Gold Digger the Insertion files

by Agent Reptile

What happens when an obsessed fan gets a chance to meet the characters from one of his favorite stories from the beginning of their tales? Hopefully will continue through the entire series if I ever get to see it all. Please read and review.

26. The Adventure keeps going on

Gold Digger the Insertion files chapter 26: The Adventure keeps going on

By Agent Reptile

This is a work of fanfiction. I am not making money from this so please don't sue but please be so kind as to review.

"Ready to face the music?" Britanny said as I pulled into the parking space. The temple area was still in relative good shape from the last time that we had seen it. The combination of the distance from the school and peaceful atmosphere likely meant that the negaverse scum may have conserved it unimportant or actively been repulsed by the area. Even the road was almost perfect with not so much as a pothole. This was much appreciated as hitting one of those in the form of a prototype C-7 stingray would probably be jarring to me if not my passengers.

"But the radio isn't on." Mina said as she looked at Britanny curiously.

"No girl. You are about to have to explain to your parents that you are doing the whole superhero thing." Britanny said as the girls hoped out from my car mode. Britanny shook her head slightly as she stepped out from my frame. I had seen that reaction from Britanny a few times when dealing with Gina's own unique personal quirks.

"Oh please they may seem upset, but I'm sure that they'll be overjoyed with how their daughter just saved the world." Mina said doing an over-the-top dismissive hand wave. "How are they going to be upset knowing their pride and joy just saved their county and the planet?"

Mina smugly nearly waltzed into the house area of Rei's temple while Britanny strode forth with all the confidence she had in hybrid form. I had noticed a change in Britanny from our first adventure in the cave. In hybrid form she had this unstoppable confidence that bordered on arrogance, but in human form she was somewhat dower and easily defensive.

But now that dower and quick to react attitude had been replaced with, how to describe it, not She-Hulk levels of power projection, but maybe the same level of confidence as Supergirl? She didn't radiate it solely by being the tallest and often most built person around, however the feeling was that she didn't have to. Was this from the fact she finally felt that her human form was just as beautiful as her hybrid form? Or was it the natural progression of feeling loved faithfully? I had no idea, but I couldn't let my girl make her introduction without appropriate theme music. So I pulled a Bumblebee and…

"Well, she's all you'd ever want

She's the kind I like to flaunt and take to dinner

But she always knows her place

She's got style, she's got grace, she's a winner

She's a lady

Oh, whoa, whoa, she's a lady

Talkin' about that little lady

And the lady is mine"

Britanny and Mina both turned around as they heard me blasting the start of Tom Jones's song through my stereo. Mina had no idea how to react to this, but Britanny shot me a smirk, chuckled while blushing slightly.

"Trying to find my theme song lover?" Britanny asked as struck a pose and blew me a kiss. This bit of jovial teasing switched to slightly more serious matters as Mina turned towards Rei's house on the temple grounds.

This could go two ways in my opinion. Either the parents are upset about being out of the loop but proud of the choices their young ladies made, or they are going to blow a gasket about how close to dying their girls had come and they will go overprotective mode. Could anything change these two options? Yes…but that would require Sailor Pluto demonstrating something or some other interruption in our day. The last bit would take an act of God Himself for me to not immediately pull out a bolter and handle the situation with explosions and bloodshed.

"I'm glad to be a witness for the defense, but girl this may not go as planned." Britanny said as she draped her arm around Mina's shoulder. "How exactly wrapped around your finger do you have your parents?"

I transformed into robot mode and found that this temple wasn't as abandoned as I had hoped it was.

There was some screaming, there was some yelling, and some long-haired tan guy falling on his butt. He was dressed in a white robe and was supposedly sweeping up the grounds of the area.

"Sheesh kid you need to learn to relax." I said going back to human form and following behind Britanny.

"Hey everyone, we're here? So ready to hear about all of the great work we did as Sailor Scouts." Mina said smiling and waving as she walked into the temple area.

"Have a seat." Her father said sternly as he ushed her to line up with the other girls.

"So Usagi, how long exactly have you been running out of the house at all times of night in secret and letting your grades slip?" the dark-haired woman kneeling said.

"Pardon me, but don't blame her grades on her responsibilities as Sailor Moon." Luna said in an aggressive retort. "Her laziness was something she has had long before we found out she was our reincarnated princess, long before she found me and I uncovered that she was to be Sailor Moon. I even have tried to get her to focus on her work and put some effort into her schooling."

"Then why haven't you been successful in that? Of all the years you lied to us and only now are you trying to say that you tried to get her to care about her grades." Usagi's father replied.

"I'm a magical talking cat and a royal advisor." Luna replied. "Beyond verbal chastisement and scratching her face to get her to pay attention, what were you expecting me to do? You are her mother, and it is your responsibility to raise her."

The pure sass coming from the little cat would have gotten me to chuckle if it was being watched in the anime, but in real life the "catty" level was taking all the will I had to not laugh.

"Then why did you decided that she needed to be a superhero. In fact, why did you choose girls who are barely teenagers to be superheroes?" Mrs. Tsukino

"Wait you think that we chose them?" Artemis asked. "We didn't choose these girls to be our princesses, they are our princesses reborn and we needed to find them. And for all the problems that come with being Sailor Scouts I am proud of how they have risen to be heroes. Instead of yelling about not being told all the details perhaps you should hear it from their mouths."

"Indeed. Perhaps though we should wait for Mrs. Mizuno to arrive. We called her and she will be here any minute." Usagi's mother said calming down a bit.

"And what about her father? Shouldn't he also hear about this?" Usagi's father asked his wife.

"My father is often…unreachable. He works as a freelance artist and often can't be contacted by phone." Ami said with some trembling in her voice.

"And what about you Lita? Your parents should be here as well." Mina's mother said, which made me, Britanny, and both cats facepalm.

"What? Is there a problem?" The older woman said oblivious to the situation.

"My parent's are dead ma'am. I lost them when I was young in a plane crash. I…don't have any living family around here." Lita said respectfully.

"Yes, you do." Rei said to her friend.

"Yeah, we're your family no matter what." Usagi added.

"You don't save the world a few times together and not be family." Ami said.

"Yeah birds of a feather flop together." Mina smiled.

"Flock together Mina, the word is flock." Artemis groaned.

"It is clear that we truly know very little of our girls or their lives then." Usagi's father sighed. "And we don't even have Rei's father here."

"We don't talk about my father." Rei said politely. "He…he isn't part of either my or my grandfather's life. I only see him once a year and even then, he only gives me a white dress and a bouquet of flowers."

"She is right. He isn't part of either of our lives for years. Not since my precious Risa passed away." Rei's grandfather admitted.

"I guess we truly have no idea about what has been going on, if we barely know our kid's friends then we shouldn't be surprised about having even less of an idea about the fact they are the Sailor Scouts. Does Singo or your cousin know about this Usagi?" Her mother asked seeming to calm down as the realization that she was completely out of the loop.

"What that little brat? Not like he would be interested. And Rini isn't my cousin mom. She's well…" Usagi said. "She sort of my daughter from the future who came back to save the world and just sort of stayed around fighting badguys with us….which I'm wondering why is that little brat still here?"

"Because someone has to try and keep an eye on things, you big crybaby." The pink haired girl said just showing up at the door for some reason. "Time's in a big enough flux as is so I'm staying right here till it gets more stable."

"Why you little brat…" Usagi growled as the two started to bicker and Usagi's mother started to laugh her head off and fall over.

"This is some sort of dream, just a bad dream. Soon I'll wake up and this will all be over. I'll be in my bed, my family will be normal, and there won't be any talking cats." Said Usagi's mother who was about to lose it.

"Oh she's met you then Britanny?" Rini said as she looked up at my lover.

"No and I'm not transforming till I get home. I ruined one outfit today and I'm not standing around in my undergarments kid." Britanny said pointedly.
This comment turned the head of everyone who hadn't seen Britanny's hybrid form.

"I am a werecheetah alright. While I am in human form, I may be this petite and fit, but in hybrid form I'm over seven feet tall. So no I'm not showing off my killer body and wasting more money for a new outfit."

"Killer body?" Usagi's father went white at this statement.

"It's an American idiom referring to how built she is in hybrid form." Rini sighed before pulling a few photos out.

"Alright kid how did you get these?" Britanny said grabbing them quickly and seeing that indeed they were of her as she was smashing things with a thunder hammer. "Nice picture. Hey Muffin think Mumsey would like one of these in Jade Realm?"

"I think she would love to see a photo of her granddaughter following in her warrior heritage." I said looking at a rather impressive photo of Britanny as she had smashed the thunderhammer into some poor skeleton's head.

"See I told you she is a werecat. She is a dangerous woman and a predator." Rei's grandfather said as the short man was eyeing Britanny.

"And your point is what exactly shorty?" Britanny said giving him a quick glance. "Your granddaughter packs enough heat to melt a tank and all these girls just handed an evil demonic bitch her ass a few days ago. Heck they did so while being backed up by the most technologically advanced military on the planet. And aren't they 'dangerous'?"

It was at that point, either by stalling for time or just the fact that we were so distracted, that another guest just showed up at the door of the shrine. She was in her thirties, had short cut blue hair and a rather demure disposition.

"Uh hello mother. Is everything okay? You said you were very busy at the hospital lately will all the patients so are you okay?" Yep it was Ami's mother and the woman was holding out a piece of paper.

