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The End of the Circus: A Tale of the Yizibajohei
Shipgirl Short Stories: Taffy Three Returns: Shipgirls on the Hellmouth!
By Fred Herriot
Based on characters and situations from The Seventh Carrier, created by Peter Albano; Katekyō Hitman Reborn, created by Amano Akira; Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, created by Seth Grahame-Smith; Kantai Collection, created by Kadokawa Games; Sayonara Zetsubō-sensei, created by Kumeta Kōji; Sister Princess, created by Kimino Sakurako and Tenhiro Naoto; Sweet Valley High, created by Francine Pascal; Harry Potter, created by Joanna K. Rowling; Urusei Yatsura and Ranma 1/2, created by Takahashi Rumiko; normalman, created by Jim Valentino; Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon; Dial "H" for Hero, created by Marv Wolfman and Carmine Infantino; and Stargate SG-1, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner.
Also including characters and situations from Urusei Yatsura — The Senior Year, created by Mike Smith and Fred Herriot.
Sunnydale in California (twenty-five kilometres/fifteen miles north of west from Santa Barbara), the last Thursday of October in 2012, an hour after supper/approaching astronomical twilight (Tōkyō time: The last Friday of October, an hour before lunch)...
"Um...hey, Sammy?"
"Yeah, Gamby?"
"Why approach town after nightfall?"
The scowling golden brown-eyed high school freshman (in physical looks) with the blue-tinted blonde hair done up in buns at the backs of her temples snorted as she scanned around the beach where they just made landfall in the United States for the first time in sixty-eight years. "You know the creepy-crawlies that love this place always come out after sundown, Gamby."
Her taller, pure-blonde twenty-something companion (again in physical looks) blinked before she sighed. "Yeah..."
"So in case someone comes out before we go find a flag officer to report to, best to hit them early before they fully 'wake up'."
"True...but still..."
Both girls' stomachs then ominously rumbled.
"Right..." the "destroyer escort who fought like a battleship" then muttered. "Rations first...!"
With that, the reborn US Ships Samuel B. Roberts and Gambier Bay — now Samantha Brooke Roberts and Honore Chloe Zitzewitz respectively according to the living spirit of the Forge of the Seekers; both had chosen their new middle names as what they could be addressed by in case they needed to disguise themselves among normal people like Superman did in the comics — walked towards a set of stairs to get off the beach towards Harbour Drive beyond the edge of the runway of the local airport.
"Wonder why I got a new hull number," Chloe then absently mused as she gazed down at her blue-shaded pant legs, seeing the black-shaded white 173 written midway up her thighs...
In Sweet Valley (fifteen kilometres/nine miles west of Sunnydale), that moment...
"And...done!"
Taking a deep breath, the Grey Ghost, Leduo ("Enterprise"), slowly stretched herself before rising from the table where she had poised on while her host finished work on the painting that Yvonne Swanson had commissioned from DeeDee Gordon to be hung in the main reception hall of the new headquarters complex for the United States Joint Specialized Warfare Command soon to be built at Fort San Antonio in Texas. Allowing her service dress blue uniform — whose "salad bowl" of medals was utterly prosaic when it came to people possessing her honorary rank of captain; unlike normal-born O-6s, the reborn second of the Yorktown-class aircraft carriers only had six medal ribbons in two rows of three over her heart with three unit decoration ribbons on her right breast under her name tag and the new badge displaying her revised ship's crest — into her grey-and-medium blue battlesuit as one of the two most powerful American shipgirls alive today, the Mad Artist of the South, Ito ("Canvas"), smile as she turned the beautiful portrait around to allow the adopted native of River Vale near Newark in New Jersey (where her stern plate had been kept as a memorial after her scrapping) and Newport News (her place of construction) to gaze on what had been done.
Given her cosmic abilities to manipulate all matter to create a vast museum's worth of art, the unofficial "cutest girl in Sweet Valley" was able to make Yvonne's portrait as lifelike as possible while still ensuring people will see it as a painting and not a heavily computer-manipulated picture. The right tone of skin shade, hair colour, eye tones and uniform hues seemed to make the Great Ghost's portrait almost as alive as a magical portrait often did, which made Yvonne blush as the brown-haired reborn artist from old Krodututo made a dramatic wave of her hands. "You are forever immortalized, Captain!" DeeDee declared.
"A beautiful portrait it is, Gordon-dono," a grave voice then declared from one side of the living room of the Gordon household overlooking Main Street; unlike other small cities on the Pacific coast, Sweet Valley had yet to merit a bypass being built to get US Highway 101 around its downtown core. "Are you sure there's no one like you in Japan?"
Yvonne gave her fellow "comic shipgirl" — who had preceded her in being salvaged and Gifted six days earlier at the start of April — a wry look. "I would think, Yoiko, your crew would be LONG over that sort of thing!" the blue-eyed blonde cautioned.
The extraordinarily tall Itō Yoiko could only groan. "It's not any of my crew, Yvonne-san," the Ice Warrior of Eternity, Gaeyuo ("Yonaga"), cautioned as she gave her would-be opponent from the Greater East Asia War a wry look. "It's actually people back in Japan who are in the know about Tariko-san's casting drive. Much that they do admire Diana-san's work..."
"They prefer local, E," the other "cosmic" American shipgirl and the first of her service to be salvaged and Gifted not days before the heavily rebuilt/modified fifth of the Yamato-class had done, Naomi Haight-Ashbury, sagely noted.
"I'm not jealous, if that's what you think," DeeDee noted as she crossed her arms before perking as her boyfriend Bill Chase — now the King of the Waves, R'bosuor'ba ("Kele") — came up with a can of Coca Cola for her to sip from. She then hummed for a moment before exchanging looks with the blond surfer she had fallen in love with in their sophomore year. "Harumi?"
Bill hummed. "Sounds like a good idea. She can do realistic art if she pushes herself."
"'Harumi'?" the Grey Ghost asked.
"Fujiyoshi Harumi," DeeDee answered, speaking of a fellow cosmic-powered artist from Yokosuka known now as the Painter of the Universe, Namiti ("Sharaku"). She was a member of the Kumeta Group of metahumans Gifted, becoming so effectively by accident when she became one of several "living horcruxes" after getting an organ transplant from a pre-Gifted nimmib daughter of an insane magical researcher, Akagi Anne (now the Traveller in the Night, Tadi Butuor'ba ["Ghost Walker"]).
