No Need For a Slumber Party: Part 3: Day Two: Evening.

 

by Glyph Bellchime and Bryan Weber.

 

Disclaimer: Except for Glyph Bellchime and Bryan Weber, we own none of the

characters, or at least certain species such as Cybertronian or Changeling, and

all are owned by their respective companies. Please don't sue us. We aren't

making any money on this, and it's out of love for the characters.

 

 

Aboard the JEDRI  there was a knock on the airlock door.

"Zechs, will you get that?" Vegeta called, "I'm watching Survivor."

"You like that show?" Shinji asked, incredulously.

"I always like to laugh at the stupidity of humans," Vegeta said.

Zechs opened the door to see a young girl with flowing purple hair, carrying a

large case with her, "Is there Bryan here?"

"He's busy right now. I'll take the order."

"Is fine by me," Shampoo said, "Is special ramen for dinner. Bryan order. You

pay, I go."

"Hurry up, Shampoo," a voice called, "I had to take time out of my busy schedule

to ferry you here!"

"CHAR!" Zechs Merquise growled.

"ZECHS!" Char Aznable snarled.

"Hey, Shampoo," Vegeta called, "Long time no see. Hey, there's another ship

through that door. Why don't you see if they want anything over there."

"Nihao, Vegeta. What you do here?"

"I keep asking myself the same question."

"You two know each other?" Shinji asked.

"Sure. Cologne and I are old friends," Vegeta smiled, "I always stop by the Cat

Cafe for a bite to eat."

"Vegeta one of best customer," Shampoo agreed, "Eat more even than Ranma. 

Almost eat as much as Goku."

Shampoo skipped joyfully through the portal to the Drummond.

"What's with you two?" Vegeta asked.

"This guy is a pale imitation of me!" Char said, pointing at Zechs, "I was the

first antagonist of the Gundam series, and I was the first to wear a mask. I

lost my father to a conspiracy, and hid myself among my enemies to have my

revenge! I had to watch after my little sister, and I had to fight a kid named

Amaro Ray.

"Then this guy comes along. He lost his parents to a conspiracy, and hid himself

amongst his enemies to have his revenge. He wears a mask, and uses an assumed

name! He's just a pale imitation of me!"

"If that's so," Zechs counters, "Why did I get the cooler mech? Why did I get a

girlfriend when you didn't? And why am I considered a hero, while you're

considered a villian?"

"Your talents are no match for my newtype abilities. You need a machine like the

Zero System to help you win!"

"Actually," Vegeta broke in, "Zechs started out with a mech so powerful, it

almost killed him the first time he used it. And after a short time, he was so

strong, the machine wasn't responding to his commands fast enough. That's

impressive in my book."

 

Shampoo bumped headlong into Ranma as she emerged from the portal. The two ended

up falling on top of each other, just as Akane was coming down the hall.

"Nihao, Ranma! What you doing here?"

"Ranma..."Akane looked a bit...miffed. She pulled a hammer out of nowhere, and

began to chase after Ranma, who was currently running from the would be bride,

Shampoo.

"Arian!" Shampoo called after him.

"Ranma, you come back here!!" Akane called, swinging her mallet for effect.

Ryoko looked at Ayeka, and asked, "What was THAT all about?"

"I'm sure I don't know," Ayeka said, looking just as puzzled as Ryoko, "But I'm

sure it must be your fault."

 

Glyph smiled, heading for the portal. She crossed over then noticed a little bit

of ruckus. Okay, she thought, where had Shampoo come from? She crossed back over

to the JEDRI.

But then she saw Ranma jump the portal entrance, and almost into her. The look

on the redhead's face gave Glyph all the info she needed.

"Subspace exit, coming up, you got fifteen minutes, default setting. I'll ditch

Shampoo, I hope." she said sharply as she clicked her fingers. Ranma nodded,

finally smiling.

She disappeared into a hole and landed on her feet. It looked like a very bare

version of the JEDRI.

"Hello," a very depressing voice called. A robot. Figures.

Ranma leaned against the wall. Well, he would just have to wait out the fifteen

minutes.

"So who are you?" he asked the robot.

That proved to be a mistake, but then Ranma walked off. "Jeez, all Ryoga would

have to do is listen to that guy and he'd Shi Shi Hokodan him within two

minutes, just to ditch em!"

 

Glyph went back to her quarters instead of joining the others. She undid the

seal , and walked in. Drawings from her high school and college days decorated

her walls. She had a few posters, mainly Anime, but there wasn't much space on

her walls. An orange cat sat on the bed.

"Hi, Mauckie," she cooed, and picked him up. The cat purred. She stroked his

head back. He purred louder.

Normalcy. Then she gained an idea.

"Thanks, Mauckie, I need to find Andrew and Bryan."

She picked up some children's books. This'll be the way to keep the others out

of trouble...

Now only to submit the help of one sweet girl... who nobody could say no to

those big pink eyes!

And find the babysitting program on the JEDRI.

 

Ranma-chan landed on her feet. Then she heard a funny yelp...

 

Meanwhile the guys had gotten very good at ducking while walking in Hammerspace.

Ryoga was no slow learner, once he got clunked by that first mallet, he grew

very wary. Andrew though, sported a bruise on his elbow brushing aside a hammer.

What did Bryan want to get from here? He wondered.

"The Light Hawk Wings are holding back most of it," Tenchi said, "But I never

knew so much raw power existed in the universe!"

Tenchi looked like he was tired, and they all wondered how long the Light Hawk

Wings could hold out. They were meant to soak up energy, not take the assault of

physical force. The buffeting of millions of hammers, teakettles, buckets, and

other various items was growing wearisome.

"Surely whatever you hid here was trashed by this place!" Ryoga said.

"Nope. I knew about the dangers of this place when I hid it here, and I couldn't

have Akane pulling it out of nowhere to bean Ranma in the head with it..."

"Why not?" Ryoga asked.

Bryan ignored the remark, "So I gave it a special shield. It won't be harmed

while it's here, and it can't be dragged out by some random person. Only someone

with the shield's access key can get it."

"What is it we're looking for?" Andrew asked.

"That," Bryan pointed. The others stared in awe at the sight they beheld.

"It's beautiful!"

"Fabulous!"

"Do they make them for cars?"

"Gentlemen, behold the world's first interdimensional DJ Station."

 

Onna-Ranma turned, then saw Pathos behind her. Suddenly the cat-boy smiled, and

gave the girl a large hug. Ranma tensed, but then reminded herself that Pathos

was more human than cat. And his brain was of a younger sort, an impressionable

child...and besides...

"Ran ma! Want thing do?"

He sounded like a male version of Shampoo, and always wanted to play. He

remembered the day Pathos was found sleeping in the Tendo's trees. Of course, it

had given Kasumi a little scare, but the boy helped her with the laundry once he

had eaten. He liked the balcony, sleeping somehow on the rail.

"Hiya Pathos, enjoying yourself?" Ranma finally managed.

"Eyer, yeah, have new game since you here, wanna play?"

Ranma smiled. It would be a way to hide from Shampoo and Akane for a while.

"C'mon. They had a great bungee jumping program on the Drummond."

 

"Ranma belong me!" Shampoo was arguing with Akane when Glyph found the two of

them. She didn't know whether to chuckle or sigh, and settled for breaking it

up.

"Shampoo, how'd you get here?"

"Char bring. I deliver ramen. Where is Ranma?" Thank god I hear Pathos all the

time, Glyph mentally sighed.

"She's around somewhere, I think. But shouldn't you be getting home, now?

Cologne is bound to worry if you're late."

"Actually," Cologne said, hopping along on her wooden staff, "I came too. Now,

where did the future son-in-law get to?"

Glyph smirked. At least with Cologne around, this would be a lot easier to

explain. Of course, she didn't want to have to get into a fight with Shampoo,

because even if she won, it meant a world of trouble. The last thing she needed

was to be a candidate for the Kiss of Death.

 

 

As they nearly finished lugging the heavy equipment out of Hammerspace, Bryan

saw a bucket of ice water heading for Ryoga. Since the eternally lost boy was

carrying heavy and delicate equipment, having him turn into a pig at that time

would have been disastrous. He put himself between Ryoga and the bucket. He

didn't like being soaked, but it was the only thing he could think of.

"Brrrrr. That was cold. Hey, why is my voice so high-pitched all of a sudden?!"

Andrew gave a weird whine. It could have been a chuckle, but it sounded more

surprised. He made a signal.

"Well, Bryan, er-that is, Bryan-chan, I hate to tell you this, but...um...it

looks like you either took a dip at Jusenkyo, or you can imitate curses as

well."

Where Bryan had once stood, was now a tall girl in glasses, with long flowing

brown hair. And rather ah...er...Andrew's signal had been enough. Luckily, Bryan

was in his (hers?) jeans and a T-shirt.

"Someone boil some water," (s)he sighed, "And let's hope this isn't a permanent

addition to my repertoire of abilities." She closed down the portal.

At that moment, Ukyo came in the theater with the stuffed Hare from Cypher, the

other girls giving signal that they needed to split up.

"Who are you?" she seemed surprised. Was this someone the guys knew from another

series?

"Uh, hi Ukyo," Bryan-chan squeaked. If it wasn't for the glasses, the two girls

could have been very close to being sisters in appearance. Ukyo looked closer.

The other girl did seem familiar somehow...she even circled around as the guys

watched.

Then it hit her.

"BRYAN?" she suddenly laughed. The former guy nodded. "It's just like Ranma-

honey! But you're cuter!" Then she had to sit down from laughing. Andrew and the

others wondered how the heck did she find this so funny!

"Oh, this is rich!" Ukyo banged her hand against her knee.

Ryoga gave a growl. "Hey, could someone help me with this thing? It's heavy,

DAMMIT!"

Ukyo got up then, her laughter spent. "Hmm, why didn't you grab a hoverboard,

sugar?"

"Nani?"

"A hoverboar-oh, I forgot, it's one of Glyph's inventions." She tapped her com-

badge, "Glyph-chan, are you busy by any chance?"

The reply was a rather drawn out "YEAH!"

"Can we borrow the hoverboards? The guys would like to move some stuff."

"Yeah, yeah, they're in the holotheater's projection room. Ucchan, I need some

help in defusing a fight situation. You can guess the parties involved," Glyph

paused, as if realizing. "...nevermind actually. Can you just stay there, or

break up Char and Zechs? In fact, that would be better. If you can get past the

helmets, beat the shit out of both of them and knock some sense back in!"

"You wouldn't guess what hap..." Ukyo began, until Andrew placed a quick hand

over her mouth.

"It's nothing, Glyph," Andrew smiled nicely so it would show through his voice.

Ukyo tried to glare at him, but in noticing his expression, stopped. He wouldn't

have done it if he didn't want Glyph to know, because Ukyo could easily given

him a headache that he didn't want. After beating him to a pulp.

But he also could give her a run for her money with the scythe-pistol he

carried. Either way, it was a fight neither of them wanted.

He let her go.

"Why didn't you want her to know?"

Andrew finally smiled for real, giving her a thump on the back, and fishing for

his key-card. As he swiped it through the lock, he added, bowing suddenly to

Bryan. "Because she'd be laughing her ass off for this one! I'm just glad it

wasn't me!"

Tenchi retrieved the boards, but he wasn't sure what to do. Andrew then pulled

out the hand guards. He put a pair on, and picked up a board. Ryoga stared, but

still held the equipment.

"Go ahead, put it on the side opposite the circles." Tenchi flipped the board

over. Ryoga set the equipment down. It was about the shape of a small bodyboard.

Tenchi brought another over and they lifted the other half onto it.

"Now what?" Ryoga breathed in and out. Whew! That had been heavy even for him.

Andrew lifted his wrist. "Grab a couple of these. And put them on."

Tenchi found that they fit just fine.  "Tenchi, you'll ride with me, but you'll

be controlling the boards. Set your bands for two. Ryoga, grab your own board,

you too, Bryan." Ukyo already was strapping the black board to her feet.

Andrew told the riders to do the same. "Now, you guys see this little yellow pad

in your palms? On the count of three, clap twice!"

CLAP! CLAP!

"YIP!" Ryoga yelped, suddenly catching his balance. The boards lifted into the

air! Except Bryan's, but then he tried again and was airborne. "They...hover?"

"Duh, sugar," Ukyo put her hands together in an archer's position. She scooted a

few feet forwards before swiveling her hips and turning.

"I guess some training is needed," Andrew grimaced as he noticed Onna-Bryan

having trouble. The poor guy was not used to have his center of balance in his

hips rather than his chest. "Bryan, bend your knees more."

"Okay, you guys see what Ukyo is doing?" Andrew continued. "If you want to go

forward, make like you're going to pull an arrow back in a bow, your writing

hand forward. Be ready for when this thing jerks, because you can flip the

board, and yourself respectively." He waited until the guys got moving. "Okay,

if you want to stop, raise your arms to your sides. Like this." he demonstrated

by putting his arms up like he was holding a melon on his shoulder. The others

tried it and stopped. Ryoga about flipped the board. "The rest is just like

riding a skateboard, except for one thing, and that's the skater's spin."

"Ukyo, will you show them while I explain?"

"Sure, Drew-sugar, one demo coming up."

She put her hands inward, crossed. Ukyo then spun fast for four revolutions.

Then she spread them out and caught her balance.

"NEVER, NEVER, cross your wrists unless you want to do that. It mucks with the

magnetic pull on those things, therefore you spin." Andrew explained.

"Hold on till I get Tenchi situated on controlling two, then we'll head over to

the gateway."

 

"YAAAAHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Onna-Ranma yelled. The cat-boy yelled with her, laughing. The cord jerked and they both flew back into the air.

Ranma felt great. Even though the holotheater's safeties were on, he had the

exhilaration of the adrenaline rush. This was the best! "WHEEEE!" she almost

touched the river below, missing it by a few meters.

"Meyow!" Pathos giggled when the ride was over. Ranma and he were a few feet

away from each other...

"Hey!" Ranma panted. "When are they supposed to get us down?"

