From: "Sho-i Tanaka" SHOJO KAKUMEI UKYO Chapter 3 Disclaimers & dramatis personae in Chapter 1 Lilah sat at her desk in the offices of Wolfram & Hart, staring at a crystal sphere lit from within by a fiercely burning flame that stood out even under the flourescent lights. Her migraine was killing her. She looked up at the huge man seated across the desk from her. "Some master of the Dark Arts you are," she complained. "You were supposed to remove Angel's soul so that he would become Angelus once again, not replace him with some Chinese wacko who's managed to take over Angel's posse and halve the demon population of Los Angeles in just a week." "I did what you paid me to do," the sallow-eyed Fiend of Fiends replied. "And I did it in the way you prescribed, disregarding my advice to the contrary. You can hardly come whining to me about the results." "Look, the senior partners are VERY displeased," she countered. "You know what happens when they're unhappy." He shrugged indifferently. "If they were powerful enough to dominate me, we would not be having this conversation. Since they are not, your threats mean nothing. You will simply have to clean up your own mess, Lilah." He rose from his chair. "I must depart. My new album requires some additional work." "You can't leave me like this, Rob!" He looked back at her with a steely glint in his yellow, glowing eyes, and for a frightening second she thought she saw the X on his forehead glow that same shade of yellow. "You were a fun groupie once, Lilah, and the money was helpful. I think a big-shot corporate lawyer should be a big enough girl to handle her own problems, though. Good-bye." The door closed silently behind him, and Lilah laid her throbbing head on her desk, turning out the overhead lights. Next to her head, the crystal ball continued to burn with a cold, steady fire. *************************** Ukyo lay on the warm wood floor of her dorm room, enjoying the feel of Anthy's surprisingly strong fingers working the knots out of her muscles. Normally after a fight she'd retire to a nice warm bath, but this was definitely better. Anthy rubbed and stroked and the tension flowed away, leaving Ukyo in a pleasant state of lazy comfort, passively obeying Anthy's whispered command to roll over. The same strong fingers worked all around her chest and stomach, then moved upward to caress her breasts. Ukyo opened her eyes and was about to protest when she felt soft lips on hers. It seemed perfectly natural to embrace Anthy and return the kiss... [Insert torrid lesbian sex scene here. You want detail, go read "Lemon Sherbet". ] Afterward, they showered together and Anthy carefully dried her off with huge bath towels that were far fluffier than any that Ukyo had ever seen in her life. Ukyo felt more relaxed than she had in years, and thought with a sudden pang that she had gone the entire day without thinking once of Ranma. Anthy noticed the brief look of sadness cross her roommate's face. "Ukyo-sama, there's no need for sadness. I am the Rose Bride, and we are engaged. I knew you needed to relax, and I gave you what you needed." Ukyo shook her head. "It's not that, Anthy-chan. I was just thinking of my fiancee...wherever he is." "He'd want you to be happy, wouldn't he?" "Yeah..." Ukyo said half-heartedly. Sometimes she didn't know what to think of Ranma. It was an awkward situation he was in, thanks to his stupid father, but sometimes she thought that he flirted with her, Shampoo and even Kodachi just to annoy Akane, or perhaps out of some need for the attention he'd lacked for so many years on the road with his father. Her train of thought was derailed by the sensation of Anthy's arms enfolding her in a strong hug. "It's all right, Ukyo-sama. I'm here for you." There was nothing to do but return the hug...and the kiss...and... [Insert another torrid lesbian sex scene here] "Ohhhh, Ukyo-sama!" Anthy moaned. "I never realized spatulas could be so...so stimulating!" *************************** Hikaru Gosenkugi uneasily eyed the two martial artists and the three girls accompanying them. "You know, this is a little outside the scope of what I've been studying," he complained, fiddling with the shining dodecahedrons on his desk nervously.. "There are a lot of schools of magic, and..." "Look, Gosunkugi," Ranma explained patiently, "we don't know anybody else who knows anything about magic," (that we want to talk to right now, he silently added), "so you're all we've got." "Well, I'll do what I can. I'm not promising anything, you know." The uncomfortable silence was broken my the flat snap of plastic on wood. Tatewaki Kuno leaned over so that he was face to face with the seated freshman. "You now have all the financial assets you require," Kuno said quietly. "Find Akane Tendo and my sister." "H-hai, Kuno-sempai!" Gosunkugi stammered. "Well, we could begin by seeing what sort of magic has brought these girls here..." He stood and began pulling binders off his desk's shelf, flipping quickly through them and mumbling to himself. After a few minutes and half a dozen binders, he found the one he was looking for. "Yes, this is it. Come back here at midnight...no, wait. Let's meet at Ucchan's. I'll have all the materials." "M-m-m-midnight?" Keiko and Aiko whimpered Gosenkugi looked blankly at them. "Well, of course midnight. Don't you know anything about magic?" Yuko giggled, and Ranma rolled his eyes. A few minutes before midnight. Gosenkugi arrived at Ucchan's, staggering under the weight of a bag nearly as large as he was. "Thanks," he gasped as Ranma opened the door and grabbed the bag. Aiko handed him a bottled soda, which he waved off. "No, no thank you, I've been fasting to increase my spiritual purity." Once he recovered his breath, he looked at the