"She normally does yaoi dōjinshi, Admiral Gordon," one of the Grey Ghosts four-girl squadron of escort destroyers, Tracey Jenkins, cautioned from her place close to the entrance to the kitchen, crossing her arms.
Noting how the Wise Navigator of the Old Dominion, Jenkins, and her sisters had positioned themselves to keep watch over their "flagship", Yvonne exchanged amused looks with Yoiko and Naomi. Given that attacking the home of a certified cosmic-level metahuman was seen as the height of insanity on the World of the Forge, that Tracey and her sisters Samantha Nicholas, Renée Saufley and Tamara Waller were here as well while the current "commodore" of America's growing fleet of shipgirls was something their adopted people would see as being unnecessarily paranoid. Being reborn warships brought to life, though...!
"She does commissions in lifelike art when people ask her to, Tracey," DeeDee noted...
...before a phone rang. "Got it!" Renée called out before picking it up, noting an icon on the caller ID screen indicating someone in the know about Yizibajohei was calling. "Hello, Admiral Gordon's residence, USS Saufley DD-465 answering. Who's this?"
A giggle answered the Bluegrass Flyer of the Panhandle, Saufley. "Oh, hello, Renée! What are you doing in Sweet Valley?"
"Ah! Admiral Rosenberg!" the adopted native of Stanford near Danville in Kentucky called out, making everyone look her way. "Um, the Commodore's getting her portrait done by Admiral Gordon to be put up in the new HQ building the Seabees are building for us now over at the Fort, the one they're naming after Ranger Collins? You need to speak to her?"
"Well, any shipgirl will do, Renée," Willow Rosenberg noted as DeeDee tapped the control to turn on the speakerphone. "Tara, Xander and I are at the Bronze right now and we all just sensed two of yours come into town."
Everyone perked, then Yvonne looked to the east. «Any shipgirl in Sunnydale right now, this is Enterprise! Call in!»
A shocked gasp echoed over the shipgirls' private "secure communications" psionic network; to ensure the "normal" people in both the Gordon home and the people calling in from the Bronze in Sunnydale themselves could overhear this, America's first shipgirl gestured with a finger to allow them to overhear this conversation. «E?! Is that you?!» a woman's voice called out.
Yvonne shook her head. "Sorry, I don't recognize you off the bat. ID yourself," the Grey Ghost declared.
«Ah! S-s-sorry!» the unknown sputtered back. «Charlie-Victor-Easy-Seven-Three here! I'm with Dog-Easy-Four-One-Three on what the sign calls as Harbour Drive, near the town airport. We just came in now.»
The other American shipgirls save the Cosmic All-Seer, Kyotam ("Long Beach"), gaped in disbelief; Naomi herself simply exchanged a knowing look with Yoiko, who seemed amused. "It's just you guys?!" the Grey Ghost then wondered.
«Yeah, just us, E!» a new voice cut in, making the destroyers literally goggle in awed shock. «We tried calling back the others in Taffy Three for an HOUR after we got salvaged and merged with our new 'hulls', but they didn't answer. Er...»
«We HAD to come back here, E!» the voice of the first shipgirl to report in from the Hellmouth added.
Sensing the emphasis on that statement, the Grey Ghost sighed. "Stay there! We're on our way!"
Sunnydale, at the corner of Harbour Drive and Market Street, ten minutes later...
"Anything, Sammy?"
"Nope, not that I can see. But if that weird magic that was used to make people forget that bastard Wilkins...!"
"Oh, how CUTE...!"
Brooke Roberts perked as Chloe Zitzewitz yelped before they turned to look towards the empty house on the north side of the intersection where the main entrance to Sunnydale Municipal Airport was located...
"Yeah, that magic's working alright," the Escort Who Fought Line Warriors, Samuel B. Roberts, dryly noted.
...as a grinning dark-haired girl with the warped wolf-like face marking her as one of the more common denizens of Sunnydale's "nightlife" came out of the shadows, her fangs barred as she gazed hungrily at the two shipgirls standing there in the open like that, she not noticing their hull numbers 413 and 173 on their pant legs. Given it was just under a week before Hallowe'en, said newcomer automatically assumed these two walking bags of blood and flesh were trying out their costumes; the "mystery man" theme being quite popular as the woman born Charisma Carpenter — a peer of Cordelia Chase, Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris — could immediately recall. As the screaming urge to get a new meal overcame the dark-haired vampire, she lunged...
...only to be snared by the hand of the reborn twentieth of the Casablanca-class "combustible, vulnerable and expendable" escort aircraft carriers built en masse at the Kaiser Shipyards in Vancouver across from Portland. "HEY! LEGGO...!" the undead ex-cheerleader — who, like so many who had fallen to Sunnydale's "nightlife" over the years, had actually been reported to have died from mundane causes like drug overdoses — shrieked as she tried to pull away before her glowing eyes went VERY wide as the relative unarmoured would-be cargo ship's strength registered. "Oh, shit, you're one of those shipgirl freaks...!"
SS-SHING!
"Young lady, I would STRONGLY suggest that you curb that tongue given that Gambier Bay-dono can easily crush your throat and decapitate you by hand grip alone," a cold voice declared as the gleaming silver blade of a VERY sharp sword appeared right before her eyes. "You appear to be one of Summers-dono's several friends temporarily lost to the night here..."
A barking laugh answered her. "Hah?! The SLAYER?! Get real, Ice Bitch!" Charisma snapped with a show of false bravado on recognizing the seventh carrier of the Pearl Harbour attack in shipgirl form. As both Brooke and Chloe gaped in mind-boggled disbelief as they sensed the aura of THG Yonaga around the newcomer, the dark-haired vampire spat, "I wasn't friends with her before Angelus and his friends made me LOADS better one night before last Hallowe'en! I wouldn't be caught DEAD...!"
A fist slammed into her gut, nearly folding her right in half. "Lucky thing we found out we're at peace with Japan now, kiddo!" Chloe then declared, her pale blue eyes now glowing with a deadly orange-yellow flare that made Yoiko blink before her eyes went wide with recognition while Brooke seemed to back away a couple steps from her task unit mate. "That's a CAPTAIN in the Imperial Navy you're addressing right now, never mind what she and her crew have been through for the last seven decades." The Wary Jackrabbit of the Hellmouth, Gambier Esei ("Gambier Bay"), then gave the taller shipgirl a clearly amused look. "Apologies, Captain Itō. You and your crew's reputation do precede you if what those strange signal boxes we got with our new hulls said about what happened to you all is anywhere NEAR the damned truth! Are you really sisters with Yamato?"
