Fred MacManus groaned and rubbed his temples, hoping the headache would fade. The last he remembered, he had been snuggling in bed with Miriam, his wife. Now, however, he found himself laying in grass, with the sun beating down on him at an angle that indicated it was nearly noon. He darkened his Ravenfield and slowly opened his eyes, then immediately closed them as the light, even through the filtering of his Ravenfield, pierced his brain like a white-hot dagger.
"Edgar?" he thought. "What the hell is going on, and why do I have a migraine?"
"I have no idea, Dad," Edgar's response came instantly. "We were in bed a moment ago, then we were here, but the transition didn't give me enough data to make any conclusions from."
"My head feels like it used to when I had an organic body," Fred thought, while groaning softly. "What do my vitals show?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary. I suspect that your headache may be because we're not in our universe. We're not even close enough for me to contact the network."
"But we're close enough for the environment to be like home, right?"
"To the limits of my ability to sense, yes." Edgar's thought was almost apologetic. "We need to find somewhere to get more information if I'm going to give you more than that. I'm working on the local radio bands to see what I can pick up."
"O-namae wa nan desu ka?" an angry feminine voice demanded.
"Oh, frak," Fred groaned. "Are we in Japan?"
"Not as far as I can tell," Edgar answered. "The local radio and TV bands are all in English."
"Might as well start translating, then."
"My name is Fred MacManus," Fred said softly, opening his eyes again and bracing himself for the pain he was sure would follow. When it didn't, he looked around for the woman who had addressed him.
Standing about twenty feet away was a group of women, all in their early twenties, wearing costumes he instantly recognized. He groaned and shook his head slowly, then pushed himself to a sitting position.
"I said, what is your name?" Sailor Mars demanded again.
"And I said, my name is Fred MacManus," Fred shot back. "Give it a rest, Rei. I'm not in the mood, and I'm not going to threaten your princess. Edgar, is this a dreamland?"
"Not as far as I can tell." Edgar paused, then added, "If it is, it's one with laws that match the real world."
"Joy," Fred grumbled. He pushed himself to his feet and watched as the senshi argued among themselves. "Ladies, I don't know how I got here, and it looks like you don't know how you got here, either. So what say we work together to try and figure out how to get back to our own worlds?"
"How do you know my name?" Sailor Mars demanded.
"In my world, all of you are fictional characters." Fred shrugged and reduced the power to his Ravenfield so they could see him more easily. "Amichan, would you be so kind as to scan me, so you can reassure everyone else?"
Sailor Mercury blushed, then nodded and snapped her visor into place. After a moment, she brought out her computer and began tapping on it. Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter glared at Fred, their postures clearly indicating their readiness to pound him into paste if he so much as looked funny at Sailor Moon.
Fred, meanwhile, only had eyes for Sailor Mercury. She was even more beautiful than he'd imagined, and he blushed as he realized that, if she were in his world, Miriam's teasing about his fondness for her might have some basis in fact.
"Uh-oh," Sailor Venus grinned and whispered to Sailor Mercury. "Looks like someone's in love."
"Don't be ridiculous," Sailor Mercury shot back distractedly, her attention entirely on her visor and computer. "He's right. We're not in our own world. Whatever happened when we killed that youma, it threw us out of our world and into this one."
"We're not in our own world?" Sailor Moon asked. "What about Mamo-chan? Why isn't he with us?"
"He must have been outside the area of effect," Sailor Mercury said. She closed her computer and pocketed it, then studied Fred thoughtfully. "You don't belong here, either. How did you get here?"
"I wish I knew," Fred said. "I was in bed a few minutes ago, and when I woke up, I was here."
"Dad," Edgar said out loud, "we have a problem."
"Tell me something I don't know," Fred groused.
"Who's that?" Sailor Mars demanded. "Show yourself!"
"That's Edgar," Fred said. "He's a part of my body."
"That's impossible!" Sailor Jupiter yelled.
"He's telling the truth," Sailor Mercury said. "My scan shows that MacManus-san is almost entirely cybernetic, and there are two living beings in his body."
"Cybernetic?" Sailor Moon asked. "What do you mean?"
"What she means," Fred said, "is that my body is artificial. All that's left of the original me is my brain and a couple other minor organs. Edgar is my systems control computer. He's what makes it possible for me to control my body as easily as I do."
"Is Edgar the reason that black field around you is able to conceal parts of your body, even after you lightened it?" Sailor Mercury asked, then blushed as deeply as Fred felt himself blushing at the question.
