Ranma ½
A Scary Thought:
What happen last time: Things took a bad turn as Herb's unfortunate curse was revealed to the leader of the Fox Clan of the Musk, and now finds himself the target.
Chapter 51
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At the girls' dorm, Makoto sat in the TV room in thought. Around her, her various dorm mates were watching an anime, or chatting quietly. Usagi was making as if doing the former, but Makoto could see that she was paying little attention, obviously lost in her own thoughts.
How am I going to tell the others? Makoto asked herself. Rei is probably going to flip her lid when she finds out, and while the others probably won't be that bad, I don't expect them to really understand either. Hell, I barely understand.
These thoughts going through her head, Makoto paid little mind to the phone ringing, nor Saki going to answer. Saki returned a moment later to summon Ranko to the phone, which drew some of Makoto's attention. Wonder what is up? She never gets calls, Makoto thought.
Come to think of it, Ranko knows about us somewhat already. And with that new sense of hers, Shampoo probably will figure it out too if she sees any of us transformed. Hmm, Makoto pondered before Ranko returned.
"I got to head out. There is a real mess over at the San Cheng Huang," Ranko said.
"What's up?" Kitsune asked.
"The whole place is surrounded by a pack of kitsunes," Ranko said.
"Seriously?!" Kitsune asked, excitedly, but assumed the answer. "Awesome. I want to meet my namesakes."
"Oh no," Ranko said with a shake of her head. "Last thing they need is you getting enchanted and causing more trouble."
"We're talking the magical variety here?" Saki asked, to which Ranko nodded. Saki blinked several times then threw up her arms. "This district is a madhouse!"
"Anything we can do to help?" Makoto asked, but Ranko shook her head.
"Doubt it. Those things enchanted Shampoo real easy. Only reason they called me is I'm immune to magic. I'm going to meet up with them on the way," Ranko explained.
Makoto looked to her fellow senshi questioning, while replying, "right."
Without further word, Ranko dashed off. With her departure, several conversations erupted over the new info, allowing the senshi, save Usagi, to discreetly gather.
"Would they be able to enchant us?" Minako asked.
"Difficult to say, but we do have protections against such," Ami replied. "The bigger issue is if Kasumi is involved, which is likely the case, us being involved would no doubt reveal our identities for sure."
Makoto nodded. "Yeah. Ranko already knows about us, but Kasumi still thinks we're not the real deal. If we start using our power in front of her..."
Minako sighed and nodded. "Right."
The senshi fell silent as they pondered this. Makoto's attention turned to Usagi who was still with the other girls, but was glancing at them. "Yeah... about that. We should talk."
"Hmh?" Minako replied.
Makoto gestured down the hall. "Not here."
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Back at the restaurant, Ranma looked out the front window, before looking back at where Kasumi had apparently just finished talking with So Pu and was now talking with Shampoo who she had called over. Kasumi's amazon bride was not particularly pleased it seemed, with a frown stuck on her face. However, after a bit more talking Shampoo finally nodded, and So Pu left.
I wonder what that is all about, Ranma thought as he watched Kasumi and Shampoo head off together. Consideration of such was shelved though when the front door chime heralded the arrival of the last helper for their plan. "Rippa!"
Rippa turned to Ranma then pointed outside with his thumb. "Those kitsunes are... freaky man. I flickered all the way in here and I swear they knew where I was going every time."
"They probably did, sadly," Ranma said.
"You sure I shouldn't have brought Kitsui along?" Rippa asked as he walked over and joined Ranma.
Ranma laughed. "Yeah, I don't think so. These kitsunes can easily enchant you by any attraction to them, apparently."
"Oh, is that why you called me?"
"Partly, but only in so much as I was sure you could get in," Ranma explained. "Devlin has already told us that he's got something that can protect us from their magic temporarily."
"Anybody else coming?"
"Friad not. You're the only one I could trust could have a shot at getting by them, and no one else I could think of would stand a chance without that magical protection."
"Right," Rippa said with a nod before noticing something a going wide eyed. Ranma turned to see Kasumi, now in male form, approaching. "Wow."
"Just so you know, that's Kasumi," Ranma said.
Rippa blinked. "Seriously?!" he asked, getting a nod in reply. "Damn! Ranma why haven't you married this one yet?"
"Don't start," Ranma tiredly warned as Kasumi joined them, puzzled as Rippa started chuckling.
