbert-Cosby," Konatsu said as he
typed it in. "Will you be paying cash, credit, or sneaking out
in the middle of the night?"
"Do you take coffee makers or karaoke machines as
payment?" Arthur asked.
Gee, I wonder... are you Scott Adams in disguise or just a fan? :)
"It would have to be quite a lot of them, sir."
"We'll be sneaking out in the middle of the night then."
"Very good." Type, type.
"Arthur, you idiot!"
"Don't worry about it. Our boss cheats everyone out
of their money, so I consider it my duty to ensure they have
money to be cheated out of."
"..."
...
Ryo walked up and down along the slot machines,
waiting to see if he would get a precognitive flash of himself
winning on one. Instead, he got a flash of Gosunkugi winning
big.
heh
Gosunkugi had walked up to the very first one he saw,
and had paused to read the odds on the side. "Wow, the
highest pay off is million to one odds!"
"I think you should...," Ryo began.
Gosunkugi put a chip in it, then closed his eyes. "Good
luck in, bad luck out." He breathed in deeply, then slowly
expelled it. Remembering he was being watched, he looked
embarrassed. "Mom always told me to do that when I was
little."
"I think you're gonna win on this one," Ryo said.
Gosunkugi pulled the lever. Five unicorn horns came
up, and a loud bell sounded. Chips began pouring out in a
torrent. "Wow! It worked!"
We all love precognitive powers. That is, when you're the one benefitting
from them :)
"Hello again, Osaka-san," a man's voice said from
nearby.
Naru started, turned, and saw the handsome man with
long wavy hair she had met at the china shop. "Clancy-san! I
didn't expect to see you here!"
"You look lovely in that dress," he said, and she
blushed. "Who's your friend?"
"This is Meiou Setsuna," Naru said. "We're sharing a
room."
He bowed to Setsuna. "A pleasure to meet you. I am
Mr. Tom Clancy. Merely an humble dealer in fine goods and
antiquities."
Have you ever read "The Hunt for the Red October" or "Red Storm Rising" ?
They're quite a read, you know. <grin>
"Oh man, ANOTHER big jackpot!" someone shouted
from far across the room.
Gos? I think he's going to become the Gambler King's worst nightmare...
Ranma-chan frowned. She'd lost half chips in under an
hour. She'd been turned female by some idiot spilling a drink
on her. And now some drunken fool was trying to flirt with
her and telling his boring life story while she was trying to
play blackjack.
The drunken fool is going to become Ranma's worst nightmare :)
Four hands later, Minako came up to him. "The boss
wants to see you."
"I ain't been cheating!" Ranma-chan said. "I lost every
hand fair and square."
<sweatdrop> A cheater cheats to win, not to lose... Ranma no baka. :)
Mamoru sighed. "Why don't you two just step outside
and fight a duel to settle this?"
"Good idea!" Shampoo said.
"Excellent suggestion, my love. I will thrash this
peasant and return to join you in gaming as swiftly as I can,"
Kodachi replied.
"Hey, I was joking!" Mamoru said as they departed.
Joking about that with an Amazon? He should know better :)
"She can take care of herself," Mamoru said. "And she
wouldn't want any help, anyway, which I can appreciate.
Some battles, you have to fight for yourself. As long as
no...trouble... show up, I think we'll be fine."
"Well, I doubt they're the types to go to a casino,"
Michiru said. Hopefully, she thought.
Where's the thunder?
"Here's Ranma, sir," Minako said.
"This is a woman," the Gambling King said. For those
who do not know him (and a fortunate lot you are), he was a
huge stocky man who bore a suspicious resemblance to a
'king' off a playing card. He sat at a table by himself at the
far, far side of the main casino floor by the entrance. Several
nearby tables had various kids playing children's card games.
"I'm a guy!" Ranma-chan snapped instinctively.
*Poing!* The Gambling King withdrew his hand. "What
are those, then?"
<tries to tell Ranma telephatically that she could sue the Gambler King for
sexual harrassment. Unfortunately, she doesn't get it, which suits me fine
anyway. It's her fault, not mine. :)>
(noticed the Dilbert reference?)
Ranma-chan picked them up and began to thumb
through them. 'IOU--Mommy's House, Ranma Saotome', 'IOU--
A Mink Coat, Ranma Saotome', 'IOU--My Shonen Sunday
collection, Ranma Saotome', 'IOU--My First Child, Ranma
Saotome', 'IOU--North America, Ranma Saotome, Future King
of the Earth'. Ranma-chan blinked at the last one. "North
America?"
