“Uriel! What do you want?” Gina demanded angrily upon recognizing the voice, forgetting any potential danger as she laid into the unwanted member of the Dynasty of the Stars.
Archon and Asrial sat up straight at the Dynasty member's sudden presence, neither of them particularly liked her or in fact her entire kind. Archon and the rest of the Kryn because the Dynasty had ravaged their world, nearly driving the Kryn into extinction. Asrial on the other hand still blamed the Dynasty for that whole spring of youth incident, hardly one of her most pleasant field trips. They hadn't seen Uriel since she'd disappeared in the Ranma chase yesterday, they had hoped that she'd become bored or fallen down a never ending pit or something. Alas, that did not appear to be the case as their mutually least favorite person was now stood in front of them.
Uriel ignored with the superiority that can only be matched by most dragons and dismissed them as worthless for now as she raised an eyebrow at the archaeologists anger. “Tsk.. such hostility,” she answered mockingly as she stepped further into the room and walked aggressively towards Gina.
“You set me back weeks on that Beta tech project!” Gina stood up and shoved her face right into Uriel's face, both woman glared each other down neither was willing to back down in the slightest.
They glared for a while.
A long while.
“I can see you two are getting on just as well as I had expected,” stated a familiar amused voice.
Asrial took a sip of her coffee at this new and exciting plot twist, watching these things unravel in front of you was always interesting as long as you were not involved. Archon on the other hand had gone into a slight sulk and was glaring at Uriel.
“Penny?” Gina asked breaking out of her glaring match and looking at the figure standing in the doorway which was unmistakably her rival and her bodyguard Charlotte.
“Hey, girlfriend,” Penny greeted as she walked into the kitchen and grabbed a slice of toast to eat as she perched on the corner of one of the counters, “hey this toast is pretty good. Who made it?” she asked between mouthfuls.
Archon pulled herself from her glaring to raise a hand, gesturing that she'd done it and Penny nodded her appreciation.
“Where have you been? Last time I saw you, you were being chased by 'Uriel' over here...” Asrial questioned curiously as she cradled her coffee in her hands, giving a rather displeased nod towards the Dynasty member.
“I've been around, busy. I see you have all meet my latest house guest,” she said gently pointing towards Uriel, secretly counting down inside her own mind for the inevitable explosion.
“WHAT!?!” Was the cry from three simultaneous sources right on time, Penny smiled, you could practically set you watch by them.
“You're letting that Dynasty bitch stay at your house!” Gina blurted out in shock, being the first one to recover from the shock of the last statement.
Uriel tightened her grip on the staff in her hands and snarled at them, “Watch what you're saying insect!”
Archon rubbed her head, she really disliked Uriel but she was trying to be objective about the whole thing. “You do remember the incident yesterday were she tried to kill you?” she asked a polite mixture of sarcasm and curiosity.
Charlotte, from the sidelines, frowned at the memory and gave her opinion on that incident, “She was a meanie...”
Penny pursed her lips at the question. “Most vividly, however when we got back to my house again that Zardon woman had taken over with her killer robots and was using MY house as a base of operations,” she explained to the occupants of the kitchen who were listening carefully except for Uriel who was looking bored of the whole thing as she idly tapped her fingers against her question mark shaped staff.
Penny looked towards the Dynasty woman. “Uriel offered to helped me take back my house and get rid of the Zardonians, along with any other problems that pop up. In return for being my house guest until her ship is repaired and she's gotten what she came for,” she finished explaining the situation to the others and quite a tidy little arrangement it was too. There was no way the Dynasty woman was ever going to get her hands on Ranma so it meant that Penny had access to her abilities for the foreseeable future or at least until she was forced to get rid of Uriel.
Everyone else stared at Penny and Uriel, trying to decide which distorted their vision of reality more. Offering a member of the Dynasty a spare room in your house or a Dynasty member offering to help anyone outside of their own family.
Uriel picked up on their thoughts with ease. “Hmph.... I had a score to settle with the Zardonian. She now knows never to anger the Dynasty especially now I caught her tampering with whats left of my ship or else she will experience ultimate suffering,” she finished with a deep displeased scowl, her ship had practically been in bits by the time she had received the tampering warning. Between the time it had taken Uriel to travel from the basement of the Diggers house to the Pincer mansion, that Zardon bitch had nearly totally dismantled her ship with those cursed machines of hers.
There was a slight awkward silence that was borne from not liking a person in your presence but feeling unable to tell them to fuck off back to the hellish dimension they were banished to since it would be considered socially impolite. Ah the disadvantages of living in civilized society...
Still, Archon managed to break the silence quite well. “So... would anyone like some food before it starts getting cold?” she asked the group as a whole politely as she was taught when she grew up as a tiny little kitten, her politeness even included Uriel.
“Yeah...”
“Yes...”
“Thank you...”
“YES PLEASE! Can I have some toast?”
Were the various replies that came from the group including a slightly jerky nod from Uriel as if she was unused to this sort of thing, which truth be told she was.
Archon smiled gently at the overeager yellow harpy bodyguard as she passed a plate of the harpy's desired food to her before she telekinetically began serving the food up onto plates for the others with a skill that bordered artistic. It was obvious to all that could see that she was particularly talented in the use of her artifacts.