"Did Ranma tell you everything?"
"Oh yes," Rippa said. "Shampoo must be very proud," he said with a grin, further confusing Kasumi.
"Don't mind him, he's just being stupid," Ranma said with a shake of his head.
"And you need to get over it," Rippa countered, jabbing Ranma in the shoulder causing Ranma to frown. Leaning into Kasumi, and shielding his mouth from Ranma, Rippa whispered, although not very quietly, "He's always been way too sensitive on this topic."
"Topic?" Kasumi asked, still puzzled, but Ranma gave Rippa a light shove to silence him.
"Not now," Ranma pleaded and Rippa acquiesced. "You ready then, Kasumi?"
"Yes," Kasumi replied. "By the sounds of it, there is little danger to us, but that doesn't make this any less difficult."
"All too true," Rippa replied, looking back outside. "So, what's the exact battle plan?"
"We'll discuss that in a minute," Ranma said. "Devlin is discussing things with the other Magi. He should call us when they're ready."
"Right," Rippa replied.
"And Kasumi..." Ranma said, looking Kasumi over in hint.
Kasumi looked down at himself before realizing. "Oh... I just figured that it would be better in this form. It is stronger in nearly every way from my female form."
"Yeah, I guess so," Ranma agreed. "And what was that talk with So Pu and Shampoo about?"
Kasumi sighed and looked away. "Another potential option, but one I really don't want to use." Ranma nodded in understanding before Kasumi continued. "If... if things do go a bit badly, please trust me though."
Ranma shrugged. "No worries, Kasumi. If you don't want to discuss it, that's okay. We won't need it anyway. We'll get Herb there for sure."
Kasumi looked back and nodded with a smile. At that moment, Grenda returned inside.
"Okay, I've done all I can. We ssshould head in and confer with Devlin," the gorgon directed, and with nods the boys agreed and followed her up the stairs, calling for the others as they did.
At the door to the pocket dimension, they met up with Shampoo, Ukyo and Herb and together they all entered. Within, they had to take a moment to pause and simply marvel at the crowd now within. While that morning it had several dozen people, now there appeared to be about a hundred within.
"There is really this many?" Kasumi asked.
"Late comersss," Grenda said with a frown. "Now, where isss that ssstupid lich..." she said as she scanned the crowd and then pointed. "There he isss. Thisss way."
The group followed Grenda through the crowd, bumping into several people along the way who all seemed to be involved in their own mini conversations, all apparently rather disinterested in their presence. Herb frowned at this, commenting, "So glad they are taking this so seriously."
"They know the kitsssunesss won't attack them," Grenda explained, then turned back and smiled. "And they don't really care about you."
"Thanks so much," Herb said with a level glare to which Grenda merely chuckled as they reached their destination.
Gathered with Devlin were several Magi Kasumi recognized, including the two men she had seen sparing earlier that day, and the woman with the shapeshifting nightmare, now apparently having taken the form of a large hell hound.
"Great, you guys all ready?" Devlin asked.
"As ready as we'll get," Ranma replied for them.
"And the barrier?"
"It hasss about a half hour left in it," Grenda answered.
"Plenty of time," Devlin replied and pulled out a large flask. "Okay, each of you take a swig of this," he said as he handed it to Kasumi. As they started to do as instructed, he explained. "That is a quick concoction that should protect you from their simpler magics, including importantly their enchanting ability. It only lasts about two hours though, and the more powerful ones can pretty easily remove the effect, but hopefully we'll be able to keep those ones tied up here.
"It also has a few extra bonuses: General physical boosts and a spell to allow you to harm shapeshifters so at least they won't be able to shrug off your attacks for the duration. Don't get cocky though, this isn't going to win any fights for you. At best it will just give you a fighting chance."
"So, no anti-Kitsune magic?" Ranma asked and received several chuckles in response. "What?"
"It doesn't work like that. There is no magical 'I win' button here. Kitsunes are high level magical beings. They were once referred to as the favored of the Gods themselves, acting as messengers and enforcers. You don't get to that level and have easy to exploit Kryptonite like weaknesses," Devlin explained. "Any magic we could give you they would have encountered many times and is counterable. The stuff you have been given is about as good as it gets on short notice."
"Right," Ranma said with a nod.
Next to him, Rippa, the last to receive the potion, drank his portion and handed it back over.