"You explained that one day you'd marry the Queen of
the Earth and rule the entire planet, so I let you go ahead
and start putting up places as part of your bets."
<huge sweatdrop> So he was unconsciously aware of his heritage? Interesting :)
"Ahh, good for custom. Let me be being helping you,"
Arthur said, taking a piece of paper from Genma, and writing
something on it. He then slid it under one of the doors.
"Merry Buddha day." He took Lynn by the arm and marched
off.
Once they got out of sight, Lynn said, "Happy Buddha
day?"
"Merry Buddha day. I was trying to sound like an idiot."
"Comes naturally to you," she said.
"Exact..hrmph."
After that "Merry Buddha day" comment... he may be an idiot after all.
"What's the game?" she asked.
"High stakes Old Maid."
"..."
"It is the game of Kings!" the Gambling King
pronounced. "Well, of Queens, anyway."
...
(good one :) )
Ranma-chan looked over Naoko's shoulder. Naoko had
the Queen of Spades four cards over from the leftmost
card. The Gambling King was about to take it, so Ranma-
chan grinned. His hand slid over and took the four of clubs
instead. "Feh," Ranma-chan said.
Naoko looked up at Ranma-chan. "Now I know why you
were losing so badly."
May I beat Ranma's head with a sledgehammer? She's SUCH an idiot... maybe a
little pounding might help.
"What?"
On second thought, the sledgehammer might not work. She's hopeless.
"I won the top jackpot a few hours ago," he said. "I
stashed enough of it to pay for college and set me up pretty
well when I get out. Won it on the slot machine. And I won
another 500,000 yen at the poker tables. And I win our
dorm poker tournament every semester. Dad thinks I ought
to become a professional gambler, but I don't trust my luck."
<falls off chair>
She bowed. "I live to serve, my lord Nephrite. I shall
not question your choice of female companionship again, and
I will give thanks it does not include me." She turned and
left.
If she wasn't so competent, I would kill her, Nephrite
thought. But she acts like she's Beryl instead of a
subordinate. For a moment, he wondered if she might be
Beryl in disguise, but he dismissed the thought. Some people
are just naturally arrogant, he concluded.
If I could recall clearly the previous episodes, I'd be sure if what I'm
about to say is true... Emerald sounds like she's Jadeite in disguise... in
fact, wasn't this the series where Jadeite was spared the Eternal Sleep to
spy on the Generals or something?
Ranma was regretting rejoining the Old Maid game. He
now owed Naoko about 10,000 years of service, roughly two
hundred children, and half the planet. The Gambling King
wasn't doing much better, having lost all his IOUs from
Ranma, and several dozen from other customers. He'd also
lost a fifty percent interest in the casino to Naoko.
He's still playing? Doesn't he know when to stop?
Naoko got up and yawned. "Let's go, Ranma. That's
enough Old Maid for me."
"Uh...about all these IOUs," he said. "I, like, don't own
North America."
Obviously.
She went through the stack, tearing up the utterly
impossible ones. Then she gave Ranma a large stack of
chips. "You can use these tomorrow. I have an idea for how
you can settle these other ones."
<sensed impending doom upon Ranma>
The Gambling King dealt her a six of hearts. "I stand,"
he said, grinning. "I'm afraid you've gone over." He flipped
his hole card, the ten of diamonds. "Twenty for me, and
you've gone blort.
"Oh really?" she said, showing her perfect 21 hand.
"Looks like two ninjas for me."
eheheheh
"But...I dealt you the ten of hearts down!" he said. "I
spent hours stacking and resealing that deck!" Then he
realized what he had just said.
oops. :)
Ranma growled. "You stacked the DECK?"
"The duck," he said feebly. "My flock of ducks
gets...um... rancid, if you don't stack them periodically. And
they leak, so you have to reseal them."
You know, for a gambler he's a lousy liar...
Naoko got up. "And that's that. Come with me,
Ranma." She gulped. "I have a way for you to repay what
you owe me."
"Need me to move some furniture for you or
something?" he asked.
"Something like that."
<big time feeling of impending doom>
"You! You're the one!" he said. "Venus! I finally found
you!"
Blushing, she jumped back. "Well, I know I am beautiful,
but..."
"You're Sailor Venus! I've been looking for you for
years!"
"You must have me confused with someone else.
There's no Sailor Venus. I'm just a ninja named Minako."
"just a ninja" ?
MODESTY
Being confident that others will discover your greatness.
Or something like that :)
One of the Linux fortunes.
