Third Labor Epilogues (7) & Omakes (2) by Gregg Sharp ===== EPILOGUE 1 Ranma/Akumakun timeline: "Mrrorwr?" Natsumi asked, brushing off her policewoman's uniform. "No, bad Natsumi," scolded Miyuki, then groaned and covered her face. "Sorry, Natsumi. It's just, I mean..." Natsumi licked Miyuki's face to let her know she forgave her partner. Not that she understood what Miyuki was feeling guilty about. "Rrowr, is okay! Natsumi sorrry." "I'm just glad that the Mage fixed it so that the curse wasn't communicable," Miyuki said, wiping her face off and glaring momentarily at her partner. There was a moment of silence as the two's patrol car resumed motion with the changing of the light. "Can we?" "NO!" "Rowr! Why not?" "We can't afford any more ice cream!" "Rrrrr," said Miyuki. Life was *so* unfair. -------- EPILOGUE 2 Krieger sat back and watched the range, then his jaw dropped as Black Bart drove up. The black clad Heir Of Martial Arts Villainry was not on a horse. Not on a buckboard or anything similar. He was dressed in black cowboy boots, black denim jeans, black duster-style overcoat, black embroidered shirt, and black Stetson. A bit less classy, perhaps, than his usual garb but not out of character. His moustache had been trimmed to pencil thin, but still had a somewhat villainous look to it. The black Yamaha dirtbike, on the other hand, was a bit odd. Black Bart lit the stub of a cigar and nodded companionably at the Rancher. "Took up smokin' agin, did ya?" "Yup," agreed Black Bart companionably. "Gave it up for Kasumi, now that she's off elsewhere, no reason not to." "That ain't exactly genre," Kreiger pointed out with a gesture towards the bike. Black Bart let out another long puff of smoke. "Neither is a rancher doing smear tactics." "Any part of it Ah got wrong?" Kreiger smirked. He was the top gun on this spread, and Martial Arts Ranching was the cornerstone of the Old West styles. He knew them all. Another puff of smoke, then Bart flicked the butt out into the desert. "Kasumi was a treasure. A villain that throws away treasures, why that would just be a plain fool. If nothing else, having her around would have helped display my cultured romantic side - because I do fancy myself a cultured villain." Kreiger wasn't buying it. "You're a villain, and the heir of villains, you'd have done her wrong and ya know it." Bart considered the sky for a moment, then presented a slip of paper to the rancher. After another moment Kreiger's curiosity got to him and he scowled but took the paper. Kreiger re-read the paper twice before he stared at Bart. "You..." "When you did that, I re-dedicated myself to villainry," said Bart with a tip of his hat. "I'll admit to losing my way before, that bright beacon of young Kasumi was a sore temptation from the path of proper nastiness. So now I've overcome these feelings and hardened my heart. I shall be the most vile and fiendish creature under the heavens, and my breast burns with the desire for unholy vengeance." "This can't be real..." Bart grinned, and it was an *evil* grin. "Property taxes can be a pain, can't they? And with the affadavits from pilots overhead losin' their way cause of your folded space technique? Damn shame. They gonna shut you down, and the goverments gonna grab every penny and scrap to sell to make the money you's owing. Oh, it's real alright. The fun and games are over, money and power are the only things I've got left to grab for. That and vengeance. Y'all might want to take comfort in that if'n I get the chance I'll pay that pointy-eared sidewinder back a hundred fold. G'day, Kreiger." With that Black Bart started up his dirtbike and went back towards town. Kreiger could only stare at the paper, indicating that Bart was now working for... the tax courts. ------- Epilogue 3 Nabiki set her bags momentarily to the side, leaving her hands free to snap a couple of pictures. This was where "Dakota" had ended up, and due to some problems at home, where Nabiki would be spending the next year. She was a little nervous, a little excited, a little upset. The Tendo house had been her home for years, though it didn't feel nearly the same after it had been rebuilt. And as Ranma hadn't chosen her... Nabiki's face fell to sadness. She had counted herself as Alpha of that pack, but she had been replaced. No, this trip was something she had needed. She *couldn't* watch Ranma settle down with someone else, couldn't bear to deal with her loss. This place was a chance to start over, and as English was the main language here, she could start over in international business. The concept sent a tingle of pleasure up her tail. English was far from a perfect language, but the better she was at it, the better her chances of getting her paws onthose comparitively free markets. "Nyahm!" Nabiki made an uncertainly happy noise, trying to convince herself that it would all work out. Another quick picture, this one of the sign on the outer wall. "The Wilde Home For Wayward Catgirls, Bridget E. Wilde headmistress." ~Well, at least I'm sure I can get a few gambling pools started, maybe sell photos...