Pathos laughed. "Minutes. Wanna go gin?"

Onna-Ranma tittered.

 

"YAAAAHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Ryoga hollered as they got moving. Actually he had caught on the fastest to the board. He dipped around the rest. He got the board

to flip, into an imaginary Hawaiian pipeline. He found that he could make the

board go higher. Andrew had a radio, and was playing Technotronic's long play of

"Rocking Over the Beat" to keep the guys in sync. Ryoga jumped the board to the

sound of the popping electric bubbles.

"QUIT FOOLING AROUND, HIBIKI!" Andrew yelled, then shook his head. "THESE

CORRIDORS ARE A LITTLE SMALL FOR YOU..."

"Pipe!" Ukyo calmly called.

"EH?" Ryoga called back with his head turned, then "Whoof!"

Ryoga had tagged the pipe with his stomach, spinning around it very fast. The

others halted, about laughing. Ryoga let out a yelp, putting his hands out in

front of his face. He stopped, pinned upside down.

"Showoff," Ukyo smirked, along with Onna-Bryan. "At least, your belt kept you

from falling. Long drop below, sugar." She helped ease him off the pipe. And the

bolt that had held him up. He clapped quickly and started the board again.

"Why did it power down?" he asked.

Andrew came up, putting his arms up. "Fail safe, you put your hands out to catch

your fall, they turn off the power. Now will you believe me?"

"Yeah, you guys know your ship and the equipment," Ryoga smiled.

 

Washuu gave a faint growl as she saw the Amazon. Glyph had called her.

 

Glyph suddenly came to the conclusion; we'd better stop the treasure hunt.

The intercom interjected, just as the guys reached the portal. "Will everyone

please bring their found objects to the lounge...we are concluding the treasure

hunt."

Several girls groaned. Those who haven't participated were asked to join by

Glyph by her, in the theater.

"I'd better go, guys," Ukyo smiled.

 

Onna-Bryan had opted for going to the bridge of the JEDRI to see what the

situation was, and to contact Washuu to see if the water curse was permanent.

Tenchi and Ryoga signaled that they would be fine, they'd just wait until the

girls left.

Shinji turned, as Andrew and a rather pretty girl with glasses came on the deck,

" How's the situation?" the girl asked.

"Who are you?" he blurted. This also brought Zechs and Char to a stop.

Andrew looked miffed. "Shinji...what...is...the ...sit...you...eh... shun?" he

repeated slowly.

Char decided to put on some finesse, and took the young lady's hand. " Please

allow me to escort you, Miss. A lady as beautiful as you shouldn't wander these

halls alone. There are strange men about"

Here Char threw a glare at Zechs.

Andrew suddenly cracked. He gave a quick snort, then bit his tongue. Onna-Bryan

looked ready to either be sick, or to seriously punch him.

"Let go," Onna-Bryan said darkly. "Or you will seriously regret it..."

"Don't punch him," Andrew interceded, then told Char to lean closer to him. He

whispered. The other guys tried to lean in.

A weird expression crossed the man's face. He stared at Onna-Bryan, turning

green.

Then Char beat a very hasty retreat.

Zechs looked a little puzzled, so did Vegeta and Cypher. Cypher had just gotten

to his post.

"What did you say to him?" Vegeta asked.

Andrew laughed, "Insert 'The Crying Game' music, here!"

Onna-Bryan gave a faint smile. "Probably the truth. Hi guys."

"Wait a minute, you know us?" Cypher shook his head. "Sweetie, we have NEVER

seen you before, and eh?"

Onna-Bryan had her light sword right next to Cypher's eyes, just barely nicking

the changeling's psuedo-hair . "DON'T CALL ME, SWEETIE!" she roared, "UNLESS

YOU'RE OLD ENOUGH TO BE MY GRANDMA!"

"Bryan?" Cypher squeaked. The other backed down, realizing he had made his

point. "What happened? You-you...definitely lost some weight."

Onna-Bryan sighed. "I don't know."

"Can I ask you something else then?"

Onna-Bryan now gave him a puzzled look. "What is it?"

"Wanna go on a date sometime?"

Cypher laughed as Andrew caught Bryan before she could kill him! The changeling

ducked, and continued to chuckle to the engine room. He needed to make his

getaway.

 

Washuu had never gotten along well with Shampoo. In a way, Shampoo reminded

Washuu too much of Mihoshi. She wasn't stupid, just crafty in a way that made

the scientific genius a little nervous. Ukyo had a violent temperament, and a

good swing, but Shampoo was far more subtle.

She let her glance slide off the girl's head, and said wisely nothing.

Shampoo gave a mild glance, but said nothing. She remembered when Washuu decided

to 'teach Mousse a lesson'. She still remembered the cute little kappa, the

cute, little, harmless, weaponless, Mumu-chan the kappa.

The girls murmured as they placed their items in piles each labeled for each

group. Glyph and Washuu started checking over the lists. Nope, this one is

wrong, yes, this one counts.

After a moment, they both smiled, the both had finished and there was a definite

winner.

Glyph banged the pan lid to get everyone's attention. "Okay, we have a winning

team, and we'll..."

Suddenly someone let out a shriek. Glyph sighed, putting her face in her hands.

"Dammit, Happy," she grumbled.

Washuu sighed, then made her voice loud. "We will announce the winner later!" 

then she took her holocomputer and saved the information.

"Meanwhile," she got up and yelled, "EVERYONE BEAT HAPPY!!!"

 

Belldandy stepped into the kitchen. She gently picked up the pan she was

planning to make a soup in when she heard a slight bang.

Xelloss was on a chair, trying to reach for something. But he wasn't

successfully doing that, and Belldandy noticed he was leaning over a pot of

boiling water and was reaching past a ginger bottle, for something else. The

chair was already leaning forward into the stove.

"Xelloss!" she called. He jerked, and the chair toppled! He let out a yelp of

surprise.

But then the little Mazaku found himself in her arms, and she held him

protectively. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Startled, he jumped back onto his feet. Then he turned to her. "I'm fine, thank

you for the rescue."

"You were trying to get back at Glyph, weren't you?" she said simply, but

sweetly. Xelloss paused, his face suddenly reddening.

"I didn't think that it was so obvious," he admitted.

Belldandy smiled. "Xelloss, can I tell you something?"

He looked at her puzzled. Belldandy picked up the pan on the stove, and fished

out the ginger before the bottle completely spilled into the mix. "Glyph-chan

looks out for her people. Her friends and her crew. DON'T go against her. She

could have picked a more permanent means of getting rid of you. But instead she

thought that THIS," here Belldandy signaled to mean the age he was at. "...was

better, not harming to anyone. Please listen to me and don't think turnabout is

fair. She only meant to tell you a warning."

Xelloss titled his head. Belldandy went back to her cooking.

She did not frown when he disappeared on her.

 

Happy had sought refuge in the vents to the Drummond, and seemed surprised when

he spotted a boy about the age of six sitting near the transporter pad. He held

a staff that had a glass ball on the end, far taller than he was, and seemed to

be thinking. Happosai landed on a console, just as the boy looked up.

Something lit up on the pad, as the dimensional oscillator picked up other Anime

signals.

Three to be exact.

"What did you do?" Xelloss asked. He noticed the panel...doing something very

weird. Unfortunately Xelloss came from a dimension where magic ruled over

advanced science, so he didn't recognize that the transporter had chosen to lock

a signal on those three forms. The oscillator could search between dimensions

for those signals.

Happy now seemed surprised. He began to tap the console in an attempt to shut it

off. It responded with beeps and blips, but instead of shutting off, it instead

transported the three life signs to the pad.

Then there was trouble.

James shook his head to clear the stars from it. He had stumbled and fell when

the transporter had locked onto him, Jessie, and Meowth. Then all three of them

stared in surprise.

"Oops," Happosai said.

Xelloss still had said nothing. But then neither of them realized they had

transported Team Rocket on board.

Happy only saw one thing.

"SWEETO!" he yelped, jumping onto Jessie's chest!

She let out a shriek...

And all HFIL broke loose!

 

Glyph felt something was wrong...really wrong. None of the girls had found Happy

after he had disappeared again. She got contacted with Andrew again, wanting to

talk to Bryan. She had sensed that her bishonen was hiding something. And it was

something that had to do with Bryan.

Then Belldandy said Xelloss had bumped into her the kitchen, but had disappeared

as well.

Zod interrupted her thoughts. "Miss Bellchime, there are intruder signs in the

transporter room."

She jerked further, on her toes, "What type and how many?"

"Three, two human, one pokemon, they have captured the life forms known as

Happosai and Xelloss. Life signs are now heading for the shuttlebay, very

quickly."

Glyph suddenly smiled. Two human and one pokemon, eh? That only sounded like one

group, and Glyph now added a cruel gleam to her eyes.

 

She had found her babysitters!

 

"Zod, let them have access to a shuttlecraft, but keep a tractor lock on it. Get

a lock on the three forms and their prisoners." Then she also considered

something else, "Also lock onto the bio-signature known as Cologne, might as

well have someone to keep Happy off Jessie."

 

Team Rocket didn't feel the transporter lock, hell, they didn't even known that

they'd had been transported until James banged his head again, turning into the

upper console. Happy dropped off, puzzled, but even he couldn't stay on his feet

as it took off on autopilot.

When they were a good distance away, the shuttle stopped. James climbed up, and

into the pilot's seat. "Where are we now?" he blurted.

"I could ask you the same thing," an old voice popped up. Xelloss and Happy

turned, as well as Jessie. Cologne jumped up into the other seat. "It seems that

you have kidnapped us."

James and Jessie both looked at each other. Meowth sighed through his teeth.

Then the console beeped, James swiveled to it, looking for where the sound had

come from.

Cologne tapped the key. Glyph's face lit up a panel next to them.

"Hello there, what are you doing in one of our shuttlecraft?"

Cologne noticed her blink. "It seems we were kidnapped, Captain Bellchime."

"Yeah, YEAH," James finally caught on. "And were..."

"Yeah, yeah, Team Rocket, destroyers of everything good...yakkety smakety, la de

da."

Xelloss finally laughed.

Jessie suddenly grabbed the chair back. "Bellchime? James, that means..."

Both of them turned to the console. "You have the pokemon, Mew, right?"

Glyph smirked. "Yeah, what about it?"

"If you want to see your friends here," James attempted to sound like he was the

expert blackmailer, "turn over the pokemon."

"Hmm, you want me to turn over one of most valuable members of my crew for one

senile old couple and a six-year-old kid?"

"HEY!" Happosai blurted. Suddenly Xelloss got what she was doing.

She told them she'd think about it. "Meanwhile, can you keep flying within a

reasonable distance to the ship? We'll add extra payment."

James now looked thoughtful. "For how long?"

"Tomorrow morning."

This sounded suspicious to the both of them. But they agreed.

Glyph signed off, talking to the other line. "Boy, were they suckers! Drew-hon,

I finally got the troublemakers out of the way. Let's set up!"

Onna-Bryan laughed as she listened in.

 

James signed off. In seeing Jessie's puzzled expression, he shrugged.

"It should be easy. Bellchime said herself that they're just a 'senile old

couple and a six-year-old kid'."

Famous last words.

 

Xelloss smiled. This 'Team Rocket' couple didn't seem too bright.

 

Glyph realized she needed to download a program from the JEDRI and decided to

find Andrew and Bryan to speak with them face to face. "Hey, Washuu, can I have

your help a moment? I forgot how the holographic 'light' program used to be

downloaded."

"The one that does the dance party lights? Sure," she appeared beside Glyph.

"Subspace hole?"

"Yeah, gotta practice anyway."

They stepped a few seconds later next to the holotheater on the Drummond. She

wanted to see if the guys setting up yet. When she saw Ryoga and Tenchi leaning

on the equipment, she went to the console to the theater that told which

programs were running.

"Hmm, Zod, tell whoever is in there we need the space. I want to talk to them."

She then opened the doors. Ryoga and Tenchi heard a sharp female yip.

"Is she all right?" Tenchi asked, now very worried.

"GODDAMMMITTTTT!!  PATHOS!!  RANMA!!"

Ryoga buried his mouth in his hands until he could stop laughing.

"Yep, she's fine."

Glyph came back out, limping. The cat-boy and the redhead sheepishly leaned out

and signaled the other two to bring the equipment in. Ryoga distinctly smelled

something that smelled like burnt peanut butter.

"She singed your hair, didn't she?" he asked.

"You tink?" Pathos grumbled after he licked his fingers and put out the little

flame that hung on his bangs.

"So, she was the one that slipped," Onna-Ranma started to whine. "It's not our

fault. The long drop is what makes bungee jumping fun."

"Safeties off though," Pathos sighed. "Lucky she only twist ankle, that last

time I do dat."

Washuu offered to heal her ankle. "No, it doesn't hurt bad," Glyph admitted.

"Let's get over to the JEDRI, and get that program."

Then she stopped, looked at Ryoga as he pushed the equipment in on the hovers,

and a thinking expression crossed her face.

"Thanks, Hibiki-kun!" He looked up and out of the door.

"What for?"

"Nothing for now," Glyph smiled. Then she and Washuu jumped into subspace again.

Ryoga shrugged. "Strange girl."

 

"Hmm," Andrew took his commbadge off. Onna-Bryan looked a little puzzled.

"Something wrong?" she asked, as she took a sip from a can of pop.

Andrew shook the little piece of metal. "Glyph's and Washuu's signal isn't being

picked up...I wonder why."

"We're too close in range, that's why," a voice made both of them jump. Washuu

and Glyph had appeared behind them so suddenly, Onna-Bryan did a spit take.

Glyph abruptly frowned. She didn't mind other girls hanging around Andrew, well,

she did, but usually she knew them, and knew Andrew was hardly interested. But

this girl was new...

And had about as much social graces as a surprised guy.

"Hi," Glyph gave a very unflattering smile, "I haven't seen you before."

"Uh, yeah," the girl gave a nervous smile, one that looked familiar. "Uh, eh,

heh, I'm..."