The dark haired woman with him sighed. "Don't mind
Arthur. You're the third woman he's said that to today."
"But this time I am RIGHT!" he announced, pulling a
bronze pen with gold trim out of his pocket. It had a large
red heart on the top of the cap. "This is yours," he said,
handing to Minako. "Say, Venus Ninja Magic!"
<sweatdrop> What happened to his brain?
Oh, damn, I'm getting all wet...
"Flow Break! RECOVERY!!!!" Nothing. "DRAGON SLAVE!"
After a moment of silence, she said, "Okay, bad idea. Let's
see..."
REAL bad idea...
I wonder who's the most brainless... wait, that didn't sound right. :)
"Can you break bricks?" Umino asked Feldspar.
"I broke a three inch thick jade slab once," Feldspar
said. "But I don't think I've ever struck a brick."
Hey, can she give me the shards? I think I can give a use to them :)
Ranma broke a chair over his own head to avoid having
to break Naoko instead. "I AM NOT GAY!"
"Prove it." She closed her eyes and puckered up. Her legs
started shaking again as she did so.
To her surprise, Ranma sprung to his feet. "I give up!
You want proof? I'll give you proof! I'll go sleep with ALL OF
THEM! Just to be fair and prove I'm not gay at the same
time! JUST WATCH ME!"
That broke the camel's back.
The shower was running, while Ukyou was seated on
the large double bed, watching late night TV. From the TV,
an announcer said, "Now, in order to get the 100,000 yen
prize, you have to swim through this vat of pudding while
dressed as Tinky-Winky. And you have to do it in three
minutes."
Swim through a vat of... pudding? Dressed as Tinky-Winky? I wonder where
people get these ideas. Seriously.
As they danced, Gosunkugi felt the hairs on his arm
begin to stand up, which he'd long ago learned meant
something really bad was going to happen, usually to himself.
I'll probably somehow fall off the balcony with her, he
thought. Then she'll drown and Ranma will kill me.
<blink> Gos has a morbid imagination...
When the explosion cleared, Ryouga was gone or
perhaps transformed, replaced by a ten foot tall humanoid
with green skin, solid green eyes, long green-black claws, and
black flame coming from his mouth. The umbrella was now a
scythe of black metal with a bamboo hilt. He continued to
scream, and now a wave of green energy rushed forth from
him.
"scream, and
_then_ (...)"
keep the tenses consistent.
"But I am more handsome than him," Kunou announced.
"You cannot possibly match me." He got into a fighting
stance. "I will handle the green fellow, if you deal with his
sorcerer minion, Mamoru."
As he rambled on, Silicon slipped up invisibly behind
Kunou, preparing to strike.
"MINION?" Nephrite spat out. "He is MY minion!"
<falls off the chair in laugher> Oww...
"Clearly he is larger and stronger than you," Kunou
said, "While you are a spindly bishonen sorcerer. And
everyone knows bishonen are pathetic weaklings and
posers."
<ribs are aching now>
"Oh? And who are YOU?"
"I am Kunou Tatewaki..." His bokken went up like a
lightning rod. Silicon reared up on her feet to strike him
down from behind. "THE BLUE THUNDER OF FURINKAN HIGH!"
Lightning struck down behind him, pounding Silicon invisibly
into the floor. She passed out. He looked at Nephrite again.
"Hmm, do all sorcerers dress like you these days?"
hmm, that lightning show of his DOES have a purpose :)
"Hey, I WAS TRYING TO SEDUCE HIM FIRST! Take a
number!" Naoko shouted.
All hell broke loose :)
Grandpa, whose mystical abilities had shielded him,
tried to figure out what was going on.
Well, maybe not :)
Then bolts of green energy arced around various
corners and struck everyone present except Genma and
Grandpa. Two bolts wiggled under Rei and Usagi's door.
Everyone froze in place as the effects of Envy's power and
faded and they felt Gosunkugi's desperate plea for help.
ohh, party pooper :)
"Back off, two dollar woman! This boy's under MY
protection!" Sailor Venus had arrived.
Emerald spun. "Who are...oh great, ANOTHER one."
Yes! Another one! Now all we need is the other Saturn. And maybe any
remaining good guys.
"That's right! Now, come out with your hands behind
your back in plain sight!"
There was a brief silence. "Do what?"
"Drop the gun!"
"I don't have a gun!"
"Drop your powers!"
Emerald put her hands on her hips. "How am I
supposed to drop my powers?"