"Yasuko-san has yet to return as we have, Captain Zitzewitz, but yes, I too am of the Yamato-class; ordered originally as the fifth even if I was first commissioned into the service of the Heavenly Sovereign. May I ask this: Che famiglia sei?"
Chloe gasped, letting the gasping Charisma go to drop to the street. "LO SAI?!" she screeched in Italiano.
"I am allies with one adopted of the Vongola and one adopted of the Cavallone, Captain: Regia Marina Roma and Regia Marina Pola respectively to be precise," Itō Yoiko returned in her accented English. "They're two of the fleet now assigned to the man who is the one who created our human names. Oh, Commander Roberts, could you please restrain Miss Carpenter?"
KK-KLONK!
"Aye, ma'am! She's restrained!" Brooke declared after bopping the hapless vampire on the head to knock her out. Shaking her head, the younger-looking shipgirl then gazed in annoyance at her task unit mate. "So what the hell's going on, Chloe?! What's this damned secret about you literally switching personalities like that when that weird power of yours shows up?!"
That made Chloe awk as the aura of her Sky flames disappeared from her eyes. "It's considered a fleet secret among American and Italian shipgirls alike, Roberts-dono," Yoiko cut in as she gently squeezed the smaller carrier's shoulder in reassurance, that making the adopted native of Xootsnoowú in the Alaskan panhandle (where her namesake bay was located) and Vancouver in Washington (where she was built) relax herself. "As we are all allies in the defence of Earth as a whole as our 'hulls' served for the Healer of Destruction ever since the lar'beke foolishly tried to seize the Forge of the Seekers five millennia ago, we all respect same, as do those human-born metahumans such as Rosenberg-dono, Maclay-dono and Harris-dono now approaching us do."
"Whoa! What?! You saying she's got Dying Will Flames?! Now THAT is seriously cool! What type, Captain?!"
Chloe awked in surprise on hearing that delighted question escape the Wild Scavenger of the Plains, Suoti ("Hyena"), born Alexander Harris while he and his two friends among the Scooby Gang approached the three shipgirls and the stunned vampire by one's feet. Seeing the earnest look on the dark-haired man's face, she then chuckled as she held up her hand, allowing golden-orange flames to appear around that gloved extremity. "Oh, you have Sky Flames!" Willow Rosenberg said after she exchanged a knowing look with her lover Tara Maclay. "Hmm...'CVE', huh? Oh, escort aircraft carrier! That makes sense!"
Chloe blinked, surprised that this civilian seemed to register what was on her formal ship's crest over the cleavage diving her impressive "superstructure", then she chuckled as she scratched the side of her head beside one of those rather BIG fluffy ponytails of hers. "Um...h-how did you g-g-guess that, Admiral...?" the adopted Alaskan/Washingtonian then wondered.
The Arch-Mage of True Passion, R'bemdo R'bem ("Crimson Heart"), winked. "Well as soon as Captain Itō's fleet mate Commander Fukushima Fujiko — that's the destroyer Fubuki if you don't know — was found by a friend of ours back in March, I felt it was just being smart to prepare for when American shipgirls such as Captain Swanson and her friends coming in just now would become part of our lives. Hello, Yvonne, Mama Cass, girls!" she then hailed, looking up towards the west.
That made the just returned members of Task Unit 77.4.3 at the Battle of Leyte Gulf turn before they literally sagged with relief on seeing the Grey Ghost and her escorting destroyers — plus someone whose aura indicated a cruiser...but with NO VISIBLE GUNS anywhere on her weather decks! — coming down to land nearby. "Welcome home, girls!" Yvonne Swanson called out.
Chloe breathed out. "Oh, thank God! We're safe now!"
That made Yvonne blush as the others gazed knowingly her way...
The Bronze, an hour later...
"So, can we take her, Faith?"
"Damn straight we can, B!" Faith Lehane said with an approving nod after she BARELY was able to arm-wrestle Brooke Roberts to the win. "Given she helped literally scare away the Big Y's sister and her friends from Samar that day with her pals, it's no wonder that the Little Scrapper here is as strong as she is! What's your displacement, Scrapper?"
The adopted native of San Francisco (where her namesake Coxswain Samuel Booker Roberts, Jr was born) and Houston in Texas (where she was built as the fifty-fifth of the John C. Butler-class escort destroyers/frigates) blushed. "Admiral Lehane...!"
"Oi! Oi! No 'admiral' shit!" the Belle of the Wilderness, Yati ("Wildflower"), scolded as she reached over to playfully tap the younger-looking shipgirl's cute nose. Being bisexual even before she was Gifted in the early spring of 2010, Faith couldn't wait to teach this kid all the things adults do...which, given that any shipgirl was "born" from the combined memories of all the people who designed, built and crewed her throughout her service career from keel laying to scrapping/sinking/preservation as museum ship, could make things QUITE interesting. Since Brooke did look like she was a couple years younger than the native of south Boston, it wouldn't be seen as too problematic even by the scant number "moral majority" who lived in this literal hellhole of a city. "Yeah, I know girls like you want someone like the A-man to be your spiritual boss, but I'm not it!"
"Kanami could," Buffy Summers noted. All of the Scooby Gang — known on the World of the Forge as the Atar'bero-dir'ba, chosen for them by Tariko Katabarbe's would-be detective sister Yotsuba Dunn AKA the Master Interrogator, Nyuosyo'o ("Bleachtaire") — were present save for the group's most powerful member, the former Saotome Ranma now calling him/herself Hayashi Kanami; the Untameable One, Muona ("Mustang"), was at her new home catching up on some homework.
"Mistress Kanami is too busy helping April here adjust to being fully organic, My Mistress," Coya Gutierrez warned.
Gazing on the reborn "Inca mummy girl" saved by Xander before the previous Hallowe'en who was now Gifted as the Volcanic Handmaiden of the Dark Gaol, Raeru Uoto ("Pacha Kamaq"), the others nodded. "Are you a shipgirl, April?" Chloe Zitzewitz asked as she gazed in confusion at the current incarnation of the Wild Beast of the Mountains, Yamem ("Sasquatch").
