Disclaimer:
Ranma 1/2 is Owned by Rumiko Takahashi.
Sailor Moon is owend by Naoko Takeuchi.
Ah! Megami-Sama! is Owned by Kosuke Fujishima.
Not Another SI Fic!
By; Taiteki Kagato
Opening the door to my apartment, I expected to find Nabiki on my computer, or doing
something else Nabiki-ish. Instead, I had to squint at the heat that rolled out the door to
greet Makoto and I, and the sounds of a fighting game coming from my dated television.
"…the hell?" I muttered, stepping inside as I took my jacket off. There, in front of my
little-used television, Nabiki and Mara sat, both fighting each other in a round of Mortal
Combat on a Nintendo Gamecube I was sure I hadn't had when I'd left for work earlier. I
blinked once, then stared at the 'cube, noticing a sticker attached to the side. Moving
closer to take a peek, I read the sticker:
"Wall-Mart Display Unit. Do not remove from Store."
I stared at the Gamecube for a moment, then collapsed on the couch, a soft moan
announcing my dissatisfaction at the way my life kept turning.
Makoto shut the door, and took a seat at the other end of the couch, watching the game
with interest. Glancing at the screen, I watched as Sub-Zero pounded a beefy-looking
Sonya into the ground. Then, realizing I was loosing track of what was important, I
turned and glared at the culprit.
"Mara! How could you steal this, after destroying my car? Are you trying to ruin my
life?" She turned to look at me, then returned her gaze to the television.
"You don't really think you'll get me to feel sorry, do you?" She finally asked, as Sub-
Zero executed a six-hit combo onscreen before impaling Sonya on a blade of ice.
"Well.. no. But if you manage to get me arrested, you'll be out of a home. And you all
stand a better chance of going home if you three and I work together."
"Hmph. I kind of like it here. No Doublet system, no irksome Deities or even more
irksome Demon Lords to take orders from…" She spared me a glance, a malicious glint
in her eye.
"Finish Him!" The television cried out.
"DAMNIT, NABIKI!" Mara roared, all mirth and malice vanishing.
"Hey! So sue me if you're easy to beat. I can't help it if you suck."
Glancing up, I noticed Mara, who'd been playing Sonya, had failed to get even one hit in
on Nabiki's character. Then I shrugged.
"Be that as it may, what if Belldandy and Keiichi achieve happiness or something? Could
you live with yourself knowing that they're all lovey-dovey and you could have stopped
them?"
"Hmm.. we can't have that. But how would I stop them?"
"… umm…" Damn. I'd really backed myself into a corner here. Glancing around, I
spotted one of my wall scrolls, and blurted out one word.
"Jusenkyo?"
Nabiki turned to look at me, eyebrow quirked, then crossed her arms.
"I don't really think she'd like my universe too much."
Mara stared off into space thoughfully, before shrugging. "Whatever. I'll do what I want,
mortal. But, to make you happy…" She snapped her fingers, and turned to look at the
Gamecube. "There. All better now?" she asked. Then she walked out the door.
Turning to the 'cube, I noticed that the sticker had fallen onto the floor, leaving a gooey
residue where it had been.
"…"
Makoto picked up the abandoned controller, and started a new game. Nabiki, not missing
a beat, scooted up beside her and commented lazily, "Care to wager a little something on
the outcome?"
"I'm broke." Makoto said, eyes watching the screen intently as she tried to decide whom
she'd play as.
Nabiki deflated a bit, selecting Sub-Zero once again, and starting a new fight, this time
against Scorpion. Pulled the couch back into a bed, and crawled under the covers (and
under my pillow) to get a couple hours of rest.
A couple hours later I awoke, somewhat rested, to find Nabiki and Makoto sprawled out
on the floor, sleeping as well. Looking at them asleep, I sighed, and moved to put them
on the bed, where at least they didn't have to worry about drafts, or funky carpet-
corduroy marks. Nabiki was relatively light, as was Makoto, though moving both took
time so as not to wake them.
After that was done, I moved over to my computer, and started scouring the web. But
first, I checked my E-Mails.
"Junk, junk, junk, message reply, message reply, ooh!"
Reading over the letter quickly, I shrugged and closed it, somewhat disappointed.