"Uh, yeah," Fred said, looking down and realizing he was still as naked as he had been in bed. "Thanks, Edgar."
"I didn't think you'd want to be completely exposed to the ladies," Edgar teased.
Sailor Venus laughed and elbowed Sailor Mercury gently. Sailor Moon's lip began to quiver, then she broke into tears.
"We're lost!" Sailor Moon wailed. "How are we going to get home?"
"I'm sure that, between Amichan and Edgar, we'll be able to figure out some way out of this," Fred said. He saw Sailor Mercury glance at him, then blush again, and sighed softly. "I'm sorry, Mizunosan. I . . . I'm being far too familiar."
"It's . . . all right," Sailor Mercury said softly. "I just . . . ."
"Someone's in lo-ove," Sailor Venus sing-songed, bringing a squeak from Sailor Mercury.
Sailor Jupiter looked between Fred and Sailor Mercury, then let out a soft growl of frustration.
"Dad," Edgar cut in, "I really think you need to know this."
"All right," Fred sighed. "What is it?"
"We're in a world where Fred MacManus is the planetary emperor."
"The what?!" Fred demanded, followed a moment later by Sailor Mars.
"This world's version of you seems to have conquered the planet." Edgar said. "Listen."
Edgar switched on a radio broadcast.
"In Vietnam today, the Emperor destroyed what is believed to be the last of the Communist partisans left from the old Vietnamese government, thus destroying the last resistance to the global government.
"In a statement from the Imperial government, the Empress said, 'With the last of the resistance eliminated, we can now turn our attention to making the world a better place for all its people. We look forward to showing the world that our generosity is as great as our determination. We can now enter a true Golden Age for all mankind.'
In New York City, the Knight of Flame and the Black Dragon led Imperial Guards in putting down a riot . . . ."
Fred sat down, hard, as Edgar switched off the radio broadcast.
"Oh . . . my . . . God," Fred groaned. "What went wrong? How could . . . ?"
"MacManus-san?" Sailor Mercury said gently, as she walked to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "What can we do?"
"I don't know, Amichan," Fred answered absently. He looked up and was struck again by how beautiful she was. There was no way he was going to let her--or any of them, for that matter--endure what life could be under an empire with control of his technology. "But we're going to figure out something. I will not let you suffer what this world must be suffering."
"MacManus-san?" Sailor Mercury asked, while blushing deeply. "Why do you call me Amichan?"
"I, uh," Fred blushed as he stammered out his answer, "well, uh . . . ." He hung his head and whispered, "Aino-san is right. I, uh, I've been in love with you since the first time I saw you on TV."
Fred closed his eyes, waiting for the slap he was certain would come. When he felt, instead, a hand gently touch his face and turn his head, he whispered, "I'm sorry. I have no right . . . ."
"MacManus-san?" Sailor Mercury asked gently. "Would you love a real woman, the way you love a TV character?"
"I . . . I do," Fred said softly. "And . . . she's told me that if you were a real person, she'd ask you to marry us, if I weren't brave enough to do it myself."
"She'd ask me?" Sailor Mercury said, surprised. She knelt beside Fred and began to laugh. Fred opened his eyes, surprised, and looked at her, saw tears running down her cheeks, and reached out to embrace her. Sailor Mercury leaned into his embrace, still laughing.
"Edgar? Is she ok?"
"I'm not sure, Dad. She sounds almost hysterical, but I'm getting a sensation of happiness from her, too. It's kind of confusing."
Sailor Moon brushed past Mars and Jupiter and knelt beside Sailor Mercury, sparing a glance of concern for Fred. He looked back at her and nodded at Mercury, but when he tried to gently push Mercury into Moon's arms, she clutched him and refused to let go.
"Amichan," Fred whispered gently, "Usagi's here."
"Don't want Usagi," Sailor Mercury whispered. "Want you."
"Amichan," Sailor Moon said gently. "Are you ok?"
"He loves me," Sailor Mercury said, in a tone of surprise and wonder. "He doesn't even know me, but he loves me. And . . . and his wife approves."
"His wife?!" Sailor Moon blurted in shock. "What are you talking about?"
"In my world," Fred said with a sigh, "I'm married. Miriam, my wife, is a fighter jock. She's responsible for training all the fighter pilots in Laputa." He smiled lovingly at Sailor Mercury as he added, "And she has told me . . . how many times now, Edgar?"