"I am doing very well thank you daughter. And I can't believe you didn't tell me about this sooner." The woman said in a polite but concerned voice.

"I'm sorry mother, but with all my responsibilities, school, and the fact it was a secret I couldn't…"

"But why didn't you tell me you were considering going to America for an internship?" The woman asked, with no small amount of pride. "I have been looking all over for you after I got this letter personally handed to me by Dr. Gina Diggers of the University of Georgia."

"Sisss….." Britanny groaned.

"Oh hello Britanny. I'm not barging in am I?" Gina smiled. The eldest of the Diggers daughters was formally dressed and doing her best to look highly respectful rather than her usual Daisy Dukes and sleeveless t-shirts. This didn't stop the fact that her clothing was still tight fitting "I just wanted to personally let you know that I had accepted your as my new intern for the summer. After your assistance with the situation with the arc reactor, how could I not welcome such a great student for the position of personal assistant and intern for my research team. In fact, you were my perfect choice."

"Excuse me but you are her sister?" Usagi's dad, who like the rest of the people was greatly confused about the situation, replied.

"Yep, this is my Igor. She's my cute assistant who works as the muscle of our expeditions."

"Did you learn nothing from the noogies I gave you last time sis?" Britanny shot back under her breath.

"She's also my wife to be, so please be polite Gina." I said in response.

"Oh come now. I only wanted to make sure that our newest team member got the public adoration she was due." Gina smirked. "So did we miss anything?"

"Only that our children are the Sailor Scouts." Mina's mother said.

"What? Ami is this true?" The good doctor asked as she was still holding the acceptance letter for her internship.

"Yes. I am sorry I couldn't tell you before." Ami's mother just hugged her. "Not that I didn't trust you, but bad guys usually attack family and…we already had that problem when the Negaverse attacked Usagi's family that we couldn't risk you even knowing in passing. It was our secrecy that protected you from being targets."

"Wait wait, they attacked us?" Mr. Tsukino asked with strong interjection.

"Yeah uh it was back during that birthday party you took Shingo on in that laser tag place. Uh yeah some of those monsters were real and I kinda couldn't tell you." Usagi said laughing at the incident.

Her father took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "That was when you were in junior high school. You have been Sailor Moon for almost half a decade and you never told us."

"You're not upset at me are you?" Usagi said about to cry.

"Upset? Yes I'm upset." He said back. "But not because you helped save people. I'm honestly proud of that, what I am upset about is you didn't trust me enough to tell me, your own father, about this. What else have you been doing? Sneaking around hanging out with boys at all hours of the night too? Is that why your grades are so bad?"

"Oh no she's just a terrible student who focuses only on food, videogames, and eating. I thought I already explained that quiet clearly." Luna replied. "And if you are talking about Tuxedo Mask…he's sort of a cheerleader that anything else."

"Usagi have you been hanging out with older men?" Her father said in a rather rough tone.

"Woah there partner." I said trying to calm the situation. "Now you have every right to be upset, but remember these girls have been risking their lives to save your own and this city of yours from demonic forces for years. At the very least that should give them the benefit of the doubt."

That seemed to get the man to calm down a bit and regain his composure.

"Yes that is true, but before we continue I have two questions. First is any of that smut about you girls true?" The look on Britanny's face matched my own as I felt absolute shock at this man asking his teenage daughter this in front of her friends. And that shock shifted to a shared sense of revulsion. It wasn't something I wouldn't expect to happen in a Fred Perry/Booty Doc topic universe but at least ask this in private pal to save your daughter's dignity.

"What!? Ewe gross dad." Usagi said as she went blue in the face.

"We don't even talk about that stuff." Lita said getting ill. "We never do anything like that garbage. Heck we can't even get the rights to the toys or games they make about us. Millions of yen that could help us and we don't get a dime or a thank you for our work."

"If we did it would help with college, or Lita's living expenses, or maintaining the shrine, or a dozen other things." Rei pointed out. "But because we don't have the copyright we can't get any money from those guys or legally stop those sleezeballs from making adult comics about us."

"Yes, then sorry for yelling. It just…is very shocking to keep having to hear my younger coworkers talk about…things at work. And then to find out that the girl they have been going on about is your own daughter…it was disheartening to say the least." Mr. Tsukino said trying to regain some level of calmness.

"And that goes for you too Mina. Especially as you started all the way back in England before we moved here." Her dad said.

"Yes. Which leads us to the second problem. Why did you get caught on camera now?" Mrs. Tsukino asked.

"It wasn't their choice actually." Artemis answered. "See the whole thing started between our energy problems and their invention." The white cat said pointing towards me and Gina. "Alex and Gina over there built an experimental cold-fusion reactor and needed to demonstrate how safe it was, and we keep getting out energy stollen by the Negaverse in their attempt to invade our world."

"You built a cold fusion reactor?" Ami's mother said in shock.

"Yep the very one now running all of your city as a matter of fact." Gina said with her head held high. "And that is one only the size of a soda can."

"What my partner is actually saying is that it is the only thing keeping your lights on as it was too good for those Negaverse parasites not to try and steal….so that set of a full scale invasion of your city and the events of the last few days." I added. "Which resulted in their school having to be converted into a fortress, the involvement of the Joes, and the subsequent destruction of large parts of you city." I added.

"So you are in part responsible for all this mess?" Mina's mother yelled.

"Now wait up they didn't cause any of this. The Dark Kingdom from the Negaverse had been invading for years with the intent of taking over the world. It was because of the help of the Diggers family, G. , and ourselves that we stopped them from ruling the world." Lita pointed out.

"G. I. Joe?" Mr. Tsukino asked.

"Uh yeah, hey dad you remember a few years ago about the international terrorist organization which kept trying to rule the world named Cobra?" Mina asked smiling.

"Hard to forget when they kept using doomsday machines to reap chaos on the planet." He replied.

"Well guess who we saved the world along-side? None other that G. itself." Mina smiled in confidence.

"You were running around with soldiers? Why? How?" Her father said in confusion.

"They were our assigned security team." Gina said. "As that reactor is a national security asset for not only Japan, but also for the USA."

"But Cobra is gone, isn't it?" Ami's mother asked blinking. "They are gone aren't they?"

"Lady I'm not going to sugar coat this. There is no way on Earth that the likes of Cobra Commander, Destro, Baroness, or the rest of Cobra wouldn't spend just as much effort and firepower to try and take that reactor for themselves. We just had to throw Lupin the Third in jail along with his bimbo and sword swinging partners who were trying to steal the thing." Britanny said tapping her feet and crossing her arms.

"You had to deal with Lupin the Third? Was he as daring as I heard?" Ami's mother asked blushing slightly.

"Mother!?" Ami said gasping.

"Acknowledging that he is a criminal of course." The doctor said getting her composure back. Honestly though the middle aged woman's fantasies were something that I didn't want to think about.

"Not really. Jerk tried to run us off the road while I was getting a free driving lesson." Mina huffed. "Oh uh alien shape-shifting robot thing Alex did. Turned into a robot turned into a Corvette, you know how these things go…"

"You got to drive a Corvette? Lucky you." Rini said. "What like something cheap from the 80s?"

"C-7 Stingray with 700 HP and a seven-speed manual transmission thank you kiddo." I shot back.

"It was so much fun….so think we could get one for ourselves when I get my license? I mean as a thank you for all the hard work we've done?" Mina asked.

"How about this. We don't ground you for not telling us about being Sailor Scouts and you get to go to the dance on base that they were so generous to….it was G. that set that up wasn't it? They couldn't thank you publicly so they offered to host your school dance this weekend." Mina's father said as it dawned on him. "So why exactly are you two here now? You did drop off my daughter already."

"Call it being a witness for the accused." I said in reply. "Honestly you should all be proud of the girls you raised, and their friends. I can't imagine what being a parent is like but from what I saw as they helped save the world a few days ago, I think you did right by them."

"And you werecheetah, why are you here?" Rei's grandfather asked harshly.

"Hey granddad be polite." Rei said. "So what if Britanny is a werecheetah? She fought alongside us just as much as the Joes and made sure we could save the world."

"And after that, she took a bullet for me." Mina said with no small amount of indignity.

"You were almost shot?" Her father yelled looking like he was going to throw up in a second.

"At the clothing store. Lupin's female partner tried to shoot Artemis and would have shot me if Britanny didn't let herself get shot to save both our lives. She's good people daddy." Mina pleaded.

"Awe thanks there Mina-girl." Britanny said giving Mina a thumbs up.

"Hey share a sandwich, make a friend right?" the young blonde said in her typical mixed metaphor style. It was endearing, though somewhat grating to figure out what she meant.

"Uh not exactly how I would say it, but I guess the real question is. What now?" Mr. Tsukino asked. "The Negaverse is done with right and Cobra is G. 's responsibility."

"At what point to badguys ever play by any rules of non-combatants?" Britanny pointed out. "We had to deal with vampires, rogue werewolves, and undead magic users on top of the badguys these girls deal with all the time. You think any of them play by some official rules out of a book? Just because heroes have rules doesn't mean these jerks ever do."

"It is true. Villains usually have much concern over civilians as my sister here has about her credit card bills or her spending habit with fashion." Gina said pointed towards Britanny with her thumb.

"GINA!" my beloved growled about to rip her clothing apart shape shifting.