Sometimes people write a lot, but say little. Opening the next letter, I read it quickly, and
grinned. On the other hand, some people just write from the heart, and it shows. I'd have
to get back to Stephen, but for now…
A couple hours later, I groaned and stood up, unable to handle it any more. I'd found
someone in the area who knew a friend who once had a deal with a guy who could get
Makoto the paperwork required to get a job, but the price was a little steep. Without my
car, I had little to bargain with. If I took ALL my money, the hidden and what I'd earned
earlier, I could probably barter, but that was rent money and utilities, as well. My only
hope, then, would be that Makoto could make enough quickly enough to get rent.
With that in mind, I changed, grabbed my wallet, all my hidden bills, a cup full of coins I
kept on the counter, and reached for my Keys.
"Son of a…" I hope the city busses accept quarters.
An hour later, in a much seedier part of town, I Scowled at the world around me, doing
what I could to appear tougher than I really was. Changing was a good idea, I realized,
because a trench coat like I was wearing could hide a lot more than a golf shirt could…
and the wary gazes I received told me that the look of having a weapon was enough to
keep me somewhat safe.
"Mr.. Kagey-toe?" I rolled my eyes, but refused to correct the man.
"Yes?" I asked, sounding bored. My heart sped up a bit as I turned to look at the man
who'd spoken. The less I said about him, the better, but the transaction went pretty good,
though, I lost all the money (as I'd expected) and my Army Ring (which I hadn't
expected) before receiving a home-made single use lamination kit, a page of instructions,
and the parts to an area ID, minus the photo. I also received what looked like an aged and
faded Social Security Card for one "Kino Makoto."
I turned to go, and the man called out to me softly before I got too far away, "Those are
for visual use only. They won't hold up to any close inspection." Nodding as I turned the
corner, I paused to think about how I would get to the other side of Denver without any
money.
With a rather resigned sigh, I began walking south, hoping I'd get home before too long.
Five or so minutes later, it started to snow.
Cold and tired, I opened the door to my apartment, and collapsed to the floor, enjoying
the relative warmth coming from the heater. Unfortunately, with the door hanging open,
what little warmth I had flew out the door, and was replaced with more cold air. Nabiki
and Makoto were, understandably, not pleased with the loss of warmth.
"Close the damn door!" Nabiki and Makoto cried.
I quickly kicked the door shut, and turned to look at them. Makoto was at the computer,
watching "Terminator Two" and Nabiki...
Nabiki stood there, in the middle of the room shivering, dripping on the floor and
wrapped only in a towel. Apparently, she'd just stepped out of the shower when I let her
have it with a blast of Colorado winter.
"Eh, sorry." I managed, standing and shaking off the snow that still rested on my coat. I
also reached into pocket and produced the items I'd gained on my little trip, tossing them
on the desk.
Makoto reached out and held up the items, with a quirked brow. Shrugging my coat off, I
hung it up in the closet, before returning to the room. The heater was starting to replace
the cold air I'd let in with warm air, and Nabiki had ducked back into the bathroom to, I
assumed, put on something warmer than a towel.
A little later, we sat around, staring at each other, with little to do. Makoto's movie had
ended, and we now were contemplating what to do next. My choice, to sleep, had been
tossed out immediately, and so I simply listened to their discussion.
"We need to find a way to get home." Makoto started.
"Right," Nabiki responded, staring at Makoto as if she'd missed a rather obvious point.
"I mean, we need to actively search for a way to get home."
"I understood that. I'm still waiting for an explanation as to how we should begin."
"Umm… we could.. umm…" Makoto trailed off, there, and I spoke up, the content of the
conversation painfully redundant to me.
"Why don't you try calling Mercury again?"
Makoto blinked at that, then looked at her watch, pressing a couple buttons to activate it.
Powering the communicator again, the screen turned black, before a face appeared on the
screen. The sound of a rather intense battle could also be heard, though through the small
speakers, it was hard to make out what was going on. I quirked a brow at that, but waited
to ask questions.
"Ano, Jupiter? Could you call back in a little bit? We're…" She paused, and I heard a
grunt that sounded like the speaker had just been hit, or had hit the ground hard. Whoever
was on the other end spoke up again, then. "…busy." She sounded pained, and I got
slightly worried. Something was wrong with this situation, but I couldn't remember what
it was. Makoto, however, was on her feet, glaring at the small screen.