~ Lost in ways to earn some spending money, Nabiki picked up her bags and entered. Though she wondered if they had a dress code or would she be able to wear her favorite "looks painted on" shorts and halter. ~Well at least they'll have clothes that don't need to modified for a tail!~ ------ The headmistress looked down at the catgirl entering the grounds, and then at the letter sent from a Mister Saotome. It sounded as if the new girl was in need of some... discipline. Privately, she hoped that the Head Disciplinarian wouldn't need to use the paddle. Sometimes the threat was enough. Glancing at the letter, she doubted that this would be the case. ------- Naoko Takeuchi, Kotono Mitsuishi, and Michie Tomizawa became deeper friends for having shared a genuine adventure. Even if they *had* been hustled to the backlines when it was obvious that their combined battle experience was not sufficient to beat up an anemic halfling. Even if any of the three had been inclined to do so. Naoko had to tone down several aspects, and take liberties with the material, but she *was* able to get another long running series dealing with magical catgirls, a world beset with a kingdom of dark magic, and a very ragtag group of heroes (mainly young girls - that *was* her target audience after all) and a few sentai elements like demonic hordes. This was particularly popular, for some odd reason, with catgirls and elfgirls and the like. So much so, that it wasn't that difficult to find catgirls and elfgirls and the like wearing clothing patterned off the series. And when catgirls and elfgirls and the like discovered COSPLAY... Naoko and several friends took a long and well deserved vacation shortly thereafter. And when someone asked a question about the longsword on Takeuchi's mantle, or the ornate helm in Mitsuishi's closet, or the bluesteel dagger that Tomizawa used to open mail with, the three young ladies would politely smile and get a faraway look in their eyes, but never gave the details. ------- Soun Tendo would have cried and wailed and carried on about his middle daughter moving out, his eldest daughter going to college, his youngest daughter repeatedly stating that the "Art was violent and hurtful and she wasn't going to do it." He would have demon-headed and shouted all sorts of things about Shampoo and Ranma and Ukyo going off to have a long training trip and talk things out. He would have, but *they* might find him. That would be bad. In Soun Tendo's opinion at least. Genma was hiding somewhere else. Soun didn't want to try hiding *with* his old friend. Before almost everyone had left, they had gotten together and done something *awful.* (Again, this was just Soun's opinion.) Soun currently had five fiancees. Genma had six. Despite already having a wife. There was a scientist named Yui Ikari who was actually very nice, however she also had a boyfriend that somehow reminded Soun of a rabid weasel. There was a pro-wrestler named Lady Sumo who was 6'5" and weighed 410 pounds. Then there was Oolala Magnifique, aka French Pastry, whose family were the rivals of the Picolette family. Then there was the Chinese Amazon, Sunshine. Who made comments about the kind of bridal training she wanted to put Soun through. Then the most horrible of the group - a kitsune named Lavia. He could never be sure when or as what the overamorous being would show up. Soun was afraid. He was very afraid. And he had good reason. ------ Epilogue 4: The sun was rising high as Rigel and Wisp started out. A letter from the Mistress of the Promenade, to an old and irascible mage of Shadowdale, had been tucked into a pocket. Give it to a barkeep in the town of Shadowdale, that had been the sum total of their instructions. This, they supposed, would eventually get them in contact with the Harpers or perhaps they'd merely get directions on a place they could call their own. With the moorhound Champ trotting alongside, the elf and the esper seemed an odd couple. Though by local standards, hardly