"No, Captain, I'm not," April Mears said with a polite smile. "I used to be what's properly addressed as a 'gynoid'. Think of me as I was built as a human-shaped machine, with gears, wires, control boxes and motors inside my body, plus a computer — like your personal administrative assistant devices, but with self-control and self-thinking functions added in — before Xander helped me become Gifted." As Chloe and Brooke gaped in shock, the dark-haired, mid-level FISS who was reborn of a cold weather specialist from somewhere in the eastern equatorial continent added, "My creator was a late peer of Buffy and the others, Warren Mears. He discovered a Shōzoki construction pod outside town some months ago, then managed to have me created."
"Shōzoki are aliens, right?" Brooke wondered, she crossing her arms.
"Yeah, they are, Scrapper. Most of them are pretty cool people like April here," Faith answered, waving to the pretty brunette she had a couple pillow scenes with before April had elected to become Kanami's effective girlfriend, helping the boy-turned-girl master martial artist recover from the hell s/he had been put through from the spring of 1997 until May this year when she allowed herself to be Gifted. "Some of them are controlled by this 'mother' thing back on their home planet. They're the ones you have to watch out for, but I don't think no Gifted Yizibajohei human or shipgirl like you could be hurt by them."
The two veterans of the famous Taffy Three formation that performed WAY above expectations one autumn day off the coast of Samar in the Philippines sixty-eight years before exchanged looks. "We've got so much to learn!" Chloe breathed out.
"What the hell made you guys come back HERE of all places?" the Gang's only pre-Gifted member, Cordelia Chase, then asked.
Gazing on Charisma Carpenter's former best friend — said teen vampire was now stashed away in the basement at Buffy's home on Revello Drive not far from city hall — the two shipgirls blinked before Chloe sighed. "Memories."
"What memories?" Tara Maclay gently asked.
"Memories of those of our crews — both the survivors, the true dead and the 'dead' taken off by the Dragon Slayer that was there that day — who were born here, Admiral Maclay," Brooke tiredly answered before she wryly smirked. "Boca del Infierno."
The normal humans there moaned. "The Hellmouth," Xander Harris finished, shaking his head. "What happened to them?"
"Relatives vanishing to become part of the 'nightlife' here...then being made to FORGET they even existed after they enlisted and deployed out of town," Chloe hissed, her eyes glowing with the metahuman fire she had been given as an extra power beyond her new 'hull's' standard FISS capabilities plus projection blast powers equivalent to her old weapons suite and composite air squadron combined. "Atop that, a mayor who seems to be practically IMMORTAL of all things...and definitely knew the crap that was befalling people left and right." As her new "admirals" all gaped, the adopted native of Xootsnoowú added, "A couple of my 'dead' who got saved by those magical soldiers from the Dragon Slayer that was there that day had daughters who were actually SACRIFICED by 'Mayor' Wilkins to help him STAY immortal."
Silence.
More silence.
Still more silence.
Then...
"Wait!" Buffy said, thumbing towards City Hall. "Are you saying that our Mayor Wilkins...?!"
"Richard Wilkins?" Brooke asked.
"Yeah! He's a fucking DEATH CHEATER?!" the Mighty Maid of the Mountains, R'besuoto ("Virago"), hissed.
"Oi, don't swear, Buffy!" the Wild Scavenger mock-chided. "You know His Honour doesn't like four language."
"He's no daywalker vampire if that's what you're asking, Admiral Summers," the reborn destroyer escort noted. Fortunately for them all, Willow and Tara — the latter was the Tailor of Pure Chaos, Nabuor'be (the "Enchanter") — had weaved a powerful "notice-me-not" field around them so they could enjoy the music and fun of the Bronze while having this important meeting; such had also prevented the growing legion of shipgirl fans currently inside the all-age bar from swarming the reborn Samuel B. Roberts and Gambier Bay. "He's a sorcerer, but I don't think he was trained at either Ilvermorny or Seven Hills."
"Oh, shit!" Faith moaned. "Do we HAVE to deal with the idiots on the other side of the Hudson? Could we ask Uncle Abe?"
"I can contact him, but this IS our fight scene, Faith," Buffy warned.
The Belle of the Wilderness nodded. "Always!"
The Summers home at 1630 Revello Drive, Friday, an hour before breakfast...
"You're an ADMIRAL now?!"
Buffy Summers sighed as she gave her mother an amused look. "Got adopted, Mom."
Joyce Summers blinked before she sat down at the dining room table. They were alone at this time; the now-human Charisma Carpenter had been removed from the house by Cordelia Chase minutes before. "How?"
"Two of the girls from that Taffy Three bunch that got into that really super, big bad fight scene off the Philippines in '44 came back last night," her daughter — who was both one of the two living Vampire Slayers in a line that went back millennia...PLUS was an adopted member of the only known race of metahumans in the Universe — calmly answered, causing the older woman to start in wide-eyed surprise. "One of the frigates — oh, they were destroyer escorts back then — that got sunk by Captain Itō's sister and her friends, plus one of the two carriers who got sunk back then, the one that didn't go down via kamikaze." As the older blonde — whom Buffy was TRYING to help get into a relationship with her current Watcher, Rupert Giles; given what happened when they both consumed the tainted Milk Bar chocolate candies that had been distributed by SOME asshole on all the adults in town a couple weeks before, seeing Joyce happy with a man again was something the younger woman could agree to — gaped in shock, Buffy shrugged. "'Sides, you can't say NO to someone who could arm-wrestle FAITH to the ground when she's even younger-looking than any of the destroyer gals who hang out with Captain Swanson over at Fort San Antonio."
Joyce hummed. Like many parents to adopted Yizibajohei across the planet, she had adapted well to the concept of shipgirls when their existence was confirmed in late March — especially after the USS Long Beach became Naomi Haight-Ashbury at the end of that month; given what she had done to the staleblood magical idiots who tried to enslave her...! — but she hadn't really delved into research concerning the reborn warship spirits-made-metahumans. Living in a place like Sunnydale was bad enough with all the many creepy-crawlies hiding in the shadows only to come out and play once the sun went down. And while the town WAS effectively exempted from laws such as the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, the ever-annoying presence of what those in the know called "Sunnydale Syndrome" and how it affected the many bystanders to such madness could drive anyone up the wall. "I wish I did better in American history when I was in school and university," she lamented, sipping her coffee.