Andrew threw caution to the wind. "This is Bryan's sister, Brittany!"

"My sister's name is, oomph!" the elbow check to Onna-Bryan's gut was enough.

Glyph frowned. "I thought that his sister's name was Jessica, not Brittany."

Andrew mentally went, d'oh!

"Actually, I'm his cousin, not sister," the girl spoke up, glaring at Andrew.

Glyph eased. Apparently the introductions hadn't gone well. "He invited me, but

I wasn't able to get away till now."

Andrew suddenly gave the girl a shove on the shoulders. "Uh yeah."

Bryan smiled, looking big eyed and thrilled. "Is that WASHUU-CHAN?" she

squealed.

Washuu smiled, unsure. "Yes."

"Ohmygawd!I'moneofyourbiggestfans!" the girl energetically shook her hand.

Washuu grimaced.

Glyph sighed, then leaned into Andrew. "Did she even catch her breath on that

one?" she then shrugged her shoulders. She gave him a kiss, then said hi to the

rest of the guys on the bridge. "Washuu, I'll let you talk to your otaku here,

but I'll be on the holodeck, okay?" she got to the turbolift. "Hi, REBB," she

greeted the cybertronian, then, "Deck 2".

"Uh sure," Washuu still regarded the brown-haired girl with some skepticism.

The girl sighed as she saw the other go. "Now that I've sufficiently embarrassed

myself for your sake, Andrew. Washuu, we need to talk, badly!"

"Bryan?" she asked. Then, "Is this the result of what I think it is?"

He started to explain the trip into Hammerspace and the cold bucket.

"SO THAT'S WHERE IT WENT!" both her and REBB shouted.

Bryan looked confused, "Where WHAT went?"

"The onna niichuan water!" REBB explained. "Washuu and I had gotten a hold of

some those -niichuan packets. We were experimenting with the transporters and we

used that bucket as a guinea pig. Labeled one Onna-, Japanese for girl-type,

Onchi-..."

"Japanese for boy," Bryan finished.

"Yeah, like Ranma. But when we transported the two buckets, we only got the

Onchi one back!"

Bryan sighed, crossing her arms. "I take it, you looked for it?"

"We had to, Glyph had almost fainted, but we verified it wouldn't happen again."

Andrew laughed, then thumped Bryan lightly on the back. "Hey , relax then, that

means that it's temporary! Those packets only work once!"

Onna-Bryan sighed, "No, Andrew, you don't understand. I thought this was the

result of my power mimicking abilities, not actual contact with Jusenkyo water.

I've been trying to access the reversal circuitry to clear it up, but I can't

link to Ranma-chan, which means that between the ability to mimic the

curse...and the actual curse itself...I've shorted it out! I'm stuck like this!"

"Look on the bright side," Washuu said, "You're much cuter as a girl."

Bryan glared at her. His (her?) hair stood up on end and turned gold, and his

(her) eyes turned emerald green, "I'm not laughing, Washuu."

"H-How can you do that if the thing is burned out!?"

"It's Individual Specific. The pathway to Ranma is what's burned out, because I

tried to access a curse I already have. Fortunately, there is a cure aboard the

Drummond."

"You mean...?"

"I have water from the spring of the drowned man, yes. Now let's hope we didn't

get them out of order when we were fighting the Aliens, because I didn't

actually label the vials. Incentive for people to keep their hands off."

 

Ukyo had her hands full. She'd met Zechs before, and knew he was the sanest

person on the Drummond, among other things. So to see him engaged in this

argument with Char was something strange to her.

"You were dating that Dorothy Catalonia. She was only sixteen, for crying out

loud!" Char shot.

"We never did anything, and I'm only three years older than her. You, on the

other hand, strung along that Quess Paraya girl, and SHE was only thirteen."

"Like you said, nothing happened."

"You still strung her along. And you were decades older!"

"At least *I* didn't declare war on my best friend."

"No. You only tricked him into a fatal ambush to get revenge for your dead

father."

Ukyo decided that enough was enough. Not only was this argument fruitless, but

she was tired of hearing the whole back story from two different Gundam

continuities. She gave a shrill whistle to get everyone's attention.

"Not that this isn't fascinating," Ukyo said, "But I don't want to hear it

anymore!"

Just then, a large section of pipe came running at them, yelling, "CHARGE!"

Ukyo recognized the maneuver immediately, and deflected the "pipe" with her

spatula.

"Tsubasa!" she hissed.

"How'd...um, he, right? How'd he get here?"

"The dimensional oscillator must be stuck in the ON position!" Zechs moaned.

 

Rei and Asuka were flipping through a collection of CDs.

"Look, all I'm saying is, maybe you should let your hair grow a bit longer."

"I just don't think it would suit me. I'd look like Tsunami. Speaking of which,

I'm late..."

Rei walked off.

"That girl is just weird!" Asuka sighed.

 

Washuu met Rei at the door to the conference room behind the Drummond's bridge.

Already seated were Belldandy, Urd, Skuld, and Tsunami.

"This meeting of the Megami 402 will now come to order," Washuu said.

"Wait, how is SHE a Megami?" Urd asked, pointing at Rei.

"It's obvious YOU never saw End of Evangelion," Rei smirked.

"So why did you call this emergency session, Washuu-chan?" Skuld asked.

"Ladies, we have a huge problem. This upcoming dance party. There are more girls

than guys, for one. And then there's the question of...partnership with some of

the guys."

"Rei and Asuka both want Shinji," Belldandy said, "Ryoko and Ayeka both want

Tenchi. Ukyo and Akane are both interested in...the same person..." Belldandy

recalled at the last second that she and Washuu were the only ones in the room

who knew Washuu's secret. Glyph blinked. She thought that everyone in the room

knew about Ranma, but she said nothing.

"Asuka won't be a problem," Rei said, "She denies wanting anything to do with

Shin-chan. But Ayeka and Ryoko could fry the ship if they wanted to, and I doubt

even Captain Bellchime could stop them if they got started."

"I probably couldn't," Glyph said, tying her hair back up into a braid, "Remind

me to thank Tsunami for letting me stand in for her. But I have a simple

suggestion. Random pair ups. People will draw names from a hat to see who their

dance partner will be. And extras will stand in as judges. Or we could work out

a rotation..."

"I wouldn't mind performing," Rei said, "I do this great rendition of Fly Me to

the Moon..."

 

Sasami was wandering the halls of the Drummond, Ryo-Ohki perched on her head.

She was carrying some books that she'd found sitting out, and it was getting to

be very late.

Just then, she saw Vegeta entering the Drummond carrying a bowl full of cheese

dip.

"Uncle Vegeta, would you read me a bedtime story?"

Vegeta was about to say that he didn't read bedtime stories for anyone or any

reason, but then he saw those huge pink eyes staring up at him with complete

innocence. He quickly looked around to make sure that no one was watching, and

then smiled, "Sure kid."

 

"Uncle Vegeta?" Ryoko looked at Ayeka, "You're kidding, right?"

"Not at all. Prince Vegeta has been a friend of Father's since I was a little

girl. We always call him Uncle Vegeta."

"That guy has the charm of a frostbitten snake," Ryoko sniffed.

"Like you have any room to talk."

"Hey, ask Trunks if you don't believe me. Vegeta is not what I would call a

warm, caring person."

Just then they passed the door to Sasami's room. She was in her bed, under

covers, and Vegeta was sitting beside the bed, reading from a book labeled

"Grimm's Fairy Tales."

"Well, then again," Ryoko smirked, "We all have our moments. Shall we take a

picture?"

"No," Ayeka smiled serenely, "Let's just let him have his moment, I think."

 

Onna-Bryan was marching through the halls of the Drummond to the lab, when a

familiar voice echoed down the halls.

"Pigtailed girl, you have returned to me!"

"Get serious!" Bryan heard Ranma yell. There was a loud thud, and Bryan rounded

the corner to see Tatewaki Kuno laying face down on the deck. Ranma was nowhere

to be seen.

"I'd better get you to sickbay," Bryan sighed. He started to heft Kuno, but the

motion woke the kendo club's "rising star". Bryan's female form was the first

thing that Kuno saw.

"A beautiful bespectacled maiden has come to my aid," He said, glomming onto

Bryan suddenly. Bryan had always felt that guys should keep their hands out of

certain places unless invited, and now that feeling was quadrupled.

"Kuno, you have to the count of three to unhand me, before I seriously mess you

up."

"Surely you jest. You, harm me?"

Bryan sighed, and accessed Prince Vegeta's Saiya-jin strength. Kuno was put

through a double-layered duranium door in half a second.

All he heard from Kuno was a faint whine of pain. Onna-Bryan clapped her hands

in satisfaction.

He bumped into Lain at that moment. She was carrying several connectors and

plugs.

"What's all that for?"

"Excuse me," Lain said, "I don't think we've met."

-I really have to get some hot water- Bryan thought, "I'm Bryan's cousin,

Brittany. Pleased to meet you."

"Well, then perhaps you can help me with this. I'm trying to plug in the DJ

equipment into the lighting program in the holodeck so that we can have the

lights move in time with the music."

"Sure. Not a prob."

 

Tenchi was walking with Ukyo, "Who was that, anyway?"

"A pain in the fanny," Ukyo replied, shaking her hands as if knocking off

something disgusting, "He thinks I'm in love with him."

"Ouch. I know how that goes. There isn't a morning that goes by when I don't

find Ryoko or Ayeka trying to claim ownership of me. Or Washuu trying

to...um...,"Here Tenchi searched for the right phrase. Ukyo was younger than he

was, after all, and there were certain things that one did not say to polite

young ladies. He didn't know of Ukyo's familiarity with Washuu-chan.

"She wants to get all the samples she can, right? I work with her sometimes. If

you want my advice, sugar, get yourself a really big spatula and bean her in the

head with it a few times. She'll get the hint."

"I couldn't do that! She's my friend. A bizarre friend, but my friend."

"Well, you could always hide under the bed, like Pathos."

 

Akane was walking with Rei, "You're sure that you have something in my size?"

"Well, I only used it for a wall scroll, but I think it should fit you just

fine. I hope you don't mind lavender, though."

"What'll you wear?"

"I have this lovely blue dress with a some tasteful lace areas that I've been

meaning to try out. I never get to wear things like that back home. Always that

ugly school uniform or the plug suit."

"Say, Rei, do you ever have any problems with Shinji?"

"Such as?"

"I mean, is he a pervert, or an insensitive jerk?"

"Shinji and I have some disagreement about his father, but we've settled that. I

DID slap him when he made a remark I found unpleasant. I won't have anyone

badmouthing Gendou."

"...and so that's when I came up with the plan to shove Gendou Ikari out an

airlock..."

 

"Hold still, Ayeka," Asuka said, "How do you expect me to zip up the back if

you're fidgeting?"

"I'm sorry, it's just that it tickles."

"There. All done."

"Do you think Lord Tenchi will notice me?"

"He'd have to be half-blind or an emotionless doll not to. Speaking of which, I

wonder what Wonder Girl is doing..."

 

"Oh, Hi Rei!" someone squeaked. Lain and Bryan were taking a break from the

lighting and wiring. They seemed puzzled to meet the pair in the hall.

Rei walked over to "Brittany", and gave her a harsh look.

"Um...is there a problem?"

SLAP!

"Daijoubu?" Lain said.

"What was that, Lain?" Bryan asked.

Lain said something in Japanese Bryan didn't understand.

In stilted English, Akane said, "She ask what you say?"

"Oh great! Rei hit me so hard, my universal translator broke! Who here speaks

fluent Japanese AND English?"

"Asuka."

"Spiffy."

"Get new translator."

"I don't have any spares. I've got to get someone to explain to Washuu that this

one needs to be fixed. That or improve my Japanese a hell of a lot more in the

next ten minutes."

"I have a solution," REBB said, coming down the hall, carrying a platter of

sliced meats, "We have Babel fish on the JEDRI." It seemed the guys knew pretty

good how to find food, even for catering an event.

"Ewww! You mean I gotta stick one of those in my ear!?"

 

As Bryan marched to the holding tank for the Babel fish, (s)he ran into Glyph

Bellchime.

Bellchime was now wearing her party clothes, a sleeveless sundress over which

she wore a black leather jacket. Somehow, they went together rather well. Her

hair was out of her braid, and wild.

"Um...Brittany, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure. Shoot."

"Are you and Andrew...you aren't..."

Bryan caught on quickly, and suppressed the urge to laugh.

"Not at all. Andrew's a nice enough guy, but he is definitely NOT my type. I'm

not even really looking for a guy, to tell you the truth."

Bryan walked off before Glyph could ponder that one out anymore. Glyph, for her

part, simply took it to mean that Brittany was spoken for. She suspected as

much, and she trusted Andrew, but she didn't like the idea of another girl

gunning for her guy. She was beginning to understand how Ayeka and Ryoko felt.

Or Akane, a little bit, for that matter.

"Oh!" she called to "Brittany", "Hey, did Bryan ever tell you how to shut off

the dimensional oscillator? We're getting a lot of uninvited guests. I think

Happy turned it on, from the sound of things."

Onna-Bryan gave a groan.

Then she got a look at the little fish. "Ugh, I gotta do this by myself?" Bryan

grimaced. Still the funny little thing didn't feel slimy like a fish. "If I

close my eyes, I probably won't notice it."

"That's what you think"

Suddenly she realized, it was the fish talking.

"Anywhere else and I would have thought I was nuts," Bryan sighed. She put a

hand over her ear, keeping the fish in there.

Then he called back to Glyph, "Hey, Glyph-chan! How do I know that this thing is

working?"

"Where's the bathroom?"

"What's that got to do with anything? And it's your ship, so you should know!"

"That isn't what I asked you," Glyph said in response, "I said, 'donde esta el

bano?'. That must mean the fish is working. It's one of the few things I

remember from my Spanish class."

"Then how come it didn't translate when you repeated it?"

"They seem to respond to the phrase 'I said' differently. It triggers the last

phrase to be said in the speaker's natural language. So don't go about repeating

it, okay?"