"Hey Britanny it is okay." I said hugging my girl. "We are paying off those bills soon; it will be okay." This calmed Britanny down a bit, as she huffed and turned her head away from Gina.

"How much did you girls spend on those dresses?" Mina's father asked.

"That was a gift to them." Britanny said smiling. "They didn't have to pay a dime for those outfits."

"My lady friend is being honest." I said as I set my girl back down on the wooden floor. "The funds came from the bounty for turning in Lupin's crew to the authorities. We decided that the ladies deserved some sort of thank you for all they had been through since they have been doing this without so much as a thank you."

"Wait, you all got new dresses and didn't tell me?" Usagi said accusingly. "You four all got new clothing and didn't wait for me to get one too?" The girl almost started to cry.

"Usagi!" Her father said grabbing her attention. "That is enough. You weren't with your friends and these guests to our land were generous enough as is with thanking your friends. Mina was their guide and was being thanked for her help. As for your other friends you should be appreciating the gifts they got rather than be jealous of it. I thought that you would know better than that."

"Yes Daddy." Usagi said bowing her head.

"Perhaps it is best if we privately deal with learning the girls' Sailor Scout nature and any corrections needed in a way that preserves their dignity." Mrs. Tsukino.

"Though I think to be fair, we should consider that our girls did, the incredible situation they found themselves in for the past couple of days."

"So while we are upset about this…the question we all have to ask is if there is anything to correct?" Mina's mother asked. "Clearly they have been far more responsible than we ever understood…and they still saved the world."

"But they still lied to us for years about what they had been doing." Her husband replied frustrated.

"Exactly when did they lie to you?" Luna asked. "At most it is a lie by omission and that would be pushing it as the only mention of the Sailor Scouts was in passing. And before we even discuss what the response should be, perhaps you should consider that these girls again saved the entire world while all you could do is hide in your houses with pots and pans to fight back with if you had anything at all."

"Are you blaming us for not going out there with guns and tanks or something like in an over the top American action movie? Would you like it I put on a bandana and screamed like Rambo?" Usagi's father yelled back.

"Ewe gross dad I don't need to think of you with your shirt off." Usagi said holding her hands to her throat.

"Usagi that is rude. Your father is…."

At this point I just turn around and started to walk out of the room. "Well I for one am done here. Seems like all of you have a lot to talk about in private so I will give you that privacy." I said making my way out of the temple and towards the long haired guy who was acting jittery. "You may want to switch to decaf pal; you seem like a nervous wreck." I joked at him.

"So want to explain that?" Britanny said as she ran in front of me and smirked as we both found a quiet place to just sit down together.

I just sighed. "I said my peace, we are in a time crunch, and…"

"And not like you at all." Britanny said bumping into me with her shoulder. "You okay muffin?"

I sighed as I placed my arms around Britanny and hugged her. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for?" Britanny said smirking at me.

"I'm sorry that…..I am sorry I seem to have dragged you into this. And I'm sorry that I couldn't stand around and just wait to see what happens." I said sitting down on the wooden side of the temple area and looked out on the garden. It was nice, and peaceful, but damnably muggy and hot.

"Hey muffin, it is okay." Britanny said hugging me. "What's really bothering you?"

"Britanny I love you." I said wrapping my arm around her and hugging her. "I just…I want to do it right and I have no idea at times what I'm doing…I'm not Ironman, or He-Man, or Superman. And I want, deep down I want to make you happy." I said smiling.

"Well yeah duh I know that, and you and I both know this so what's changed?" Britanny asked curling up next to me.

"You said it yourself. We are partners and, well I don't think I've been able to put your wants and needs first, or more important than my own." I said looking into those gorgeous eyes of hers. Deep blue green with a small amount of her hybrid forms green within green eyes.
"What the heck are you going on about love?" Britanny asked snuggling next to me.

"I didn't ask you about what you wanted, what you deeply wanted out of life. I mean yeah you want a lot of kids and a happy home, but I didn't ask you about being the fashion designer for the unstable molecular fabric things. And I didn't ask you about this whole arch reactor thing, I just went ahead and tried to come up with a solution." I said as Britanny wrapped her arm around me and pressed her cheek to mine.

"Babe you are a goofball, a loveable goofball." Britanny smiled. "And yeah I'm a shopaholic, and maybe yeah I should tone that down, but I always covered my debts…but if we are becoming a partnership then I guess that I have to help cover some of my own things...if only as a side project."

"I thought you want to be a stay-at-home mother?" I smiled at my beloved and kissed her on the nose.

"Well yeah, we did go over this before lover. Still before we have any little bundles of joy I may as well offer my hard-won expert opinion on fashion with regards to formal superhero wear. Speaking of which, we don't have an order waiting for us after this, do we?" Britanny asked as she did a big stretch and wrapped her arm around my neck

"Who knows." I sighed kissing Britanny on the head. "Maybe we get home and have the awkward situation of Xane being at our front door trying to flirt while getting measured."

"Muffin, mom would not be happy with that giant lady showing up." Britanny smiled. "She kept trying to eat all my cookies every time she would visit my dad for job stuff. Plus she kinda…well she needs to get laid…like serious she needs a man asap because she has it worst that Brianna at times."

"I rather not think about that. Feel for her yes, but the only gal who I want to worry about making happy is a certain adorable affection sponge in my arms. So want to just go?" I stood up and was about to offer my hand to my lady to leave and catch our breaths, when Gina decided to just show up and interrupted what was an attempt to be sweet to my beloved….showed up with a camera.

"Gina what is it you want?" Britanny turned her head with the disinterred glance one would give a mosquito at your ear.

"Mom asked me to get cute pictures of the two of you for the wedding." The eldest Diggers sister said. "Smile for the camera." She said snapping a photo of us.
Britanny instead grabbed me behind the head and caught me into a huge kiss that nearly felt that it she would suck the very air from my lungs. I was caught off guard by this solely for how fast Britanny moved and quickly wrapped my arms around her to give as good as I was getting.

I'm not sure how long it was before Britanny slowed down before we rubbed our foreheads together. "So did you get that photo, sis?" Britanny smirked as I was blinking still in shock.

"Uh….yeah uh…." Gina blinked as the polaroid pushed out the photo out of the bottom only to be caught by Britanny in a flash.

"Good. I'll keep this one for the scrapbook." Britanny said as she took the photo and stuck the photo under her shirt. She then proceeded to kiss my cheek and hug me tight. It was nice to at least have this moment together. The peaceful bliss of the wind in the trees, the sound of birds in the sky, even the hum of repairs in the distance were relaxing.

"Hey there you two." Lita said as she had Luna at her feet. "Seems like the parents are done yelling, so everyone is about to head out." The taller teenager said leaning over us and smiling.

"Cool." Britanny said as she propped herself using my shoulder to prop herself up. "So you want us to go so you girls can have your personal time?"

"Actually…I sort of wanted to see if you would be so kind as to give me a ride." The brunette asked trying her most sincere smile. "See the rest of my friends being taken home by their parents and…I sort of don't have a way home with my new dancing dress."

"And as you don't want to risk it getting ruined on public transportation, that means you need something with a trunk." I said nodding at her.

"And you are here because?" Britanny looked at the talking cat with curiosity and a general lack of annoyance. This was completely different from her previous irritated manner with Gina, and that took me a bit by surprise.

"Ms. Lita doesn't speak English very well, I figured that perhaps I could offer assistance as translator." The polite black cat said with no small amount of dignity.

"And I sort of have a good idea where to get something for Alex to wear." Lita said doing that closed eye smile that seemed so unrealistic, and yet in an anime universe seemed so fitting.

"How exactly do you know that?" Britanny said with an every growing smile of her own.

"Oh I had an old boyfriend who always dressed well." Lita replied honestly. "So for being willing to help me, and maybe a driving lesson too, I'll help you get something that will make sure Britanny and you look the absolute best at the dance."

A few days later, and a few thousand yen less.

"Well muffin ready for the big event?" My lovely lady asked as she stepped out in a stunning blue silk dress with matching shoes. It fit her tight human frame like a glove as her blue eyes just about sparkled in the light of the summer afternoon. And while it showed of her human form's amazing tight muscles, it flawed out at her legs so that she had all the range she needed to dance the night away. Her spotted blonde hair was done up with a small porcelain pin in the shape of a fish right through the center of her ponytail. Her tannish skin seemed somewhat pale in comparison, but that was due to being covered in fur most of the time. Her copious ingestion of milk made sure that she was far from vitamin deficient. She looked for all the world like an elf with her bright eyes and pointed ears…which considering werecheetahs were made by hybridizing dark elves, humans, and a few other magic creatures made sense…but hey she had a human soul and that was the most important part.

"As ready as I think I ever will be." I said putting the tie tack in place and fitting my dark blue jacket over my metallic shinning silk undershirt. Britanny pivoted me around and took a good look at me, while licking her lips and rubbing herself all over my cloths to put her scent on me.

"Uh…not quiet muffin." Brit smiled as she fixed my tie and gave me a once over. "You aren't going anywhere without this." My love said jumping up to kiss my cheek while putting something in my hand.

"What is this?" I ask as I felt the weight in my palm.

