"'other group'?" quoth Ami.
"Oh yes, other magical girl groups," agreed the Doctor. "What, did you honestly think that Monsters From Beyond only menaced Tokyo?"
"Eh?" said Ami, the idea now seeming ludicrous when it was pointed out like that.
"I remember in Europe, ah, the memories," said Doctor Mizuno. "It was in 1974, I think. Thereabouts anyway. We had just finished our battle with Lounge Lizard over a precipice where they were building a hydroelectric plant, he fell into the wet concrete and was apparently killed. All we found was a big splotch of sequins."
"Lounge Lizard?" asked Ami, picturing a crocodile wearing a white polyester suit.
"Yes, anyway at that point we met our counterparts from Europe. Magical Panzer Girl Ausf-Chan was the German and the nominal leader of the group."
"How can there be magical girl groups in England?" asked Ami. "I thought the Moon Kingdom was the only magical kingdom."
"The 'Moon Kingdom'?" asked her mother. "Not familiar with it. The kingdom that granted our powers was right after some big war between an Earth Kingdom and something called the Silver Millenium. Both sides got wiped out except for a few survivors, which formed the Magical Kingdom of Everafter in a stable subspace pocket."
"Kingdom of 'Everafter'?" asked Ami.
"Yes, dear. From what I theorized later, there were several of these groups, leading to later tales of places like 'Shangri-la' or 'Neverland' or 'Prester John's Kingdom' - though oddly distorted tales because of the intervening time." The physician took her chair again. "From what I'd later worked out in correspondence with Ausf-chan's adviser Magical Shaman, there are at least eight other of these kingdoms that briefly formed after the Magical War and were the basis for legends thereafter. Most fell prey to the Eon Effect, where the gateways between Earth and these other realms drifted out of alignment. Others may have become unstable. All were magical kingdoms in the early Akkadian period."
"Eh?" said Ami, wondering if this was a dream. Pinching herself hurt, so maybe not.
"There are other magical girls out there?" asked Usagi, wondering why she never heard of this before.
"Survivors? Luna, there were SURVIVORS," hissed Artemis.
"Hush," said Luna. "They're still talking."
" - and so we got the drop on Fu Manchu's homonculus. We parted pretty amiably with the Pretty Valkyries after that - as you might imagine we were anxious to get home."
"I'll bet," said Ami, wondering what had happened to her nice orderly worldview.
"It was a different sort of world back then," said Ami's mother. "There always seemed to be a New Menace showing up every season. There was a Monster Of The Week, a Victim Of The Week, and we seemed to get a new attack sequence or powerup just after we needed it. At least until that last fight. Strange how things just seemed to fall into a pattern."
"Ain't it the truth?"
"Shut up, Artemis, I'm trying to listen!"
Ranma nodded from where he'd listened to the sitrep. A lot of things made sense from this angle. Kumori Mizuno had been after more than a simple investment after all. This made his hiring a lot more understandable. So he was going to be protecting a juku student - that was one thing. Protecting a juku student from enemies that her mother had made? Not only a different kettle but different fish. "Looks like I'll have to get some more ammo. I wonder if Sister Rosette would consider giving me a bulk discount?"
"Hmmmm," hmmmed Malachite. "These are all you've got?"
"They're all highly trained yojimbo," said the businessman. "Five year contracts, full confidentiality."
"They're all C-Class," pointed out Malachite. "Doesn't that mean they're fairly common?"
"No. This isn't like the grading system in high school," said the businessman with an air of someone who has had to explain this frequently. "A C-Class is quite skilled at a number of duties intended to keep their employer alive. Combat driving, firearms training, fighting skills. Here in Japan, there is an emphasis on the unarmed skills - each is at the least ranked second Dan in their individual arts. Each comes with a full set of references and is competent for the typical overseas business trip."
"I'm looking for something a bit more upscale," indicated Malachite.
The businessman shrugged and made a gesture. One of the women behind him stepped forward to hand him another book. "These are B-Class. Much more pricey, but these are the top of the line in bodyguards."
"I thought I had made an appointment with the local yakuza operator for hiring a bodyguard-slave," said Malachite, "not a local businessman."
"Mister Malachite, the Yakuza is a local business," said the businessman. "We provide services and products that can't be found elsewhere amongst more legal businesses. Such as waiving most of the paperwork involved in ownership. All of these B-Class are among the best of the best that you can get through the black market."
"These are on the black market for a reason?" asked Malachite.
"In such environs, it is often best not to inquire too closely," stated the businessman. "However, it is not leaking anything too secret to say they all crossed certain lines of legality in their employment."
"I'm not sure any of these will be sufficient," said Malachite, looking over the glossy photographs and the stats given for each.
"Perhaps if you told me what it is your employer seeks to protect him or herself from," said the businessman. "I might know other sources that I could direct you to."
"My employer's business is quite secret," said Malachite.
"Supernatural in origin?" asked the businessman, who chuckled at Malachite's glance. "Oh, come now, Mister Malachite. You bear a supernatural taint like a banner. No, please. Let me guess. It is one of my few pleasures."
Malachite sat back down, a little curious himself.
"Hmmm. Strong magic, dark taint, nice control, not undead," said the businessman. "Hmmm. Just opened a little import/export company in Shinjuku."
"You work with 'undead'?" asked Malachite, beginning to wonder if he was indeed in the right place after all.
"Yes, they have needs as much as any other group, and with few legal hassles or paperwork involved," said the businessman. "I myself am a vampire. As long as you keep a low enough profile, and avoid certain complications, you'd be surprised what you can get away with."
Malachite experienced a momentary loss of cool at realizing what the three women behind the vampire likely were. Thralls, enslaved to absolute loyalty to their master - and most likely part of his blood supply. One on the end especially looked pale.
"Magical girls?" asked the businessman.
"Hardly a big problem," said Malachite, sure that any failures were entirely within Jadeite's personal incompetence.
"Some of them can be surprisingly problematic," said the vampire cooly. "I was once a Dark General myself."
Malachite sneered at the thought there could be any comparison between himself and this middle-aged lackey.
"So, you're after that sort," said the vampire Yakuza. He reached over and toggled an intercom. "This is Kuro. Bring in the gold folder from my desk."
"Something interesting?" said Malachite, wondering what this was about.
"You need a specialist," said Kuro. "What you need isn't a bodyguard. That will come after the Dark Plan is put into operation or after you've established the Kingdom Of Darkness."
A woman came in, wearing a choker and looking pale like the other three. She handed off the folder to her Master who put it down on the table and spread the contents.
"What are these?" said Malachite.
"Specialists," said Kuro. "You don't have a five year contract with these. You set them up to do a specific job within a specific timeframe. These are the sort of people that other people hire a bodyguard to protect them from."
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(Posted Sat, 04 Dec 2004 08:54)
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