 

Ryoga, Lain, and Pathos seemed to work well as a team. They got the DJ station

operational. Lain even got the record player connected, doing a practice wicka-

wicka on it. Pathos smiled, showing one of his cat-like nails as he flicked it

across the record surface.

"Hmm, why not put on 'Roses Are Red'?  We can see if the lighting is also

working," Ryoga smiled. Ranma-chan looked at him a little askance.

"Why that song?"

Ryoga stared down the girl. "I LIKE it, okay?"

"'scuse me."

Pathos barked out something that sounded out like a weird meow. "Nuff! No fight

here!"

Both Ranma-chan and Ryoga-kun looked at him, a little surprised. Pathos never

sounded angry like that before. "Co-co-co..."

"Cooperate?" Lain supplied.

"Yes," Pathos nodded. "Get ah-long, need to fun for now!"

Then both martial artists glanced at each other and sighed.

"Okay, Pathos, you win," Onna-Ranma shrugged.

"Agreed," Ryoga added.

Lain smiled, then placed the CD in the player. They waited while the song loaded

then pressed the button to fast-forward tracks.

Roses are red, and violets are blue, honey is sweet, but not as sweet as

you...roses are red, and  violets are blue...la de la dum, la de da dum, la de

da dum, la de da dum...

Come pick my roses.

"Yes!" Pathos cheered when the lights moved to the music.

"Hey, wasn't this the song that Glyph used for your guy's routine against Cypher

and Kodachi?" Onna-Ranma said over the beat.

"Yeah!"

"Now I remember why you like it!"

 

Ukyo said goodbye to Tenchi, and went to her own quarters on the JEDRI. It

looked a lot like her room back above the okonomiyaki shop, but there were some

subtle differences.

For one, she had a pastel portrait of herself, sitting next to her bed. Glyph

had done that as part of the payment for the food the Jedri crew had in Nerima.

One of the scutters, not powered up, sat on the floor. Two pokemon looked up

from the bed, then curled back to sleep.

"Hey, Poof, hey Kiba!" she called to them. They chirped their replies. Poof was

a charmander while Kiba a Furret. She smiled to herself, then went to the little

closet.

"This will be perfect!"

 

Glyph sighed. "Brittany", whoever she was, did seem to know a lot about the

Drummond systems. They both stood over the control panel to the dimensional

oscillator. There were a few people, still hanging around the transporter pad,

Linna Inverse, Gai Daigoji, and Duo Maxwell.

"Oh, swell. The Dragon Spooker herself, an otaku mecha jockey, and a nut who

calls himself the 'God of Death.'" Glyph felt like holding her forehead in

frustration.

"We gotta hold off for a minute, someone's still in the transporter beam,"

"Brittany" announced.

Great, Glyph mentally moaned.

This time it was a fifteen-year-old girl and a young man with white hair. He was

in the middle of a fall. He hit the transporter pad rather roughly.

"Oh no, not Kagome and Inu-yasha," Glyph sighed. She buried her face in her

hands.

"You know these guys?" "Brittany" asked.

Inu-yasha, the half-dog-demon, got up. "Not again," he grumbled. "You are the

witch known as Bellchime!"

Kagome looked just as puzzled.

"Uh, Yasha-baby, I gotta explain somethin'. Not every world has magic, okay? I

guess there is no way to explain dimension hopping or super-science to you, is

there?"

"I'll rip your head off!"

Ouch!

Glyph smiled, rather cheeky. "Uhm, Inu-yasha, you forget something..."

He stared her down, "What?!!!"

"SIT!"

"YARGH!"

Glyph walked up to him, crouching down. At that command, Inu-yasha HAD to flop

to the ground. "The damn prayer beads. That's your one weakness I had managed to

tap into last time. And obviously I remembered the command word. And you

remember my friends, they're here, too."

Inu-yasha gave a groan.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I think I made my point. Brittany, can we safely

turn off the oscillator now?" the other girl signaled it was all right.

"Everyone, since you are here, welcome to the day before the Startica festival.

This is the Brian Drummond, a star ship. Please don't be alarmed, things ARE

under control." Then she thought of something, "most of the time. Could you

please place all weapons within Brittany's care? I'm setting a

few...ground...rules."

 

            As introductions were made all around, Bryan slipped away and found a pot

of tea. He doused himself, returning to his proper form. The group now made

their way to the lounge on the JEDRI. The others were meeting them there.

            "So you guys use magic, too, huh?" he overheard Linna saying to Inu-Yasha.

He muttered that there was only a slight bit of magic, mostly associated with

oni- or other creatures.

" Glyph just seems to know where to hit," he grumbled.

-Thank God it didn't snag Amelia before I shut it down,-Bryan thought- The last

thing we need is her oxymoronic pacifist attacks.-

 

When they  got to the lounge where the other guys were starting meet, they

realized they were the first ones there. As Inu-Yasha passed Andrew, everyone

started to notice that the guy was giving a faint sniff. Then they began to

notice a smell.

Shinji noticed it the worst. "Whew!"

Andrew got brave enough ask. "How far in the past is he?" he turned to Kagome.

"About five hundred years."

Andrew smiled. "Thought so." Then "would you please follow Shinji to the baths?

Uhm, nothing personal, but...we got some equipment around here that's sensitive

to dirt."

            Duo was chatting with his old acquaintance Zechs about the mechanics of

Gundams, while Char and Gai were pouring over specs of old school mecha, such as

the Zaku or Geki-Gengar III.

            "What is a Geki-Gengar III?" Glyph asked Bryan as he walked up.

            "It's an anime that'll be real big in a hundred years or so. Gai is a huge

fan. Of course, he's from so far in the future that it's considered outdated."

 

            Glyph practiced her subspace hole one more time, to check in on Ryoga and

the others.

            "Hey, look out!" Ranma-chan yelled. Glyph stepped back as she saw a body

board zip by her.

            She laughed as Ryoga tacked the streamer to the ceiling. "Hey, Lost Boy,

you like that board?"

            Ryoga tilted his head down, suddenly bringing his left arm over his right.

            "Don't cross your-"

            "YAIIIIIIIIII!"

"Hibiki, you okay?" Glyph stammered as she neared the kid. He had taken a pretty

bad fall.

            "How many fingers am I holding up?" Ranma asked.

            "Toronto."

            "Okay, where's Possum Lodge?"

            "Four."

            "Oh yeah, he's fine," Ranma smiled.

            Glyph wrinkled her eyebrow. "You sure?"

            "Look who we're talking about..."

            "Okay."

 

            Andrew went in to check on Inu-Yasha and Shinji. The other guys also

wanted to freshen up a bit. Andrew smiled as he saw Ryoga coming his way.

            "Finished decorating?"

            "Uh huh. Who's in there?"

            Andrew said nothing, but then Shinji stuck his head out the door.

            "Anybody got anything for this guy to wear? His clothes need a wash."

            "Brought my jeans, but I don't think I got a shirt that fit 'em." Andrew

handed it off. "You got anything, Hibiki?"

            "My yellow tunic, would that work?"

            They handed it in, but then heard a loud...Japanese...

            "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING!!!"

            Still, a few moments later, the half-demon came out. "You guys have some

weird tastes in clothes!"

            Andrew covered his mouth with his hand to hide his smile. Ryoga's tunic

did fit, though it hung loosely around Inu-Yasha's waist. The jeans were just a

bit long. Still, Andrew did admit, the combination did look good.

            "Well, I got a sash that works like a belt. Though, it does look good on

you..."

            REBB now passed them. He looked at the costume.

            "Yeah, like a hippie!" he laughed out loud.

            Andrew gave a groan. The cybertronian walked off.

            Inu-Yasha looked a little puzzled. When REBB was out of earshot, he asked.

            "What's a hippie?"

 

            "Hey, we'd better get to the lounge, we're expected."

 

            Glyph looked at the gathered group. Practically all the guys, and some of

the girls were there. "Hey, where'd Brittany go? We're about to draw dance

partners."

            "She was feeling a bit of time lag from the dimensional oscillator, so

she's gone to lie down."

            "Oh. Damn shame. Anyway, we've got all the girl's names in here, and you

guys are going to reach in and pull out a name."

            "What for?" Cypher asked.

            "To get you guys mingling more, and avoid a few fights-hopefully."

 

            Belldandy began to feel her nose itch. She tried to stay polite, but...

"Achoo!"

            Suddenly, a light glow surrounded the bag. Just as Ryoga was reaching into

it. He pulled out a name. Then Andrew and Bryan both pulled after him.

            "I don't..." Ryoga started.

             "...Believe..." Andrew looked at his.

             "...This..." Bryan finished.

             Glyph stared, puzzled. "Turn 'em around..." she suggested.

             Ryoga flipped his around, still holding it by the edge. It said simply,

Ukyo.

            Bryan gave a funny sigh, more like a chuckle, "Mine says...Glyph."

             Andrew coughed nervously. He just turned his around... Rei. "Wanna

trade?"

            Glyph shook her head. "Sorry, you can after the first hour, but until

you're stuck till then..."

            Bryan blushed and a sheepish look crossed his face, "Um, confession time.

I never learned how to dance."

            Glyph chuckled, "Then it's about high time ya learned, hon."

 

            The total draw was interesting, to say the least.

            Glyph with Bryan.

            Ukyo with Ryoga.

            When he called out her name, everyone stared. Ukyo came forward, wearing a

fifties-styled dress. It had a white top, but it also had a wide purple skirt

that went past her knees. A lilac sash tucked it in at her waist. She wore a

silver amulet-and her usual bandoleer and battle spatula. Those were the only

clues that that was her.

            "All right, who are you and what did you do to Ukyo?" Akane smiled.

            Ryoga stared, along with a very surprised Ranma. But the lost boy's mouth

hung a little.

"Uk-Ukyo?" he stammered.

"Yeah, it's me."

Continuing with the list...

            Rei with Andrew. "That's a nice dress," he tried not staring at Glyph as

he spoke.

            Linna with Kuno. Here Ranma chuckled.

            Skuld with Shinji.

            Ryoko with Char.

            Shampoo with Duo. "Boy, ain't that a match," Cypher gave a hoot.

            Akane with Zechs.

            Urd with Cypher. Glyph hid her laugh.

            Asuka with Gai.

            Lain with Inu-Yasha.

            Bryan pulled out an isolinear crystal from his pocket.

            "Hey, that's from our medlab," Glyph said.

            "Sure is. I'm loading it into our holotheater now. Zod, load the EMH into

this area, as well."

            Dr. Tofu and Kasumi appeared out of thin air.

            "Wow," Glyph practically giggled, "Talk about being made for each other."

 

            "Ayeka, Vegeta isn't here to draw, so it's you and him by default."

            "But...what about Lord Tenchi...or Ranma...or Belldandy...or Kagome?

Aren't they dancing?"

            "They're the judges. They can dance later, after the first hour, if they

find a partner," Glyph said.

            "And the first fight that starts," Bryan warned, "Will result in the

perpetrators and instigators being beamed over to Happy's shuttle. Trust me,

this is not a good thing."

            "What about Mom?" Ryoko asked, "What's she doing?"

            "Well, with Sasami asleep, and everyone else busy, SOMEONE has to make the

refreshments," Washuu said. She had Pathos hold a tray of drinks.

Shampoo thought she saw a small blue ball fall into one of the cups from

Washuu's hand. And something about the ball looked familiar...

 

            REBB sat at the player, looking at all the instruments and controls that

he'd been given access to. He was almost drooling.

            "This is a dream come true. There's enough power behind this thing to put

an ICBM to shame. And all the music ever made stored right in the databanks.

I've died and gone to heaven!"

            "Just don't hit the 'suck' control, okay?" Andrew laughed.

            Everyone stared, making Andrew very aware of what he had said. "Does it

have one of those controls?" Ryoga leaned over to Bryan.

            But Glyph interjected. "It does, after those guys read 'The Farside'."

 

            REBB picked up the mike, "Guys and Gals, its time to start playing the

hits and smackin' 'em down. We've got a dance party going on, and it's time to

see who can rock 'til they drop. Kicking off our countdown is a song that'll

have you all moving your feet. From Wilson Pickett, here's Land of 1000 Dances!"

 

            Glyph noticed there was a slight problem. Even though the guys had the

names of their 'dates', they all acted like wallflowers. Nobody looked sure on

what they wanted to do.

            As the music began to play, Glyph took a very nervous Bryan by the arm and

led him to the dance floor. Then she whispered something in his ear that she

felt would assure his first lesson would be successful: "Step on my feet, and

I'm borrowing Uc-chan's spatula" then she noticed his nervousness. "Just

joking."

            "Glad ya told me," Bryan smirked.

            "Come on, I'll show you the simple one and go from there. Did you ever

hear of a dance called the Lindy Hop?"

            "No..."

            She smiled. "Okay, just follow me..."

 

            Everyone followed her lead.

 

            As Zechs danced with Akane, he smiled, "Your fianc‚ won't be jealous, will

he?"

            "That insensitive jerk? Who needs him?!"

            "Methinks the lady doth protest too much. As a man in love myself, I can

spot the signs in others all too easily. You really care for him, so why deny

it?"

            "But he's so insensitive. I mean...there are days when I wonder if he even

knows that I'm alive."

            "Oh, he knows. Believe me. He knows quite well. Instead of fighting with

him, why not tell him how you feel, instead?"

 

            Skuld shook her head, but smiled. It was kind fun dancing with someone her

own age.

            Shinji, for his part, was trying very hard not to let her see him sweat.

 

            "Are you enjoying yourself, Rei?" Andrew asked.

            "Yes," Rei said flatly, staring at Andrew with those eerie red eyes of

hers. The only indication that she was sincere was the slightest of smiles that

played across her face.

 

            "You're so much like the pigtailed girl," Kuno was saying to Linna as they

danced, "Truly, the resemblance is uncanny."

            "If you make one more reference to this 'Pig-tailed girl', "Linna warned,

"I'm going to flash fry you with my patented fireball."

            "Hey, Kuno, I'm warning ya," Ryoga laughed, making Kuno a little

surprised. "Linna ain't no softie! You don't want that spell on you."