"Mercury! Tell me what I can do to help!"
"Well… Actually, now that you mention it, hold on…"
The sounds of battle continued for a moment, and I could hear indistinct speech between
Mercury and someone else. Finally, she returned, as she resumed speaking.
"When I tell you to, try blasting the vortex where your signal terminates."
"The what?"
I pointed to where the white light shooting out the top of her watch stopped in mid-air.
Makoto nodded, and then transformed, blinding Nabiki and I, who'd been used to the
dark. Watching through cracked eyelids, Makoto changed into Sailor Jupiter, and finished
in her pose, before looking at her communicator.
"Umm.. maybe you should take it off, if you have to shoot at it…" Nabiki suggested.
Sailor Jupiter nodded, and removed the communicator, tossing it on the floor by the door.
The light coming from the top wavered for a moment, fading, before bursting into a small
silvery vortex similar to the one seen on "Sliders."
"That's…" I started, unsure what it was. Interesting, yes, but also unnerving.
"NOW, JUPITER!" Mercury shouted.
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" Jupiter executed her best concentrated attack, the magical
blast flying out to strike the pile of computer hardware that I'd pulled out of my
computer. Having shielded my eyes, I missed what happened next, but when I finally
looked, my questionable hardware was sparking and smoking, and the outlet my Heater
plugged into looked somewhat melted, though it was hard to tell, as everything electric in
my apartment had shut off.
"… Please, God, let the circuit breaker have gone, and not everything powered I own." I
muttered, moving into the Kitchen.
"Jupiter! Hurry!" Mercury cried again, not knowing what had happened here.
"Sparkling wide PRESSURE!" Jupiter cried again, this time managing to hit the vortex.
The attack disappeared into the vortex, and I sighed in relief, opening the fuse box, and
feeling that the main switch wasn't all the way over. Flipping it fully off, I counted to
three, and flipped it on, hoping everything would work.
My computer whirred as it restarted, and the Gamecube's power indicator light began to
glow, indicating that power was restored. At least, I thought it had, until my heater
dropped a dozen sparks out of the lower intake vent, and then died. The rest of the
apartment, however stayed powered, and I heard a snap, as the circuit breaker for the
outlet overloaded again.
Turning back to Jupiter, I sighed, and started to berate her for her bad aim, when the
vortex wavered, shrank, and then exploded, growing in size to hide my door, and most of
the wall beside it.
Nabiki, Jupiter and I blinked, surprise on our faces as something insubstantial appeared
far away in the vortex's tunnel-like distance. Jupiter took a tentative step forward,
muttering softly "Home," and I hoped she was right. However, the speck became a spot,
then a small humanoid figure, growing rapidly, until whatever it was flew from the
vortex, and landed on the floor of my apartment with a thud. The vortex collapsed, then,
the communicator's beam returning to its typical white configuration.
The figure on the floor stirred, giving me a good look at its face, and I groaned,
recognizing it, somewhat.
"DOUBLAZ!" It cried, reinforcing my idea of what it was.
"Nabiki! Grab the sword under the bed and kill it before it gets up!"
"What!?"
"It's a Daimon/Youma/Card-BAD THING!" I shouted, the creature shakily climbing to
its feet.
Jupiter, finally snapping out of her shock, Grabbed the creature in a headlock, and
Looked at Nabiki with a worried look on her face. "Whatever you're going to do, do it
fast…" She muttered, and I moved, running around the counter, and over to the door,
where I threw it open. Mara stood outside, looking a little surprised.
"I felt something radiating evil, and thought I- whatthehell!?!"
Her final comment was caused by Doublaz being thrown out the door and knocking her
off her feet and onto her rear.
"Sparkling Wide-"
"Mara, MOVE!" I cried, diving out of the doorway. Mara disappeared in a small cloud of
brimstone, as Jupiter finished her attack.
"PRESSURE!!" The electrically charged leaves shot out, shocking the creature. Once
Jupiter seemed finished, Nabiki shouldered her way out the door, sword drawn. It wasn't
sharp, but watching her, it didn't need to be, as she brought the blade down in a fierce
overhead swing. Digging into the creature a few inches, it was very effective in getting
the things attention. It reached out, and grabbed the sword, pushing it towards Nabiki
hard. Nabiki flew back into the wall, slid to the ground, unconscious.