"Alright, so if I understood right, you guys are making a run for Siren and Frost, right?" Devlin asked.
"Right," Kasumi confirmed.
"Good. Okay, as expected they have teleportation barriers all around, but while that sucks as it would that make it easy to get there without them, it does somewhat work for us too, as they won't be able to teleport either. So, if you guys can make your getaway and make enough ground, they shouldn't be able to catch up."
"Thank goodness for small favors," Rippa joked.
"Yes, well, that was the good news, now for the bad. They have us completely surrounded, and there are at least 2 dozen of them," Devlin continued, conjuring up an image of the area on the ground and highlighting various spots. "They have a pocket zone, like this one, outside, so I don't know their true numbers, but I suspect they have reserves in there. To our slight credit, most seem to be at the same level you fought earlier, but there are at least 7 higher levels, including Peach who, as I already mentioned, is likely 8 or 9 tails.
"So, about all we can offer you given our current numbers is to keep those big players in check. Unfortunately that still leaves over a dozen of the still damn tough by your standards kitsunes for you to escape."
"Is that all?" Ranma asked sarcastically.
"Well, hopefully," Devlin said with a grin. "However, we do have one trick left up our sleeves to help you," he continued, motioning to the woman with the hellhound.
"Right," she said taking over. "Name is Teesha, by the way," she said with a smile which seemed to linger on Kasumi for a long moment. However, whatever that look meant was never learned as she pulled a small bag from her side. "Hands out, please."
The group did as bidden and Teesha pulled out a black gem from the bag for each, and place it in their hands. With Herb being the last to receive them, and no one having noticed any reaction, the transformed prince opened his mouth, but was cut short.
With the placing of the last gem, all of them suddenly came to life, sprouting eight legs and a head complete with fangs. Before anyone could even get out a shout of surprise, the gem spiders bite into each of them. Predictably, such was painful, and every member of the group tossed off the spiders in mixtures of shock and anger.
"What the hell?!" Ranma exclaimed.
"Oh, be calm," Teesha replied dismissively. "You'll live. Now watch."
Shaking out their hands, the group cautiously watched as the spiders righted themselves on the ground and started to glow. Then, just as sudden as their earlier transformation, they exploded into tiny shards. However, the display had just began, as each shard to hit the ground began to grow rapidly, quickly sprouting two new legs, a pair of arms, and a head. As they continue to grow, everyone gave them space as they fully formed into human shapes. After less than a minute, a crowd of Kasumi's, Shampoo's, Ranma's, Rippa's, Ukyo's and Herb's stood before them, completely replicating their originals in appearance.
"Homunculi," Teesha explained. "Temporary only I assure you, but quite convincing."
Devlin once more took over the explanation. "We'll have these guys act as distractions. While they are very convincing from the outside, they are also very fragile things. They won't stand up in a fight, but they should look good on the run, and all you need is an opening."
"This might just work," Ukyo commented as she looked over one of her clones that seemed equally interested in her. "Do they... understand us?"
"They have rudimentary intelligence only," Teesha explained. "They can obey orders, they can even talk like you, and perform a little of our ability, but they will run out of energy very quickly in a fight, as Devlin said."
Devlin nodded and continued. "Yeah, and while it is tempting to go as one group, I'd advise against it. They will target the Herbs, so each group to go out must at least put up a little show of defense, and these just won't cut it. I'd say you divide into 3 pairs, with the rest of your team composed of the Homunculi."
Herb nodded. "Yes, I suppose that is a sound idea."
"Then decide on your teams and get ready. We'll take down the shield and engage on your go," Devlin said, and nodding to the other Magi, they headed out.
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Outside, Peach stood on a nearby rooftop as another of the kitsune approached her and spoke. "Preparations are complete. We've redirected bystanders away with wards, and entranced those who remain within. There should be no interference. Father is still engaged with Jasmine, but they seem evenly matched. Our contingency is also set."
"Excellent. Any troubles setting it up?" Peach asked.
"No."
"Then join the others. The barrier is weakening, which means they will have to make their move soon to have the initiative. And remind everyone that our goal is to capture Herb. No one else is to be harmed."
The other kitsune shook her head and looked back. "That will make things difficult. They are not under any such restriction."
Peach smiled. "Don't worry, they'll play along. They don't want to anger our clan any more than we want to anger them. Besides, if all goes as expected..." Peach trailed off giving her companion a nod to dismiss her.