 

            "You good dancer," Shampoo said to Duo, "And strong, too. Make women of

Chinese Amazon tribe jealous."

            "Well, being a pilot means you have to know how to move," Duo said,

spinning Shampoo, "Rhythm is the key."

REBB picked up the mike once more, "Ladies and gentlemen, I've just received a

request that I cannot refuse, so without further ado, here's that old time

favorite, Stayin' Alive!"

As the music begins to play, Glyph and Bryan dance deliberately to the DJ

center.

"Disco?!" They ask in unison.

"Like I said," REBB looked a bit amused, "I couldn't refuse."

At that moment, the doors to the Holotheater opened, revealing Prince Vegeta in

a white suit and moving to the music like he was John Travolta in Saturday Night

Fever.

"One thing I'll say," Bryan smirked, "He always knew how to make an entrance..."

"Yeah," Glyph sighed, "But thankfully, I'm not Ayeka right now..."

 

            "Just so we're clear on this," Cypher said, looking Urd in the eye, "We

are NOT a couple."

            As Urd matched his moves on the dance floor, she laughed abrasively, "As

if."

            Cypher though, gave a faint smile.

 

Inu-Yasha and Lain both had sat down at a table. Kagome had complimented him on

the outfit that he had borrowed from Ryoga and Andrew, but he wasn't so sure

about this dancing thing. Kagome and Lain actually started talking together.

Ryoko leaned in, smiling. "You kids having fun?"

Kagome nodded. "Oh, go and join them, Inu-Yasha, have some fun..."

He gave a snort, not quite amused.

"Uh, I'm not sure, what's going on..."

"It's called dancing," Kagome explained. "I guess you have never been to one,

have you?"

He said nothing.

Lain smiled, quietly. "Why don't you go out with him? Maybe if there was a

person that he knew..."

"Are you saying that I'm afraid?" Inu-Yasha turned to her.

"No, but sometimes it takes a familiar person to make an unfamiliar place worth

visiting."

 

            "You aren't half-bad, sugar," Ukyo said to Ryoga, "I guess all that

training you do is good for something after all."

            "Well, you're pretty good yourself. And you look cute in that dress."

            KLANG! Ryoga felt the floor as others ducked out of the way. He sat up.

            "Aw, go on! I'm not cute."

            "It's true," Ryoga said, rubbing his head and remembering that head

injuries were usually the result of paying Ukyo a compliment about her looks.

<What's scary is, that's when she takes it as a compliment>

            "Uh, why did you bring you bandoleer?"

            "Nani?" she asked.

"Never mind," he sighed, but then got up. He smiled her direction again. <Ya

know, she isn't that bad, once you know when to duck. I can see why Ranma and

her are friends.>

 

            "And now something from the eighties," REBB said, "Here's 'Always I Wanna

Be With You.'"

            Just then the doors parted, and two tall figures in flowing capes entered

the room.

            "Emeraldas! Harlock! Glad ya could make it!" Bryan called, "Cut a rug, you

two."

 

            Shampoo approached Bryan as he was at the table, catching his breath,

"Bryan, Washuu put something in one of the cups. I saw her..."

"Shampoo? You're speaking in unbroken sentences."

            "I always speak in unbroken sentences. What are you talking about?"

            "OH! I get it. It's the Babel fish. It doesn't translate the audio, but

rather the mental part of speech. Therefore, I'm hearing what you mean to say,

and not what's actually being said. Wow. So, you were saying, about Washuu?"

            "She put a pill in the cups. I think it was the love potion from that

bracelet."

            "Damn. I knew I shouldn't have retrieved that from the ocean after P-chan

coughed it up. That's the one day pill, and it was in my lab."

            Ryoko and Ayeka were both making light plates for themselves at the table,

when the both grabbed the last slice of curry bread.

            "I saw it first," Ryoko said.

            "Possession is nine-tenths of the law!" Ayeka remarked.

            Just then, the bread was gone, and Linna Inverse licked her lips as she

swallowed it down.

            "That hit the spot," She said, joyfully.

            "Ayeka, let's get her," Ryoko said.

            "I'm with you," Ayeka replied, and then she began laughing,

"Ohohohohohoho!"

            Linna's eye twitched involuntarily, "Fireball."

            The charred figures of Ayeka and Ryoko lay twitching on the ground.

 

            Glyph smiled at her partner, then thought of something. "Hey, Pathos,

where's Mew?"

            Pathos stopped, and looked at the digital watch on his wrist. "It say six-

fifteen-Red Drawf Mara-mara-ath-thon,"

            "Oh, yeah," she shook her head, almost laughing.

            Bryan looked at her, puzzled.

            "It's a TV show from Great Britain, it seems our pokemon got addicted to

it. Really goofy."

            "That's different, it seemed most kids got addicted to Pokemon!"

 

            Suddenly, Glyph gave a whistle. Everyone paused. "Okay, got a game for all

of you. It's an elimination game. But first, ladies, you gotta piggy back your

partner."

            "Huh?" Bryan asked.

            "Pathos, hand me the ball."

            "Okay, guys and ladies, this is a game called 'Polo'. First you got to get

to a position to ride on the guy's shoulders, okay?"

            "If you dare look up my dress," Asuka warned Gai, pouncing on his

shoulders, "I swear I'll kill you."

            "Ryoga? Sugar?" Ukyo looked down at Ryoga, whose eyes were clenched shut.

            "I see nothing. I see nothing." Ryoga repeated over and over.

            "Ayeka, would you get your knee out of my ear, please!"

            "Guys, you gotta be sure that they're staying on-and you can't use your

hands to get the balloon. Ladies, you can bat the balloon around, but you can't

kick it if it heads for your ankles. The object is to hit the balloon while the

music is playing, but once the music stops, the team nearest or holding the ball

is out of the game."

            The murmurs began again. Glyph lightly touched Bryan's head, then jumped

up, like a cat. REBB began the music, "Mama Mia," by the A*teens.

"Uh, I'm not pressing your glasses too hard into your head, am I?" she asked.

"It's not a problem," he smiled, "Gotta warn ya, though, that I'm a bit of a

klutz."

"That's ok. I'm not Mary Lou Retton either. Just try and stay on your feet,

please. Unlike you, I can't recover from a head wound on cue."

Then there was giggling, and bustling about. The ball was batted back and forth.

"Ouch, you twit!" Inu-Yasha blurted. "Watch out for my ears!"

The music stopped, the first eliminated being Ryoko and Char. The space pirate

didn't even seem mad. They started again.

"Ryoga! Open your eyes!" Ukyo blurted, just as the lost boy bounced the ball off

his knee, high enough she could spike it, just before the music stopped. Urd

caught it. Her and Cypher shrugged, but finally both broke into a smile at each

other.

Linna actually bounced it off her head, just as Glyph swatted it back. Her and

Kuno were eliminated.

Shampoo and Duo gave a swat, and eliminated Ryoga and Ukyo, luckily with no

injuries to any parties.  The ball found it way into their hands, eliminating

them. Then Skuld, Shinji, Akane and Zechs, got out of the game, which only left

three teams as REBB changed the music. The game went faster, due to the beat of

"I Think We're Alone Now"-the one that had been redone in the eighties.

"Ahh!" Andrew yipped as he missed the ball, and he and Rei were taken out.

Glyph gave a swat, and ...

"Hey!" She yelped. She struggled to stay upright, just as Bryan...

Nobody saw when they had landed...

As the dust settled, they saw Bryan lying face first on the floor. Glyph was

sitting on his back looking a bit disoriented. She stood up and tapped Bryan's

shoulder, "You okay? Nothing broke?"

He dusted himself off as he rose to his feet, "I...I think so."

As they walked over to the table, Bryan remembered about the pill in the

glasses.

"Glyph, I poured some new drinks, because we think Washuu spiked one. We think

the pill is in the vessel with the pestle."

"The vessel with the pestle?"

"But you don't want the vessel with the pestle. You want the chalice from the

palace."

"The chalice from the what?"

"The chalice from palace," Shampoo spoke up, "Is little golden chalice with

picture of palace."

"So the chalice from the palace is the brew that is true?"

"Unless she tainted it. Then it might be the flagon with the dragon."

"Why do I feel suddenly like Mrs. Meers?" Glyph grumbled. "Which glass is it?"

Bryan picked up a cup and started drinking, "God, I needed something to drink.

We're not sure where it is. We know it's the one day love potion that Ranma and

crew had a run in with before, but we're not sure where it is."

"I see."

Bryan picked up the glass and swallowed the rest, "We have to be careful,

or...ACK! Can't...can't breathe..."

"AIYAAA!" Shampoo started slapping Bryan on the back, "Is pill! Is choking on

pill!"

Glyph's knowledge of first aid sprang into her head, "Shampoo, NO! Heimlich

maneuver! You're gonna make him..."

"GULP!"

"...swallow it."

Suddenly, she grabbed his glasses. "SHUT YOUR EYES!" she ordered.

Andrew came up quickly, "What's going on?"

"Love potion spiked punch," Glyph shot a glare at Washuu, "Bryan almost choked

on the pill."

"Isn't that the one where you fall instantly in love with the first person of

the opposite gender that you see?"

"I think so."

There was a marked silence in the room. Glyph and Andrew looked around to see

that all of the girls were suddenly hiding behind various objects in the room,

or behind the guys.

"No offence, Bryan," Ryoko called, "But I don't want you chasing after me for

the next twenty-four hours."

"Boy," Tenchi sighed, "I wish I had your problem some days. I have to

practically beat them off with a stick."

"Amen," Ranma said under her breath. She was immediately socked by Akane, who'd

somehow managed to still hear it.

"Washuu, this is all your fault!" Ukyo yelled, hiding behind REBB.

"I wanted to see if it would affect Ranma in girl form," Washuu said

defensively, "How was I supposed to know that Bryan would get it?"

Andrew thought quickly. Glyph didn't know about Bryan's new little curse, but he

did. He hatched a plan.

"Glyph, have him look at you."

"Drew-hon?"

"Listen, the pill won't flush from his system until he looks at SOMEONE, and

once he looks at you, we can take him back to the JEDRI, and keep him there

until the Startica Festival tomorrow."

"But, won't he be pining away?"

"We'll keep him occupied. Out of sight, out of mind, right?"

"All right," Glyph sighed, handing his glasses back over. "Bryan, look over

here."

Bryan opened his eyes, "Glyph, you're...you're gorgeous!" The light was a rosy

fuzz around her. He, for a moment, felt like running away with her, kissing her,

feeling her close. His imagination was flying-

Hurk!

Andrew grabbed Bryan by the collar, "Come on, Romeo. This way."

As soon as they rounded the corner, Andrew looked grim, "Hope this works."

He dumped his soda on Bryan, who transformed into Brittany once more.

"Cured?"

"Yeah. Now I have to stay like THIS for twenty-four hours. You couldn't have

maybe shot me instead?"

REBB looked around the corner, after following them. "Are you sure about that?"

"No way, REBB, but we may have to do a quick clothes change. THIS will be a dead

give-a-way!" he grabbed the shoulder of Brittany's shirt. "I think Glyph has

something that'll fit you. Follow me."

 

It looked all right, for a sundress. White with a floral print, not quite into

the pastels, but soft enough. Andrew fitted a white band over a brown straw hat

and set it over the girl's head. "Well, at least you don't have to wear make-up

if you didn't want to. What do you think?"

"I think that I have to be the biggest DORK to let you talk me into this!" Bryan

balanced on the platform sandals, then tried to take a step. He stumbled, and

Andrew caught the girl. "How the hell do you walk on these things?"

"Be thankful they're not high heels!" Andrew smiled. "I gotta ask Ranma how

those worked out in the second movie."

"How do girls do it?" Bryan got a look in the mirror. Then he pulled the skirt

down in the back. "God, this is drafty!"

"Glyph seems to know, but then, she never acts like a typical girl. Normally,

she wears panty hose under that, but I don't think either of us wants to figure

that part out!"

"Too bad that it don't look right without a bra."

"You did figure that out on your own, right?" Andrew asked, looking away.

Bryan glared. "You DON'T want me to answer that! God, it's so weird having

these..."

"I DIDN'T NEED TO HEAR THAT!"

 

When the got back to the party, at least then "Brittany" had had practice on the

sandals.  Actually the newcomers complimented the girl.

She leaned over to Andrew. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

Glyph smiled, and came up to Andrew, giving him a kiss. "Hi, Brittany, glad you

could make it after your rest. That dress looks great on you...in fact, I think

I own something similar."

"Brittany" tried to smile back. "Uh heh, yeah, you do, Bryan told me at that

last minute, and I didn't think to pack anything. Andrew..."

"Oh," Glyph turned her gaze to her boyfriend.

"He just directed me to your room, I found something to wear. I hope you don't

mind..."

Glyph gave a chuckle. "Don't worry about it. If you need to borrow anything

else, just ask, oakies?"

"Sure."

With that, the dark haired girl sat down.  Ukyo then slid in next to her,

leaning at her ear.

"Hey, Brit, cross your legs," she whispered, "Girls don't sit like that."

"Then how come you don't?"

Ukyo gave a snort, "I do when I'm in a dress. Fortunately, it ain't very often."

"Hey," Glyph called, " Come on and dance, guys..."

 

Actually each of the party goers had a fun moment. Glyph asked Ryoga to help her

show off some line dancing. She snagged Inu-Yasha, so he could learn something

new. Everyone giggled.

"Hey, if anyone wanted one that was even more dumbed down, we could do the

Macarena!" Glyph snapped.

"NO!" everyone responded.

 

Brittany walked over to the DJ station, "I see you still haven't found the 3-D

feature."

"What's that?"

"Hit that button right there."

"Whoa. No way. This is a joke, right?"

"Nope. Just pick a band. Actually, try that one, there."

REBB looked at the band Brittany had suggested, and grinned, "OK. It's got a

beat and you can dance to it."

With the press of a button, a holographic band appeared on stage, "Ladies and

Gentlemen, for your dancing pleasure, Priss and the Replicants, with their smash

hit, Hurricane!"