Not knowing how else I could help, I Grabbed the only other weapons I had, and
brandished them, knowing I would be ineffective but hoping to buy Jupiter enough time
to execute something more powerful.
Ka-bar in one hand, and Expanding Baton in the other, I spun, Putting all my strength
into the steel baton, aiming for the base of it's skull. With a loud Crack, my spin stopped,
the jolt of impact traveling up my arm to painfully twist my shoulder. Reversing
Direction, I spun the other way, hoping to drive the blade in my other hand into the
creature's stomach.
I succeeded, the blade sinking to the handle a few inches below the gash Nabiki had
opened, and I let go, jumping back as far as I thought was safe. The kick I received
proved I wasn't quite out of reach, and as I hit the railing that paralleled the sidewalk,
bending it with the force of impact, I shouted, collapsing to the ground in pain.
Weakly looking up, I saw the creature turn to glare at Nabiki and take a step toward her.
"Jupiter Oak REVOLUTION!" I heard Jupiter call out. The Electrified leaves shot out to
hit the creature, and it staggered, before falling to the ground, twitching.
Mara appeared then, beside me, and sighed, loudly.
"I though I could use this thing as a minion, but it's too simple minded to give a task to.
Oh well. It has other uses."
Too pained to ask questions, I watched as she grabbed the creature and buried her hand in
it's chest. The thing writhed in agony, before suddenly turning as black as ash. When it
crumbled to dust, I realized it had been turned to ash, and looked up at Mara, somewhat
fearful of what she would do next.
"Ah! Now that was refreshing. Nothing like a good hit of power after a hard day of work.
Now to get drunk." And with that, Mara disappeared, leaving the three of us alone for the
rest of the night.
Crawling to my feet, I groaned as multiple muscles and bruises made their pain known.
Jupiter was crouched over Nabiki, and I joined her, looking at Nabiki carefully. No pink
fluid running from her ears or nose, and no apparent breaks or bruises along her back, or
limbs.
Spotting a spot of blood on the wall where she'd impacted, I felt the back of her head
gently, the sticky spot of blood telling me she'd just hit her head hard.
"She's hurt her head. We need to be careful, incase she has a concussion." I winced in
pain as I tried to gently move her.
"I'll carry her. You just keep her head steady." Jupiter said, staring at Nabiki worriedly. I
nodded, and together, we got her inside, and onto the Futon.
I frowned in thought, collapsing into my chair painfully. A concussion… did you elevate
the feet or the head for those? Cursing myself for forgetting everything I'd learned in the
Army, I decided to take a medical approach. A concussion was a bruise on the brain,
right? So I should try to get rid of the swelling, meaning she should have her head
elevated. Coming to that conclusion, I moved to the closet to pull out a stack of folded
shirts, and moved to put them under Nabiki's head and upper back, hoping they'd help.
When I finished, I went over to the kitchen, and grabbed the bottle of pills I always had
sitting on the counter. Popping off the top, I swallowed a couple, and threw the bottle
back in the general direction I'd gotten it from. 1600 Milligrams of Ibuprofen should help
with the pain, I hoped.
Makoto, who'd untransformed at some time, appeared beside me, looking at the pills.
"Pain Killers?"
I nodded, and she grabbed the bottle, downing a couple, as well. I quirked a brow, and
she lifted her shirt a bit to show me a dark bruise on her stomach.
"It elbowed me rather hard while I was holding it. Cracked a rib or two, I think." I
blinked, having missed that, and glad that she'd not been more seriously wounded.
Turning to look at Nabiki, I frowned, as her complexion seemed somewhat pale. Looking
around, I realized I could see my breath, and I realized she extremely cold.
"Ah! Get a blanket and help me!" I cried, diving to lie beside Nabiki. Her arm was ice-
cold, and I recoiled at first, before holding her in an attempt to keep her warm. Then the
pain of the injuries I'd suffered let me know that diving across the room was a bad idea,
and I moaned in pain. Stifling the scream I wanted to give out.
Makoto, grabbing the blanket I'd been sleeping under, got on the other side of Nabiki,
and, with a slightly uncomfortable look, joined me in trying to warm Nabiki up, throwing
the blanket over the three of us. A minute later, I fell asleep, the day's events finally
catching up with me, and the adrenaline abruptly wearing off.