As the other kitsune left, speaking briefly with the other kitsunes as she passed, Peach dropped to the street. After several more minutes, she spied a shift in the goings on within the restaurant. "Prepare yourselves," she called out.
As expected, Devlin lead the Magi outside. As they arranged themselves to confront those around them, Devlin called out to Peach. "You know, we really don't have to do this."
"Simply hand over Herb, and we won't," Peach called back.
Devlin sighed. "Right," he said in defeat before motioning to the others. In an instant they dashed out of the barrier, spells already being flung. Devlin in particular came right at Peach.
"These are just a distraction," Peach called out as she engaged Devlin, the two firing energy beams at each other that clashed between them. "Planning to keep us busy? A bit few of you for that."
"Yeah, well, that's just part one," Devlin replied and on queue more people exited the restaurant. Peach was momentarily distracted as she saw dozens of replicas rush out, and begin to disperse in all directions.
Those are no illusions, she thought. "Homunculi," Peach concluded aloud with a frown. "Leave these mages to us, and concentrate on the Herbs. Do not let any escape," she ordered, and obediently the other kitsunes went on the chase. "Well played," she conceded to her opponent.
"Yeah, well, I couldn't make it too easy on you," Devlin replied as he ceased his beam attack, and began summoning several rifts around him in preparation to continue the fight.
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"She said WHAT?!" Rei nearly screamed over the communicator.
"Rei!" Makoto admonished, getting her fellow senshi to take a moment to calm herself.
"It's... I can't believe she is even considering..." Rei growled over the line. "And why exactly doesn't she want to talk to us?!"
"I don't know, I kinda understand that part," Minako said from the side. This had the desired effect of silencing Rei for the moment. "Do you really think we should do this?" she asked after a moment.
Makoto paced her room where they were gathered. "If you mean, do I trust Kasumi, yes. Do I want to reveal myself... that I'm less sure on."
"It may not be avoidable at this point," Ami chimed in. "We may well require Frost's help and we can only get it by revealing our true identities."
"I was going to mention that," Makoto said, coming to a stop. "And there are others too. But, really, most of all, I'm tired of being sidelined when I know I can help, and all just to protect my identity from people I'm sure would keep our secret."
"Yeah, I must say that is getting rather old," Minako said with a sigh, looking to Ami gave a reluctant nod of agreement. "What about you, Artemis? You've been awfully quiet."
"I'm just pondering the whole idea of Usagi not being with Mamoru," the white cat replied.
"She didn't say she didn't want to be with him," Makoto replied then sighed. "I don't really think she knows what she wants at this point. That is kinda the whole issue."
Still on the communicator, Rei let out a groan. "And just what brought this all on? Did Seiya do something?"
"I don't think so," Ami replied and Makoto nodded. "It is this whole affair with Cosmos I think. She has just learned she has the power to literally reshape the whole world, and she can't control it. The whole incident at the La Bac when she was under the nanomachines control may also be a factor. Even if it was the machines compelling her to do it, she did kill someone, and nearly killed us."
"I'd... hadn't considered that," Rei said quietly.
The others nodded as they too considered this and after a moment, Minako took the center of the room. "Can we at least agree that we need to discuss this with the others?"
Rei let out a defeated sigh and replied, "Yeah, I can agree to that, although I figure I already know where this is going."
"We must also consider who all we will reveal ourselves too. Frost I think is necessary. Kasumi is obviously to be considered. Ranko as well, in fact I believe she may already know," Ami analyzed.
"Yeah, and that whole spirit sense of Shampoo's means she'll probably figure it out too," Makoto added
Ami nodded. "Herb may as also be an issue."
"Herb too?" Minako asked in surprise.
"We are okay for now, but from what I have researched, I have found that the Dragonkin of the Musk have powerful minds immune to most mental influences. Ours is one of the few that works, but not indefinitely. Add whatever influence Jusenkyo has on the effect, which I am certain it does, and I am not confident our secret will remain secret long."
"Oh wonderful," Makoto said with a sigh. "Anyone else?"
"Maybe Selene," Artemis added.
Ami nodded. "She is Frost's familiar, and I have a feeling she has her suspicions of us already."
"Okay, anyone else?" Makoto asked once again.
"I can't think of anymore right this moment," Ami replied, but then added, "However, there may be some that the others might wish to add in."
"All the more reason to have a meeting," Artemis affirmed.