"Well, I..." Here, Buffy then tensed. "Visitor."
Joyce likewise tensed as her daughter scanned around the area with her highly-enhanced empathic senses; being the reborn incarnation of a special forces warrior from Nesetimtuto two millennia before when the Dawn of Power happened, developing such a highly-honed "danger sense" had been a survival requirement that did Buffy VERY well once she awoke as the current Slayer shortly after the turn of the New Year two years prior...much to the annoyance of the "tweed brigade" back in England that Joyce's own would-be boyfriend ultimately still worked for even if he had been forced to conform to the Scooby Gang's rather UNIQUE way of dealing with vampires and other critters of the night in the wake of the first big fight scene with the Master the previous June. "Can you tell who it is?" she wondered as she picked up a handy wooden stake. "It's daytime..."
The Mighty Maid blinked before she relaxed. "Okay! It's Brooke!" she breathed out before calling out, "C'mon in, Brooke!"
The front door then opened — the whole house had been modified by Willow Rosenberg shortly after she befriended Buffy to ensure that NOTHING that wasn't wanted inside could come in — to allow someone to step inside, the footfalls instantly telling her mother that the newcomer was in the ubiquitous fighting uniforms the Children of the Forge often wore when they got into battles with others like them. A moment later, an impossibly cute girl appearing to be two years younger than her daughter with long blue-shaded blonde hair done in two buns at the backs of her temples turned the corner from the main foyer and the stairs leading to the upper floor. "Admiral Summers, ma'am," said newcomer said as she came to attention to salute them properly. "John C. Butler-class destroyer escort Samuel B. Roberts, reporting for mission assignment! Good morning, Mrs. Summers."
Joyce looked at her, then she stared at Buffy. "We're keeping her!"
The older of the Slayers laughed on hearing that...
Two hours later, Sunnydale High School on G Street at Third Avenue...
"Holy shit! Are they what I THINK they are?!"
"Oh, my God! Where the hell did Summers and her idiots find THEM?!"
"Why are they so BEAUTIFUL?! I'd KILL to have hair like that blonde girl!"
"The bigger one's too old-looking to be a cruiser! Her hull number seems right, but...!"
"Younger one's definitely a destroyer! Her number's kinda right for one of them...!"
"Nah! DD-413 is USS Mustin! That's a Sims-class ship!"
"Wasn't she one of those who went through the whole Crossroads thing that Captain von Savoyen went through in '46?"
"Yeah, that's her! But this gal can't be Commander Mustin!"
"How can you tell, man?!"
"Look at her collars! She's got lieutenant commander's rank on her!"
Eyes focused on the blue-haired girl who was walking arm-in-arm with Buffy Summers onto the grounds.
"She's not a subgirl! They all dress mostly in black!"
"Then that means...HOLY SHIT!"
"What?! WHAT?!"
"SHE'S DE-413! THAT'S SAMUEL B. ROBERTS! HOLY DAMN! TAFFY THREE'S IN TOWN!"
A shocked chorus of cries escaped many of the students gathered in their various cliques across the school's front yard as they focused on the adopted San Franciscan/Houstonian, she dressed in her white top-and-light blue pants battlesuit that showed off a VERY well-formed body for what seemed to any normal person to be a high school freshman. As said person froze on sensing DOZENS of eyes instantly lock on her, Willow Rosenberg sent her group's new charge a curious look. Blinking as she took in the mixed chorus of awe, disbelief, honest curiosity and even the odd stares of lust from boys and girls alike — being a shipgirl, Brooke Roberts did know that a small fraction of her crew had turned to each other to relieve THAT sort of stress while busy on the high seas, never mind what Faith Lehane clearly wanted to do with her if she got the chance — she sighed as she straightened herself, giving the many students now gaping both at her and at Chloe Zitzewitz a polite salute. "Good morning, everyone!"
That instantly broke the spell as people streamed over to gaze closely at her. "Damn! You ARE Samuel B. Roberts!" Paul Albert exclaimed on seeing Brooke's ship's name and new hull number FF 413 written on the gold rope-line blue stadium ring that formed the standard United States Navy ship's crest frame. "When the hell did you get back, ma'am?! Where are the others?!"
"We got Gambier Bay here in the captain here!" Chris Boal, one of the victims of the infamous vampire Darla when the Order of Aurelius had been in town two years before — he had been saved from being turned by a diluted blood transfusion thanks to Xander Harris — noted as he waved to Chloe. "Damn! Guess that whole thing about escort carriers is true!"
"What thing, dude?" Xander asked.
"They're on the same list as the fleet carriers like Captain Swanson and her sisters," the other man said as he indicated the blonde Alaskan's new hull number CVE 173 on her ship's crest. "Any of the others came back, ma'am?"
Chloe chuckled as she subconsciously reached out with her Sky flames to help calm the crowd around them down and ensure that any potential peer rivalries which normally existed among people like this didn't flare up into something idiotic. "Well, I'm not sure about the others from our task unit, but the Commodore told me that Liscome and Bismarck are back."
"Oh, yeah! Captains Wiltsie and Pratt," Ted Chirvin noted, nodding. "Well, welcome back, Captain! Commander!"
Smiling, the two shipgirls saluted the would-be boyfriend of fellow sophomore Ginger Noxon. "Thanks, Mister Chirvin," Brooke called out, making Ted gape before the adopted San Franciscan indicated Buffy. "Admiral Summers showed me her yearbook from last year this morning and I memorized all the pictures. Gotta know who's who, after all."
As Ted blushed, Mark Helf then whispered to Faith Lehane, "Hey, Faith! Could they go on dates?!"
The transplanted Bostonian smirked. "Well, if you want to get your spine crushed to powder when you do the passion dance with the Little Scrapper there, it's your choice, man!" she slyly noted. At his curious look, the Belle of the Wilderness called out, "Yo, Wills! What did you figure out concerning how strong the Little Scrapper there really is?!"
As Brooke blushed in embarrassment, the Arch-Mage of True Passion smirked. "Well...!" she drawled before looking at the crowd around them. "Anyone who knows! Standard displacement of a John C. Butler-class ship?!"