 

While the others began dancing to the music, Andrew walked up to Glyph, a smile

on his face, "Well, the crisis is dealt with. We have him secured and taken care

of.  I always said you could turn a guy's head, but brother..."

"Oh, you're a BIG help," Glyph smirked, as the two of them began dancing.

"He's probably gonna feel like an ass in the morning," Andrew said, "Go easy on

him when you see him again."

"I can see where blurting something like that out would be embarrassing, but he

didn't do anything wrong. Besides, a gal likes being told she's gorgeous every

now and again."

"Which is why I make sure that I tell you," Andrew said, kissing her on the

forehead.

"That you do," Glyph said, holding him a little tighter, "I feel bad for

Brittany, though. None of the guys are dancing with her, and she looks like

she's the shy type. Why don't you dance a round or two with her, just so she

doesn't feel left out?"

Andrew sighed internally <Well, this was MY idea...>

"But who will you dance with?" Andrew asked.

"I can fill in," Captain Harlock said, bowing to Glyph. She had heard of the

legendary Space Pirate before, but she had never seen him up close and in

person. Despite the patch on his eye, or the jagged scar on his cheek, there was

a certain handsomeness about him. And he certainly had a chivalrous manner about

him that Glyph had to admire.

"I'd be delighted," she smiled.

 

"Bryan," Andrew whispered, "I hate to break this to you, but...well, may I have

this dance?"

"That had better be your attempt at a joke, or I swear, the next and last thing

you ever see will be my own version of a Kamehameha."

"Glyph thinks 'Brittany' is being neglected. If I don't do it, she'll think

something is up!"

"Hey, you two," Glyph said, dancing past with Harlock, "Hurry up and join the

fun!"

"I'm sorry to be a party pooper, Miss Bellchime," Brittany said in a shy tone,

"It's just...I'm not really a dancer. I'll just sit here with REBB, if that's

ok."

"Well, I don't want you to feel like you're being forced. But if you change your

mind, there's plenty of guys available."

As she danced on, Brit and Andrew sighed in relief.

"THAT was close."

"You think that's bad," Brit said, "I want to ask Ayeka to dance, but given the

circumstances, I think that might look a little strange. Don't you?"

 

A few of the party goers offered to do live performances. Rei went first,

singing "Fly Me to the Moon."

"That's beautiful, man," Cypher said, practically choking up.

Ayeka did a rendition of "Oujosama to Oyoubi", leaving most of the men cringing.

Only Vegeta and REBB seemed unphased.

Someone though got Ryoga up there to do "Shattered Dreams".

"The money you owe me," The changeling said out loud, as Ranma grumbled and

reached into her pocket. "Come on, pay up," Cypher smiled.

Glyph did her own take on "Crush On You". She sat down on the DJ Station edge,

and even danced a little. The crowd giggled some, as she stopped the Lost Boy

from getting down. It kind of left him gawking. Andrew then got in on the act

and gave Ryoga an escape.

Cypher shoved Tenchi up to the station to do a rendition of "Simply

Irresistible" as a duet. But then quietly Cypher did "No One Ever Is To Blame"

by himself.

And then a holographic Doco was summoned to perform a few of their hits.

 

Several songs later, REBB called out, "Last song, boys and girls, before we have

to shut down for the night. And so, to set the mood,  soon here's Boyz 2 Men

with 'It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.'" Suddenly, REBB produced a

flare gun. The others nearby gasped. REBB leveled it at one person.

"Hit the deck, Shinji!" Linna called.

But instead, a flare touched of the edge of the holographic theater. Starbursts

exploded quietly onto the wall and ceiling. "Wow, oooo cool!" the others sighed.

It rippled like water above everyone's heads.

"Now that's a finale," Washuu smiled.

And they danced until the music faded away.

"You've been a wonderful audience. Remember, the 2 o'clock show is completely

different from the 9 o' clock show. Be seein' ya."

 

The guys hustled their butts back over to the JEDRI, snagging as many of the

food items with them as they could. Bryan was forced to remain on the Drummond,

however, so as not to arouse suspicions.

"I pity you," he whispered to Andrew, "You're the only one in charge over there

now, and you've got that bunch to deal with."

"Just remember not to go in any hot water, or you're going to be in a very

difficult situation."

 

The girls were lounging around in the rec room. Skuld was playing a video game

when "Brittany" and Glyph walked in.

"EEEEEeeeeeeee," Glyph looked disturbed as she watched the screen, "Skuld, you

couldn't have chosen another game?"

"I happen to like Resident Evil," Skuld said, unloading several bullets into an

advancing zombie.

"Problem, GB?" Brit asked.

"Zombies....brrrrr...they give me the willies."

"I know the feeling. I'd rather face the whole of Frieza's army than a single

zombie."

"Zombies are the least of your worries," Ryoko grinned devilishly, "After all,

this ship is haunted, you know."

"Haunted?" Asuka asked.

"No way!" Ranma-chan said, "There's no ghosts here."

"W-Washuu, there aren't really any ghosts, are there?" Ukyo asked.

"Brittany?" Glyph asked.

"Well, there's a few cursed objects in the lab, but I don't THINK there are any

ghosts."

"Don't believe me," Ryoko said, "It won't make any difference. This ship was

made in subspace, where restless spirits wander all the time. Is it so hard to

believe that one of them got caught and found its way to this plane?"

 

Andrew grinned proudly, "Well, the entry to the Drummond is sealed for the

night. No way for anyone to make trouble for anyone now."

"Famous last words," Zechs said, pointing at the view screen. Andrew fell on his

face.

"Wh-When did we get HERE?" He stammered, as he saw the umbilical bridge of the

JEDRI connect with the docking bay on the torpedo tubes of the Drummond.

"Bryan plotted the course earlier. We're on an automated course to dock with the

Drummond, so that data and material transfers for Startica can be arranged more

easily tomorrow."

"D'oh!"

 

"Streaking?" Ryoga asked. REBB, Cypher, and Duo were all nodding and grinning.

After hearing Duo saying, "I'm in," he asked him what they were talking about.

"Nani?" he asked rather loudly as the others hushed him. "Look, before I agree

to anything, you  gotta explain something..." here he paused. "What is

'Streaking'?"

 

A brief explanation later...

 

"No WAY! Absolutely not!" Ryoga yelped. They hushed him. "No way, I'm not gonna

run over on the girl's side buck freakin' naked!"

REBB sighed, "No, we just wanted you to keep a lookout as we do a bet on someone

else."

"Lookout?"

Cypher smiled, "In other words, you gotta watch the corners!"

REBB continued, "Yeah, think about it. If you got lost..."

"I GET THE PICTURE!"

 

Vegeta pulled a strange looking pokeball from his clothes as he sat down.

##What's that? ## Mew asked.

"Oh, a friend of yours," Vegeta smirked, "The only Pokemon I'd have in my

collection. Mewtwo, come on out."

##YOU BROUGHT HIM HERE!!!???###

"There goes the neighborhood," Andrew sighed, watching miserably as Mewtwo

popped out of the pokeball.

>>AT LAST I AM FREE OF MY....AW HELL, I'M STILL UNDER VEGETA'S CONTROL, AREN'T I?<<

"How the hell did YOU capture him?" Andrew stared. "Or better yet, how much

territory did you tear up while doing it?"

 

"Miss Ryoko, you really don't expect us to believe that some sort of spirit is

wandering this ship, do you?" Ayeka asked.

"It is true," Rei said in that flat tone of hers that refused to be argued with,

"Ryoko, Zechs, and I have all seen it."

"If Wonder Girl says there's a ghost, then there's a ghost," Asuka said, "She

doesn't have the imagination to make that up."

But by then everyone was a little tempered for being scared and for ghost

stories.

"It reminds me of the time that Nagha and I found ourselves on Mipross Island,"

Linna said, "That was some creepy stuff..."

"Have you guys ever heard the one about the Hitchhiker," Brittany asked in a

hushed tone, "There was a young man driving down the road, when he saw a

beautiful young girl standing by the side of the road, her thumb out.

"Well, she was fairly attractive, and he noticed that it looked like rain, so he

decided to risk letting her ride with him. He pulled over and opened the back

door, letting her in.

"'Thank you', she said, 'I'm trying to get to town. I'm supposed to meet my

family for vacation, and my car broke down a ways back.'

"Well, he hadn't noticed any cars, but there were a lot of side roads, so he

didn't give it much thought.

"'Forgot your cell phone, did you?' he asked her, except, she gave him a weird

look, like she didn't know what he was talking about.

"'What's your name, anyway?' he asked her. 'Amy,' she said.

"She told him her family's address, and then drifted off to sleep. He drove

through town, until he came to the address that the girl had given. Except,

there wasn't a house there. Instead, there was a small convenience store. He

turned to ask Amy if she was sure about the address, except that the back seat

was empty. She was gone, just like a vapor."

 

Andrew felt his nerves being very taunt. It seemed so weird that the two most

powerful pokemon...fell silent in front of Dave Lister and Arnold Rimmer.

"...And on that day, Satan will be skating to work!"

Andrew suddenly thought, Arnold old boy,  if I make the wrong move, you and me

both will be joining him.

 

Meanwhile on the shuttle, Xellos, Cologne, Meowth and James were into the same

show. But it was hardly quiet. Jessie was fighting off  Happy.

Until a staff struck Happosai...

"I want to hear what's going on!" Cologne snapped. "You two sit down and watch

the show!"

 

Glyph led Brittany around to the bathroom, to ask if she'd help her out of the

dress. "Brittany" looked at her oddly.  "Sorry, it just seems that I just want

someone normal to talk to for a while. The guys are okay, but sometimes I just

want another girl to blab to."

"Well, uh....I can unzip you, and then I'll just look away while you change..."

"We're all girls here, Brit. Nothing we haven't seen before, right?"

"It's just...I'm kinda...well, y'know, shy."

"Hey, I know the feeling, but I never gave into it. Need help outta that?"

>Damn it, Bryan< He thought to himself, >Keep those eyes averted or you're going

straight to Hell! If Andrew ever hears about this, he'll kill me<

"Hey, I'm been meaning to ask, and sorry for sounding so weird, but why did Rei

bitch-slap your ass?"

"Nani?"

"Why did she hit you?"

"I was giving my honest opinion of Gendo Ikari. Evidently, she's a fan of his,

and offered her rebuttal."

Then "Brittany" noticed Glyph laying down the dress, and picking up a black T-

shirt. It had "Ryoga Hibiki: Anime World Tour 1999" on the back. She pulled it

over her head. Then she tossed the light blue shirt and a pair of lilac printed

shorts to Brittany. Then she pulled the PJ bottoms on.

"Let's go see if everyone's settled for the night..." Glyph laughed.

 

Meanwhile, the other girls were getting a little nervous. As they undressed and

got ready for bed, nervous giggles past around. Kagome asked Rei if she could

borrow some PJ's. None really wanted to repeat the pillow fight from the night

before.

Glyph and Brittany soon entered.

"Let's all hit the sack," Glyph said, "We've got a busy day tomorrow."

Then she noticed that several of the girls looked like they could use a few

nite-lites. The story telling must have continued past her and Brittany walking

off.

"Everyone, we're sleeping in large groups, so there's nothing to worry about,"

Brit said, "Besides, we have some of the most powerful people in the universe on

this ship. We're all perfectly safe."

 

The familiar jingle of the end of Red Drawf came on when the others began to

notice that the founder of the Anything-Goes Martial Arts School...was messing

with something he shouldn't have been.

"What's an 'Emergency Transporter'?" Happosai asked the others, looking at the

strange device at the back of the shuttle.

"Don't touch that!" James yelped. He, Jessie, Meowth, Cologne, and Xellos all

leaped at Happy to stop him, just as there was a tingling noise and a bright

light.

 

Glyph, Brittany, and Washuu all walked into Bryan's room. Glyph took the bed,

while Brit and Washuu unrolled sleeping bags.

"You're more than welcome to take my place on the bed, Brit," Glyph said.

"It's alright," Brittany said, fluffing her pillow, "It's plenty comfortable

where I am."

"So, Glyph, what's it like having an admirer?" Washuu asked connivingly.

"It's your fault," Glyph retorted, "The poor boy is probably having the worst

night imaginable under the effects of that pill!"

"Say, Brit, your 'cousin' is only acting on the pill, right?" Washuu said slyly.

"How should I know? I'm not a mind reader!" Brittany acted a little bit miffed.

"Washuu, that's not funny," Glyph said.

"Hey, did anyone hear that noise?"

>From the hall came a soft shuffling sound.

"No," Washuu said, diving under her sleeping bag.

"Uh-uh," Glyph added, pulling the covers over her.

"Didn't think so," Brittany said, scrambling under the bed.

 

"Shhhhh!" Duo said, looking at his fellow streakers, "Now, you all know why

we're here, right?"

REBB raised his hand.

The others rolled their eyes.

"You just had to throw that lame joke in, didn't you?" Ryoga snapped. "You're

the one that made the bet, you idiot!"

 

Meanwhile, Happosai and Xellos were wandering the ship. Jessie and James hadn't

taken the transport too well, leaving Meowth and Cologne to try and revive them

while the Resident Troublemakers headed off in their own direction.

 

"What was that sound?" Emeraldas asked Linna.

"You mean that low scraping noise like someone or something walking down the

hall that's supposed to be empty, the sound that reminds us of some hideous

monstrosity lumbering around in the dark?"

"Yes," Emeraldas confirmed, "That sound."

"No clue. But we could investigate on our way to the galley. Shall we?"

"Why not? I'm certainly not afraid of things that go 'bump' in the night."

 

Glyph suddenly bolted upright. "Now I know I heard something," she whispered,

but then aloud, "Hey, I forgot to take my pills, I'll be right back."

"Pills?" Brittany asked, halfway sleepy and muffled under the covers. The others

were already asleep.

"Move it, kiddo."

But then they heard something that sounded like a giggle.

"Heard that?" Brit asked.

