AN: Well I'm back at last. Sorry for the delay, my computer's been having a lot of troubles and my internet connection is failing and unpredictable. Joy.
Since it's been awhile, Last time: Usagi's arrival and slow adjustment to the Eros. Met Minako, Luna, Washu, Ranma, Duo, Quatre, and others. They're heading to Zion, where Usagi will change ships and join the crew of the Dragonball for training.
"..." is talking, '...' is thought, [...] is AN or definition, (...) is extra info but part of the fic, ... means trailed off, -- means interrupted. And Happy Belated International Talk-Like-A-Pirate Day! (9/19) ARRR!!! 46 days till Revolutions!!!! Enjoy.
*************************************************************************
"Zion," said Quatre as they walked down from the ship, savoring the word in his mouth.
"We'll be staying for a week or so while the ship is restocked and refueled," said Minako, addressing the crew. "So enjoy yourselves and relax."
There were several cheers as the Eros crowd hurried away from the ship into the throngs of Zion.
"RANMA!!" screamed a piercing feminine voice. Suddenly Ranma was overwhelmed by a crowd of strange women glomping him.
"What is it about *his* braid," muttered Duo sourly as they walked on.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was uncomfortable at first, but Usagi eventually got used to the strange looks and whispers that seemed to follow her wherever she went in Zion. It wasn't until she bumped into a strange girl of about eighteen that she began to understand why.
Usagi apologized and moved to leave, but the girl was staring at her strangely. "How long have you been unplugged?" she asked incredulously, staring at Usagi's youthful face.
"I... well, it's only been a week or so..."
"But how is that possible!" said the girl with disbelief, bordering on anger. "Your hair! It's impossibly long! You must have been unplugged for years!"
Usagi self-consciously touched one of her odangoes. "No, I--"
"Let's go, Trinity," said a deep voice behind her. With only a jealous glare, the girl Trinity walked around Usagi to follow a tall black man through the corridor. It was then that Usagi noticed that the girl was bald.
"I see that you've met Morpheus," said a voice beside her.
Usagi yelped and spun around to see Quatre. "You've got to forgive him," he continued as Usagi overcame her surprise. "I don't know how much Luna has said, but rumor spreads. People have heard strange stories about you and your power, Usagi. Some are complete rubbish, of course, but many are based on the truth of how you were found floating in the sewer. And many are drawing their own conclusions, believing that you may be the One they have been waiting for. But Morpheus," Quatre glanced down the hall, "supposedly has been told that *he* will find the One. And he's devoted his life to this search. So when someone new suddenly arrives and people start talking, well... he grows resentful. It's not fault of yours, Usagi. It's just the way he is..."
Usagi sadly gazed at the two retreating figures, somehow wishing she could prove the rumors wrong and ease tensions. But were they wrong? Usagi sighed miserably.
"I wanted to introduce you to some friends of mine," Quatre was saying.
"Huh?" asked Usagi
"You seem to be lonely in Zion, knowing no one save the crew of the Eros, most of whom you barely know at that. So I wanted to introduce you to some more people, some guys I've been friends with for... who knows how long. We were all unplugged when we were young and trained together . . . They're a strange group, but they're friendly enough, once they realize they can trust you."
Usagi was hesitant at Quatre's strange description, but she decided she had nothing to lose as she wandered through the underground city, following Quatre through caverns that all looking the same. She felt hopelessly lost, and was relieved when he finally stopped at a small alcove in the wall. He reached down to some kind of mechanic box, and swiped what looked like a credit card through it. Usagi gasped in surprise as the wall was suddenly pushed inward, then moved to the side entirely. The room beyond was dark and silent and large. It reminded Usagi of lecture halls from school, with terraces of desks on a semi-circle. But in this case, most of the space seemed unused. A large, currently blank screen occupied the center wall. Benches occupied the space where Usagi expected school desks to be, and the only desks in the room were on the lowest level. Several computer screens provided the only light in the room, illuminated the grim faces of three teens that continued to silently tap away on their keyboards.
