As the four watched the moon rise, mist slowly filled the stone arch until it was completely opaque, wisps of fog drifting out of the portal only to disperse in the cool night air.
"I'll go first," Genma said, deciding it was probably safe and would make him look heroic enough to please his wife. He quickly vanished into the mist.
"Until the other side is built, it's a one way trip," John said with a grin, as Genma couldn't step back to tell them it was safe, so he was being overly dramatic for no real reason.
The women giggled and John stepped through the portal, coming out in the center of an empty intersection in Tokyo 3 with a worried looking Genma looking around frantically. "You have to build the other side, sensei," John reminded him.
"Oh, yes," Genma said, calming down as he saw him. He scanned the area for the appropriate material while Nodoka and Kasumi faded into sight as they passed through the portal as well.
"That was easy," Kasumi said, hurrying over to John's side, shivering as she looked around the empty city.
"The gate is just big enough to fit a Suzuki Carry," Nodoka noted with a grin as she spotted the tiny white flatbed truck.
John laced his fingers through Kasumi's and watched as Nodoka examined the vehicle, finding the keys in a pair of pants lying on the ground next to it.
"Why are there clothes everywhere?" Kasumi asked, trying to distract herself.
"The people turned into liquid leaving all their possessions where they fell," John replied, "a bit like what the Christian's picture how everything will look after their Rapture."
"Battery's still good," Nodoka announced as she started the truck, "but it could use a little more gas."
"Do I have to build it in the exact same spot or can we place it elsewhere?" Genma asked as he set a number of stone blocks in the intersection, having silently cut apart the wall of a furniture store to make them.
"Has to be the same spot, give or take a couple of feet," John said, checking his map to make sure. "If we could have made them anywhere, we could have put one back at camp."
"This place makes me very nervous," Kasumi said, "I can feel…" She shivered.
"Take off the ring and put it in your pocket," John suggested. "I think you are reading the emotional echoes of everything that's happened here."
Kasumi pulled the ring off and sighed as the tension left her. John wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. "That's much better," she said, "now everything is merely eerie and not filled with soul sucking despair and panic."
"Gate's up," Genma said cheerfully, having assembled a matching gate silently and swiftly with skill that was nothing short of shocking.
"And the truck will fit through just fine," Nodoka noted, measuring the arch and truck.
"Excellent," Genma said cheerfully. "Let's find some food and an apartment block, because after we eat I'm going to teach you how to pick locks by feel."
"And we can get in some blind fighting," Nodoka said, far too cheerfully for Kasumi's tastes.
The two clutched each other tighter and groaned.
"On the plus side, since we'll need proper light for shopping, we will be spending the night here," Genma offered.
"And since we will be working at night, we won't be getting up till sometime in the afternoon," Nodoka added.
"Soft beds and a few extra hours to enjoy them," Kasumi said. "What do you think?" Before John could reply, Kasumi reached down and cupped his crotch.
"I think you rely on the ring of empathy too much if you have to check by hand how I feel," John teased with a grin.
"Actually I was trying to flirt like Nodoka does," Kasumi admitted, "though I do like knowing you still find a mousy little housewife desirable."
John pulled her close. "You'll have to introduce me to this mousy little housewife you keep mentioning, because I have yet to meet her."
"Your flirting always was refreshingly direct," Genma said.
"Flirting can be subtle," Nodoka said, "unless it's a Saotome, then it's best to be obvious."
"I can do subtle," Genma disagreed, "but if she is any kind of real woman she should be direct!" He grinned at his wife.
Nodoka pulled a bokken out of nowhere and swung at the couple.
*CLACK*
Kasumi blocked with a bokken she hadn't had a moment before, lips still glued to John. "Hold that thought," she said, releasing him and turning to Nodoka.
"Very smooth," Genma complimented him, "but you didn't hire me to teach you how to woo women, you hired me to teach you how to steal back that which is yours, so let's find some wire and I'll teach you how to make your very own lockpicks."
"There's probably a jewelry store around here that has some decent tools we can use," John suggested, the sounds of Kasumi and Nodoka sparring already familiar enough to tune out.
"Moving kind of slow there, thunder thighs," Nodoka noted.
"Die bitch!" Kasumi growled, bokken seeming to attack from several angles at once, the wooden swords shedding sparks that lit up the night.
…almost tune out.
"Appealing to my greed," Genma said with approval, "but also presenting a very practical idea."
"Also lust," John said, "because how do you think Nodoka will respond to being presented with millions in gold and jewels?"
"I almost wish Ranma was here," Genma said, "he could learn a lot from you, but he'd hamper Kasumi's growth by interfering in her training."
The pair walked down the block, peeking in stores as they went.
"I was surprised her father didn't complain about her coming," John said, wrinkling his nose at the smell coming from a 7-11 but stepping inside and heading for the front counter.
"He trusts me to look after her and knows she needs to break out of her shell," Genma said.
John grabbed a lighter off the counter and lit it, using the light to find a flashlight and used it to find a basket and do some shopping. "I think he might object to me and her," John noted.
"No doubt," Genma agreed, "but he'd also know he shouldn't."