"Right," Minako agreed. "Only one issue, are Seiya and Mamoru in on this meeting? They are kind of affected by this too."
That gave the others pause, but it was Rei is answered. "No." The others looked to the communicator and Rei explained. "I... REALLY don't like this... but if Usagi needs to talk it out with a neutral party, then we can't tell them. It could upset the whole situation. We'll still have to get their okay, but we'll have to leave out that bit."
After considering this, the others nodded. "Right," Minako concluded. "Okay, no objections then?" Getting no reply, Minako smiled slightly. "Good. We'll contact the others and set a time and place for a face to face with everyone... besides Seiya and Mamoru. We'll probably have to decide on what to tell them at the meeting, but we'll deal with that then, alright?" Getting no argument Minako headed to the door. "Artemis, you tell Luna, and Makoto, you should probably tell Usagi what's happening."
Makoto joined Minako at the door. "I think even hearing this much will pick up her spirits some."
"Let's hope so."
"Yeah, and I hope Kasumi and the others are okay," Makoto added as the group dispersed.
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At that very moment, Kasumi was actually engaged in a fight. Three kitsunes has overtaken her group quite quickly, and now Kasumi and Ranma would engaged in a rear guard action, giving the other members of the group a chance to escape.
Of course, only Kasumi and Ranma were actually the real versions to start with, so the whole thing was for show, but the longer they could hold them, the longer it would take them to discover the truth. Fortunately, the kitsunes were inadvertently playing along. Unlike their previous conflict, the kitsunes were seriously pulling their punches, looking to simply get by, no doubt instructed to do so, so as to not escalate the conflict. However, Ranma and Kasumi were under no such restrictions.
After palm striking on kitsune in the center of her chest, doubling her over, Ranma switched to a second who was recovering rapidly from a similar attacks just seconds earlier. She moved to strike, but Ranma intercepted the attack and grappled her, flipping her with her own momentum. However, she was an adept, and recovered mid throw to quickly reverse the attack on Ranma as she landed. Ranma was not able to do likewise, and was thrown onto his back on the pavement. Before he could muster a renewed offense, his attacker quickly spoke something and a glow formed in her hand which she thrust at Ranma's elbow.
Ranma tried to dodge, but failed. However, there was no pain, simply a force locking him to the street. He looked over to see a glowing staple like structure now had his elbow locked to the ground. "Damn it," Ranma cursed as he grabbed at it to try and force it loose.
Such was soon proven futile as Kasumi's opponent similarly energized an attack and blew him back down the street. With both their opponents out of position, the threesome spared no time and dashed off in pursuit of the rest of the group.
Kasumi rushed back to Ranma, but could already see there was no hope of further delaying the kitsune as they sped away. "Guess that's that," he conceded as he helped Ranma unpin himself. No sooner was the pin removed then it vanished, allowing Ranma to get back to his feet.
"Now what?" Ranma asked.
Kasumi looked around, and seeing no one, nodded. "I suppose we meet up with Ranko and hope the others made it through."
"Right," Ranma agreed and the two rushed off down another street. "At least that spell they gave us works. They weren't shrugging off our attacks anymore."
"Yes, but I fear we were still outmatched. There skill level is very high," Kasumi replied.
"Probably would be if they're all over a hundred."
"Yes, I suppose it would," Kasumi replied and turned at the next intersection. "Still, I find this is not as bad as I assumed it would be. We were able to delay them for several minutes, and I saw only a single kitsune in pursuit of Herb's group."
"Guess we got lucky," Ranma said.
"Maybe," Kasumi replied, looking over his shoulder in the direction of the restaurant where there could be seen several flashes of light still. He frowned as he considered this.
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Back at the restaurant, the fighting had quickly spread out. Several had been drawn into phantom realms. Devlin and Peach, however, remained situated just outside the restaurant. The kitsune was making a show of it, but clearly had little more intention than to simply keep Devlin busy, which was actually puzzling the lich.
"What are you upto, Peach?" Devlin asked as he projected several more binding spells her way, which she easily evaded.
"Whatever do you mean?" she replied, likewise retaliating with a spell designed to disable, which Devlin easily blocked.
"You are very halfhearted in this little battle. Oh sure, you don't want to hurt me and escalate this, but you're not even trying to get away," Devlin said.
Peach smiled. "It is nothing fancy. I simply don't need to get away."