"Hey!" called Quatre as they walked into the room, but no one heard him. For at that exact moment, a door below the large screen appeared and slid aside.
"HEY WU-MAN!!!"
The Chinese man angrily looked up from his computer screen as Duo came flying into the room. "Hey, Wu-man, did ya miss me?" he asked loudly as he ruffled the Chinese's hair.
The Chinese teen growled. "Not in the least bit, Maxwell," he scowled, shoving Duo away from him.
"Aww... come on Wu-man, admit it," said Duo, poking 'Wu-man' in the back.
"I greatly enjoyed the two minutes of peace while you were off looking for food," said 'Wu-man', getting up from his desk. "And if you continue to disrupt our work, I will tear that baka braid off your head!" he cried. Duo squealed and the two proceeded to chase each other around the room.
Usagi couldn't help it. She giggled.
Immediately, Prussian eyes shot up from the computer screen, sensing something different in the room. He swung around suddenly, gun pointed at Usagi.
"Omae o korusu."
For a moment, time seemed to freeze as Usagi saw the steely relentless blue eyes staring at her, gun pointed at her heart. She gulped hard as she slowly saw Quatre call out and raise his arms in protest and Duo and the Chinese boy stop their chase as time returned to normal.
"Heero! No! This is Usagi, she's a friend!"
Heero's gun arm remained steady as Duo looked up, cocking his head sideways. "Hey!" he said, as one who suddenly discovered a surprise. "It's Usagi!"
In three leaps, he had bounded up the steps and surprised her by glomping her. [AN: to hug with enthusiasm] "Hey Usagi! How you liking Zion?"
"Well . . . ah . . . It's very interesting..."
"Usagi..." said the fifth boy [i.e. Trowa], standing up from his laptop. "So this is the girl we've been hearing about."
"The onna who is rumored to be the One," scoffed Wufei. "What new ludicrousness is this? Injustice, I tell you!"
"I . . ." began Usagi, intending to defend herself when a strange beeping filled the air. The large central screen because blue, and writing began to appear on the computers as the teens rushed to their stations.
"What's going on?" asked Usagi fearfully.
"New mission," said Quatre without explanation as he hurried her towards the door. "Listen, follow this corridor till you pass three halls. Then turn left till you reach the flight of stairs that will be on your right. Follow that up two levels to R1 and turn left for three doors, before you take another left down the next hall. From there you should find Minako's cell easily enough. I've got to go now, I'll see you later, " he said, gently shoving her out the door.
When Usagi stumbled backward, she felt solid rock with no hint of a door remaining. And she felt hopelessly lost.
~*~*~*~*~*~
She had tried to follow Quatre's directions, she really had. But, though her memory was never great, she suspected that Quatre had left out some major details. Such as how to find these things he called 'stairs'.
She had turned down the fourth corridor like he had said. But try as she might, she could not find these stairs he spoke of. It felt like she'd been wandering through this winding hall for hours, with no idea where she was or where she wanted to be. With a groan, she slumped down against the wall, ready to cry in despair.
"May I help you, miss?"
Quickly wiping her wet eyes, she looked up from her knees to see this new stranger. He was tall, well-toned, and handsome, with lovely lavender locks pulled back into a ponytail. She blushed red and scrambled to her feet.
"I'm a bit lost," she admitted, her face burning.
The stranger smiled. She was cute alright, kawaii like they usually don't make 'em in Zion. "Watashi wa Briefs Trunks. Maybe I can help you, miss, uh..."
"Tsukino Usagi," she completed. "I'm rather new to Zion. I'm supposed to be on level R1 somewhere, but I haven't a clue as to how to get there!"
"Don't worry," Trunks assured her. "You're not too far off. And I'd be happy to guide you there." Trunks smiled again and Usagi felt herself melt.