John avoided the freezer section and picked through the canned goods. "I'll probably be avoiding him when I take you all back home."
"Yes, just the way she walks now would be all the clue he needed," Genma noted, "and you currently lack the skills to survive his attacks."
"If I could avoid his attacks, I wouldn't need training," John said with a chuckle, "magic girls are a lot slower than martial artists."
"Slow but powerful?" Genma questioned.
"Yeah," John agreed, drifting back to the front and emptying a number of displays into his backpack.
Genma took the opportunity to make the alcohol section vanish as well. "Even if we make you fast enough to evade their attacks we should also condition you so a near miss doesn't kill you as well."
"The more pain in training, the less in combat," John reminded himself.
"That's the spirit," Genma said cheerfully. "Now, let's go get the girls, they'll have worked up an appetite by the time everything's ready."
"By the power of Grey Skull!" Kasumi called out.
"Did you really expect that to work?!" Nodoka demanded.
"Worth a shot," Kasumi replied.
"You have to design attacks, you don't just yell out things and hope they work," Nodoka complained.
"Have you seen Ranma fight?" Kasumi demanded.
"I better make extra," John decided.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
"Did anyone hear anything last night?" Shinji asked.
"We were all too busy," Asuka reminded him. She took a sip of coffee while Rei and Kaworu made breakfast, smoothly sliding around one another in the confines of the motorhome. "Why?"
Shinji flipped around the laptop he was using and tapped a button. The screen showed the fairy circle and just beyond it a small white truck.
Half an hour later…
"Anything?" Asuka asked as the four met back up.
"I found where they set up a grill to cook dinner, but that's all," Shinji said.
Rei and Kaworu shook their heads.
"It was pretty late when they showed up," Asuka noted, "they're probably still asleep."
"And it's a big city," Kaworu said.
"Looks like we're waiting for them to show up then," Shinji said. "Wanna leave a note for them?"
"A note?" Rei asked curiously.
"To let them know where to find us," Shinji explained.
"I thought we'd just move the mobile home next to the arch and wait," Asuka said. "Be hard to miss that."
"A bit confrontational," Shinji noted.
"Not if we've got beer and bratwurst ready for them," Asuka said cheerfully.
"That would make things friendlier," Kaworu agreed.
"Any excuse for a bar-b-que," Shinji said with a smile.
The group stood there, all of them quiet for a moment until Asuka spoke, "I can't believe there are more people… of some kind."
"Of some kind?" Rei asked.
"That sword fight was something right out of the movies," Asuka pointed out.
"So are our lives," Shinji replied.
"Too much violence and not enough sex," Asuka complained with a snort. "We'd end up with an R rating and none of the fun of getting it!"
Rei found the corners of her mouth turning up. "I agree. While I wouldn't enjoy being in a 'chic flic', I think soft core porn would have been nice."
"I wouldn't have minded being a 'chic flic," Kaworu said, "though preferably one with lots of cuddling and less angst than the norm."
Rei nodded. "That's soft core porn, the only real difference is the cuddling comes with penetration and I quite like penetration."
"It is nice," Asuka agreed cheerfully.
Shinji shook his head. "I'd complain that I'm surrounded by perverts, but you all make some very good points."
"Of course we do," Asuka said cheerfully, "now let's go get the food, set up the grills, and grab some cameras."
"Cameras?" Kaworu asked.
"If we get bored waiting, we can make our own movies," she replied.
"I will be the plumber," Rei said brightly.
Everyone turned to stare at her.
"What?" she asked.
"I thought you liked soft core," Asuka replied, "porn with plumbers is usually hard core."
"I usually watch the parts at the end where they are cuddling," Rei replied.
"They cuddle in the end?" Asuka replied, surprised.
Rei raised an eyebrow. "Have you never watched a porno movie to the end?"
"Um…" Asuka blushed bright red and Rei burst out laughing after trying and failing to keep a straight face.
"She got you on that one," Shinji said with a grin, "point, Rei."
"No one watches a porn to the end," Rei admitted, "though I did fast forward to the end of a couple to check. Mainly it's just people passing a girl something to wipe her face with and then the end credits."
"We could dress you and Asuka as Mario and Luigi," Kaworu said thoughtfully. "It'd make for a more interesting film."
"Let's get everything together for a party, we can write story ideas while we wait for them to show if they miss the party," Shinji suggested.
"Works for me," Asuka said.
"I call dibs on being Mario," Rei quickly said.
"No way!" Asuka exclaimed. "I am player one, thank you very much!"
"Food first!" Shinji broke in. "We can run the scene both ways you know."
"Or all four," Kaworu added. "That way we all get a turn at being Mario and the Princesses."
Rei started up the motor home. "Each person can write a story with them as the main character, we have time."
"That we do," Asuka said with a smile, "we have nothing but time."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
John slowly woke up, the familiar weight of Kasumi across his chest. "What?" he asked the air, glancing around the borrowed bedroom and trying to figure out what had woken him up.
"Hmm?" Kasumi asked blearily, his movements waking her as well.
"Why do I hear polka music?" John asked, confused.
Typing by: Abyssal Angel