Glyph nodded. She picked up what looked like a heavy chunk of something.

"Don't use that!" Brittany hissed. "That's one of m- I mean, Bryan would be mad

if you cracked someone over the head with a Gundam model!"

"Oh yeah, sorry." Glyph smiled faintly, putting it down. "I wish I had my old

clay box that I did in ceramics. God, it was hideous enough to make a weapon!

Anything here that would work?"

"Well, let me look. Hey, here we go! It's the Lord of the Rings Trilogy in one

book. That ought to pack some weight."

"Bryan won't mind?"

"Nah. He reads the leather bound edition. This is used to weigh down drying

model parts."

"Okay, that'll work. I always did have good swing."

"Wait a minute, I remember Ukyo mentioning that she saw Tsubasa earlier."

"Nah. Andrew directed him to a maze program in the JEDRI's holotheater, so he's

probably more lost than Ryoga right now." Glyph smiled.

 

Ryoga sighed, leaning against the wall. What was taking the others so long? All

they had to do was run down the corridor in their birthday suits to his

position, and then they all could get outta here.

All the guys beforehand had changed into black, so they could hide in the dark.

Ryoga was no exception, except for the bandanna.

"Come on, come on, you guys, what's taking so long?"

 

Linna and Emeraldas had kept quiet. Linna kept a small light in her hands so

they could see where they were going.

 

Andrew now felt really nervous. Vegeta had let Mewtwo out of the ball, and had

gone to grab a drink. Then he turned and noticed that the pokemon were gone!

Both of them.

"I'm in trouble," he gave a faint whine.

 

Linna suddenly whispered, "Get back!"

Emeraldas slid into the shadow as well.

            "What did you see?"

"There's someone in the corridor...or something!" Linna Inverse began her

explosion array spell.

Emeraldas stalled her. "Wait, what if it's someone we know?"

"It isn't like you to be so cautious, Emmy," Linna snorted as she stopped the

spell.

"Don't call me that," Emeraldas snapped. "I just don't think our friends would

appreciate it if we fried someone at random."

"Okay, I'll just do this the old fashioned way..." Linna took a hold on a good-

sized, heavy, empty tank, and hefted it.

 

Ryoga suddenly felt someone behind him. He spun around, just as he saw the end

of an air tank coming down on his head. Bongk!

Linna  and Emeraldas felt the jar. They looked at the person on the other end of

the tank, and then realized he was still standing. It took a few more minutes to

realize just WHO it was.

"What did you do that for?" Ryoga sighed as he picked up the dented base, and

set it quietly on the floor. "Ya know, that did hhhuuuurrrrrrrrr...>Thump!<"

With that, Hibiki-kun was out for the count.

"Wow, tough hide!" Linna murmured, looking over Ryoga. "Hey, ain't this the guy

they say gets lost all the time?"

"Hmm, it seems Hibiki-san must have gotten lost again. We'd better get him to

the infirmary, he might be a little miffed when he wakes up."

Linna lifted Ryoga onto her shoulder, "Man, now I'm glad you stopped me..."

A bandanna stuck though to the wall where Ryoga's head had made contact.

 

Asuka wanted a drink of water. She got up, still feeling a little edgy from the

ghost stories. But then she had handled monsters from space and other horrors.

This place wasn't so scary, she reasoned. Still, she wondered maybe if she

should have asked someone to walk with her.

No, she grumbled. "I'm not a child."

Then something tall suddenly glowed in the corridor...

"Boo!" the voice giggled in her head.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" she yelped and ran away from Mewtwo, just as he started to laugh a little.

 

Linna and Emeraldas went to the galley after dropping the boy off to the

holographic Kasumi. She had cheerfully accepted the job, even this late at

night. Then both women found in the freezer of the galley several cartons and

gallons of ice cream.

"Oh wow," Linna got excited. "This stuff tastes great!"

They decided to find a place to eat where they could just talk by themselves, or

were thinking of inviting along Ukyo for the ice cream. Emeraldas had a quart

while Linna carried three five gallon buckets.

Suddenly, they paused as they heard a sharp scream, and it kept getting louder.

Linna paused, holding the spoon to her mouth. Asuka flew down the hall, running

at full tilt! However, Mewtwo flew just as fast after her and looked to be a

light streak.

Linna and Emeraldas just blinked. "Did you see that?" Emeraldas asked, a little

uncertain.

"No," Linna muttered. "And neither did you!" She bit down in the ice cream on

the spoon.

 

Asuka paused, standing on her toes, against a wall. She looked either side and

breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't seeing the creature. Abruptly, she felt a

very cold and WET spot at the base of her neck.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Mew smiled slightly, and watched the Eva pilot taking very fast and large steps

away from him.

The attack of the cold, wet nose always worked.

 

 

Ranma sat straight up. Hearing a scream, all the girls began to jump up in

alarm. But then they began screaming on their own for a different reason!

"It's the old freak!" she blurted, as the girls were diving left and right.

Ranma suddenly felt herself pitched into the wall. Rei Ayanami seemed

unperturbed as the others dodged and ran after the fleet footed creep!

The door suddenly flew open as Glyph emerged with in one hand the thick, weighty

novel, and the other her light bo. She had the battle aura around her, and

looked absolutely furious. At that point, the Eva pilot caught him.

"HAPPY, BE READY FOR A POUNDIN'! I should have done this a long time ago!"

Brittany was beside her, suddenly grabbed her arm and whispered into her ear.

"Huh?"

Then she kept going a little more. "That might work, thanks Brit! You go open

the portal then."

 

The other girls were still upset when the leaders left, carrying a very tied up

Happy. But Akane noticed something. "Where'd Ranma go to?"

Shampoo, and Ukyo suddenly were thinking the same thing. Sasami and Kagome then

picked up a scrap of paper from the floor.

"Akane? This has your name on it," Kagome showed her.

The note read.

"Akane, I'm going to find another spot to sleep. I think Glyph would want less

trouble from me. See ya in the morning. Signed Ranma."

"Where do you think, he, I mean, she, would go to?" Ukyo asked.

 

Ranma found a bathroom on the JEDRI unoccupied and started running water in the

sink. Not even checking to see if it was warm, he dunked his head in. The black

hair showed up. Ranma then grabbed a towel and wrapped his hair in it. Shutting

off the water, he tried to remember which room was Pathos's.

When he did find it, he quietly opened the door. And blinked.

It looked to be several blankets nestled together, but on top of them were Inu-

Yasha, Pathos, and Shinji, besides several cabbits and Pokemon. Pathos was

already asleep.

"Wow, it's like a nest!" Ranma whispered to himself.

"It is a nest," Inu-Yasha muttered. "Pathos here scrounged for most of it. Been

here for weeks, apparently."

"Sorry, I didn't know you were awake."

"I am not 'Sleeping Beauty' here, but come on in. As Pathos said, 'Flop where

want.'"

To which Ranma chuckled and did just that. He found the most comfortable

position was to lay with the feet pointing out of the nest. And soon they were

asleep.

 

Harlock and Vegeta were sitting down to drinks when Tenchi burst in.

"I don't believe it," He gasped, "They've done it this time."

"Done what?" Vegeta asked.

"The other guys, they're on the Drummond. And they're streaking."

"They're doing what now?" Vegeta asked.

"Running around without any clothing on," Harlock said, finishing his beer.

"Oh. Oh well. So, you were saying about Maetel?"

"Oh. Well, she's Emeraldas's twin sister, but she's off on the Galaxy Express,

roaming the cosmos."

"GUYS! This is serious! Sasami is on that ship. What if she wakes up and sees

something she shouldn't?"

Harlock stood up, "I'll go check it out with him, Vegeta. Why don't you and

Andrew try to keep things calm over here."

 

"Wh-where are you taking me?" Happosai looked a little worried as he saw the

glint in both Glyph and Brittany's eyes.

"Well, since we couldn't restrain you with a holodeck, or keep you confined on a

shuttle," Brit smirked, "I thought of the one place that not even YOU could get

out of."

"Whaddya mean?"

"Glyph, do you wanna tell him, or shall I?"

"Oh, you do it," Glyph smiled, "It was your idea after all."

"Happy, have fun in Hammerspace."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" was the last thing they heard as they flung the pint-sized perv into the other dimension.

 

"How's a gal supposed to get any sleep?" Ryoko asked, holding a pillow over her

head, "It's too noisy out there!"

"You said it," Ukyo said, grabbing her spatula, "Let's go lodge a formal

protest."

Ryoko summoned her sword, "Not a bad idea, actually."

The door opened and Ukyo saw a very naked and very surprised Duo Maxwell.

Cypher and REBB rounded the corner. Cypher also appeared to be without apparel.

"Hey, Duo, what's the hold-up, dude?" he asked before realizing. "Uh oh," he

squeaked.

Ukyo had a rather impressive vein standing out on her forehead, and Ryoko was

grinning evilly.

"You three are in soooo much trouble right now...."

All hell proceeded to break loose.

 

Ayeka was tucking Sasami in again, "Get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a busy

day."

"Ok, Ayeka," Sasami yawned.

There was a knock at the door. Ayeka opened it to see Harlock and Tenchi.

"Ayeka, you haven't seen a bunch of guys running around here, have you?"

"No, Lord Tenchi, I can't say I have?" She blushed and had a silly smile on her

face, "But you didn't have to concoct some wild story to come see me, you know."

"It's not like that at all," Tenchi protested, but keeping his voice down so

that he wouldn't awaken Sasami.

 

Vegeta had been through all sorts of torture before. He'd been beaten

mercilessly by Frieza. He'd been pummeled by Broli. He'd even been humiliated

constantly by Kakarrotto and his brat. But never before had he experienced pain

like this. A quick sideways glance confirmed that Andrew was suffering just as

much as he was.

"Isn't it great!" Gai Daigoji was holding them both in a group hug, "It's

wonderful that I have someone I can finally show my Gekigengar Three videos to.

The pathos. The drama. I tell you, they just don't make them like this anymore."

"As the science officer of the Nadesico might say," Shara muttered, "These

people are idiots."

"If he tries to show us Gekigengar Five, I'm going to kill him," Vegeta said to

Andrew under his breath. Andrew, for his part, looked too far-gone to protest.

"I'm gonna barf," he muttered.

 

 

Akane and Shampoo were walking down a darkened pass, when they bumped into

Washuu.

"There's something strange going on here. Put these on, you two."

"What are these things?" Akane asked.

"Hardsuits. I found the specs in the lab. Ordinarily, it takes a few days to

program one, but I happen to have an edge."

"What that?" Shampoo asked.

"Well, only that I am THE NUMBER ONE GENIUS SCIENTIST IN ALL THE UNIVERSE!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Akane was holding her ears, "There goes the element of surprise."

Just then, three naked men ran past, pursued by Ryoko and Ukyo. Washuu blinked,

but said nothing.

"That pretty surprising," Shampoo said, wide-eyed.

Akane jumped into a hardsuit, "You come back here you PERVERTS!"

>From nowhere, her hardsuit produced a VERY large hammer.

 

Glyph clapped her hands together in satisfaction. "I have a feeling though that

if Happy got loose, so did the others..."she turned to Brittany. "I think we got

to do a little round up."

 

Duo laughed as he got ahead of everyone. This was fun, even though he was being

chased by several angry girls. He turned to Cypher.

"Okay, now what?"

"I'm thinkin', I'm thinking," the changeling responded.

REBB ran next to them, in his griffin form. "Never mind that, where's Hibiki? He

was supposed to be around here!"

"I saw a piece of cloth back there," Duo threw his thumb back. "Yellow and

black!"

Cypher let out a puff. "I thought you made it clear to him to stay put!"

"I did," REBB yelped.

"Do you think somebody else had a different idea?"

"Huh?"

With that, the guys did a turn that split them up. Cypher yelled, "Find that

cloth when you ditch the, YIPE!" he ducked the hammer. Akane had been too close.

 

Brittany sighed. Glyph rubbed her face with her hands. All the girls were now

up, and they were complaining that they had seen a group of the guys racing

through the Drummond, without their clothes.

"If I could find a way, Ray Steven's would have never made that song," Glyph

shook her head. She though smiled when she saw Brittany's startled gaze. She

then sang the first lines from the song's chorus.

"Oh, yes, they call him 'The Streak'... Look at that, look at that,"

 

Cypher made it to the infirmary in one lucky piece. But then he had hid as the

wall, then dashed there when he was certain that Akane hadn't followed him.

Still, he had hid as a mouse, so it had been a little easier to hide than the

rest of the guys.

Someone was having medical treatment. Cypher paused when he saw the lights being

on low and the Kasumi Hologram up and running. Hmm, this could be curious.

He started to circle around the biobed, and lit up it. He sniffed then

remembered that changelings really didn't have that great of smell. The figure

was pretty still, though breathing like the sleep of the dead drunk. He soon

recognized the color the kid was wearing.

Ryoga! So this is where he ended up...

Kasumi looked up from her work and noticed the rat hovering over her patient.

Normally pests were taken care of the Drummond long before they hit the

infirmary, but she decided to deal with the little creature the old fashioned

way. "Zod, I need a broom," she murmured.

 

Cypher felt the shadow, then turned, seeing the broom. "Ut oh, " he muttered,

before feeling the straw hit his face. Ouch! He leapt off Hibiki, and ducked.

Kasumi though, swung the broom around, a hockey stick feel. Cypher jumped as the

broom was exposed to his nether regions.

"YEOWPE!"

Suddenly, the little furry ball rolled under a cart. Kasumi went after it, only

to find the rat to be gone.

"Hey, Kasumi-sama, you chasing down something?" a pleasant voice purred. The

holographic Kasumi turned and spotted the easy-going character paused near the

cart.

Cypher saw her puzzled look, but she returned to smiling and asked if there was

a medical emergency. Cypher smiled back, knowing he had fooled her, and said he

just came up to check on the boy.

"Boy, Hibiki-san, somebody gave you a pop-knot, didn't they?" he lightly patted

the bump.

Abruptly, Ryoga sat up, his eyes flying open. He put a hand on the same bump.