"Your college ring silly." Before I could protest, Britanny placed her fingers to my lips. "I want you to wear it stud because you earned it. We can worry about engagement rings later. I want you to look your best and that means you are going to show off your college pride." Britanny said while giving me a set of gold cufflings. They were bright yellow except for the face that was pressed in an AU with orange and blue paint.

"I got these for you for a special occasion." Britanny said as she helped me put them on.

"I almost feel ashamed that I didn't have something for you for the same occasion." I said in awe of my beloved's generosity.

"Don't worry so much babe, you do that every day. And I want nothing less that to have you look your best. Besides your ring doesn't fit me and we can use this excuse to go find one for me in Atlanta." Britanny jumped up an kissed me on the lips. "So what do you think?"

"I think that you look amazing and adorable." I said picking my lady up and hugging her to me. "I hope you don't mind being in human form for so long."

"Naw, not when I have you near me. I don't want to scare some poor guard witless tonight." Britanny smiled. "You being accepting of me like this and not just my super sexy hybrid form makes me so happy." Britanny said hugging me tight. "And it is good to be on the receiving end of this."

"You are just precious. Human, hybrid, or animal form, you are my lady and I am so thankful for that." I said setting her back on her feet and kissing her.

"Hey you two are you ready to….damn you are looking fine." Brianna said doing a wolf whistle. The youngest of the Diggers daughters was herself dressed in a purple dancing dress that showed off her figure that showed she was looking for action. Split opening up her leg and tucked under her chest.

"Uh thanks…I have her to thank for that…." I said trying to show off Britanny by wrapping her around her waist and standing in front of her.

"You have me to thank for a lot of things." Britanny replied as she ran her hand behind my head and rubbed her head under my chin. "Keep your eyes on him Brit." Brianna joked. "I think that a few ladies may try to steal him away."

"They couldn't and you know it." I whispered to my lover as she wiggled a bit in my arms.

"Oh I know. But you and I are going to be too busy dancing for anyone to butt in." Britanny said flicking my ear.

"You two are adorable." Brianna said as we headed out to the military truck, only missing a certain royal bodyguard….

"Brian staying home tonight?" I asked noticing the lack of my foil's presence. Heck for the last couple of days I hadn't really had to deal with him and I was absolutely enjoying that fact. I got to snuggle next to Britanny without interruption, we had a chance to actually have a date together, and we had a some moments just to enjoy us being ourselves….with superhero interruptions plus dealing with angry parents. So yes, if those two sailor scouts are playing kissy face with him, let them.

"No he's getting driven by our hosts and they are taking their kids with them." Gina said, as she was going to be driving us to the base. "They couldn't find a babysitter, and as they all helped save the world, the Joes said it wasn't right to not invite Hotaru as well."

Britanny snuggled next to me as Gina was in the driver's seat. Not one to be outdone by her sisters, Gina had gone over the top sexy nerd gear. I wasn't able to catch the details of her outfit, but it looked like she had taken some tips from Britanny's fashion experience and was on the prowl.
In fact, every one of the ladies looked like they were dressed for the most formal dinner of their lives. I almost felt sorry for the teenagers who couldn't afford nearly as flashy a display, but hey this was a night for everyone to have fun.
The base was close, same base in fact that G. I. Joe headquarters was hidden under. And the whole trip flew by as I could barely keep myself from snuggling and kissing Britanny. She was blushing and smiling while rubbing against me. This was a far different reaction to how she had looked down at her human form many months ago. And human or hybrid forms, she was the only girl who had my attention.

"Keep this up and you two may be burned out before getting on the dance floor." Brianna joked as we pulled onto the base. The guard checked Gina's card, waved us through, and gave the eldest Digger's daughter the directions.
About ten minutes later and we were parking in front of a large auditorium with DOD (Department of Defense) school written over it. Seemingly no one was wiser that right under their feet was one of the most technologically advanced military instillations on the planet.

"I hope that we aren't too early." Mesha said as she and Tark exited the truck. They looked for all the world like a lord and lady elf from Tolkien's work. This was truly a day of genuine celebration and all parties seemed to have indulged themselves this night for fun.

"Naw." Brianna said closing her compact after giving herself one final look over. Her cat-like ears, as well as those hyper sensitive ones of Britanny. Both of them turned to see a couple of busses and a caravan of cars driving up various town cars, sedans, a few vans, all more or less middle class econo-box kind of stuff….which makes sense considering the area.

"How many people are going to be here now?" Britanny asked as the vehicles began to show up and even a bus arrived.

"It was the whole school my love." I said as we watched all the kids and teacher pour out of the doors of the vehicles. Yep a whole gaggle of teenage Japanese girls and boys with one yelling reddish brown haired teacher and a couple of the parents from earlier. The teacher was yelling something to her kids as they were all lined up. No idea who most of them were as they were relegated to filler background characters like the forgotten Peanuts cast members after the Christmas special, but there was that one guy with glasses as thick as Clark Kent's and that one girl that was Usagi's best friend in the early episodes.
As for the actual sailor scouts, most of them were easy to pick out…as their parents/parents of friends drove them on top of the fact they were dressed in far more ornate garments than the rest of their classmates…which was considered normal as anime logic is anime logic.

"Everyone ready?" I asked as Britanny and I headed arm-in-arm to the door. Inside was one of the most decked out auditoriums I have ever seen. Food from all across America with Roadblock and Heavy Duty carrying armloads of aluminum trays. Every single Joe was doing something as the entire building was decked with banners, balloons, a fully functional light and sound system. Shipwreck was carrying out the punch….and complaining about it to Lady Jaye who was with her husband Flint.

Steaks, salads, punch, pulled pork BBQ, various rolls, steaming grills, and punch bowls of a cascade of colors. In one area Covergirl and a very formally dressed Beachhead were standing in front of a video-game shooting gallery. The only reason I new it was Beachhead was because even without the mask, the man had a attitude that was 100% Batman timing. It was strange to see all the Joes out of their BDUs, they all seemed at least to be having as much fun as the kids were.

"Alex, Britanny, so glad you could join us." A tall blond man said coming up to shake my hand. This was Duke and next to him was Scarlett and another tall blonde man who kept his dress shirt hat covering his face.

"It is a pleasure, Duke. I am amazed at how big a celebration you set up is." I said shaking all of their hands. Likewise Britanny followed and caught the Joes a bit off-guard as her grip was just as strong in human form.

"That's one heck of a grip you got there, lady." Duke said as all three found themselves shaking their hands. "And as for the party, it was honesty a treat to be able to put this on for the kids."

"I'm just happy that we're not getting attacked for once in a while." Britanny said just about beaming with joy. "Oh and Snake Eyes, you look great."
Britanny had made a deliberate attempt to put a smile on the reluctant Joe's face. It caught him completely out of the blue to get such a complement, and he let the brim of his hat raise. The man had battle scars that could never be corrected by surgery. Deep scars across his lips, part of left eyelid held in an exaggerated open position with scars from there to down his cheek. Instead of being horrified or gazing with disgust, Britanny kept eye contact and shook the man's hand with vigor. A smile appeared on the Joe's face for the first genuine complement he had gotten for his looks in a very long time. Snake Eyes smiled and there was perhaps the fainted of signs of a tear in his eye.

"Now Britanny I heard that you are from Atlanta as well, and I can't seem to help but remember a few news articles about a certain pink clade superhero and a catgirl sidekick of hers. You wouldn't have happened to have any knowledge of this would you?" Scarlett asked while offering a knowing smile.

Britanny grabbed one of the drinks from a table and shot it back. It was just fruit juice thankfully. "You know I happen to remember reading about another girl who was a martial arts champion who claimed having 5 brothers and a great father made her an excellent martial artist. But hadn't heard about her in the news in a while…." My lady smirked as she and Scarlett continued.

"You two know eachother?" Duke asked.

"Naw just indirectly." Britanny said breaking the pseudo-tention. "And yeah that was me."

"Your actions were no end of enjoyment I'll have you know." Scarlett smiled. "And I finally get to win that bet with my father about it."

Snake Eyes did his best chuckle at that comment.

"I still want to thank you again for all the work you Joes have done, as this was a lot of effort. There has to be someone still watching the arch reactor right?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Oh it's protected alright." Duke said proudly. "The broken windows were replaced with hurricane proof glass and had to reenforce the doors with steel security doors."

"All that for a glowing super nightlight." Britanny said blinking. "Yeah I know about what it really is, but that seems like a ton of security."

"With so many people relying on that one bit of tech, we couldn't afford to let anything possibly sneak in and take it." Scarlett said pointely. "General Abernathy was so concerned with any possible security breach that we had to put UV lamps in the room with the reactor."

"Say what now?" Britanny blinked in confusion.

"An old enemy of ours named Zartan is a master of disguise and invisibility, but can't stand direct UV light, especially sunlight.

"Must be paler than my human form then." Britanny joked. "So you have the lights going to give him a nasty sunburn."

"That's the general idea. Now the only issue is convincing the EPA that this new reactor is ready to be built stateside." Scarlett continue. "Speaking of which, how big would a fully functional reactor be?"

"You could have the entire Eastern Seaboard powered by a device the size of a standard school bus." I said grabbing a drink myself. It was at that moment than the dance floor started to come alive with the music pumping and the lights flashing.

"Excuse me, but we can all talk shop later. Now muffin and I are about to tear up the dance floor." Britanny said as she attempted to yank me off my feet and onto the arena. Attempt as when I felt her pull my I eagerly ran with her..

