Disclaimer: O Johnny Boy! I Don't, I don't own anything… Oh Johnny Boy, oh Johnnnny boy….
But I digress.
I have just recently received an e-mail asking "Did you stop writing! I hope not!" Well, the answer is I haven't stopped, but I sure as heck keep forgetting to do it anyhow. Man you guys need to hound me more!
Either way, here's another chapter of:
Moon Cats: Walkabout
Chapter Three
Artemis was saved from having to wade into the vicious melee by Dr. Sato's timely return to his office. "Sarah, stop playing with Keitaro! It's lunch time." The smiling archaeologist chuckled as the small blonde stopped savagely beating the younger man.
To the Neko-jin's further shock, the man called Keitaro stood up with no apparent injuries. The only sign of damage was, in fact, the dust of several civilizations weapons and pottery he shook out of his hair. Even more absurd, and impressively, he hadn't dropped any of the lunch bags and instead started setting them on a open table top, for all the world like he hadn't just been beaten like a rug.
The lab coat wearing professor turned to Artemis. "Now how can I help you? You don't look like one of my students."
"Uh, yeah… I'm Artemis Yui, we talked on the phone?"
"Oh, of course! You're interested in joining the Egypt expedition! It's very exciting." Dr. Sato gestured to the seat next to his as he sat down to eat.
Artemis nodded, gamely choosing to ignore the weirdness he'd walked in on. Being a transforming cat he choose to not throw stones from his greenhouse. "I know, I read the synopsis you sent me. I have a, shall we say, fascination with the concept of cat worship. Isn't most of your work oriented towards a "Turtle Civilization" though?"
"Generally that is my first love, yes. However, a small private collection was recently left to the university and it had some pieces that just demand follow up work! In fact we just recently translated a scroll that had been sealed in one of the collections larger jars, which was just fascinating"
"Really? What did you find?"
Sato chuckled "An interesting bit of myth, though it seemed to be written more like someone's journal. There were actually a large sheaf of scrolls, but it was Keitaro that managed the translation. Why don't you tell him what you found?"
The younger man blushed. "Well, it's really just a story."
"Stories often have more truth to them then you'd think." Artemis assured him. "Trust me, I'm a bit of an expert on that." He said with a wry grin.
Keitaro matched the grin with one of his own. "Yeah, you'd think I'd know better too. But this one's a little out there." He adjusted himself in his seat, and ignored Sarah stealing the last of his fries as he thought. "Well, the short form is, the author of the scrolls seemed to think that the cats sacred to Bast weren't normal cats."
"What were they, pure breeds?" Artemis quipped.
"No, apparently he believed they could speak." Keitaro laughed. "Funny huh."
The Cheshire cat smile no the white haired mans face was purely coincidental. "Oh., yeah. Very funny."
"That wasn't all either." Sarah chimed in. She'd be damned to admit it, but she'd enjoyed the story when Keitaro had told it to her, while translating it. "He thought they'd come from the moon too! Isn't that wei… are you okay?"
They all got up, and looked down at Artemis as he stared back up from the floor. "Um…yeah. Chair must be, um, slippery…" He stuttered. "The moon, you said?"
Aaaaaaaa
Captain Hibuki had seen many, many strange things in his life. Some mundane, but weird events; like a drunk managing to park his car on the observation deck of Tokyo tower, or more mystical events like Kappa's delivering fresh fish every Thursday to the station. He thought, absently to himself, that seeing a young man turn to a woman, and a woman turn to a large water foul wouldn't shock him.
But it did. It was probably the usually unflappable Luna gapping like a landed carp that sent him over the edge.
"What the hell is going on here!" he demanded, eyes running over all the people in the room, the local cop included.
"A Jusenkyo CURSE!" Luna yelled. Hibuki whipped his head back to her, because it didn't sound like she was answering so much as yelling in indignation.
"Um… Yeah. I thought you guys would know about those." The street cop replied, on the off hand chance it was a question. He gulped in terror when the tiny seeming black haired woman grabbed him by his uniform and pulled him to her, holding him off the ground with little to no effort.
"That… is… not… possible!" Luna declared. "That's all from a manga!"