"At last count, forty-two times, Dad." Edgar answered with an amused snort.
"Forty-two times," Fred said, "that if Ami were a real woman, and I were ever to meet her, that I'd better ask her to marry me, and if I didn't have the ba-courage to do it myself, she'd ask her."
"Don't you see?" Sailor Mercury asked Sailor Moon. "You have Mamoru, Rei and Mako have each other, and Minako has . . . well, every guy she meets, it seems. But MacManus-san is the first man to ever love me. Not my test scores, not my degrees, but me."
"But you don't even know me," Fred said softly. "For all you know, I could be as bad as the Emperor."
"You're not," Sailor Mercury said, fixing Fred with an implacable look. "I saw how you reacted when you heard that radio broadcast. It was as if someone had stabbed you to the heart. That told me what I needed to know. You are a good man."
"And I'm not from your world," Fred said. "I should never have told you how I feel. I should never have put that kind of burden on you."
"It's not a burden!" Sailor Mercury insisted. "Even if we're not from the same world, we're here now. And when we find a way back to our own worlds, I will always know that someone loves me, no matter how far away he is. And maybe I'll be able to find a way to your world, a way we can be together, even if it's for a little while."
Fred reached out and gently touched Sailor Mercury's cheek. She pressed against his hand, then leaned forward and kissed him, surprising him with her passion. It felt as if she had been saving her whole life for this one kiss. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close, returning the kiss with equal passion, his whole world shrunk to the woman in his arms.
"Dad, we're about to have company." Edgar's voice cut through the kiss, snapping everyone to attention.
Mars and Jupiter leapt to flank Sailor Moon, while Fred and Sailor Mercury scrambled to their feet. Sailor Venus scrambled into a nearby tree and scanned the distance.
The sound arrived first--a sound like turbines from the east. Fred zoomed in on a glint of light and saw a vehicle that looked vaguely like a rotorless Skycrane with a pair of large jets on the ends of shoulder-mounted wings and another pair of jets where the tail rotor should have been. Its cargo area was occupied by something about the size of a boxcar, with weapons mounts on the sides.
"Shit. We've got an APC incoming!" Fred yelled. "Everyone hide!"
The senshi stared at Fred for a moment, then ran for the tree Sailor Venus was in. In a moment, they were in the branches, huddled against the trunk. Fred extended his arms to reach a high branch and pulled himself into another tree, close enough he could join the senshi if they had any trouble.
"Edgar?" Fred thought. "Do we have radio traffic?"
"Nothing spectacular," Edgar thought back. "They're apparently on a routine patrol. I've figured out where we are, Dad."
"I sense hesitation. Why?"
"We're in Madison."
"Madison?!" Fred blurted. When the senshi glanced at his tree he waved them back into hiding and continued silently, "This doesn't look like Madison. Are we in the Arboretum?"
"Exactly. We're in the section south of the Beltline."
The APC flew overhead, and Fred nearly lost his grip on the tree as he stared at the emblem blazoned on its belly. While the APC was painted white, in the center of its troop module was a black jackal's head, surrounded by an emerald green ouroboros.
"Edgar?"
"Yes, Dad. She is the Empress."
"Shit. No wonder he's so fucked up."
"Can you hack into the senshi communicators?"
"I can try. If they operate on the same frequency as Mercury's computer, I should be able to."
"Do it."
"OK, Dad. Give me a moment . . . There. I'm in."
"Listen, everybody. Stay hidden until they're out of sight. Amichan, use your visor to track it and let everyone else know when it's safe."
"How did you . . . ?" Sailor Mars demanded.
"Edgar did it." Fred sighed and pinched his eyes together. Rei was going to be an ongoing headache, and there was nothing he could do about it. "Look, we're in this together, whether you like it or not, Rei. I'm hoping we'll be able to use my knowledge of my own world to get us out of it, but it won't work if you're constantly fighting me."
"You know too much about us," Sailor Mars shot back.
"Amichan, would you get your computer out, please? Edgar, do you have episode 200 available?"
"Searching . . . Getting it out of long-term storage now."
"Squirt it over to Ami, would you?" Fred sighed softly, relieved, as he watched the APC continue on its path away from them. "Amichan, Edgar's sending you the last episode of the TV show you all were in. Would you play it so everyone can see it?"
"Of course," Sailor Mercury said. "It's coming through now . . . got it."