"She was a be-bop baby on a hard day's night

She was hangin' on Johnny, he was holdin' on tight

I could feel her coming from a mile away

There was no use talking, there was nothing to say

When the band began to play and play
And we danced like a wave on the ocean, romanced

We were liars in love and we danced

Swept away for a moment by chance And we danced and danced and danced.."

Britanny was shaking her hips side to side as I almost felt my arm pulled out my socket. To make sure that I didn't lose a limb, I spun Britanny around and started to match her hip thrusts. I then let Britanny dip down as arched her back nearly touching the floor. Before she did, I pulled her back up and she bounced as she pressed herself to me.

"I met my be-bop baby at the Union Hall

She could dance all night and shake the paint off the wall

But when I saw her smile across a crowded room

Well I knew we'd have to leave the party soon

As the band began to play out of tune

And we danced like a wave on the ocean, romanced

We were liars in love and we danced Swept away for a moment by chance

And we danced and danced and danced"

As Britanny was standing up again we jumped up on our toes. I then pulled Britanny up and she let me rotate her around in mid-air and she kicked her legs apart at the height of her spin, then brought her legs together again as she landed. But instead of falling into me leading again, Britanny smirked, pivoted, and lifted me up and over her head.

"And we danced like a wave on the ocean, romanced

We were liars in love and we danced

Swept away for a moment by chance

And we danced and danced and danced

The endless beat, she's walkin' my way

Hear the music fade when she says

Are we getting too close, do we dare to get closer

The room is spinning, she whispers my name"

I and just enough time to pivot and land on my toes, and then pulled her close and kissed her. She smiled as we started moving our hips in sequence with our feet hitting the ground with every beat of the rhythm of the song. I then lead Britanny to spin at the tip of my finger and then she dipped down holding onto my hand as she leaned back almost touching the floor.

"And we danced like a wave on the ocean, romanced

We were liars in love and we danced

Swept away for a moment by chance

And we danced and danced

And we danced like a wave on the ocean, romanced

We were liars in love and we danced

Swept away for a moment by chance

And we danced and danced and danced and danced and danced and danced and danced and danced and danced"

As Britanny rose up from the backwards arch, she just about bounced into my arms and kissed me.

"And we danced And we danced And we danced

And we danced and danced and danced and danced and danced and danced and danced and danced and danced"

Britanny almost burned a hole into the floor with her dancing and it was taking all that I had to keep up with her. With her smaller human frame, the regeneration Britanny had was faster than in hybrid form and that was nearly Wolverine levels of healing. What did that have to do with her dancing? Britanny now was able to metabolize all the toxins your body builds up from exercise at a lightning fast rate and her cells were being flushed with oxygen. If she was pumping iron or running then her human form would tire far more quickly than her hybrid form, but dancing was fast paced quick changes with limited sustained directional motion. Thus my love wasn't even winded by this exertion and instead was barely getting a warm-up.

This didn't bother me one bit. Instead I was loving every moment that I had with her by me in the first time we had time to be ourselves in too long. Or at least the mostly ourselves as Britanny absolutely would prefer to be in her hybrid form, but if she did that then I wouldn't be able to dance with her the same way as we were now. And that smile, that gorgeous smile on her sweet face, meant that she was having the time of her life.

And she wasn't the only one. I saw from the corner of my eye that a certain teal haired young lady was dancing with a spotted haired young man, though far less…energetically than myself and Britanny. As the song changed, Brian bowed out as Hakura took over as Michiru's dance partner.
We saw a number of the high schoolers, in particular the scouts, sort staring at the dance floor with awkward shuffling of the guys and gals. But was less about them wanting to dance as well and their principle was now walking arm-in-arm with one of the Joes blushing like a school girl.

This behavior, at complete odds to her usual cold and duty bound nature as Sailor Pluto, caught the students by surprise. She then went up to the Joe who was the DJ and asked him something. The next song started and…

"Wise men say, only fools rush in…."

Elvis's romantic slow song was playing and Leatherneck took his lady friend and made their way to the center of the dance floor. Britanny smirked at me and nodded as we let them have the center of attention and I kissed my gal on the nose while slow dancing with her.

"but I can't help falling in love with you."

The song continued on, but I barely cared as was focused on cuddling close to Britanny while slowly dancing with her. In fact she and I didn't even know the song ended when I got dragged off the floor by Britanny.

"I thought you wanted to dance all night." I laugh as I feel Britanny's powerful tug on my hand.

"It was getting too crowded." Britanny chuckled as she pointed out that the relatively small dance area now had most of the scouts filling the floor. "I need room to move like you do."

Mina and Rei had indeed gotten on the dance floor, and yes Britanny was right it was getting too crowded for now. Mina was trying to get that blonde guy to play the role of her romantic fantasy guy, Rei had gotten that scuffy rock-star to be alright dressed, and Lita….well Lita didn't seem to be getting many of her classmates vying for her attention. A shame really as she was sitting there at the same table as Ami and looked like both of them were just nursing their drinks.

"Be right back muffin." Britanny smiled as she zipped off for a moment. Leaving me, somewhat confused, as she wasn't heading over towards our friends but towards a couple of the Joes.

"So you actually worked with those weird mini-skirt wearing chicks Dial-Tone?" One Joe said to another.

"I told you Quick Kick, they aren't that weird." Dial Tone replied. "Now the fact they were dressed in those tu-tu things rather than the usual spandex for superheroes seemed strange, but that blue haired one was a technical genius and that taller brunette probably could hold her own against you in a fight."

"High school superheroes able to hold their own against professional soldiers?" Quick Kick joked.

"Hello there gentlemen." Britanny said with a smirk.

"Well hey there little lady, uh what can I do for you?" Dial Tone politely tried to catch himself.

"Actually it is what you can do for some of my friends." Britanny replied for a moment before pointing to the table where Lita and Ami were sitting. "Do they look familiar Dial Tone?"

The moustashed corporal looked and his recognition was near instant. "Hey those were the two girls I was talking about, how did you?" Dial Tone looked at Britanny

who smirked and pointed to her spotted hair. "Oh shi….I mean sorry didn't recognize you without the whole….uh…"
"So who is this girl?" Quick Kick asked.

"You remember that tall cat woman that I told you about, uh she's well a shape shifter I guess….but anyway sure what I can we do for them?" Dial Tone asked moving his head from his fellow Joe to Britanny.

"I think that a thank you would be the least they should be afforded. Like some conversation and a dance or two?" My love suggested to the Joes. "Lita just loves to talk about martial arts and can't seem to find anyone who wants to talk. So you two mind doing me a big one, for them please?"

"Well come on Dial Tone." Quick Kick slapped his fellow Joe on the back, "You talked them up so much that you have to introduce me to them." Quick Kick then gave Britanny a thumbs up and my adorable lover held her hands behind her back as she saw Dial Tone sort of fumble though the start of the introduction while Quick Kick started speaking fluent Japanese to Lita getting her to perk up immediately and smile as she and he started to talk more deeply.

"So what would you like to do till the dance floor is a little more free?" I ask Britanny as I wrapped my arm around her and hugged her close.

"Hit the arcade." Britanny said pointing to where a series of game cabinets were set up. From basketball hoops to those laser gun set-ups…there was a ton of action going on. Of course the teens were trying to not be intimidated by the gruff man in the Army dress uniform with Ranger pins. The main action here though was Brianna and Pathfinder taking turns trying to out shoot the other's high score in various weapons. Mainly rifle and pistol light cabinets with the kids and adults having a great time. What surprised us the most was a certain small pink-haired girl with reddish eyes who's score was just about reaching the top score on the digital reader.

As the level stopped, she had just barely missed the 100% accuracy on the pistol light gun cabinet with an accuracy of 99.5%. Yep Reeni had taken the second highest score and had gotten a small crowd watching her. As she walked away from the cabinet toward the food, Beachhead walked up to her and asked.

"Kid, who taught you to shoot like that?" the Sgt. Said in what as a small amount of praise hidden heavily in the tone of his voice. By this time the boys were all focused on trying to prove they could outshoot the kid….or trying to not stare at Brianna.

"You did Sgt. Sneeden; 35 years from now." Reeni said looking up at man. Only Britanny and I had noticed what Reeni had said….mainly as her reply was in English and few of the kids there seemed to be fluent.

Beachhead looked at the Sailor Scout that didn't even reach up to his waist, smirked, crossed his arms and said "Damn straight."

Britanny and I watched as Beachhead went back to watching the teenagers try and fail to reach his top score.

"Oh this one looks fun." Britanny smiled as she saw the skeet ball game. "Want to try and win me a prize muffin?" my lover said rubbing against my side doing the doe eye thing. Lady Jaye was watching the kids trying to win a generic stuffed bear prize.

"I'll try, but I honestly stink at carnival games." I said looking at my love and trying to roll the skeet ball up the ramp and win a prize. Took me about five tries, but eventually I won her a cute teddy bear…which attracted the attention of a certain ditzy blonde who kept tripping over herself slipping and sliding as she over-extended herself. It was heartwarming, and very comedic to see that yes Usagi was that uncoordinated while at the same time obsessively hard working. Still though she burned through all her spare change with no bear and was about to cry…till her future husband showed that his throwing skills were perfect. Lady Jaye gave her thumbs up as she handed over a massive oversized stuffed bear in green camouflage to the teenage girl who happily hugged the thing while dragging her boytoy through the food line again trying to sample every single item she could.