Ranma 1/2 is Owned by Rumiko Takahashi.
Sailor Moon is owend by Naoko Takeuchi.
Ah! Megami-Sama! is Owned by Kosuke Fujishima.
Not Another SI Fic!
By; Taiteki Kagato
Opening the door to my apartment, I expected to find Nabiki on my computer, or doing
something else Nabiki-ish. Instead, I had to squint at the heat that rolled out the door to
greet Makoto and I, and the sounds of a fighting game coming from my dated television.
"…the hell?" I muttered, stepping inside as I took my jacket off. There, in front of my
little-used television, Nabiki and Mara sat, both fighting each other in a round of Mortal
Combat on a Nintendo Gamecube I was sure I hadn't had when I'd left for work earlier. I
blinked once, then stared at the 'cube, noticing a sticker attached to the side. Moving
closer to take a peek, I read the sticker:
"Wall-Mart Display Unit. Do not remove from Store."
I stared at the Gamecube for a moment, then collapsed on the couch, a soft moan
announcing my dissatisfaction at the way my life kept turning.
Makoto shut the door, and took a seat at the other end of the couch, watching the game
with interest. Glancing at the screen, I watched as Sub-Zero pounded a beefy-looking
Sonya into the ground. Then, realizing I was loosing track of what was important, I
turned and glared at the culprit.
"Mara! How could you steal this, after destroying my car? Are you trying to ruin my
life?" She turned to look at me, then returned her gaze to the television.
"You don't really think you'll get me to feel sorry, do you?" She finally asked, as Sub-
Zero executed a six-hit combo onscreen before impaling Sonya on a blade of ice.
"Well.. no. But if you manage to get me arrested, you'll be out of a home. And you all
stand a better chance of going home if you three and I work together."
"Hmph. I kind of like it here. No Doublet system, no irksome Deities or even more
irksome Demon Lords to take orders from…" She spared me a glance, a malicious glint
in her eye.
"Finish Him!" The television cried out.
"DAMNIT, NABIKI!" Mara roared, all mirth and malice vanishing.
"Hey! So sue me if you're easy to beat. I can't help it if you suck."
Glancing up, I noticed Mara, who'd been playing Sonya, had failed to get even one hit in
on Nabiki's character. Then I shrugged.
"Be that as it may, what if Belldandy and Keiichi achieve happiness or something? Could
you live with yourself knowing that they're all lovey-dovey and you could have stopped
them?"
"Hmm.. we can't have that. But how would I stop them?"
"… umm…" Damn. I'd really backed myself into a corner here. Glancing around, I
spotted one of my wall scrolls, and blurted out one word.
"Jusenkyo?"
Nabiki turned to look at me, eyebrow quirked, then crossed her arms.
"I don't really think she'd like my universe too much."
Mara stared off into space thoughfully, before shrugging. "Whatever. I'll do what I want,
mortal. But, to make you happy…" She snapped her fingers, and turned to look at the
Gamecube. "There. All better now?" she asked. Then she walked out the door.
Turning to the 'cube, I noticed that the sticker had fallen onto the floor, leaving a gooey
residue where it had been.
"…"
Makoto picked up the abandoned controller, and started a new game. Nabiki, not missing
a beat, scooted up beside her and commented lazily, "Care to wager a little something on
the outcome?"
"I'm broke." Makoto said, eyes watching the screen intently as she tried to decide whom
she'd play as.
Nabiki deflated a bit, selecting Sub-Zero once again, and starting a new fight, this time
against Scorpion. Pulled the couch back into a bed, and crawled under the covers (and
under my pillow) to get a couple hours of rest.
A couple hours later I awoke, somewhat rested, to find Nabiki and Makoto sprawled out
on the floor, sleeping as well. Looking at them asleep, I sighed, and moved to put them
on the bed, where at least they didn't have to worry about drafts, or funky carpet-
corduroy marks. Nabiki was relatively light, as was Makoto, though moving both took
time so as not to wake them.
After that was done, I moved over to my computer, and started scouring the web. But
first, I checked my E-Mails.
"Junk, junk, junk, message reply, message reply, ooh!"
Reading over the letter quickly, I shrugged and closed it, somewhat disappointed.