others. "We need to perform the spell in the bedroom.That was where Aiko appeared, and that is where the remaining traces of magic will be strongest." They all trooped upstairs, and stood around uneasily as the student magician rummaged through the bag, pulling out various odd items. Eventually he poured a few dribbles of various powders into a mortar along with what looked like a dried rodent of some kind, added water, and pounded them all into a paste, which he proceeded to dab on everyone's foreheads. "What is this goop?" Keiko complained. "Don't ask," Hikaru answered, "We don't need you getting hysterical right now. All right," he said before taking a swig of the water, "everyone join hands and form a circle around the bed." He then turned out the lights, lit the candles in his headband, and began chanting. Whatever language he was chanting in, it wasn't Japanese, but it obviously had some effect. A sphere of red light slowly came into existence over the bed, and the dabs on the girls' foreheads shone with the same light. Hikaru's chanting slowed and stopped, and the light vanished. "So what's the deal?" Ranma asked, as Hikaru moved to turn the lights back on and snuff out his candles. "Nothing good," was the answer. "Whoever -or whatever- did this used a lot of magical energy, which means they were a lot more powerful than I could ever aspire to be. I can't tell how this was done, except that no death magic was involved and...waitaminute." He began riffling through the binders again and quickly found what he'd been looking for."Yes. This was definitely a combination of two different magics being done simultaneously but with the same purpose in mind. Something powerful interfered with both magics to amplify the effect, but it also deliberately goofed up the effect as well. It's almost as if some very powerful being was playing a joke on the original spell casters." "What then must we do?" Tatewaki asked. "I don't know," Hikaru confessed. "I do know somebody who might, though." "Not Cologne," Ranma demurred "No, actually there's a witch in California I've been learning from through the Internet. She actually has some experience along these lines." "What kind of horrible place does she inhabit, that she has need of such knowledge?" Tatewaki asked. "It's a town by the name of Sunnydale." *************************************** A ragged figure appraoched the gates of Ohtori Academy. Around his head was a yellow-and-black bandana. The rest of his clothing was bleached nearly colorless by the rains of many continents and the light of many more strange suns as yet unseen by the rest of mankind. He looked up at the gate. "Ohtori Academy," he mused. "Never heard of it before. Wonder if I'm back in Japan?" Suddenly he spied a familiar face among the girls within. "A-Akane!" The familiar voice jerked Akane's head around. "Ryoga!" she cried joyfully. Free at last! she thought. Running up to the gate, she was stopped by one of the seniors. "No approaching the gate, Miss Tendo," he sneered just before she punted him directly to the school infirmary. "Oh, Ryoga, it's so good to see you! Ukyo and Kodachi and I have been here for almost two weeks now, and this place makes Furinkan look sane!" "Can't you get out?" "It's forbidden by the school rules. Kodachi tried, but we found her back in her bed the next morning babbling something about existential terror and a bunch of other postmodernist philosophical garbage. Ukyo's been busy pulping the Student Council because of this roommate of hers that all the girls hate and all the Student Council wants to possess..." "You're right, it is weirder than Furinkan. Stand back." "Huh? Oh!" The section of wall next to the gate exploded in a shower of gravel as Ryoga screamed "BAKUSAI TENKETSU!" Groundskeeper #1 turned to look at the damage. "Kuso! There goes our monthly bonus." Groundskeeper #2 nodded. "Yup. I'll get the duct tape and the cardboard." Groundskeeper #1 sighed. "I guess that leaves the sheetrock and cement for me. As usual." Groundskeeper #2 nodded. "Yup. Better turn on the lawn sprinklers while you're at it. "What for?" "That Hibiki kid. Can't abide cold showers." "How'd you know that?" Groundskeeper #2 spat disgustedly. "It's right here in the script notes. Page 88, see?" He brandished a sheaf of typescript at his partner. "Dang, you're right. I never get time to read all that crap. Well, I better get moving on the sheetrock or the Chairman'll take our next month bonus too." "Yup." ********************************************************** "I don't know what to do, Giles," Willow complained, wringing her hands. "Hikaru's been a good student, and even helped me research some of the spells I've been working on, but what can I do for him now? I can't just leave for Tokyo, not now!" "Yes, that's true," Rupert Giles admitted, polishing his glasses before he put them back on. "Perhaps you could send him some assistance, however." "Assistants? Like Tara? Oh, no, Giles-" "Actually, I was thinking of Amy." "But, but, she's still a rat, none of the spells we ever tried worked, what good would that do?" "Well, if this Gosunkugi fellow is as bright as you say he is, perhaps he has access to resources there that you do not." The red-haired witch thought for a moment. "He does seem to know a number of people who have been through this sort of transformation. Maybe he would be able to make this one spell work - I never seem to be able to get all the stuff I need together for it to work right." She brightened."That's it! I'll mail Amy to him plus this spell and that way everything should work out! Thank you, Giles!" "Oh, it was nothing," the former Watcher replied modestly. ************************************************************ "I'm sorry, Miki," Ukyo said