Devlin frowned. What is her play? he thought in frustration. She can't teleport. She doesn't know which group has Herb. I scanned for any kitsunes between here and there and there wasn't any, and I didn't detecting trap magics. Is she just that confident in her pack, or what?
Several more exchanges of magic occurred as the lich continued puzzling over the kitsune's strategy. However, when her attention suddenly shifted to her shoulder, Devlin knew that all was not well.
"Good," Peach said and looked back at Devlin. "Well, this has been most amusing, but I'm afraid I must leave you now."
"And what makes you think I'm just going to let you go?" Devlin asked.
In answer to this, another kitsune appeared, jumping off from Peaches shoulder as a tiny mosquito and quickly shifting to the form of a full grown human.
"You're welcome to try and stop me," Peach replied, and reversed her replacements actions, shapeshifting into a mosquito and flying off, but not towards the groups.
What the hell? Devlin wondered as he was engaged by the other kitsune. Devlin met the challenge, quickly realizing his new opponent was far more determined than Peach had been, and while considerably younger, was no slouch. Before Devlin could make his way by her, Peach had retreated to the entrance of their own pocket dimension and disappeared. Why go back in there? he asked himself as returned his attention to his new opponent. Unless... oh no... Jasmine will have my head for falling for that!
Devlin sighed, and resolved himself to defeating his new opponent, having no options until the battle was complete.
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Across town, Herb's group, or rather what remained of it, was running up the street, now only a few short blocks from Ranko's meeting spot. The only other member remaining was Ukyo, the real Ukyo, the pair having had a significant battle against a kitsune pursuer just a few minutes ago.
It had taken some effort, but they had managed to overwhelm her and knock her out, but not before losing all their homunculi. Fortunately, it seemed to little matter as their path had been clear since then.
As they ran, Herb took notice of two new presences. She looked behind her to see Kasumi and Ranma turn onto the street and begin running up behind them. "They're the real ones," Herb said quickly as Ukyo took notice.
"You guys okay?" Ranma asked as he caught up.
"Yeah, we're fine, you?" Ukyo replied.
"We got jumped by three of them, but they we held them up long enough. They probably caught up to our group by now, but won't be able to catch us anymore I bet."
"Hopeful," Kasumi added.
"As soon as we meet up with Ranko we'll be in really good shape for that last leg," Ranma said confidently. "Any signs of Rippa or Shampoo?"
"They were engaged in battle last I sensed them," Herb replied.
"I hope they are alright," Kasumi said, looking back down the street. "But we can't wait for them."
At that moment Herb came to a sudden halt and spun around in shock. The others quickly stopped as well, puzzled. Herb's eyes darted around as if trying to get a bead on something.
"What is it?" Kasumi asked.
"Someone just appeared... from nowhere," Herb replied before spinning again to finally see her threat.
Landing on the ground, a tiny mosquito quickly shapeshifted back into the form of Peach, now situating herself between the foursome and their goal. All four looked on in shock as the kitsune smiled at them.
"Hello princess. Didn't think it would be that easy, did you?"
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End Chapter 51
Next time in A Scary Thought: Kasumi's group is faced with a virtual no win situation.
For those a bit confused on the crossovers: Usagi, Rei, Minako, Makoto, Ami, Haruka, Michiru, Hotaru, Setsuna, Luna, and Artemis are all from Sailor Moon. Kitsune has her ties to the X-files, but only in that she's a fanatic of similar interests rather than appearing in said show. Saki and Sampei are from Sukeban Deka. You may also notice Frost borrowing a spell from here or there; in particular Gargoyles and Illusionaries are two prime targets. Speaking of Gargoyles, if you're a fan of the series you may have already figured this out, but La Bac is Cabal spelt backwards. Also Gen-U-Tech is also a business from Gargoyles. Does that mean this is a Gargoyles cross over? Haven't decided, could just be me stealing ideas ^_^. Anyway, besides that we have Chun Li, Rose, Shadow Lady, Shadow, Gill and the previously shown Karin and Sakura which come from Street Fighter series (Rose, Karin and Sakura from Street Fighter Alpha 3, Shadow and Shadow Lady from Marvel vs Capcom, Chun Li from much of the Street Fighter series, and now Gill from Street Fighter III). As for Ranko, well she's from my other major fanfic, Most Unlikely of Friends, although you can largely consider her standard Ranma trapped in female form for most purposes. And lastly comes dear old Siren who is from Dreiser's story 'Black Rose Blue Thunder'. I won't be using her much but she fits a temporary need. Be Dea comes from D B. Sommers fic Shampoo ½, and if you haven't read it, do so, now! I've also previously mentioned Perfume from same fic (although this story has two Perfumes being mentioned, the other being from my own Most Unlikely of Friends). As already mentioned, Miku, Neru and Haku are vocaloid character, but just cameo's for them.