Sometimes people write a lot, but say little. Opening the next letter, I read it quickly, and
grinned. On the other hand, some people just write from the heart, and it shows. I'd have
to get back to Stephen, but for now…
A couple hours later, I groaned and stood up, unable to handle it any more. I'd found
someone in the area who knew a friend who once had a deal with a guy who could get
Makoto the paperwork required to get a job, but the price was a little steep. Without my
car, I had little to bargain with. If I took ALL my money, the hidden and what I'd earned
earlier, I could probably barter, but that was rent money and utilities, as well. My only
hope, then, would be that Makoto could make enough quickly enough to get rent.
With that in mind, I changed, grabbed my wallet, all my hidden bills, a cup full of coins I
kept on the counter, and reached for my Keys.
"Son of a…" I hope the city busses accept quarters.
An hour later, in a much seedier part of town, I Scowled at the world around me, doing
what I could to appear tougher than I really was. Changing was a good idea, I realized,
because a trench coat like I was wearing could hide a lot more than a golf shirt could…
and the wary gazes I received told me that the look of having a weapon was enough to
keep me somewhat safe.
"Mr.. Kagey-toe?" I rolled my eyes, but refused to correct the man.
"Yes?" I asked, sounding bored. My heart sped up a bit as I turned to look at the man
who'd spoken. The less I said about him, the better, but the transaction went pretty good,
though, I lost all the money (as I'd expected) and my Army Ring (which I hadn't
expected) before receiving a home-made single use lamination kit, a page of instructions,
and the parts to an area ID, minus the photo. I also received what looked like an aged and
faded Social Security Card for one "Kino Makoto."
I turned to go, and the man called out to me softly before I got too far away, "Those are
for visual use only. They won't hold up to any close inspection." Nodding as I turned the
corner, I paused to think about how I would get to the other side of Denver without any
money.
With a rather resigned sigh, I began walking south, hoping I'd get home before too long.
Five or so minutes later, it started to snow.
Cold and tired, I opened the door to my apartment, and collapsed to the floor, enjoying
the relative warmth coming from the heater. Unfortunately, with the door hanging open,
what little warmth I had flew out the door, and was replaced with more cold air. Nabiki
and Makoto were, understandably, not pleased with the loss of warmth.
"Close the damn door!" Nabiki and Makoto cried.
I quickly kicked the door shut, and turned to look at them. Makoto was at the computer,
watching "Terminator Two" and Nabiki...
Nabiki stood there, in the middle of the room shivering, dripping on the floor and
wrapped only in a towel. Apparently, she'd just stepped out of the shower when I let her
have it with a blast of Colorado winter.
"Eh, sorry." I managed, standing and shaking off the snow that still rested on my coat. I
also reached into pocket and produced the items I'd gained on my little trip, tossing them
on the desk.
Makoto reached out and held up the items, with a quirked brow. Shrugging my coat off, I
hung it up in the closet, before returning to the room. The heater was starting to replace
the cold air I'd let in with warm air, and Nabiki had ducked back into the bathroom to, I
assumed, put on something warmer than a towel.
A little later, we sat around, staring at each other, with little to do. Makoto's movie had
ended, and we now were contemplating what to do next. My choice, to sleep, had been
tossed out immediately, and so I simply listened to their discussion.
"We need to find a way to get home." Makoto started.
"Right," Nabiki responded, staring at Makoto as if she'd missed a rather obvious point.
"I mean, we need to actively search for a way to get home."
"I understood that. I'm still waiting for an explanation as to how we should begin."
"Umm… we could.. umm…" Makoto trailed off, there, and I spoke up, the content of the
conversation painfully redundant to me.
"Why don't you try calling Mercury again?"
Makoto blinked at that, then looked at her watch, pressing a couple buttons to activate it.
Powering the communicator again, the screen turned black, before a face appeared on the
screen. The sound of a rather intense battle could also be heard, though through the small
speakers, it was hard to make out what was going on. I quirked a brow at that, but waited
to ask questions.
"Ano, Jupiter? Could you call back in a little bit? We're…" She paused, and I heard a
grunt that sounded like the speaker had just been hit, or had hit the ground hard. Whoever
was on the other end spoke up again, then. "…busy." She sounded pained, and I got
slightly worried. Something was wrong with this situation, but I couldn't remember what
it was. Makoto, however, was on her feet, glaring at the small screen.