anything worth raising an eyebrow over. A third figure, tugging the folds of her cloak tightly about her mumbled about how damn bright it was and couldn't they travel by night? "Wonderful day, isn't it?" A grizzled old dwarf proclaimed, in the lead on his pony Surefoot. "Ah open land with the sky above! Hardly a cloud in the sky!" More grumbling from the hooded figure replied to this. She knew that people would look at their group and immediately pigeonhole them as: dwarf wearing half-plate + elf wearing leathers + human without armor carrying a staff + hooded figure = another damn adventuring party. And as there was nothing really expensive showing, such as glowing swords, and most were walking, they'd immediately add "unsuccessful" to "adventuring party" and leave them alone. Didn't mean she had to like it anymore than having to travel by day. And there was something aggravating about a cheerful optimistic dwarf. Especially this early in the morning. "Either of you kids know any good marching songs?" The hooded figure seemed to make a sobbing noise at that. For *her* sake, and not wanting to hear what the old axe-for-hire's singing voice was like, both Rigel and Wisp indicated that this was not the case. The trip from Waterdeep to Shadowdale was going to be long enough. ------- Epilogue 5 Moom, who looked an awful lot like a girl named Usagi Tsukino would if she had short hair, married the Security Chief (who looked an *awful* lot like someone named Mamoru Chiba) of a certain orbital dock. Her friends continued to operate a Lu-class repairship, renamed the "Small Lady" for many years in that very star system. It wasn't until five years later that love and adventure stumbled across them in the identity of a bumbling apprentice Jedi and his friend - an ex-Imperial Scanning Officer. One who remembered tales of a secret base where an Imperial Governor had hidden his carefully embezzled wealth. Not knowing of the great dangers lurking there, or exactly what had been hidden - other than it was of great value. But that was another saga. ------- Epilogue 6 912 AD: Ami sunk her fangs into the blue dragon's neck a final time, making sure it was dead, then turned her bloodstained snout up to the sky to bugle her triumph. Then she turned to her companions in this last battle and very distinctly said: "I am going to be ill. Yech! I hate getting blood all over me like this!" "Tell me about it," said Setsuna. "Can I get a priest over here? This sprain in my wing is going to give me some major problems." "That the last one, you think?" Honey stretched out her limbs. "That one was tougher than the black or the green." The bronze dragon watched for a moment. "Nuku Nuku going to go to beach and get cleaned up. Anyone help?" Grey nodded. "Sure be with you in a minute. Errr. Or maybe not." Everyone craned long serpentine necks around to see what Grey was looking at. A human female, walking forward. Grey sniffed, then cocked his head at the figure. "Celeste? I suppose that means it's time." Celeste nodded, looking around at the massive figures of twenty-four dragons. "I see Serenity found you." "Last year," Grey admitted. "Has this timeline turned out well?" "In some ways yes, in others not as well as could be hoped," Celeste admitted. "The Amazon soldiers coming to the aid of the minutemen transform early American society, as does the presence of the priests. But the book left behind by the Knights no longer bears much resemblence to the history of this plane, and so it can do no harm. It is merely dismissed as a bizarre piece of fiction." "Good," breathed the relieved silver dragon. "How do you get along with this many girls anyway?" Celeste wondered aloud, though it seemed strange to call these glittering multiton forms girls. "He doesn't," said Ami with a grin, butting her head against his neck playfully a moment later. "Hah?" Celeste blinked. "Aramarian dragons are slightly different from their Forgotten Realms style compatriots," explained Grey. "If you need further details, I could suggest a couple of decent books." Ami snorted a cloud of frost, then looked slightly embarrassed. "I see, well, your Fourth Labor awaits," Celeste called up, feeling a little nervous as some of the dragons moved around her. Not that they'd intend to hurt her, but if one accidently stepped on her it would not be a pleasant experience. Celeste waited until the dragons had finished nuzzling and bumping heads, draconic gestures of affection. The Gate crackled open, and the dragons filed through, Ami managing