On a side note for those crossovers, it recently came to my attention that some believe I am crossed with Negima. I'm actually not, but out of curiosity I checked out Negima and could certainly see the similarities (a lot of them in fact, and was quite surprised seeing as I never even heard of Negima until it was mentioned). That got the proverbial wheels in my head turning about potential crossovers so... maybe.
I'm so far behind on my websites that I don't even feel they're worth mentioning anymore. If you do head there, consider them seriously out of date, and essentially dead.
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Hey folks, it is time for another Kitsune's Corner! Hmm... Let's see... nope, done him... and him... and her... oh god, never him again! Okay, got it... now where's that teleporty thingy? Ah ha!
"What the?! I was just-"
Hey there Grenda, sorry to interrupt the fight and all, but your contract demands an interview.
"It does? Well, okay. I suppose I could use the breather."
Right... hey, no accent?
"Not with my illusion in place, no. You don't have the true sight spell on you."
Oh, okay. Speaking of which, is that just coincidence or something more to it? Gorgon's and the Snake clan friendly... or something.
"Coincidence as far as I know. And as far as I know, the snake clan has the accent by choice, while we Gorgons gain ours due to our curse, although it varies between individuals."
Interesting... So, I'm guessing the reason I'm not stone right now is something to do with the glasses?
"Yeah. Magically enchanted to block the effect, although not all Gorgon's turn people to stone."
No?
"No. There are three Gorgon clans. My clan descends from Medusa herself and have her petrification power. However, the other two clans descend from Medusa's sisters who gained other powers. One is very venom and poison based, while the other induces madness."
Madness? Doesn't sound fun.
"Definitely not. Although I pity more those with the poison. The other two clans can easily block their effects with glasses like these, but the poison is much more... annoying. Every secretion of their body is toxic."
Ugh... yeah, that would suck. Hmm, so Medusa had kids?
"Yes, just one actually, a male human. The curse, however, only affects those of female birth so he was normal. It was only later when he had a daughter that it was learned that Medusa's clan lived on."
I can just picture that delivery...
"Yeah, it was a bit of a mess from what I hear."
Hmm... so, I just have to ask, Perseus-
"Oh, you want to get me started, don't you?"
Yeah, well, I'm taking it you Gorgons don't like the guy.
"Let's put it this way. Medusa's sisters hunted him for years, and when they finally got the chance, they decapitated him in the night, nailed his head to a shield which they left displayed in the town center with the words 'vengeance for our sister'. Or at least that is the tale. I can't speak to its accuracy."
Eww... I guess, eye for an eye and all that.
"Yeah, although honestly, most our ire goes to Athena herself."
Is she really that bad?
"Ask Arachne."
Who's Arachne?
"Another of her unfortunate victims. She had the misfortune of actually beating Athena in a weaving contest. She's now half spider."
Oh... that's terrible!
"Well, yeah, but that's the Greek Gods for you. Rapist, murders, and all around terribly reprehensible. If you ever have the misfortune to run into one, get away as quickly as possible."
Sounds like good advice. So, just one last question: Are all Gorgon's into magic?
"Very few actually. I'm rather unusual in that regard. We've a very isolated community, even among other non-humans. That combined with our natural abilities means few have any inclination to seek out training for magic... or really anything for that matter. What little magic we do employ is mostly to get around our curse."
I see. Well, been a pleasure to have you miss Grenda. Hmm, actually... just out of curiosity, the whole going into magic thing being unusual and all... you planning on taking a shot at Athena?
"Athena, Poseidon, and any other of their ilk. Not quite ready yet, but working on it."
Hmm... well, normally I'd try to dissuade you but given their behavior... yeah, go for it girl!
"Oh, I plan to, but they aren't easy to track down."
I bet. Do be careful though.
"I plan to be very prepared when the opportunity arises."
Right. Well, been a pleasure Grenda. I may just drag in Devlin next. Later everyone!