"Would you like to get something to eat as well dear, or want to hit the dance ot the floor, or…." Continued, making clear that Britanny's happiness was my priority.

"A few more dances, then we can feast." Britanny said as she smirked at me before just about dragging me to the dance floor again. And that is how the night went: dancing, playing games, a lot of food and drink, and all the while the worries of the world just gone. The laughing and cheer, the closeness I finally got between myself and Britanny. This is what we really needed; time finally together to just be us. Not being caught in various adventures, not fighting the forces of evil, not doing some charity work, just her and me together finally having some fun together. We really hadn't had this and if we were getting married then we needed to have this time to just be ourselves. And I promised myself that I would do everything I could to make sure this amazing woman with me knew how much she mattered to me.

Said woman was currently wearing my legs out dancing to every 80s-90s pop dance song imaginable and we only stopped a few times to get water or move away from the center of the dance floor so another could take center stage.

"You doing okay muffin?" Britanny asked as I was clearing the sweat from my brow.

"Yeah I'm perfectly fine love." I was panting like mad, my head felt it was on fire and the humid air made the sweat stick to me. If I had been wearing my usual jeans I would have passed out due to heat exhaustion. I was about to start dancing to another song, but Britanny coughed in exaggeration.

"I'm starting to get overwhelmed by all the girls wearing cheap perfume. Can we go get some fresh air?" She said as she just about pulled me outside into the cooler, but still muggy summer Japanese air.

"You…*insert short breath panting* doing okay?" I smiled as I undid my tie a bit to try and cool off.

"Oh I'm doing great." Britanny said propping herself up against the side of a bicycle railing. "You just looked like you were about to have a heat-stroke. Looks like you aren't used to humid air."

"I hope you aren't disappointed." I smile as I placed my arm around her shoulders.

"In what? The best night I've had in as far as I can remember? Babe I naturally can regenerate at superhuman speed. Same reason going to that dust-bowl area of Africa gave me nose bleeds on for a second or two." She kissed me on the cheek and held close to me. "You're just used to a different climate and I want you to enjoy yourself as much as I have been enjoying being with you."

"That means the world to me Britanny. That you are happy."

"That we are happy together muffin." Britanny corrected me. "Happy together." We cuddled close looking up at the clear night sky. The base outside of the city proper had a bit less light pollution and the stars were a bit more clear. Not nearly as clear as Montana, but it was clearer that Atlanta. We stayed there cuddling, before kissing lips to lips and the background sounds from the DJ a faint background noise for us while we just relaxed to hear the sounds of crickets, birds, and the fluttering of wings that were probably bats hunting bugs around the lights. "Feels a bit like home doing this."

"It feels so tranquil out here now." I said as we held our hands together.

"You and I both need nights like this." Britanny smiled. "You know for all the times you've made me a priority tonight, I want to something special for you. You have a favorite dance song muffin?"

I swallowed a bit, and took a deeper breath than I thought I would have…which sort of upset Britanny a bit that she may have hit a nerve. "Promise not to laugh." I sighed while exhaling a bit. "You remember the Disney movie Sleeping Beauty?"

Britanny started chuckling slightly, cupping her mouth and doing everything she could to hold back the laughter. "Babe I'm so so sorry. I'm not…I'm not laughing at you." She was now getting red in the face. "I promise I'm not laughing at you. Just it's so cute. Ah you are just so….I can't think of a better word than wholesome." Britanny said standing up and grabbing my wrist.

"Uh okay if you aren't laughing at me, then what…." I didn't even have a moment to complete my sentence as Britanny whispered something into the DJ's ear. The man gave a thumbs up and Britanny smooched me on the cheek.

"I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream…
I know you, the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam…"

I smiled as I looked into those reflective predatory blue eyes of Britanny, smiled and slow danced with my princess. If Theo or Mesha started changing Britanny's outfit pink when it was blue I hope to keep it in good jest. But what I was really doing was letting go of years of pride and pain to let someone I treasure let me have this moment with her. And it felt right.

Oh I could hear Gina almost do a spit take as she saw us. "Wait wait, at they actually…." The most educated of the Digger's girls said while her glasses made a slight thud on the table.

"Oh my g…" Brianna giggled as she and pathfinder had taken time from the lasergun game to enjoy some food and drinks. "They are. Sis get the camera. I want to record this asap."

"And I know it's true that visions are seldom what they seem….." the song continued.

"Dear you wouldn't be trying to have Britanny's dress magically change color would you?" Julia joked as Theo bowed and lead her to the dance floor.

"Of course not my dear. I fear that I would perhaps miss as they are moving." Theo smiled as the husband and wife danced together.

"But if I know you, you'll know what to do… You'll love me at once the way you did once upon a dream…"

Britanny and I kissed, we slow danced through the rest of the song. Let the world think it was silly, but for me and her it was special. I was in a complete cuddling close to my girl when I felt her jolt.

Her head shot over to the side of the speakers as the music suddenly stopped and the static of an emergency broadcast system flared up. Her hypersensitive hearing had caught the audio change before any of us more average hearing individuals could detect it.

"Warning: Today after the recent terrorist attacks at the Juban High School, the city is again blighted with a terrorist attack. After the historic arrest and incarceration of legendary gentleman thief Lupin III, the Tokyo city prison was attacked by a well-armed military force. Strangely it seems that this attack was solely to free Lupin and his infamous cohorts. No other cells were broken into. Several guards were killed in the ensuing gunfight as reports of assault weapons and laser rifles being used along with advanced military aircraft landing, destroying a section of the prison wall, and then retrieving the criminals from their cells. We go live to the prison where Detective Koichi Zenigata, the man who arrested Lupin mere days ago is on the scene."

My blood ran cold hearing this and quickly the Joes ushered the kids towards the center of the dance area while closing the doors and locking them. I could see some of the Joes giving hand signals to one another as they carefully made their way to concealed weapons lockers. Others seemed to be covertly feeling for their hidden side-arms.

"Detective do you have any clue who or what could be responsible for this breakout?" A male reporter asked the law enforcement officer.

"Lupin has shown himself to be a master of many odd technologies and has pulled off incredible escapes before. That is why we secured him and his compatriots in isolated cells. However this doesn't seem to be the work of Lupin directly, and he has never made it a point to outright murder people needlessly. For all of his horrible actions I must state that he considers the crimes he does as a game of sport and the actions of mowing down guards in an attempt to escape doesn't fit his usual MO. It would be a lack of skill on his part. Also from what we have found on the video feed, before it was somehow cut off, Lupin didn't seem to recognize his rescuers and in fact show shock at the fact he was being broken out. We are currently investigating the scene carefully." The detective explained.

"Sir what evidence do you have of who was responsible for the attack?" The reporter asked, all heads towards the speakers and not a single person moving to anything else.

"We are still waiting on…hold up I am getting an update. SGT turn that TV up right now!" the Inspector's voice cried like some old radio drama during his interview.

"Anyone got a TV handy?" Duke asked as Mainframe and Dial Tone switched on the screen above the stereos. "Might get a better idea what's happening."
As soon as the screen turned on the image of the news broadcast shifted to static and before everyone was the menacing cold faceless visage of one of the most hate-filled men on earth. He was dressed in a tight blue military uniform with black boots and gloves and his face was covered by a silvery chrome mask, while a short helmet covered the rest of his head. He was standing with a long saber at this side with a globe with the island of Japan in view.

In the background was a tall built man dressed in dark red bleeding to black leather from head to toe with a ruby gem medallion around his neck and his whole face covered in metal. Nearly flowing over him was a raven hared woman in exceptionally tight black leather with an AK-47 style assault rifle at her side.

"Evening, however good it may have been to you before, it has officially become worse. I, for all you witless peons of the world who can't appreciate true greatness, am Cobra Commander." The voice of Christopher Collins blared over the stereo, like some perverse version of a cartoon show. "Tonight my forces have taken the liberty to free this Lupin III as a preamble to a future goal of ours. We have no time to argue with the rabble of your supposed leadership, so me and my associates will be addressing your recent 'heroes' directly." The video feed shows a somewhat blurry, but unmistakable recording of the Sailor Scouts, myself, Britanny, Brianna, and the Joes in the recent events of Beral's attack on the school.

"It has come to COBRA's attention that the supposed urban legends of your heroic Sailor Scouts are real, as are the pulp publications of the tabloids of one Gina "Gold Digger" Diggers and her werecheetah sister. While these are irrelevant to the goal of world domination Cobra has in mind, the fact is that you infernal G I JOEs have somehow gained access to not only a functioning cold fusion reactor system, but a fortification constructed in a manner of minutes that was able to withstand an invasion force numbering in the tens of thousands. Such is a blatant challenge to Cobra and will not be allowed to stand unopposed. While you Joes and your Sailor Scouts may have saved Tokyo, this recent set of events has forced myself to gain my own allies." Cobra Commander pointed the camera to pan to his right. "Move the camera Metalhead." The Commander growled pointing his sword in the direction his less that competent minion was to go.

"And what better allies could I ask for that my own Dr. Mindbender's nephew and protégé, Lord Erwin Talon and his associates." Cobra Commander chuckled.