"Umm...you have the right to remain silent. Any effort
to...um...incant magic phrases will result in a beating. You
have the right to arm bears...no, that's not right. Um, hold
on..." Venus turned to shout down the hallway, "Hey, what
rights do invaders from other dimensions have?"
<huge sweatdrop>
The ballroom was going to be in serious need of
renovations. The band had mostly escaped, and the rest
were unconscious. Their equipment was melted to slag.
Energy tossing Senshi were everywhere, including a very
waterlogged and irritable Pluto. Kunou and Aluminum were
both hanging from chandeliers. Envy was standing by the
balcony, using Kodachi and one of her ribbons as a yo-yo
over the edge.
<wince> yo-yo ? Are you a sadist? I feel for her...
Greed gestured and the green Rainbow Crystal
suddenly flew out of Pluto's hands while he was distracted by
what he had just done. "Got it, sir!"
"Everyone, RETREAT!" Nephrite barked. "We got what
we came for."
Yup... BTW, what's the score now? how many pieces to each side? I lost
track of it...
Haruka grinned. "I can solve the problem." She
grabbed Ranma's hand and began to drag him. "Follow me."
uhoh...
Haruka and Ranma-chan emerged from the hotel side
of the pool area. Haruka wore a plain black one-piece
suitable for an athletic swimmer. Ranma-chan, on the other
hand, looked rather nervous in a green bikini that almost
exactly matched Setsuna's for skimpiness. "You sure this
thing isn't going to come off?"
"Trust me," Haruka said, grinning as Setsuna and
Ukyou both stared at Ranma-chan. "How does she look?"
"Nice choice," Setsuna said.
"Where'd you get it?" Ukyou asked from the top of the
diving board.
Ukyou: "Maybe I'll get one myself right away..."
Ranma-chan waved to them, and Usagi sped up, then
leaped into the air as she reached the edge of the pool.
"Banzai!"
"No, wait, it's the..."
She plunged down through the water and quickly struck
bottom. Fortunately, she hadn't dived headfirst.
"...shallow end."
<WINCE>
Haruka walked in, sweating heavily. "You know, Ukyou,
Naru doesn't look like much, but she's a pretty good tennis
player. I won, of course, but...oh, you two busy?"
"Uhh..." Ranma-chan said, realizing what it looked like.
"Is it too late for me to cut in?" Haruka asked,
grinning. "Or would you rather I take a shower first? Or
maybe you'd like to shower with me?"
eheheheheh
Ukyou babbled something incoherent. Ranma-chan
looked thoughtfully at Haruka, then said, "Sure, bring it on."
eep.
"What?" Ukyou said.
Haruka stared at her. "What?"
"Think you're woman enough for the two of us?"
Haruka's jaw dropped. "You're serious?"
"No, I'm Saturn," Ranma-chan said. "We don't have a
Sirius, yet."
<facefault>
Haruka said, "Well, I'm going to take a shower before I
stink up the room more. If you've figured out how we can
have mad passionate sex by the time I get out, let me know."
She went into the shower.
"I hope you're not mad at me, Ranchan," Ukyou said.
"Naah. If you turned into a boy and could only have sex
with me that way, I wouldn't do it. And it's better I not do it
with anyone until I get rid of Ruby. Somehow. But even
Mamoru couldn't figure out what to do about him. And
Setsuna can't remember much about mind magic."
Ukyou sighed. "Let's go play Tennis or something. If
we stay here, I'm just going to get more frustrated."
"Okay," Ranma-chan said. "Just lemme go to my room
and change."
"See you in a few."
awww... no lesbian orgy... <pout> :)
Part of Rei prayed for someone to interrupt them, but
her allotments of dodging the issue had apparently run out.
A second part of Rei started trying to move her right hand
up to cup Usagi's left breast, although it was moving at
roughly the speed of a glacier in heat. Her body was getting
more aroused with every moment that passed. There was
no more dodging this issue.
No more pussyfooting around, Rei thought. She
answered Usagi with a kiss.
ahh! It's THE END ? (of the chapter, that is)
oh, it was getting to the real interesting part, too... oh, well.
I'm not sure of what else to say... very good chapter, no problems that I
have spotted so far, despite the little one I pointed out... and it's fun
all the way.
It also makes me wonder how long will Ranma hold out and with whom will he
do
*it*... and how :)
---
See ya later!
Rui 'Fragger' Costa
rsmcosta@shenlon.net.dhis.org
ICQ #11383615
"Martial artist + chick + going to Tendo Dojo = Another Fiancee for Ranma"
Extracted from Half a Timeline, Act One, Chapter One, v1.2 .
Sorry folks, it was removed...
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