"Easy! One thousand, three hundred and fifty tons!" Brad Konig, one of those who often dated Cordelia Chase's "friend" Harmony Kendall, answered as he indicated Brooke. "Full load for wartime is 1,745 tons."
"Now QUAD it!" Willow then said with a knowing smirk.
People exchanged looks, then Jack O'Toole drew out his cell phone to do a quick calculation. As both Chloe and Brooke tensed on sensing something WAY off about the dark-haired man with the goatee and moustache, Xander gently squeezed the reborn carrier's hand, making her look his way. Seeing the Wild Scrapper shake his head and silently mouth "Not in public!" to her, Chloe nodded before she glanced to starboard, she relaying that message telepathically to Brooke. Relaxing as the reborn destroyer escort/frigate calmed down — indeed, given that poor Jack was a ZOMBIE of all things, the smell that came from him would have made Xander nauseous if he didn't have the memories of his many past-selves to help keep him calm and disciplined! — the leader of his own gang of "daywalker undead" then gaped. "Holy fuck! Superman, MOVE OVER!"
"How much, dude?!" Mark asked.
"Three TRILLION, three hundred and twenty-one BILLION, five hundred and six MILLION, two hundred and fifty THOUSAND tons, man!" Jack exclaimed, making jaws drop as they stared at Brooke, who now looked a little embarrassed.
"Of course! That makes sense!"
Eyes locked on Tara Maclay. "What do you mean, Tara?" Amanda Singer asked.
"The 'destroyer escort who fought like a BATTLESHIP', Amanda?" Cordelia wondered as she gave her old "subordinate" — most of the so-called "Cordettes" had effectively "defected" to Harmony's side when the former "queen" of Sunnydale High's social scene herself sided with the Scooby Gang after the previous year's rather interesting Hallowe'en adventure — a look. "Hey, Buffy, didn't you say earlier that Captain Itō herself came to town last night when Brooke and Chloe came here?"
Jaws dropped. "Yonaga?!" Cameron Walker — one of the school swim team who fell victim to a transformation curse early the previous fall which turned he and his mates into fish-like creatures; such was reversed thanks to Willow — eeped.
Who the hell did NOT know of the seventh carrier of Operation Z after her appearance the previous month in Tomobiki?
"Yeah, it was her, alright, Cam," Buffy said as she shared a knowing look with her would-be boyfriend; even if he had tried to force himself on her just before that whole nonsense began — getting a broken nose from the Slayer as a result — what Willow had done after the swim team had been made into virtual MERMEN allowed them to reconcile.
"Oh, yeah! Hey, Wills, what did Captain Yoiko say about Brooke here again?" the Mighty Maid of the Mountains asked.
As Brooke blushed an even more deeper shade of red, the Arch-Mage of True Passion smiled as she gave her friend a knowing look. "She said that all of Taffy Three showed 'true samurai spirit' for standing their ground against her sister and her friends that day even with that idiot Halsey was busy chasing ghosts off northeast Luzon during that whole battle?"
"Um...Admiral Rosenberg, ma'am, I wouldn't call Captain Matsubara and her friends 'ghosts'," Brooke cautioned.
That made Willow blink before she sighed. "Right! Right! The Matsubara twins and the younger one's friends from Cape Engaño came back around the same time you two did!" she muttered, slapping the top of her head.
People gaped. "Oh, yeah! That's right! Moroboshi Ataru put out a YouTube podcast about that last night over in Japan!" Elliot Terhune called out, making people gaze on the would-be actor — the Scooby Gang got to know him and others two years before when the school talent show nearly turned tragic thanks to a knife-welding organ thief...which turned out to be a disembodied demon hunter who was trapped in a ventriloquist's DOLL of all things! — while he pulled out his own cell phone. "Here! These are the Matsubara sisters; they're the Shōkaku-class carriers. Shōkaku's the blonde, Zuikaku's the brunette with twintails."
Some went over to look while others drew out their own phones to scan YouTube; podcasts done by the world's most famous teenager had appeared on that and other platforms starting in April after his would-be "marriage" to some alien queen and had kept going despite all efforts by his rich peer Mendō Shūtarō to have them taken off-line out of protest over the man's defaming of his "wife" Redet Lum all the time. "Kanako and Suzue," Brittany Podelle read from her own screen. "Wow! Even if he's been accused of everything under the damned sun by the idiots in that place, Ataru really thinks up nice names for shipgirls!"
"We're hoping to see Admiral Moroboshi and his sisters sooner or later, Miss Podelle," Chloe explained, making the would-be boyfriend of Owen Stadeal squawk on being recognized by the reborn aircraft carrier. "After all, as the Commodore explained it, we gotta do a courtesy call and all that." She giggled in embarrassment. "Yeah, she told us how those guys he's got to deal with in that place are total idiots because they like that alien so much, so we'll probably smack them around when we get there!"
"Do it, Captain!" Jack urged. "My grandpa nearly lost his whole gas station business when those alien taxis came around to steal the world's oil like they did because those 'Stormtroopers' of that bitch bilked on the fare!"
Brooke gaped. "Oh, fuck! Are there actual Nazis over there?!" the adopted San Franciscan asked.
"From what Ataru says all the time, they always act like it, Commander..."
Elliot's voice was cut off by the warning bell for first class. "C'mon in, girls!" Buffy then bade as people began to break up and head for the main doors. "We'll get you over to see Mr. Giles before we face Snyder the Troll..."
"Same dork who accuses you of causing crap when you're innocent, ma'am?" Brooke wondered as she slightly tightened her grip on the older woman's arm while they and the others in the Scooby Gang headed in as a group.
"Same dork," the Mighty Maid assured as she tried not to wince; as a Slayer, she had enhanced strength but as Jack O'Toole just affirmed moments before, it was NOTHING in comparison to what the reborn destroyer escort could do.
There are times I really wish I went for a FISS-type two years ago...! the Angelino high school senior lamented.
"Good! We can practice on him and his friends before we go over to Japan," the adopted San Franciscan said with a smirk.