"Hello Gina, thought I forgot about our little encounter in Africa recently?" Pee Wee chuckled while cleaning his glasses. He was having his shoulder patted by his "uncle" while the three original goons of his were trying to look as menacing as possible…though Zelda still had a rather busted up face. Well at least her arm looked like it healed from when I broke it as Master Chief.

"So let us be clear about this. While you have been growing soft in a world that feels as if the threat it cowered before in my organization, Cobra has lost none of our venom. Today we assailed your prison taking the first easy bite of our reinvigorated war. While you have allowed mere children to protect your country, we have shown how incapable your defenses are. The game is still in play. Cobra Commander out."

The feed shut off as the cameras turned again to a now completely shocked detective and news broadcaster.

"That slimy two-faced…." Britanny just about growled as her fangs were protruding and she was about ready to rip out of her dress into hybrid form. I patted her on the shoulder and got her to calm down a bit. Not that I didn't absolutely agree with her on every level of her anger, but causing the various students to be scared out of their minds with a 7 foot tall cheetah girl ripping her garments off wouldn't help anyone. Plus the last thing I would want is for her to be essentially naked in front of family, friends, and many impressionable minds…okay yes again Fred would have this happen as a form of fanservice but Britanny was my lady and her dignity was a priority to me. That and the kids were terrified as is and a 7 foot tall muscular werecat may cause a panic for less familiar people.

"Theo Jade realm now!" Julia shouted to her husband as she dragged him from the dance floor and headed towards the door.

"Dear…" Theo said, while keeping up with his wife heading outside.

"I'm not having it Theo. We are going to Jade this instant and…" Julia said in absolute fury.

"DEAR." Theo said slightly gruffly. "I am not arguing about going to Jade. I just want to know where in Jade you want to go to so that I can send us to it with as little strain on my magic as possible and grab a return scroll back from where we left.

Julia paused slightly before smiling at her husband. "To the Northern Edgeguard." In a flash they were gone.

"Where did they just head off to?" Lady Jaye asked as she made sure the door was locked safely.

"Does this mean the party is over?" Mina asked as she was about half-way done with a hot dog while holding an ice cream cone in her other hand. Her date was munching on a burger.

"Not like we are under direct attack." Flint pointed out. "Sounds like Cobra Commander was posturing again."

Duke went to his waist as a communication unit of sorts went off. "Talk to me Grid Iron."

"Radar just got spiked for a squad on intercept to our location. Japanese Defense Force launched to intercept, but these guys got airborne VTOL style right off the cost. We have PX-14 Skystrikers lead by Ace but we only have 2 in the air so far. Got updated reports that those aircraft are a mix of Cobra Firebats and Rattlers."

"Please tell me they aren't heading towards the base." Duke said as the Joes had made make shift baracades at the doors.

"You have a way to safely get this students out of here?" Mesha asked as she and Tark were getting ready for a fight.

"Got a better idea than that missy." Gun-Ho smiled as he gave the thumbs up to Leatherneck. In an instant the make shift dance floor dropped down and opened up.

"You seem to full of secrets of your own." Setsuna said as the students saw the lower area of the school was in fact a re-enforced bunker.

"This was an old Joe base before most of it was moth-balled. We have enough room for everyone under here, but we've got to move everyone fast." The Marine explained while Setsuna ushered most of the students below where they would be safe. Setsuna then gave a harsh glance to the Sailor Scouts who took the hint and allowed the confusion of the rest of their classmates to provide an excuse to escape and transform. A few of their dates tried to keep an eye one them, but to the scout's credit…they were very good at finding a way to escape undetected.

"Muffin I think I need to powder my nose." Britanny growled as she made be-line for the lady's room.

"Quick Kick got a favor to ask." Duke said pulling the other Joe aside.

"Sure what you need me to do?" The martial art's expert Joe turned to his squad commander.

"Take Dial Tone, Gun-Ho, and Heavy Duty down there with the students and keep them safe. You're about the only one of us fluent enough to help keep things calm down there. I'll radio it when it is safe to come top-side." Duke said as the younger Joe nodded in understanding.

"Are we expecting an invasion force?" Tark asked as he ignited his mystic blade.

"At this point we are just keeping the students safe." Scarlett explained…while every Joe there had already armed and waited to see if the Cobra forces were attracted the party area. As the last student headed down into the old survival bunker, the Joes below gave a quick thumbs up while the floor slid back over the top hiding them from danger.

"Someone quick kill the lights." Brianna said as she pulled out a plasma pistol from her purse.

"Are dates with you always so exciting?" Pathfinder smiled while had grabbed one of the plasma rifles from a hidden Joe arsenal…because of course G. I. Joe has hidden weapon caches in a DOD school auditorium. It's G. I. Joe after all.

"Stick around babe and find out." Brianna said giving the man a quick peck on the cheek.
Gina had already hit the on-switch to her energy shield and the lights were hit. The music was dead and the entire room was darkened. The Joes waited in positions covering most entrance ways, and the we could hear the movement of the Sailor Scouts as their skirts moved too noisily in a rush.

"Are we just going to stay hidden in the dark all night?" Sailor Uranus asked as she and Neptune had used a table as a concealment next to Brian.

"Do not worry. I have the ability to see in the infrared spectrum. So far all is quiet, but I am guessing that we are trying to avoid drawing attention to the building while the skirmish happens outside." Brian explained patiently.

I could feel the presence of a rather large, rather powerful, and rather furry individual having taken a position behind me. The flick of her tail along my neck indicated that a certain someone was done "powdering her nose" as it were. As for me, I hadn't moved one inch from where I had been standing, but I had decided that an alternate form was definitely needed in this situation. I was covered in mostly black with two metal cylinders in my hands.

"We expecting trouble dear?" I heard the lovely and sweet sound of my beloved lady whisper to me.

"We have what appears to be uninvited guests approaching from above." I said feeling out in the Force to sense what was approaching. The school was well within the base's defenses, and the Joes should have shot down any incoming targets. But Cobra had many extremely small and short-ranged aircraft that were designed to penetrate radar-protected areas. The sad fact was without the constant threat of something like Cobra, some pencil-pushing bureaucrat probably slashed the defense funding and thus some of the security protocols for the base.

"I'm right behind you muffin." Britanny smiled as she took a step back. Britanny would have wanted to take charge as needed, but for some reason she was taking a side-position.

"Any reason you didn't want to be front and center too?" I whisper to Britanny.

"If Pee-Wee spilled the beans on werecats, then I'm not taking a risk of these Cobra jerks packing silver bullets." Britanny blew me a kiss while taking a couple of steps back. Then the banging happened.

Someone was trying to break down the door. I could feel the emotions of the men on the other side, and the presence of what felt like droids of some sort. The banging continued, a few people were yelling, someone tried to start up a chainsaw, and finally someone just blasted the door down with a charge.

"Awe looks like we missed the party." One smug one with the chainsaw and a badly ripped shirt said. "Smells like there's still good food there though." One with a big beard and a long rifle said.

"Gentlemen." I said, my form still obstructed by the dim light of the room. "You don't seem to be properly dressed for a party. Do you happen to have your…invitations?" I asked as I opened my hand towards the open door.

"Well looks like the jantor's still here." Said another in a big hearty laugh. "Even has his flash-lights on him. You know those work better when they are turned on." The three men continued to laugh as a fourth one, one with a very darkened face

"No invitations? Sounds like we have a bunch of party crashers." Sailor Uranus smiled from on top of the support structures. The hilt of her sword clutched in her hands.

"And not even the decency to come dressed appropriately for a party." Sailor Neptune added.

"Well at least they tried knocking." Sailor Mercury said while making herself known.

"But time to send them back knocking for trying to ruin a fun evening." Sailor Venus said as the Sailor Scouts dropped down from the support braces of the gym. I couldn't quiet understand what Sailor Moon said in typical introduction fashion, as it was in Japanese, but yeah they did the whole colorful introduction bit in front of the small band of Dreadnoks…who proceeded to laugh manically.

"The Joes won't even show themselves and instead throw kids at us…."

"Well since they asked for invitations, let's show them some." At that moment on of the bikers pulled a pin on a grenade and tossed it towards us, which cause the Scouts to jump out of the way, but I only moved my hand slightly catching the grenade in mid-air. Or rather stopping the grenade in mid-air as it was suspended momentarily off the ground.

"Your invitation, is declined." I said as with a flick of my wrist, I tossed the grenade out of the door and towards where the pods the gang had used to enter the based had been landed. The resulting explosion tore apart their vehicles and caused the mercenaries to scramble.

"Bloody 'ell." The blond one said in response.
"Well gentleman it seems that you are invited to leave." I said politely, knowing this was going to turn even more chaotic in a moment.

"No, just we need to invite more boys." The bearded one said as he pressed a button on a device in his hand, only to find the boot of Sailor Jupiter coming down on his head. He was able to grapple with the teenage girl, before pulling a knife on her while he thought he had her pinned. "Awe don't struggle too much love, we have all night to..uhhhh"

Sailor Jupiter slammed her elbow into the guy's side, got him to drop the knife, and the slammed her knee into the Dreadnok's face breaking his nose. "Bloody 'ell that hurt."

"This hurt more." Sailor Jupiter said as she summoned up an electrical attack that sent the man flying into a tree.
What we thought was going to be an easy fight, sadly turned out worse as a series of drop-pod like things crashed right outside of the building.