Fred kept his focus on the APC, shifting so he could keep it in sight through the tree branches, as it flew away.
"We're anime characters?" Sailor Venus squealed excitedly. "That's so cool! It's just like when I was Sailor V!"
"Now you see why I knew I could trust you as soon as I saw you," Fred said. "I would trust any of you with my life, and with the life of anyone I love. Yes, Rei, even you."
"How did they know?" Sailor Moon whispered. "That's just as I remember it."
"I don't know how Naoko-sama knew," Fred said, "although some philosophers in my world spend a lot of time arguing over whether authors create the universes they write about, or whether they are merely transcribing what they see in universes that already exist. Either way, given what I know about you all, from both the anime and the manga, the only senshi I wouldn't trust on sight are Michiru and Haruka."
"Well, he has good sense there," Sailor Mars grumbled. "All right. Now what do we do?"
"They're far enough away," Sailor Mercury said. "We can either stay up here and watch the rest of this, or we can get back down on the ground and watch this later."
Fred dropped to the ground and walked over to join the senshi as they swung out of their tree.
"Um, MacManus-san?" Sailor Moon said. "We need to do something about getting you some clothes."
"Oh. Um, right." Fred blushed, then closed his eyes and concentrated. As the senshi watched, his skin shifted, changing color and texture, until he was standing in front of them in moccasins, blue jeans, and a black t-shirt that said, under a skull and crossed cutlasses, "I am the Dread Pirate Roberts #696969. Ask about franchise opportunities in your area."
Sailor Mercury began giggling, while the others looked at her as if she'd lost her mind. After a few moments, her giggles changed to open laughter, and she dehenshined, still laughing. She glanced at Fred and blushed deeply, but her laughter continued.
"Um, Dad?" Edgar said uncertainly. "I can feel her almost as easily as I can feel you, and I'd swear she's wondering if your t-shirt is an invitation."
Fred blinked and looked down at himself in confusion, then blushed deeply as he realized what Edgar had to be talking about.
"It is if she wants it to be," Fred murmured absently, "but only if she wants it to be." He raised his voice, oblivious to Ami's shocked stare in response to his murmur, and said, "Amichan has the right idea. You'll blend in better if you look like tourists, and we need to find out more about this world if we're going to find a way home."
Sailor Moon dehenshined first, followed by the others, with Sailor Mars the last to surrender her senshi form. Fred nodded slowly, thankful that they were all in clothing that wouldn't stand out, at least in the America of his world. He just hoped this world wouldn't be too far different in its fashion trends.
"We're going to need a base of operations," Rei said. "I don't think any of us want to risk living out here in the woods."
"You're right," Ami said. "For that, we need money."
"Leave that to me," Fred said. "When money is nothing but notations in a spreadsheet, all you need to do is edit the spreadsheet. Edgar, where's the nearest bank we can hack into?"
"Nakoma Plaza," Edgar said. "You can take your pick of three."
"We're going to rob a bank?" Minako asked. "But, we're the good guys!"
"We're not going to rob it," Fred said. "We're going to do the exact same thing the government does, on a much smaller scale."
"Oh, that's different," Minako said. "That's O--what?"
"Do you know how governments create money? Or why we have inflation?"
"Uh . . . no?"
"They do exactly what Edgar and I are going to do," Fred said. "They make a bookkeeping entry in their account books that says they have so much money. Then they order enough bills or coins created to cover that entry. At least, that's the way they used to do it. Now, in America, they just make the bookkeeping entry. Since the National ID card functions as a debit card, most people don't even know what cash looks like any more."
"But," Usagi jumped in, "you can't just create something from nothing!"
"Exactly," Fred said. "That's why we have inflation. Even though the government can decree that the money supply is going to expand, it can't create value to support that expanded money supply. It's just like the con artist who sells 100 percent of the same object to five different people. If they all try to collect the object, they discover they each really only own twenty percent of it."
"You mean, they only own one fifth of it?" Minako asked. Ami rubbed her forehead, while Rei let out a soft growl of annoyance.
"Yes, Minako," Ami said. "He meant one fifth."
"Um," Usagi asked, "why would they do that?"
"Because," Fred answered, "when the government creates the money, that means it can spend the money before it dilutes the value of the rest of the money in the economy. So if the government adds a million dollars to the economy, it can spend that million dollars before anyone else even knows it's there, so it's spending the money at the old value, instead of at the diluted value. What we call inflation is really just the diluted value of the money, which is what the rest of us who aren't the government get for our money."