As her task unit mate snickered at that dry observation, they passed through the threshold into the building that had sat atop the physical Hellmouth itself since it was built decades before. "Damn!" Chloe hissed as her eyes flared, she immediately reaching out with her Sky Flames — such visible thanks to a slight golden glow around her gloved hands — to create a protective aura around her and the others in the group, thus ensuring that WHATEVER was running around invisibly through the school wouldn't hurt any of them that much. "I wonder if any of the famiglia active in America have come here," she whispered.
Xander hummed. "Not really too sure about that, Chloe," he quietly noted. He had been quick to sense her moving to shield all of them thanks to his own ki sensing abilities, such having been enhanced by some excellent teaching by a certain freshman boy-turned-girl master martial artist who made her own way to school so as to not attract too much attention on herself by revealing she was a part of the Scooby Gang. "We haven't really run into any of them since we got Gifted."
The adopted Alaskan hummed as they made their way to the library...
To Be Continued...
WRITER'S NOTES
This story takes place about a week prior to the preceding Hearts of Oak omake short stories concerning the rebirth of Charlene Boleyn (HMS Warspite) and her friends, putting this twenty-four days before the start of Boy Meets Girl Meets Metahuman. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer continuity, this occurs after the events of "Beauty and the Beasts" (third season, episode four). Note that continuity concerning BtVS will be skewed in this sub-series of omake as note what was revealed in Part 13 of BmGmM.
Now, the shipgirl list. Introducing first the two ladies of the famous Taffy Three who come to Sunnydale here...
Captain Honore Chloe Zitzewitz USN (United States Ship Gambier Bay [CVE-173, formerly CVE-73])
Lieutenant Commander Samantha Brooke Roberts USN (United States Ship Samuel B. Roberts [FF-413, formerly DE-413])
Both girls take after their Kantai Collection selves, naturally. Note that as with some other nations, the hull numbers for escort aircraft carriers (CVE) and destroyer escorts (DE) were merged into master lists for the general ship type. In Chloe's case, all escort carriers had hull numbers increased by 100 to fit in after fleet carriers. In Brooke's case, since the concept of "destroyer escort" was done away in the great reclassification of American warships in 1975, the hull code was switched to frigate (FF).
Now the other American shipgirls appearing here...
Captain Yvonne Claudia Swanson USN (United States Ship Enterprise [CV-6])
Captain Ellen Naomi Michelle "Mama Cass" Haight-Ashbury USN (United States Ship Long Beach [CGN-9, formerly CLGN-160])
Commander Tracey Alexandra Jenkins USN (United States Ship Jenkins [DD-447])
Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Mary Nicholas USMC (also Commander USN) (United States Ship Nicholas [DD-449])
Commander Renée Caroline Saufley USN (United States Ship Saufley [DD-465])
Lieutenant Colonel Antonia Tamara Waller USMC (also Commander USN) (United States Ship Waller [DD-466])
Yvonne Swanson (USS Enterprise) takes after fan art I did of her on Pixiv, ID #90028037. Naomi Haight-Ashbury (USS Long Beach) resembles fan art I did of her also on Pixiv, ID #89349711. Tracey Jenkins (USS Jenkins) and Samantha Nicholas (USS Nicholas) take after their Azur Lane interpretations. Renée Saufley (USS Saufley) takes after the Warship Girls interpretation of her eldest sister Frederica Fletcher (USS Fletcher); such can be seen on Danbooru, ID #2465308. And Tamara Waller (USS Waller) takes after the Warship Girls version of her sister Matilda O'Bannon (USS O'Bannon); such can also be seen at Danbooru, ID #2170007. Note any shipgirl who was named in honour of a member of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) is accorded honorary rank equivalent to her Navy peers' honorary rank; thus both Tracey and Tamara are seen as both lieutenants colonel (short-form LtCol) in the Marines as well as commanders in the Navy.
One quick spoiler alert...
Commander Heidi Crystal Mustin USN (United States Ship Mustin [DD-413])
She takes after fan art done of her by the artist Yorktown CV-5 as shown on Pixiv, ID #91667123. At the time of this omake, she has yet to be salvaged from where she had been scuttled as a target off Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands.
Also, the sisters of Chloe Zitzewitz (USS Gambier Bay) mentioned in the final scene will be introduced in a future omake.
Of course from Japan...
Itō Yoiko-taisa DNTR/DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Yonaga [KB-11])
Fukushima Fujiko-chūsa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Fubuki [KK-156])
As noted before, Itō Yoiko (THG Yonaga) is named in honour of the ubiquitous carrier from The Seventh Carrier series from 1987-1996. She resembles fan art I did on Pixiv, ID #89349755. More information is available in the writer's notes in the initial parts of both BmGmM and the side story Before the Dream. Naturally, Fukushima Fujiko (THG Fubuki) takes after her KanColle self. Another spoiler alert: The Japanese shipgirls reborn from the ships lost at the Battle of Cape Engaño during the overall Battle of Leyte Gulf spoken of by Elliot Terhune in the last scene will be introduced in a future omake.
And from Italy...
Capitano di Vascello Roberta Carlotta Ansaldo di Bergamini, Vongola Patrizia di Roma e Trieste RM (Regia Marina Roma [pennant 21])
Capitano di Vascello Paola Maria de Pisa de Lerici, Cavallone Patrizia di Pola e Livorno (Regia Marina Pola [pennant I76])
Both of them take after their KanColle selves as well, in physical appearance and behaviour...and yes, that includes the heavy drinking Paola de Lerici (RM Pola) engages in. Their welding Dying Will Flames (from Katekyō Hitman Reborn) was first noted on in Part Eight of BmGmM. As an aside, a Capitano di Vascello ("ship-of-the-line captain", short-formed CapV) is the equal of an American naval captain. Pennant numbers for Italian warships are a post-World War Two concept; both these girls' numbers indicate the order they were built. As an aside, pennant superior letter I means Incrociatore ("Cruiser").
Translation list and source languages: O-6 — American rank/pay code for a navy/coast guard captain or army/air force/marine corps colonel (English abbreviation); Krodututo — Analogue of Italy (Yizibajohei); Kele — Chief (Hawai'ian); Seabees — Phonemicization of CB ("Construction Battalion"), the nickname for the American Navy's in-house ground engineers; Lo sai — You know about that (Italian); Atar'bero-dir'ba — Literally "clue seekers", based on the Cockney word "Scooby" (Yizibajohei).