"Oh, you read my manga did you?" On of the younger girls, the one sitting to the side as if to distance her self from the madness, chimed in. "I had no idea it was popular with the adult audience."
"WHAT!" That was the bulk of the room, including Luna, but excluding the other two, now very confused cops.
"College is expensive." The girl commented dryly. "Oh, and don't look so put out Ranma, I am putting some aside for you to go too. You'll understand if I'm not going to assume the tuition for someplace like Tokyo U though, I hope."
"Um… okay."
"Nabiki Tendo." Luna stated. "You have to be Nabiki Tendo."
"I am."
"And how much of what happens in those little comic books of yours is accurate."
"Well, I do take some dramatic license with my… financial activities of course." Nabiki assured her, smirking at the raised eyebrow the police woman responded with. "But the fights and such are more or less accurate."
"Okay, would someone tell me what's going on!" Hibuki repeated.
This time he got an answer. "Ms. Tendo here is the… we'll call it creator of a comic series. It seems she's just been retelling the lives of the people around her."
"So, wait, you KNOW these people?"
"That might be a bit extreme. I know OF them, though." Luna tapped her chin, and then turned to the large balding man at the table. "Before I continue, do you know anyone named Hino, Aino, Tsukino, Mizuno, Kino, Tenou, Kaioh, Tomoe or god forbid Meioh?"
"What the heck does that have to do with anything?" Again, Hibuki demanding. He didn't know anything, and now she was listing the family names of all nine sailor scouts! He REALLY wanted to know what was happening.
The big man, for his part, seemed to consider the question seriously. "Hmm, no… Oh, Tsukino! I met a girl, weird hairstyle, with that name. Wouldn't share her ice cream. Even offered... um… heh… Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Engaged to HER, or her DAUGHTER!"
"Daughter, ma'am!"
Luna, along with half the rest of the people in the room sighed. Granted Usagi HADN'T agreed but Luna was torn on how she felt about that. Ranma Saotome would have definitely ruined Wisemans day in the future. It was almost a shame.
"Luna!"
"Oh, Sorry captain. Just making sure no unforeseen marriage engagements had been set for our interns." She ignored his confused stare, and turned back to the swan, who was watching in a serene way. "Now, Kasumi is it?"
The swan nodded.
"Why don't we go to the bathroom, and get you changed, then we can talk, shall we?"
The swan nodded, and Luna scooped up the clothing next to her, then followed her deeper into the house.
Hibuki watched them go, shell shocked, then slapped his head in frustration. "Someone had BETTER tell me what is going on right now."
"Very well." The one Luna called Nabiki said. "And since you're a police man, I'll share it all for free."
Hibuki wasn't comforted by the looks of shock on the other peoples face.
Bbbb
"Oh, I do hope Mouse isn't in to much trouble." Kasumi Tendo confided with Luna. "I know he shouldn't have been throwing around cursed water again, but Ranma and he were just playing."
Luna had always, when reading the manga herself (an activity she would never willingly admit to Usagi), assumed Kasumi was more aware of her surroundings then she was portrayed. The intelligence in the girls eyes belied her seemingly oblivious statement making Luna think she truly believed it was play for them.
Of course, considering what those kids could do if they really wanted to let loose, she might not be completely wrong, either.
"Well, as for the water it's self, I checked while you were… um… changing… and it's actually listed as a class four magical material." Luna had found the listing in an obscure government database, but still hadn't found who'd created the same list. "That alone is punishable by a reasonably large fine or community service. As for what happened to you, that's assault but you can choose not to press charges if you really don't wish him prosecuted."
"Oh, then I'll do that. Or rather, won't do that." Kasumi smiled, and pulled a small object out of her skirt pocket. "Besides he gave me this lovely figurine as an apology!"
Luna looked at the small golden statue. Shaped like a swan in flight, it was a lovely piece, though the shape shifting cat didn't think it made up for being turned into a bird, of all things. "It's very lovely. I'll go and inform…"
Her comments were interrupted as several metal hooks ripped through the walls of the bathroom. She found herself under the taller woman, and once again knocked unconscious as the whole room was apparently pulled out of the house, and into the air.
AN: Well, you just can't hang out in Nerima without water, or kidnapping attempts. I mean, that's just completely missing out on the local color!