"But," Usagi protested, "that means the government is dishonest!"
Everyone stared at Usagi, too stunned to respond, until Rei snapped out, "No kidding, dumpling-brain! It took you this long to figure it out?"
"Waaaaah!" Usagi wailed, "Rei, you're so mean to me!"
Edgar shunted Rei and Usagi's voices to a null file, after running them through a filter set to trip on any indications of trouble. Fred sighed with relief, offered Ami his arm, and, when she took it, started walking westward. After a moment, Makoto and Minako followed. After about ten steps, Minako and Makoto ran back to grab Usagi and Rei by their arms and pull them along, incidentally breaking up their fight, which had degenerated to the two sticking their tongues out at each other.
"Fred-san?" Ami asked quietly. "You said that in your world's America, there is a National ID, ne? Do you think this world may have the same thing?"
"Damn," Fred swore. "Edgar?"
"It does, Dad. I'm trying to find a paperhanger right now."
"How about Sven?" Fred suggested. "If anyone knows where to find one, he would."
"So would Ambrosius," Edgar pointed out. "And I've already found his bar. It's right where it is in our world."
"Which leaves the problem of getting there," Fred groaned. He didn't really want to deal with Ambrosius. Sven, as a dragon should be, was an honest businessman. Ambrosius was a meddling manipulator, who would demand some kind of favor for his services, rather than an honest price.
"How clear is your image of this bar?" Ami asked.
"Uh-uh," Fred said firmly. "No. I don't want to be in the middle of the brawl that would break out if you try that."
"Brawl?"
"Yeah. The brawl that Makoto and Rei would start when all of you arrive naked." Fred glanced sideways at Ami and blushed, in unison with her. He plowed on, hoping that the explanation would distract him from the image of a nude Ami. "Ambrosius' apprentices use the bar to practice their wards. His senior apprentice, the one the radio called the Knight of Flame, earned her journeyman status by creating a ward that allowed teleportation into the bar, but incinerated any non-living material that passed through the ward. Any non-living material. Ares had to replace his sword and armor."
"You mean," Ami gasped in shock, "a journeyman mage was able to create a ward that could affect a god?"
"Indeed," Fred said, nodding. "Of course, it helps that she's half ifrit, so has a natural affinity for fire."
"But still, a god?"
"Yup. He was damned unhappy about it, too." Fred laughed and added, "Ambrosius suggested that next time, he might want to use the door."
Ami blinked, then snorted, which turned into a giggle, which changed into a laugh.
"What's so funny?" Usagi asked as she ran to flank Ami's free side. "You sound like you just heard a good joke."
"Fred-san just told me about a bartender who told Ares he should come in through the door," Ami said between bouts of laughter. "After his apprentice had created a ward for her journeyman project that incinerated Ares' clothes and weapons."
"He told Ares?" Usagi blurted, shocked. "Who did he think he was, Ambrosius?"
"Wait," Fred said, stopping and turning to face Usagi. "You know Ambrosius?"
"Not really," Usagi answered, blushing and shifting uneasily from one foot to the other. "But he was known as one of the greatest wizards in Atlantis."
"You didn't happen to have any way to contact him in an emergency, did you?"
"We could try the phone, Dad," Edgar suggested with a snicker.
Fred hit himself in the forehead with the heel of his hand. "Of course. Give it a try." He glanced around. They were still in the Arboretum, which made the idea that had just come to mind plausible. "Usagi, we need Princess Serenity to talk to Ambrosius. Even if he won't help Fred MacManus, he should help you, if he remembers your kingdom as well as you remember him."
"It can't hurt to try," Usagi said thoughtfully, then closed her eyes and brought her hands up to frame her brooch.
"Hey, Fred," Sally's voice came over Edgar's link. "What's up?"
"What the?" Fred blurted, while darkening his Ravenfield to shield his eyes from the brightness of Usagi's transformation. "Sally? What are you--? Never mind. Is Ambrosius handy?"
"Sure," Sally said. "But I never thought you'd be looking for him. Hold on a sec and I'll get him."
"Who's Sally?" Ami asked.
"She's the one the radio called the Knight of Fire."
"You mean, the one who created that ward you told me about?"
"Yeah. I don't get it. If she's out playing enforcer for the Emperor, what's she doing in the bar?"
"Hello, Fred," Ambrosius said via Edgar. "Sally said you wanted to speak with me."
"I do. So does Princess Serenity."