"What are those things?" Beachhead asked as panels exploded from the side revealing compactly stored B.A.T. units while actual Viper units were trying to swarm in.
The scouts scrambled as for the second time they and the Joes found themselves allied against a common enemy.

"Just like shooting fish in a barrel." One Alley Viper smiled as he attempted to shoot at the brightly colored girls, only to find that it wasn't nearly as easy to shoot them as he thought, and that it was less like shooting fish and more like fighting in an enclosure against a group of annoyed big cats.

The problem for the Cobra units is that their forces were now funneled into two very clear kill-zones with the doors of the auditorium allowing only a few ways in, but a wide area of hiding and shooting zones. And inside the auditorium was two werecats, several armed Joes, two experienced combat efficient elves, and one force user. The other issue? The fact that the lights were off meant that Cobra's forces were silhouetted against the night sky while the Joes could attack from completely concealed positions.

"Someone get eyes on Zartan." Duke yelled as he fired from defended positions while progressing towards the door. "If he escapes then there is no telling what problems he'll cause."

"Uh which one is Zartan?" Gina asked while shooting while working with Sailor Mercury to extend the shield on Gina's side.

"He's the ugly one with a hood." Scarlet said as she hit one of the B.A.T. s in the head with a cross-bow bolt, which only caused it to start shooting wildly. "He has the ability to turn invisible and shape-shift so…."

Britanny was off like a light as started to track down her prey. For me? I stopped just standing in place using the Force to toss explosives away and weapons to jam, and ignited my light sabers.

In a flash a blue and a green blade cut through the night air and into B. A. T. troops. Understand dear reader, while not nearly as powerful as a T-800, these robot soldiers of Cobra carried multiple armaments including machine-guns, rockets, and advanced combat A.I. They were not just easily disposed of fodder like an individual droid would be, but with an ease that seemed almost like walking, I sliced into them like they were wheat before a scythe. The danger to my love and friends with the potential for Force lightning, or the devastating waves of force push was so great that I reserved myself to a more measured response. In fact most of use were having to limit ourselves as the potential of damaging the building, or the odds of friendly fire were huge. In truth Brianna or Britanny could deal with this force by themselves, but with so many friends around the odds of hitting one another were huge. As such Brian was mostly moving far slower than normal and having to cripple his foes rather than outright kill. Tark was doing his energy blade thing again with his previously used high-acrobatics limited to dodging right before he would otherwise be hit.

"Snake Eyes is that you?" Flint asked as he took down on Viper and saw a black-clad man beside him. The man made a motion with his hand, only to.

"Got you." Britanny joyfully said as she grabbed the one standing next to Flint and nearly broke the man's wrist causing him to yell in pain dropping a rather wicked looking knife.

"Zartan." Flint said as the purple digitalization of the hologram Zartan used dissipated. The real Snake-Eyes, who was still in his dress uniform, gave Flint a thumbs up and pinned one Viper with a thrown knife before sweep kicking another and claiming their gun.

The close proximity also limited the attacks the scouts were using as few if any of their energy attacks could be unleased at full scale. Sailor Mercury had resorted to trapping the Cobra Vipers with the use of her ice bubbles causing the terrorist forces to become trapped in their own boots and pinned in place. This made them easy targets for the Joe and many of the Vipers found themselves rendered unconscious or just surrendered. Sailor Mars had an equilily great idea in using her flame abilities as a sort of flash-bang attack that caused the Vipers to cry out in pain and stumble into the fists and firearms of Sailor Scouts and Joes alike.

"Alright that is enough." I heard one last voice say and the lights flicked on and a grey and white clade ninja was holding Sailor Moon's neck in the sleeper hold while holding a gun to her head. "This was supposed to be a warning to all of you about how Cobra is back. But looks like Cobra Commander underestimated things as always."

Britanny was about to run up and clobber the guy, but he pointed his pistol at her.

"Not one step closer werecat. This gun in loaded with silver bullets, just like Talon warned us would work. Doesn't take much to bring even you down. A simple .9mm hollow point would kill you or make you feel like you're burning in hell from what I understand."

"Firefly how exactly do you think you are going to get out of here?" Lady Jaye said as she was ready.

"With her as my captive? I think that I can get out of here Scot-free. Afterall you wouldn't risk her life and I'm betting that Japan would pay quiet a tidy sum to make sure that their hero was returned unharmed. Drop the weapons. All of you. And no funny business or I will shoot…her?"

You may be wondering why Firefly had paused himself, questioning at the end. Well dear reader this was because Firefly's hand was moving by some unseen force with the gun twisting away from Sailor Moon with the barrel of what appeared to be a Glock twisting and being crushed as Firefly released Sailor Moon. Firefly was unable to hold onto the weapon any more as he screamed in pain as the sound of bones popping from the unnatural angle they were held at finally caused him to let go. The gun fell to the ground with the barrel bent like a noodle, the magazine folded in half and looked like the thing was compacted.

"Do you surrender now?" I asked Firefly, who was holding his hand in shock from what just happened. While I had no doubt that pain was something that Firefly could overcome, it was the fact that what he had experienced was so out of the realm of normal that his mind was in complete confusion. It confused the remaining Vipers as well, as they found Firefly being slammed against the concrete wall at the side of the dance hall. And being lifted up with my hand barely moving. "I ask again. Do you surrender?"

"Who, what are you?" Firefly asked.

"I am a Jedi, like my father before me." I said, having used the DLC skin of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker for his more calm approach to combat than either Starkiller or Anakin would have. "I invite you again to surrender."

"Yes fine fuck I surrender." Firefly said as he was grabbed by Flint and Duke and put in cuffs, only for him to then get slammed in the face with a custard pie by a very angry teenage blonde who looked like she was going to blow a gasket. As for where the heck was tux-boy to protect her, he was absent one cape and had three Vipers he was holding off with one having a rose embedded in his boot and another had been fighting him old school with a bayonet attached to his assault rifle.

Sailor Moon then erupted a long, and what seemed like disconnected diatribe about ruining people's parties and something else. Everyone who didn't just get their butts kicked was laughing just like an ending to the cartoon as the pie tin crashed to the floor.

Duke just gave the thing a taste. "Lemon Merange; perfect for a sour puss like you." The Joe leader laughed while radioing for Law to gather up the Cobra troops.
The floor then opened and the students, Joes, and a few of the teachers that had been acting as chaperones were in shock. The Sailor Scouts were there, and didn't have time to escape, Brian was in hybrid form with her outfit almost ready to erupt, and Britanny had to slip down to what was essentially her skivvies as the only thing that was made of unstable molecular material she was wearing. Thinking fast I used the Force to quickly cover my love with a table cloth as the only thing with enough area to keep her covered. She's 7'3" and has a frame like She-Hulk so she would have ripped apart anything else.

"Oh nuts" Sailor Venus said as the other members of the Sailor Scout gang were about to book it. Before she could though, that same blonde guy from earlier grabbed her wrist and stopped her. What transpired next was sort was odd as the two talked.

"Does anyone want to explain what they are saying?" Pathfinder asked scratching his head.

"Uh he's saying thank you for saving them again, and that they would like them to stay if the dance is still happening." Sailor Mercury explained.

"Of course it's still happening." Britanny said. "Brian get a broom, you're helping me put this place back in place."
I smiled and used the Force to help collect all the metal bits, fix the door, and set the games and tables back in place while Mesha used her elf magic to repair the damaged decorations. The Joes put the tables back, and the food was still just as good. What could have been a disaster turned out to be only a temporary distraction from the night's activities.

"You know, I think I like dating with you." Pathfinder smiled at Brianna. "If you want I…" Before the Joe could go on any further.

"My number and my address. Want to know more then, then I'm here." Brianna smiled as she and her date got close all night.

As for Britanny and I, we found ourselves dancing till almost the break of dawn, long after the students went home, and the food and stuff put away.
As the sun rose we were treated to the red tint of the early Japanese sky.

"I take it that our vacation's now over." Britanny said hugging me.

"At this point that is a given." I said nodding my head. "And we have to make a bee-line to South America to that peace conference ASAP." I said hugging her.

"You Joes probably are going to have your hands full with Cobra again now." Britanny said as Duke and Scarlet approached us.

"For a while that's for sure. But one good thing that Cobra being back means is that the reactor you built has gotten a fast green-light." Scarlet said. "The world is now afraid of what Cobra's next move will be, and dependable power they can't shut off is one less way to attack the free world."

"We can send a few Joes with you as security, but most of our troops and supplies will be focused on finding and stopping Cobra dead in their tracks." Duke said. "All-in-all it has been a pleasure to meet the both of you." Duke and Scarlet shook our hands and made their good-byes.

Britanny and I just returned to watching the dawn together as I wrapped my arm around her back while she wrapped her tail and arm around me. Life together was one interesting adventure.

To be continued.

I hope that everyone has a good start to your New Year and had a very Merry Christmas. I know this chapter seems all over the place at times, but I am trying to wrap up this very long arch and move on to the next one. So we will soon say good-bye to Japan and hello to the jungles of Peru as Britanny and Jetta formalize the end to the longest rivalry of lycanthropes. It means we will also see some faces that we haven't seen in a long time and a few faces I think my readers had been looking forward to seeing. Please be so kinds as to write a review and I will try to get more work done. Things have been crazy the last few months and I am sorry it took so long to get this out.