a last affectionate nip at Grey's neck-frill before they disengaged. When they'd gone, the smile ran from Celeste's face like water from a tipped chalice. "If only they could remember this... but the conditions of this Labor were set long ago. I only hope they can experience this again after the game has run." ---------- Epilogue 7 Third Labor Timeline, August 9, 1780 Benjamin Franklin sat down to scribe the latest edition of "Poor Richard's Almanac" and wondered where to start. His upcoming trip to the Amazon lands? Something that he was *really* looking forward to. Though he'd have to exercise a bit more than he'd prefer, and the Amazons *did* have some odd customs. Still, in all, it had some attraction to him. He'd met a number of the Amazons, of course, during the war. They might prefer to form their own units, and were often described as "aloof" or "standoffish" but they'd proven themselves as capable warriors in the fight with the British. The production of that Lindisfarne love story? Some would say *the* love epic from that group of monks and farmers in the far South. Two youths in the early years of the colony that had a series of adventures and underwent trials to become a shining example of true love. "Ranma and Ukyo" - and apparently they really had been such a couple. There were a few families who proudly traced their lineage back to the couple. It had actually been a good play, and some of the lines had resounded with the feeling of some Great Truth being spoken. The war news? Perhaps. The news criers tended to get details wrong. The use of the Amazons and their odd fighting habits, the priests and warriors from the South - these were all things that fascinated the common folk - many of whom had never even seen an Amazon. Finally the inventor/politician/satirist decided on beginning with something upbeat. The chirurgeons of Lindisfarne had truly bizarre methods, however they worked uncommonly well and held the Scientific Method in the highest degree. And some of their materials! Just the uses for this sap of the rubber tree, molded and cooked in special furnaces, seemed incredible. But above all, they had one thing that seemed to have a special place in their hearts, even more common than the dragon-motif in their garb and utensils. They had this really good tea. Since the colonies had found the price of Lindisfarne tea had severely undercut the price of British tea, it had become a point of pride among the colonists to drink the good stuff. Herbal teas, and this "green tea" which was currently all the rage. The Southerners swore by the stuff, began their days with it, and said that it benefitted the health. Ben sat back and sipped at his tea and smiled. *In keeping with our allies from the South, it seems fitting to open with tea... ============ Wilde's Home For Wayward Catgirls used with permission. link is: http://www.bewildered-art.com/catgirls/ Oh, and from the "laws of anime" 26.Law of Feline Mutation (from A. Hicks) Any half-cat/half-human mutation will invariably: 1. be female, 2.will possess ears and sometimes a tail as a genetic mutation, 3.and wear as little clothing as possible, if any. OMAKE OMAKE OMAKE well, i've done stories as an Omake... Thought i'd try something different. This is a campaign setting, i've been playing with the idea of throwing this out for a story. DRAGON HIGHWAY: Dragon Highway was built originally using the Hero System (Champions) in 1984. It was designed for Self (or nearly so) Insertion as game characters based as 50+ Competents. It borrows from the old anime series Orguss more than anything else. What would you do if one day, fighting in the Middle East escalated to nuclear weapons? What would you do if, somehow, (there was a mechanism, but the characters would have no way of knowing what it was) Reality itself went nuts for 23 hours? What would you do with over 9 out of 10 people suddenly missing without a trace? What would you do during that 23 hours, with things/characters coming out of videotapes, falling out of your anime wallscroll/poster, or in books and magazines? What would you do if an idle comment affected reality nearby? What would *you* do after that 23 hours was up, and all the changes that had occurred earlier remained? There you are, probably altered significantly, in your home town. There are flesh-eating zombies wandering the streets, mannequins and manticores stalking the main drag, things that crawled out of the Horror section lairing in the videostore, and a dragon has made its lair out of the biggest