"Princess Serenity?" Ambrosius sounded as if Fred had just hit him between the eyes. "I didn't notice any transits from that universe. Where are you?"
"In the UW Arboretum. We need to get to your bar, without any police noticing us."
"I should be able to help. Just a moment while I find you...Fred, this could be a problem. I don't generally enter other people's dreamspaces without taking precautions that it sounds as if you haven't taken."
"Dreamspaces? Are you telling me I'm in a dreamland?"
"That's exactly what I'm telling you. Are you sure that the person you're talking about really is Princess Serenity?"
"If she's not, she's a better copy than I could imagine." Fred looked at Serenity as he answered, then glanced at Ami. Damn. If this is a dream, is Ami not real, too? "Hold on a moment, I need to check something." Fred bit his lip, then asked Ami, "Amichan, do you have any record of something that could help clear this up? Say, an agreement or something that dates back to the Silver Millennium?"
"Let me check," Ami said, pulling out her computer. She typed furiously on it, then smiled and showed Fred the display. "This should do it."
"Thanks, love," Fred said absently as he studied the screen. Ami blushed deeply, shivered, and leaned against Fred with a quiet smile. "OK. Ambrosius, do you remember the agreement you made with Endymion the Fourth regarding the assistance you would give in case of danger to his family? Would you consider that agreement to apply also to the betrothed of his...hold a sec...Ami, how does this Endymion relate to Mamoru?"
Ami took the computer back and typed on it a moment, then nodded. "Mamoru is Endymion the Twenty-Third."
Fred smiled lovingly at her and nodded, then said, "Would that agreement also apply to the betrothed of Endymion the Twenty-Third?"
"It would if they were alive," Ambrosius said, "but they were killed when the Lunar Palace was destroyed by Beryl and her army."
"They got better. Or, more specifically, they were sent forward in time by Queen Serenity to be reborn in this time. And Princess Serenity is with me now, along with her Guardians. Mercury just showed me the copy of the agreement that's filed on her computer."
"All right," Ambrosius sighed. "I'm not coming into the dreamland, but I will send a 'not my problem' spell down this line to cover anyone who's standing within twenty feet of you when it activates. It will last for one hour, so if you want to get here before it expires, you're going to have to either fly anyone who's with you here, or give Serenity and her guardians a target for their teleport spell so they can bring you here."
"That'll work just fine," Fred said with a nod. "I'll tell you when everyone is within the area of the spell." He glanced around and called out softly, "OK. Everyone get close to me. Ambrosius is going to send a spell that will make us effectively invisible. As soon as he does that, we have one hour to get to his bar."
Rei and Makoto moved closer to Serenity, while Minako grinned and poked Ami gently, whispering playfully, "I told you someone was in love." Ami blushed and leaned into Fred, then pouted at Minako.
Fred rolled his eyes and whispered to Ami, "Is she always like this?"
"No," Ami whispered back. "Sometimes she's worse. Especially if she hasn't had a boyfriend recently."
"Hey!" Minako protested, while Serenity and Makoto giggled, and Rei grumbled under her breath.
"OK," Fred said. "We're all within the area you specified. Ready whenever you are."
"Here it comes," Ambrosius said. "Remember, it runs out in sixty minutes."
"We're on our way." Fred looked at the women. "Unless you can take the image of our destination from my mind, it's probably better if I fly us there. Any objections?"
"How can you carry us?" Serenity asked.
"The easiest way is to hold you in my arms," Fred said. Noticing Rei's sour look, he sighed. "Look, Rei, the only one of you who might have to worry about me is Ami, but if you're really that worried about me doing something untoward, you can always suit up and flame-broil me after we get there, all right?"
"Just like that?" Rei asked, while studying Fred suspiciously.
"Just like that," Fred said. "I have neither the time nor the inclination to argue with you. All I want is to clear up whatever has all of us here, so we can go home." He paused as his gaze lingered on Ami, and murmured, "Well, maybe not all I want, but all that's reasonable to hope for."
"We'll figure something out," Ami said softly as she reached up to touch Fred's cheek with her fingertips. "How are you going to carry us?"
"The same way I made these clothes appear," Fred said. His hand covered Ami's for a moment, then he stepped back a stride. "My body, except for the areas that house my surviving organic parts, is made of Liquid MacManusite. Therefore, it can take almost any form. For instance..."