"Mercury! Tell me what I can do to help!"
"Well… Actually, now that you mention it, hold on…"
The sounds of battle continued for a moment, and I could hear indistinct speech between
Mercury and someone else. Finally, she returned, as she resumed speaking.
"When I tell you to, try blasting the vortex where your signal terminates."
"The what?"
I pointed to where the white light shooting out the top of her watch stopped in mid-air.
Makoto nodded, and then transformed, blinding Nabiki and I, who'd been used to the
dark. Watching through cracked eyelids, Makoto changed into Sailor Jupiter, and finished
in her pose, before looking at her communicator.
"Umm.. maybe you should take it off, if you have to shoot at it…" Nabiki suggested.
Sailor Jupiter nodded, and removed the communicator, tossing it on the floor by the door.
The light coming from the top wavered for a moment, fading, before bursting into a small
silvery vortex similar to the one seen on "Sliders."
"That's…" I started, unsure what it was. Interesting, yes, but also unnerving.
"NOW, JUPITER!" Mercury shouted.
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" Jupiter executed her best concentrated attack, the magical
blast flying out to strike the pile of computer hardware that I'd pulled out of my
computer. Having shielded my eyes, I missed what happened next, but when I finally
looked, my questionable hardware was sparking and smoking, and the outlet my Heater
plugged into looked somewhat melted, though it was hard to tell, as everything electric in
my apartment had shut off.
"… Please, God, let the circuit breaker have gone, and not everything powered I own." I
muttered, moving into the Kitchen.
"Jupiter! Hurry!" Mercury cried again, not knowing what had happened here.
"Sparkling wide PRESSURE!" Jupiter cried again, this time managing to hit the vortex.
The attack disappeared into the vortex, and I sighed in relief, opening the fuse box, and
feeling that the main switch wasn't all the way over. Flipping it fully off, I counted to
three, and flipped it on, hoping everything would work.
My computer whirred as it restarted, and the Gamecube's power indicator light began to
glow, indicating that power was restored. At least, I thought it had, until my heater
dropped a dozen sparks out of the lower intake vent, and then died. The rest of the
apartment, however stayed powered, and I heard a snap, as the circuit breaker for the
outlet overloaded again.
Turning back to Jupiter, I sighed, and started to berate her for her bad aim, when the
vortex wavered, shrank, and then exploded, growing in size to hide my door, and most of
the wall beside it.
Nabiki, Jupiter and I blinked, surprise on our faces as something insubstantial appeared
far away in the vortex's tunnel-like distance. Jupiter took a tentative step forward,
muttering softly "Home," and I hoped she was right. However, the speck became a spot,
then a small humanoid figure, growing rapidly, until whatever it was flew from the
vortex, and landed on the floor of my apartment with a thud. The vortex collapsed, then,
the communicator's beam returning to its typical white configuration.
The figure on the floor stirred, giving me a good look at its face, and I groaned,
recognizing it, somewhat.
"DOUBLAZ!" It cried, reinforcing my idea of what it was.
"Nabiki! Grab the sword under the bed and kill it before it gets up!"
"What!?"
"It's a Daimon/Youma/Card-BAD THING!" I shouted, the creature shakily climbing to
its feet.
Jupiter, finally snapping out of her shock, Grabbed the creature in a headlock, and
Looked at Nabiki with a worried look on her face. "Whatever you're going to do, do it
fast…" She muttered, and I moved, running around the counter, and over to the door,
where I threw it open. Mara stood outside, looking a little surprised.
"I felt something radiating evil, and thought I- whatthehell!?!"
Her final comment was caused by Doublaz being thrown out the door and knocking her
off her feet and onto her rear.
"Sparkling Wide-"
"Mara, MOVE!" I cried, diving out of the doorway. Mara disappeared in a small cloud of
brimstone, as Jupiter finished her attack.
"PRESSURE!!" The electrically charged leaves shot out, shocking the creature. Once
Jupiter seemed finished, Nabiki shouldered her way out the door, sword drawn. It wasn't
sharp, but watching her, it didn't need to be, as she brought the blade down in a fierce
overhead swing. Digging into the creature a few inches, it was very effective in getting
the things attention. It reached out, and grabbed the sword, pushing it towards Nabiki
hard. Nabiki flew back into the wall, slid to the ground, unconscious.