shopping mall in the area. Exactly how do you handle this? As the concept allowed for people transformed into fictional characters as well as merely transformed, yes, it *was* possible to be Ranma Saotome or something similar. Obviously the group i ran handled this in the very sort of manner of experienced gamers. In other words: they grabbed weapons (two handguns, the SCA player had a sword, a baseball bat and a phaser pried from the cold dead fingers of a Klingon, went to the nearest gunshop, blasted their way through the ghouls and vargouilles, upgraded their weapons, and then went after what they considered the motherload - a local hardware store (Ace) followed by an Army/Navy Surplus. The group conflicted on long term goals, the short term being survival and something everyone agreed was the primary goal and something they could cooperate on. They died, eventually. Splitting up and meeting horrible ends. Two wanted to find and join up with the other survivors. (Ran into a swarm of jocks while trying to hotwire a pickup truck.) One had found some girls who'd fallen out of a swimsuit calender and merely locked himself in a room with them (never heard from again). Another got greedy and went off to empty the bank's coffers into a large heap and swim around in them. (Eaten by a wight.) The last one decided to the Food Court at the mall, figuring the dragon was sufficiently large it wouldn't notice him. (Obvious.) Another run of it, back in 93, had similar results. Everything worked fine until the teamwork fell apart, then so did the characters. Still, everyone had a ball until their ammo ran out. i named the thing "Dragon Highway" because the plan was for (1 month after the Event) dragons to use the various highways as territory markers. ------- OMAKE 2 there was some positive feedback, and since i can see her appearing in other crossover fics- NABIKI TENDO [RN-AK-247121] LOOKS: Typically catgirl. Very recognizable as Nabiki Tendo, though slightly more buff, with cat ears and tail. Tends to wear tight outfits, prefers shorts to skirts, though she'll change outfits with her mood given the chance. SMARTS: Her overall intelligence hasn't been affected by the change in species, though her manner of speaking now can cause others to underestimate her. She can speak in a normal manner, but tends to put a lot of feline purring and meowing in. Especially when she's doing her best to give the impression that she's "just a cute little catgirl." PERSONALITY: In conflict. She started out as being roughly on a level with late manga Nabiki. She went through some soul searching and decided to try and "do good" - mainly due to outside intervention and the discovery that her own family viewed her as a loved but distrusted soulless bitch. Then the catgirl transformation occurred. So Nabiki's personality keeps backsliding by habit to mercenary icequeen, she tries to be noble and heroic, and then there's the catspirit aspects emphasizing her natural mischieviousness and playfulness. Nabiki has begun reconciling this elements, with mixed results. COOKING: Attention to detail could make her a passable one. Likes fish and would probably exist on fish, milk, and the occasional catnip mouse unless someone else is cooking. FIGHTING SKILLS: Double normal human strength and stamina, which makes her weaker than Ryouga or Ranma, but still able to do quite a bit. Her speed is much higher than Ryouga's, roughly equal to Ranma at the end of the manga. However, she is a living extension of the catfist who can utilize all or part of it at will. This makes her considerably more competent in a fight than her canon counterpart, though it may be more difficult to convince her to take it seriously. SPECIAL ABILITIES: Catfist, extremely sensitive senses (hearing, nightvision, sense of smell and touch). And the ability to bite a female human and transform them into a catgirl. COMPETITION: Currently none, though there is a possibility of reconciling with Ranma. IN LAWS: Soun Tendo, Kasumi Tendo, Akane Tendo. Treat her right and you'll have their support. ECONOMICS: None at present. She's been cut off from her usual finances and resources. She's also trying to be a "good kitty" so is not likely to resort to blackmail and similar methods of gaining a quick buck. SEX: Either have a Ring Of Regeneration or get her to wear claw-guards. Her passions and emotions tend to run wild, so keep that in mind. OVERALL: if you like to be bored, not a good choice at all. On the other hand, if you're nice to her, she'll try to make *you* purr.