Any American shipgirl automatically receives the awards and decorations she gained as a warship while in service. For Yvonne Swanson (USS Enterprise), her decorations come in two types: Unit awards (worn on the right breast of the dress uniform jacket or underlying dress shirt) and campaign awards (worn on the left breast over the heart). Her unit awards include the Presidential Unit Citation (for her crew's exemplary early work in World War Two), the Navy Unit Commendation (awarded post-war for her performance throughout World War Two from 1941-1945) and the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation (for her participation in the liberation of the Philippines from 17 October 1944 to 4 July 1945). Her campaign awards include the American Defence Service Medal (marking her crew's combat service in defence of America), the American Campaign Medal (for her defence of American territory after Pearl Harbour, especially at the Battle of Midway from 4-7 June 1942), the Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal (the general award for all operations in the Pacific Theatre of the war), the World War II Victory Medal (the general service award for American personnel in World War Two) and the Philippine Liberation Metal (awarded by that nation to mark her crew's help in liberating their nation in reflection of her receiving that nation's PUC). Her sixth "campaign medal" is British, marking her a Member of the Order of the British Empire (post-nominal letters MBE); this reflects her hosting members of the Admiralty Board (senior officers of the Royal Navy) at one time, when her crew was given the dark red-and-gold sideways anchor pennant of the Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom as a mark of respect.
As an aside, Yvonne's American Campaign Medal has the "Fleet" clasp for navy and marine corps personnel who were active on the high seas. Her Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal will have four silver battle stars, marking her overall battle honour credit for World War Two; the silver star is a singular mark taking the place of five bronze battle stars. This is a simple show loudly declaring the Grey Ghost as the most decorated American warship of the Second World War.
Bill Chase (Kele) and DeeDee Gordon (Canvas) are two minor characters from the Sweet Valley High young adult novel series published from 1983-2003; they both first appeared in the eighth novel, Heartbreaker, first published in 1984.
Fujiyoshi Harumi (Sharaku) and Akagi Anne AKA Fu'ura Kafuka (Ghost Walker) are from the Sayonara Zetsubō-sensei manga series published from 2005-2012. Please see the alternate timeline short story A New History to explain how they became empowered in the universe of this series; these two and their peers also make an appearance in Extreme Shipgirls.
The "Ranger Collins" referred to here by Renée Saufley (USS Saufley) when she was speaking to Willow Rosenberg (Crimson Heart) in the second scene hails to a character who first appeared in the 1980s version of DC Comics' fan-inspired Dial "H" For Hero series published in various magazines in the early 1980s. San Antonio native David Collins of the Texas Rangers is this universe's version of one of Christopher King's many personas who appeared in DHfH, the Wrangler (created originally by Tom Reed); first seen in Adventure Comics #480 (April 1981). I first made use of him — his real name and origins are my creation — in The Seventh Shipgirl. In the multiverse of my series, Collins is the leader of the Liberty Legion (officially the 1st Joint Volunteer Specialized Warfare Legion), the mobilized American "mystery men" of World War Two. During said war, Collins was made a major in the 124th Cavalry Regiment, one of the Lone Star State's two Army National Guard armoured units.
The phonetic alphabet used by Chloe Zitzewitz (USS Gambier Bay) here is the Joint Army/Navy Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet introduced in World War Two. It goes in this order: Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog, Easy, Fox, George, How, Item/Interrogatory, Jig, King, Love, Mike, Nan, Oboe, Peter, Queen, Roger, Sail/Sugar, Tare, Uncle, Victor, William, X-Ray, Yoke and Zebra. The extra words for "I" and "S" no doubt were placed to allow faster communications in certain places.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer character notes: Charisma Carpenter is my creation; I named her after the actress who portrayed Cordelia Chase in both that series and in the spin-off series Angel. Coya Gutierrez (Pacha Kamaq) is my name for the Inca mummy girl who appeared in the episode of the same name (second season, episode four). April Mears (Sasquatch) first appeared in "I Was Made to Love You" (fifth season, episode fifteen). Note that her family name is my creation and is based on her creator Warren Mears, who also first appeared in that episode; he would be one of the Big Bads in the sixth season. The immortal Mayor Richard Wilkins was the third season's Big Bad, first appearing in "Homecoming" (episode five). Paul Albert and Mark Helf were both listed in a notebook denoting people who voted for Buffy Summers (Virago) to become school homecoming queen in "Homecoming". Chris Boal first appeared in the series premier, "Welcome to the Hellmouth"; he was one of the victims of Darla (whom I give the birth name Julia Kramer). Ted Chirvin and his girlfriend Ginger Noxon (family name my creation) were mentioned in "The Wish" (third season, episode nine). Brad Konig first appeared in "Real Me" (fifth season, episode two); naturally, this short happens way before he was sired by his would-be girlfriend Harmony Kendall (who first appeared in the series' second episode "The Harvest"). Jack O'Toole first appeared in "The Zeppo" (third season, episode 13). Amanda Singer first appeared in the non-canon novel Return to Chaos (published in December 1998). Cameron Walker first appeared in "Go Fish" (second season, episode 20). Elliot Terhune first appeared in "The Puppet Show" (first season, episode nine); this was also where the disembodied demon hunter in a ventriloquist's doll, Sam, also appeared. And Brittany Podelle and her would-be boyfriend Owen Stadeal were mentioned in "Phases" (second season, episode 15).
Of course, Elizabeth "Buffy" Summers (Virago), her mother Joyce Summers, her Watcher Rupert "Ripper" Giles, Alexander "Xander" Harris (Hyena), Willow Rosenberg (Crimson Heart), Cordelia Chase, Faith Lehane (Wildflower), Tara Maclay (the Enchanter) and Liam O'Connor AKA Angel/Angelus (his family name is my creation) were main stars throughout either the whole series or at least over multiple seasons.
The story behind Hayashi Kanami née Saotome Ranma (Mustang) is better shown in Parts 8-9 of BmGmM.
Being that events depicted in the novel Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is part of the overall cosmology of my stories (as you can read in Magic and Canada, especially in Part Three), it would be natural for the Scooby Gang to know of the "Rail-Splitter" as President Abraham Lincoln would be named by magicals and mystics worldwide, especially during the Score and Four rampage — where Lincoln actually ran into Angelus and his lover Darla during the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 — from his "death" in 1865 to his restoration of sanity in 1889 at the hands of Dean Raeburn.