Not knowing how else I could help, I Grabbed the only other weapons I had, and
brandished them, knowing I would be ineffective but hoping to buy Jupiter enough time
to execute something more powerful.
Ka-bar in one hand, and Expanding Baton in the other, I spun, Putting all my strength
into the steel baton, aiming for the base of it's skull. With a loud Crack, my spin stopped,
the jolt of impact traveling up my arm to painfully twist my shoulder. Reversing
Direction, I spun the other way, hoping to drive the blade in my other hand into the
creature's stomach.
I succeeded, the blade sinking to the handle a few inches below the gash Nabiki had
opened, and I let go, jumping back as far as I thought was safe. The kick I received
proved I wasn't quite out of reach, and as I hit the railing that paralleled the sidewalk,
bending it with the force of impact, I shouted, collapsing to the ground in pain.
Weakly looking up, I saw the creature turn to glare at Nabiki and take a step toward her.
"Jupiter Oak REVOLUTION!" I heard Jupiter call out. The Electrified leaves shot out to
hit the creature, and it staggered, before falling to the ground, twitching.
Mara appeared then, beside me, and sighed, loudly.
"I though I could use this thing as a minion, but it's too simple minded to give a task to.
Oh well. It has other uses."
Too pained to ask questions, I watched as she grabbed the creature and buried her hand in
it's chest. The thing writhed in agony, before suddenly turning as black as ash. When it
crumbled to dust, I realized it had been turned to ash, and looked up at Mara, somewhat
fearful of what she would do next.
"Ah! Now that was refreshing. Nothing like a good hit of power after a hard day of work.
Now to get drunk." And with that, Mara disappeared, leaving the three of us alone for the
rest of the night.
Crawling to my feet, I groaned as multiple muscles and bruises made their pain known.
Jupiter was crouched over Nabiki, and I joined her, looking at Nabiki carefully. No pink
fluid running from her ears or nose, and no apparent breaks or bruises along her back, or
limbs.
Spotting a spot of blood on the wall where she'd impacted, I felt the back of her head
gently, the sticky spot of blood telling me she'd just hit her head hard.
"She's hurt her head. We need to be careful, incase she has a concussion." I winced in
pain as I tried to gently move her.
"I'll carry her. You just keep her head steady." Jupiter said, staring at Nabiki worriedly. I
nodded, and together, we got her inside, and onto the Futon.
I frowned in thought, collapsing into my chair painfully. A concussion… did you elevate
the feet or the head for those? Cursing myself for forgetting everything I'd learned in the
Army, I decided to take a medical approach. A concussion was a bruise on the brain,
right? So I should try to get rid of the swelling, meaning she should have her head
elevated. Coming to that conclusion, I moved to the closet to pull out a stack of folded
shirts, and moved to put them under Nabiki's head and upper back, hoping they'd help.
When I finished, I went over to the kitchen, and grabbed the bottle of pills I always had
sitting on the counter. Popping off the top, I swallowed a couple, and threw the bottle
back in the general direction I'd gotten it from. 1600 Milligrams of Ibuprofen should help
with the pain, I hoped.
Makoto, who'd untransformed at some time, appeared beside me, looking at the pills.
"Pain Killers?"
I nodded, and she grabbed the bottle, downing a couple, as well. I quirked a brow, and
she lifted her shirt a bit to show me a dark bruise on her stomach.
"It elbowed me rather hard while I was holding it. Cracked a rib or two, I think." I
blinked, having missed that, and glad that she'd not been more seriously wounded.
Turning to look at Nabiki, I frowned, as her complexion seemed somewhat pale. Looking
around, I realized I could see my breath, and I realized she extremely cold.
"Ah! Get a blanket and help me!" I cried, diving to lie beside Nabiki. Her arm was ice-
cold, and I recoiled at first, before holding her in an attempt to keep her warm. Then the
pain of the injuries I'd suffered let me know that diving across the room was a bad idea,
and I moaned in pain. Stifling the scream I wanted to give out.
Makoto, grabbing the blanket I'd been sleeping under, got on the other side of Nabiki,
and, with a slightly uncomfortable look, joined me in trying to warm Nabiki up, throwing
the blanket over the three of us. A minute later, I fell asleep, the day's events finally
catching up with me, and the adrenaline abruptly wearing off.