Cypher started to ask if he was okay, but then Ryoga crossed his eyes, and sing-

songed, "I'm only tree-an-a-half years old." Cypher began to wonder if maybe he

should give the guy another clunk in the head. Ryoga then made a slight "Bwee,

yahoo!" and Cypher kindly gave him a whap with a metaphysical paper roll.

"Hey, P-chan, snap outta it!" he yelped.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING P-CHAN!" Ryoga rubbed his head, yelling back.

Cypher smiled. "Glad you're back, now who gave you the bump?"

Ryoga continued rubbing, taking it a little more slowly. "Uh, it was one of the

girls, but I don't remember who..."

"What was she like?"

Ryoga gave her detail in bursts. "Ow, red hair, short temper, small chest..."

Cypher gave a snort. "Linna!"

 

 

Glyph and Brittany made it to the lab, where they started looking for something.

Everyone else was chasing down the streakers. "Damn, this door won't swing

open!" Brittany growled. She tugged on it while Glyph got onto her right. "Come

on, come on," she rattled it.

"Well, you sure are jiggling the handle, why don't you let me..."

BAM!

"Got it!" Brittany smiled, then turned to Glyph. "Hey, are you all right? I

didn't hit you with the door, did I?"

"Tweet," Glyph responded weakly, starting to fall.

"Tweet?" Brittany reacted, then noticed the girl falling onto her back. "Oh no,

she's gonna KILL me when she wakes up."

 

Xellos Metallum may have been a being from a world of magic, but as user-

friendly as most of the technology of the twenty-fourth century was, it didn't

take a rocket scientist to figure out how to use it. And even if it was only at

its most basic functions, most of the equipment could be considered dangerous in

the wrong hands.

And if the hands of a mischievous Mazoku weren't the wrong ones, then there were

none to be found.

"My, this looks rather interesting," He said, sitting in the cockpit of the

Epyon. With a touch of his finger, he disintegrated the anti-theft device that

had been installed.

"I wonder what it can do..."

 

As Bryan, still in his Brittany form, knelt beside Glyph, he couldn't help but

notice how peaceful she looked. With a quick heft, Glyph was on Brit's

shoulders.

>Am I still suffering under the effects of the love potion? Or did it just open

my eyes? She's really cute. Oh well, off to Sickbay.<

Brittany began walking towards Sickbay. Fortunately, it wasn't far off.

He felt Glyph shift her weight, and felt a tap on his shoulder, "I'm ok. You can

set me down, now."

"Alright. But we'd still better get Kasumi to take a look at that bump."

"I'll be fine, Bryan," Glyph said.

Before he knew what he was doing, Bryan said, "Are you sur...erk! Y-you knew!!?"

Glyph burst out laughing, leaning against the wall for support, "Not at first,

no. Certainly not during that little interlude in the changing room. But I'm not

as clueless as Kuno is. Brittany didn't act like any girl *I* knew. She carried

herself like a guy, she talked like a guy. But the biggest clue was the glasses.

I mean, I can believe that a cousin of yours might wear glasses. But the exact

same frames, right down to the tiny nick in the right lens?"

"I had to hide like this to keep the love potion under control," Bryan said,

sighing, "I didn't mean to deceive you."

She flicked the end of his nose with a smile on her face, "I'm not upset, silly.

And anyway, it was kind of fun to just chat like we've been doing."

Bryan flushed deep red, "Oh God, I'm so embarrassed."

"Oh, yeah. About that," She kissed his cheek, "Thank you for the compliment

earlier."

Bryan promptly fainted.

"Gee. And this started with him carrying ME to sickbay."

"Um, Miss Bellchime, we have something of a situation," Belldandy said, coming

up.

"What now?"

"It seems," Lain's voice came over the intercom, "That Xellos has commandeered

Zechs's Gundam. This is not the only problem, however. We're in space belonging

to the Klingon Empire, and they're none too happy about it. We're currently

surrounded by seven K'Vort Class Birds of Prey."

 

Harlock sat in the command chair of the Brian Drummond, while Emeraldas beamed

over to the bridge of her own ship.

"We always have such interesting parties," Emeraldas smirked.

"Things like this irritate me," Harlock sighed, "Just once, can't we have a

fight where we're NOT hopelessly outnumbered?"

"Oh, you know you like it," Emeraldas said.

"Heh," Harlock smirked himself, "You know me too well."

"Bryan to Bridge... OW! Careful with that icepack, PLEASE! I've ordered Zod to

assemble some mecha for our usage against the Klingon ships. With our

fabrication equipment, it won't take but a second."

"JEDRI, This is Bellchime. Zechs, you have the most combat experience over

there. Detach and be ready to attack on the left flank. Andrew! Pattern Hawking

and Starwind-ready on mark! Code Tale-Katal! "

Bryan noticed Bellchime starting to run.

"The JEDRI may be a Defiant class ship, but we'll all take a rattling...But

we're strong, we all are!" she chanted.

 

In the hangar, a fully functional clone of Evangelion Unit 01, a Valkyrie VF-1S

with heavy armaments, and a copy of the first Gundam ever stood ready to launch.

Bryan, still in his girl form, Rei, and Glyph were all there.

"I will pilot Unit 01-B," Rei said.

"Good. Better you in that soul sucking monstrosity than me," Bryan muttered.

"Bryan, which do you want?"

"I'll take the VF-1S. I'm familiar with its transformation capabilities."

"Right. That leaves the Gundam for me."

"We've outfitted it with two beam sabres and it's Beam Rifle. Now, I'm going to

try to negotiate with the Klingons first, but a show of power will always help

in that regard. Mostly, our mech are to help reign in Xellos, since analysis

indicates he has no idea what he's doing in that thing over there."

"But if all else fails, REBB can back us in the Oni. That thing can deck walk

pretty good."

 

"T-think....think I'm going to throw up," Xellos said. Oddly, he was smiling as

he said this.

 

Were this the only set of problems, it would have been enough. But since Murphy

was feeling generous at that moment, Duo, Cypher, Ryoga, and REBB had just

discovered that the JEDRI had disconnected, and with the Drummond's shields now

up, they couldn't beam back. Duo had found a space suit to slip into, since

running nude through the ship while being chased by two girls in hardsuits was

not his idea of a swell time.

Asuka had just come out of hiding when she spotted the guys, "Hey, what are you

doing here?"

"Hiding," Duo whispered, "keep it down. We don't want the crazy, violent one to

find us."

"You haven't seen Evangelion yet, have you?" Asuka said, rolling up her sleeves.

 

##This doesn't look good ## Mew informed his clone.

>>I AGREE. BUT THE HUMANS SEEM TO HAVE THINGS UNDER CONTROL<<

"Hi guys," Ukyo said, "You haven't seen some buck-naked twerps around here, have

ya?"

>>NOT THAT WE'VE NOTICED.<<

 

"Jeez," Andrew sighed, "Why does it always happen this way?"

"Could be worse," Zechs pointed out, " Vegeta is in the power core adding to our

shield strength, so I doubt anything is going to touch our ship. Just focus on

keeping everything calm. This is a dangerous situation, and we don't  want to

provoke anyone until ready."

"No duh," Andrew muttered under his breath, then, "Pattern Hawking and Starwind

in effect. We're gonna have some wide swings, guys, so be careful. Shara, status

on Code Tale-Katal?"

"No contact with the Outlaw Star as of yet. But that might just mean that the

phone's off the hook."

"Do you think any Washuu's virus programs be of any use?"

Shara made a snort, "Only the 'Henry the Eighth' one."

Andrew winced. "Lemme guess, it repeats that song over their whole ship?"

"Yeah?"

"Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo," Andrew groaned.

Zechs smiled, "We aren't quite ready for that, Shara, thank you."

"Well, were aren't going to be totally out numbered."

Zechs watched as they both noted the arrivals of three mecha. Andrew swung with

the first pass.

 

"Yeah, you heard me right. Yeah, you come here and say that to my face!"Bryan

was yelling into his comm. Of course, he was still a girl.

"Bryan...I thought we were going to negotiate?" Glyph said, blinking.

"They're Klingons. This IS negotiating."

"Still, I don't think you needed to call the fleet commander a half-blind

proctologist."

"Is that what I said? Oops. Got the accent wrong on the klingonese."

 

On the bridge of the lead Klingon ship, the captain looked at his first officer,

"We aren't at war with the MST guild at this point. The only question I have to

ask is if we want to be."

"That one brunette is very insulting. Do you think she's single?"

The captain gave his officer a wink and a nudge, "You take a fancy to her, eh?"

Just then, one of the Birds of Prey lost it's port wing assembly, as Epyon,

piloted as if by a drunken man, crashed through.

 

"We have GOT to reign in that Gundam!" Bryan sighed.

"I will get it," Rei said, moving in to grab the smaller mech in the

Evangelion's hands. She missed, when a Klingon torpedo slammed into her AT

Field. Fortunately, the Eva was intact, but Rei was a bit shaken by the

explosive force of the anti-matter warhead.

"HEY!"

"Our bad," the Klingon said, "We were aiming at the erratic robot."

 

Bryan watched in horror as the Epyon's beam saber was drawn and active.

"Everyone DUCK!"

Klingon ships bowled over each other left and right trying to avoid the

careening mecha. Glyph's Gundam was bumped by a Bird of Prey, and went flying

into Rei's Eva. Bryan switched his Valkyrie into plane mode and dove below the

playing field. Emeraldas activated her shields to block the dangerous collisions

that were about to occur. The JEDRI slipped around ship after ship, Andrew

focusing on retrieving Glyph's Gundam.

In the chaos, the shattered wing of the Bird of Prey was still flying at the

Drummond at several hundred meters per second.

It collided with unpleasant results.

"MY SHIP!" Bryan moaned.

 

Duo saw the debris coming towards them. "Duck!" he yelled. They dived under the

fallen beams as they heard the strange sound, and felt the wind tugging at

debris.

"Shit! They blew a hole in the hull!" REBB snarled, grabbing onto the wall.

"Hang onto something fast!"

Ryoga grabbed on and felt something snag his wrist. Cypher had his eyes closed;

he held his body ridged.

Suddenly, the wind abruptly died. All the objects that had been swirling in the

air, fell onto the floor, and the debris pile that already was covering the

boys.

Ryoga wondered why his left ear was suddenly ringing. Then he became aware that

Cypher was yelling in that ear. It was dark, and he felt  a little pinned in.

"Cypher!"

Duo grabbed his shoulders, about shaking him. "Cypher, enough, we're okay!"

Cypher though instead of calming down, got worse. "No! No! They're here! They'll

kill us! We gotta go! This cave isn't safe!"

Duo stared into Cypher's face. "Cypher, we are fine! This isn't a cave!"

"Could he be...?"

The two others were a little surprised to hear that coming from Ryoga.

"...claustrophobic? Or remembering something else?"

Duo tilted his head.

"Hey, Hibiki, do you think that a couple of Bakusai Tenketsu-s will get us out

of here?" REBB thought aloud.

Ryoga responded positively. Then Duo put his hand over Cypher's eyes.

"Nice kitty, good kitty," Duo began to murmur. "I have a good plan,

Cypher...become a cat. They can fit in anywhere. You can get outta here if you

calm down and listen to what I say..."

If changelings could cry, Cypher would be...

 

The girls were a little puzzled as they saw the battle going on the outside.

Ukyo and the two pokemon were even staring out the windows.

 

"Okay, this is getting too weird!" someone shouted.

 

Glyph had managed to stabilize her Gundam, and quickly sized her own mech up

against Epyon. The original Gundam, she realized, may have been a classic, but

Epyon was a monster. But with Zechs's input, she had found a weak spot, where

the beam saber connected to the main reactor. She targeted it with her own

saber, and went in close to cut the circuit. She succeded, but at the same time,

collided head on with the more advanced Gundam. She felt a sudden jolt, and then

went unconscious.

Bryan and Rei seized the arms of the Epyon, halting it in its tracks.

"Beam the pilots to Sickbay," Bryan said, "Zechs, you get over here and pilot

this thing back to the hangar."

 

Glyph woke up, her head pounding. Kasumi leaned over her. "Miss Bellchime, is

everything all right?"

"My head hurts, but otherwise I feel okay...I take it that we made it..."

"Yeah," another girl's voice smiled. She looked up. Brittany, or rather, Bryan,

leaned over her.

Quietly, Glyph smiled. "I think we all need to get some sleep!"

 

Slipping through the corridors with the rest of the guys, Ryoga sighed out of

relief. Finally, exhausted, he asked REBB if he could ride on his back. They

were so tired...

 

"Man, that was just too much," Ukyo said, falling face first into her pillow,

"Wake me when breakfast is ready."

 

Akane was slipping out of the hard suit and into her yellow pjs with the kitties

on them.

"I guess we showed them, right Asuka?"

"You said it," Asuka replied, laying her own head down, "Bunch of perverse

mensch."

 

Andrew dragged himself to his room. He was understandably drained, "I don't want

to wake up for another two days or so, thank you."

"Everything's locked down tight," Vegeta said, walking into the room.

"Including Xellos?"

"Oh, he's a bit tied up at the moment."

 

"I'll get even with you for this Vegeta," Xellos smiled as he hung upside down,

tied up from feet to neck on a coat rack.

 

REBB stopped at his room. He had carried at least two of the guys, who had

petered out. They were very tired.

Cypher had taken Ryoga off, after he had fallen asleep on REBB's back. He had

unrolled the sleeping bag the lost boy had brought, and laid the kid down. In

taking off his shoes, he sets them nearby and then carried the sleeping Duo to a

bean bag chair in Andrew's room. Andrew was already asleep, as well. Quietly,

the changeling snuck out.

"Night," he called softly.

And they needed to get up the next day...

At what hour, none of them knew...

 

Glyph yawned, curling back under the covers. The other girls were starting to

drift off to sleep as well...

"See you in the morning, kiddo," she muttered to Bryan.

"Uh huh," Brittany responded back.

 

Two days down, and one to go.

 

To be continued...

 

Chapter 4

Index