Fred sank to the ground as his body reformed, flattened, and grew seats. His head, positioned on a rail in front of the front seat, turned to look at the women. "All aboard, ladies!"
Ami scrambled into the front seat and began questioning Fred, firing off questions faster than he could respond. While the others watched uncertainly, Fred tried to field Ami's questions, until Ami suddenly turned and looked at the others. "Well, what are you waiting for? How is this any different than Phobos and Deimos, or Artemis, Luna, and Diana?"
"He's turned into a machine!" Rei hissed.
"Yes! He trusts us enough to change like this in front of us." Ami humphed and turned her attention back to Fred. "How long will it take us to get to the bar like this?"
"Without risking anyone getting blown out of their seats? About ten minutes," Fred answered, then added in a whisper, "Thank you, Ami. What you said means a lot to me."
"It's true," Ami whispered back, pretending not to notice as first Serenity, then Rei and Makoto, and finally Minako, took their seats. "You had to trust us, at least that we wouldn't freak out, in order to let us see you change like that. Even if I didn't have other reasons for believing in you, that demonstration of trust should have been enough for any of us. Even Rei."
"I don't know," Fred chuckled softly. "If what Naoko wrote is true, the fact that I'm male is enough for Rei to not trust me." He raised his voice. "All right, everyone, we're about to take off. Just sit back and relax."
Fred's Ravenfield darkened, until the light within it was about as bright as a moonlit night. He rose, swaying slightly as he found his balance, until he was above the treetops. He rotated until he was facing toward the capitol dome, then began moving, accelerating slowly so his passengers wouldn't be too badly confused when they didn't feel themselves moving.
Ami's eyes opened wide and she looked around, then reached out toward the Ravenfield. "How do you do it?"
"The Ravenfield?" Fred asked, laughing. "It absorbs energy. All energy, from gravity to gamma rays."
"So," Ami mused, "since the field absorbs the gravitons, they can't interact with us..."
"And that's how we fly." Fred chuckled. "You should have seen how much trouble I had before I built Edgar. I had no hope of being able to manipulate the field fast enough, so the first time I turned it on, I slammed into the ceiling of the lab. I was stuck there until I turned it off."
"Oh dear," Ami gasped.
"Was that before, or after, you got this body?" Serenity asked.
"Somewhere in the middle, actually," Fred said. "It was after I died, but before I replaced my first cybernetic body with this one."
"After you died?" Ami and Serenity gasped, almost in stereo.
"Yup," Fred said. "I was on my way home from a convention in Denver when the DC-10 I was a passenger in suffered a catastrophic failure of its Number Two engine. The 'catastrophic failure' came in the form of a missile that had "Department of State Security" written on it. I died in the crash. Three days later, a morgue attendant found me trying to crawl out of the freezer. Luckily, since I had already been transferred to the VA, I was able to take part in a military experiment that gave me a cybernetic body. If not for that bit of luck, I would have been killed a second time, just to make sure."
"I get the feeling there's more to it than you're telling us," Serenity said.
"There is," Fred said. "Like, the feds shot down that plane because the Department of State Security precogs had visions that told them a passenger on the plane was going to be responsible for destroying the DSS. And, I didn't just come back to life. I was sent back. My Father offered to let me stay dead, but told me He needed me to help do His work in the living world. Well, I couldn't exactly disappoint Him, could I?"
"Your Father?" Ami asked
"Yup." Fred extruded a figure of a muscular human with the head of a black-furred hound.
"Anubis?" Ami asked.
"That's what the Greeks called Him," Fred said. "Given how different Egyptian is from Japanese, the closest the others are likely to get to saying His real name is Yi-ne-puu."
"So it's more like Ienpu?" Ami asked. "I thought he was the god of the dead?"
"That's as close as I've ever gotten to the right pronunciation," Fred laughed. "As for what He rules? Well, it's more like transitions, like the journey from life to death. He's also in charge of guardians in general, from bodyguards to anyone who puts his or her life on the line to protect the innocent. He's also associated with Wepwawet, who watches over pioneers of all kinds, from explorers to mad scientists." He raised his voice and announced, "We're over State Street now. Landing in just a few seconds. Everyone stick close. We don't want anyone to get lost."
Fred stopped over the middle of State Street, between Ella's Deli and a bagel shop he didn't remember seeing before, in the building across the street. He sank, adjusting his descent so he touched down in a small park beside the bagel shop. Once on the ground, he lowered the Ravenfield and announced, "We're here. Once everyone's off, I can lead you to the doorway."