~*~*~*~*~*
Usagi suspected that Trunks had taken her the long way, as it was nearly an hour later before they reached R1 and were wandering through its halls, Usagi having no idea how to find Minako's chamber.
"USAGI!!!!!!" someone suddenly cried from behind them. They spun around to see Minako running up to them. "Usagi!" she cried again, grabbing her and pulling her away, "where have you been?! Luna's been looking for you!"
"Domo arigato, Trunks-san!" Usagi called as she was dragged along.
Trunks smiled once more, then was gone.
***************************************************************************
AN: Mwhaha! And btw, the 'mission' of the G-boys will end up being minor and just a safety precaution, probably. That mission, at least, won't be entering the fic again. Review Responses before I go any further:
Mystical Jade- mwhahaha!! ::glomps Veggie-sama:: ;D
Eyes-of-Pearl- Actually, I had a similar idea and someone else will be with her on the Dragonball. ;D Wufei will remain in Zion for now, but I'll see if I can get in an encounter between Wufei and Veggie... that would be great! Domo arigato!
Lady Alexis- wow! Thanks a lot for that great list of animes/shows/stories/etc. Let's see... the other senshi are *definitely* on their way, but Usagi will have to find them in the Matrix similar to how she found them in the anime. Not sure whether they'll meet WK themselves, but the reference in the last chap to "Koneko, the ship of assassins" was about them. Don't know all that much about YYH, Trigun, or Lupin the Third, but if you can help me out, I'd love to include them. And I admit, I've been a real TV addict, so I only know the basics about Buffy, Angel, and Dark Angel. But I am thinking about including some kind of vampire/werewolf part, probably around the HP part, and some of these characters might find their way into that. I'm not sure how many super heroes (i.e. Superman, Spiderman, Kim Possible, etc) will be included, but I'll try to at least make small references, esp if they go to their "home city". And it would be hilarious to see the Simpsons. We shall see... my goal is to include as much as possible, so I'll try. ;D
LunarPrincess- Hehe. ;D Unfortunately, I've ruled out Veggie or Goku pairings for this. Sorry, but I had to draw the line somewhere. I might make Veggie look on her (*eventually*) as a daughter, and there will probably be at least hints of romance with their sons. Gomen nasi! I really love Veggie and Goku pairings, but I had to stop somewhere. They are married after all. ;D Miroku sounds hilarious!!! I'm trying to get my hands on the manga, but I'm hoping to include that gang, probably on the next trip to Zion (whenever that is). Domo arigato!!! I want to add Outlaw Star too, though it's been forever and a day since I've seen it. Gene would have his own ship, of course. And the ship of assassins was meant to refer to the WK gang... I realized afterwards that people could interpret it *a lot* of different ways, gomen. Haruka will be entering later. ;D
moon- hehe, that would be a fun triangle. But it's gonna be awhile until YGO enters. We shall see...
Loopy Lu- Yeah, the Amazon Quartet would be a cool addition! I gotta try to figure out where I can fit them in though... hmm... I wasn't planning on having Chibi Usa show up, or at least not for awhile... hmm...
Also thank you to:
Cosmicqueen
Guardian Dimension
datajana
So, I believe the question of the hour is who you want Usagi to be paired with? (And don't forget about the other senshi and other animes that are on their way! ... Personally I was thinking of a Minako/Duo, but we shall see...) And how old should Gohan be? Is there enough interest in a possible Gohan pairing that he would be the same age as Trunks (or possibly Mirai Trunks... haven't decided which Trunks this is yet. ;) Goten and Chibi Trunks are great together, but I don't know... tell me what you think. And if you guys don't want any hint of Gohan pairing, I'll probably be included Videl. (I'm really not a Videl-basher, she just gets in the ways sometimes, lol!) And there will be another Ranma 1/2 character entering soon... mwhaha!
I have a nasty feeling it will be awhile before my internet connection is truly fixed, but I'll do my best to get the next chapter up ASAP. Gomen nasi! And please review, minna-chan. Domo arigato! Ja!
~Calli-chan