to the groggy young duellist."I wish you could understand that Anthy's not some object for us to fight over, but a woman who makes her own choices." "She is the Rose Bride," Miki gasped, trying hard not to scream as he felt his broken ribs move with each breath. Ukyo tossed her ponytail in annoyance. "We'd better get you to the school infirmary. In the meantime - " Miki gaped in disbelief as the unconventional duellist removed her uniform top and the bindings that restrained her breasts. Never having seen an actual woman's cleavage before, he did what any red-blooded Japanese boy would do: developed a nosebleed and passsed out. Anthy giggled. ************************************ "This is intolerable!" Toga raged. "In two weeks that miserable peasant has thrown the Academy into an uproar! End of the World is NOT pleased!" Saionji muttered something, but it was hard to tell what it was through all the bandages. Since his duel with Ukyo Kuonji, he had been attending Student Council meetings in a wheelchair, but most of his body was still swathed in casts and bandages. "I don't see you rushing to challenge her," Juri observed coldly. "The moment is not yet right," Toga declaimed. Miki shifted uneasily in his chair. He felt more out of place than usual at these meetings, all the more so since his injuries kept him from indulging his stopwatch fetish. "Nevertheless, she must still be confronted and defeated if we are to bring the world revolution," he whispered. "I was...not ready for her." "Indeed, now that she wields the...the Spatula of Dios - " Toga's lips worked as if he had suddenly bit into a lemon "-she is an even more difficult challenge than when she wielded a merely material weapon." "Not that her technique was deficient to start with," Juri commented. She sighed and stood up. "Well, I suppose it's my turn in the barrel." "If it's any consolation, Juri, End of the World tells me we have another transfer student coming in." "So? I don't normally have anything to do with those." "It's Shiori, isn't it?" Miki whispered. Juri had been about to leave, but she spun back to face the President, eyes narrowed. "Don't play games with me, Toga! You know we were only friends, and that was over before she left!" "Mmmm...really?" Toga smiled lazily. "I think you doth protest too much, my dear. Yes, Shiori will be coming back to us. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you." Juri left abruptly, the council president's quiet, mocking laughter echoing in her ears. It was not until she was safely back in her own room that she dared look at the picture in her locket. "I can't let myself believe it," she whispered, the tears falling slowly from her eyes. "It would be a miracle if she still cared for me, and I can't allow myself to believe that..." ****************************************** Nanami was gleefully watching her new henchwomen descend on Anthy when suddenly she was yanked painfully backward and thrown against the building behind whose corner she'd concealed herself. "What do you think you're doing?" a menacing voice whispered in her ear. "Are you so eager to be the latest entry in Kuonji-kun's hit parade?" "Let go of me! You can't - " Nanami's complaint was cut off along with the flow of air to her lungs. "Can't? That is not a word one uses to the Black Rose of Ohtori Academy!" Nanami felt her spine turn to ice. In a few short weeks, Kodachi Kuno had become the most feared of the three Nerima girls, despite the fact that she never appeared to do anything. Nonetheless, Ohtori girls who ran afoul of her invariably had something hideous, embarrassing, or both occur. It had never occurred to Nanami that being the sister of the Student Council President might be no protection at all where Kodachi Kuno was concerned. "I've been watching you for some time, Nanami-chan. You have some interesting qualities, and under the proper guidance they could be quite useful when brought to full bloom. For now, I suggest you call off your litter of puppies before the wrath of Ukyo descends on all four of you," Kodachi whispered. "Now." The ribbon whipped away from Nanami's throat as quickly as it had previously captured it, and the girl stumbled forward. She rounded the corner just as Ryoko was about to deliver a full-hand slap to the Rose Bride. "Ryoko! What are you doing?" The girl froze, and looked at Nanami with wide-eyed surprise. "What do you mean, Nanami? You said-" "Never mind what I said. Just forget it! Go on to your classes. You too, Yoiko. Tetsuko, help Anthy pick up her books. That's right. Thank you, girls! See you later!" She watched as they scattered, looking back over their shoulders in confusion as Nanami stood there with a smile plastered on her face. Anthy looked at her with the same confusion in her eyes. She muttered an almost inaudible thanks and took off in the opposite direction, leaving Nanami alone. Kodachi emerged from the shadow of the building where Nanami had been watching. Like a panther stalking its prey, she moved smoothly across the courtyard until she was almost touching the younger girl. "That was well done," the Black Rose said throatily. "A little more training and you should be just perfect. Meet me here tomorrow." Her spine-freezing laugh rang out once again, and by the time the blizzard of black rose petals had dispersed Nanami was fleeing for her room. She knew that despite the sick sensation of fear in her heart, that she would keep that appointment. There was something fey about the Nerima girl, something dark that called to her at a level she could barely sense. It was a feeling she had never had before, but somehow she knew that if Aiko or Keiko were with her, they would know it for what it was. ****************************** C&C gratefully accepted!