"Thank you, Fred," Serenity said softly. "I don't know why we're in this world, but I'm glad whatever brought us here also brought us together."
Ami was the last to depart, and as she stood, she bent down and kissed Fred. "I'm glad, too." She squeaked with surprise as Fred shifted and transformed, wrapping his arms around her and returning the kiss with love.
"Can we please get moving?" Rei grumbled. "We don't have time to waste like this."
Fred rolled his eyes and Ami bit her lip to hold in a snort of laughter. "Yes, Rei," Fred said. "Of course, Rei. Right this way."
With Rei, grumbling, taking the rear, Fred led the way to the front of the bagel shop. Once everyone was standing around the doorway, he reached for the hinge side of the door, closed his hand around empty air, then twisted and pulled. As he pulled, the empty air enclosed in his hand revealed itself to be a solid door knob, attached to a heavy wooden door. As the door swung open, it revealed a space on the other side that was as far from a bagel shop as any of them could imagine. Music, performed by an elven rock band, filled the air, and the scents of beer and hearty food tickled their nostrils.
Makoto stepped through first. Once inside, she stopped, looked around, then looked back at the others and breathed, awestruck, "This is amazing!
An elfin woman in buckskin walked to the door and looked through. She smiled and waved. "Hey, Fred. Ambrosius said you were coming with some friends. Are these your friends?"
"Hi Fawn," Fred said. "That's right. These are my friends. I think it's safe to say they've never seen a place like this before. Well, Mako? Want to tell the others it's safe to go in?"
"I don't know if I'd call it safe," Fawn laughed. "Sally's here, after all."
"Did someone call?" a woman with hair as white as Serenity's, in stretch jeans, swashbuckler boots, and a spandex t-shirt that read "69: Breakfast of Champions", asked as she appeared beside Fawn. She noticed the senshi and leered cheerfully at them. "Oooh! Hi! I'm Sally. If there's anything you want, just ask for me."
"Sally," Fred groaned, pinching his eyes together. "Before you get too excited," he pointed at Serenity, "she is married," he pointed at Rei and Makoto, "those two are a couple," he slipped an arm around Ami, "she's with me," he nodded at Minako, "and as far as I know, she prefers men."
"You're no fun," Sally pouted. "Anyway, now that you're here, Merlin's upstairs waiting for you." She grinned and teased, "What's Miri going to say when she meets your girlfriend?"
"She's going to have to come here to meet her," Fred sighed. He squeezed Ami close for a moment, then raised his head and looked at Serenity. "We'd better get going. Hopefully, Ambrosius will have an idea of what to do."
"We'll find a way to make it work," Serenity said, reaching out to lay a hand on Fred's shoulder.
Fred nodded slowly. "If anyone other than you said that..."
Ami looked up at Fred and pouted He laughed softly and added, "Or you, of course, sweetheart."
Fred led the way through the bar, steered the group around a band of dwarves having an arm wrestling contest, paused while a centaur carried a blind, red-haired toddler across their path, and stopped to wait while an ogre carried two kegs of beer behind the bar. Once the ogre was out of the way, Fred knocked on the office door.
The door swung open and a voice called from the darkness beyond, "Come on! Come on! I haven't got all day, you know!"
"You say that every time someone comes to see you, Ambrosius," a cloaked woman said, surprising Fred when she appeared within arm's reach. "You'd think you didn't like visitors."
The darkness beyond the door dissipated, revealing a flight of stairs going up. The voice called down the stairs again, "Who is that? And where is Fred?"
"I swear, he just likes being difficult," the hooded woman grumbled, reaching up to rub her forehead. As she did, her hood fell back, revealing raven-black hair and a young appearance. She yelled up the stairs, "I'm one of the two people you need to consult. The only one who could be bothered to answer your questions. Now, we're coming up." She looked at Serenity and said, "Your Highness, if you would be so kind as to follow me?"
"Of course," Serenity said, and began up the stairs after the cloaked woman.
"Skuld?" Fred murmured uncertainly as he brought up the rear. "But why would she be here?"
"Because you need me," the cloaked woman called back down the stairs. "Because I have some of the answers you need."
--
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, and it's not from Knights in Tarnished Armor, it's not mine. Sailor Moon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko, and a few companies that published her work. Skuld belongs to Herself, and wouldn't likely recognize anyone else's claim on Her anyway.
Author's Note: Believe it or not, this story really did start out as a dream.