“Yay! Thank you Archon,” Charlotte said as she took the plate from the Kryn Empress.
Gina was next and took her plate off Archon with a thankful nod before purposefully hounding Penny into the corner away from prying ears to interrogate her about the whole 'Dynasty member staying as house guest thing'. “Are you INSANE?!” Gina hissed out to her old rival, possibly not the best the most political open words in an argument but it was Gina's pressing concern at this point in time.
Penny raised an eyebrow at the hissing Archaeologist/Inventor and folded her arms smugly in that 'I have just pulled one over you' way that she had. “I was faced with an exceedingly awkward situation and this was the most practical way of solving it,” she explained calmly and to the point, “she doesn't have to get Ranma either, just someone strong enough to strengthen their bloodlines.” Penny made a slight face at the thought of being used by her family as a mere brood mare the way Uriel was being used, the Dynasty of Stars were more than a little screwed up if you asked her.
Gina frowned as she took a bite out of a toast and bacon sandwich she'd pulled together on her plate. “The Dynasty of Stars are not people to be played with lightly Penny, they did practically destroy Aebra!” Gina emphasized trying to dissuade Penny from her current plan.
“I don't know if you've noticed but most of the people we meet now days are not to be taken lightly,” Penny answered seriously, “besides you are only this upset because she set you back so far on your Beta tech project.”
“I was THIS close to solving it,” Gina whined as she held up a tiny gap between her thumb and finger, unable to hold the frustration in any longer.
Penny rolled her eyes, “Girl, you have got to get out more often.”
“Hey, I get out plenty!” Gina stated firmly, offended by the notion she didn't have a good enough social life, “what about you and Ace? Hmmm?”
Penny grinned, “Funny you should mention that well you see....”
“I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU SAID THAT!!” Shrieked the shocked and angered voice of Archon as bits of cutlery and kitchen equipment begin flying around the room, rather effectively interrupting Penny's little chit chat as they had to seek cover.
It didn't take the pair of adventurers more than a few seconds to realize that Uriel had obviously said something that had deeply offended and angered the Kryn empress, however before they could interfere someone else made their presence well known.
“What is going on down here?” demanded Stripe as he strode into the room along with his wife Britanny who looked more than a little put out. Their little 'cuddle snuggle' had been interrupted by the racket going on over here in the kitchen and she was displeased that her private time was being wasted. He quickly assessed the situation, the flying objects were being controlled telekinetically and the culprit responsible was probably Archon. The other possible problem was the Dynasty member Uriel, Stripe did not like the Dynasty after what they had done to Aebra and so wasn't precisely thrilled that she had returned after yesterday but at least try to tolerate her presence, maybe even build an understanding between them.
Archon blushed in sudden embarrassment at being caught out having a temper tantrum and quickly controlled the telekinetic flying objects as she strove to compose herself, Uriel for her part relaxed from the attack position she'd moved into and stood warily whilst looking at the newcomer Kryn, this was the one that had defeated Rio. He was not one to be underestimated and not someone that she wanted to be fighting in her own weakened condition, he might have even proven a challenge even if she had all of her abilities again.
Britanny spotted Uriel pretty quickly and narrowed her eyes. “I see your still around,” she stated carefully with a somewhat dangerous tone under her voice, remembering that Archon had told she was around somewhere.
“Just a minor culture clash,” Uriel answered Stripe's question calmly, playing the whole thing down whilst giving Britanny a cool glare.
“Minor?” Archon all but growled, keeping herself in check by reserve of inner strength she really didn't feel like she had at the moment.
Stripe looked between the two, Uriel who had a calm 'who me?' aura around her and Archon who practically grinding her own teeth.
“Right....” he said slowly, trying to decide exactly what was going on and why on earth a member of the Dynasty was on Earth, let alone in the kitchen, “if someone would be kind enough what exactly is going on here?”
Uriel made a show of looking around the kitchen and at the food before replying. “Breakfast?” she answered innocently, proving that even the Dynasty had inherited the smart ass gene.
“Would you like some?” Charlotte asked wide eyed and innocent as she offered him a plate, completing Uriel's sarcastic joke by accident.
Stripe knew right there and then that today was just going to be one of those days. He idly thought about just going back to bed and hoping that tomorrow would be a better day, unfortunately he doubted Britanny would let him get away with it. Instead he sighed, “Thank you Charlotte, thats very kind of you” he replied as he took the plate off her, he hadn't had breakfast yet and it was usually him that cooked anyway so it made a change to not having to make his own breakfast. Stripe sat down at the breakfast table and took a bite of the food before nodding, “This is good, my compliments to the chief” Archon smiled, she might have no chance of getting Stripe now that he was Britanny but that didn't mean she couldn't appreciate a comment from him.
“You should try the coffee, its pretty good too,” Asrial commented idly as she finished off her cup and poured herself another one. Britanny twitched at the scene of near domestic bliss which strangely seemed to include the Dynasty tamp. “Why is URIEL! Of all people in our kitchen and why ain't we kicking her ass?” Britanny questioned with a stressed curiously.
“Oh no, we can't fight her. Uriel helped get rid of the nasty robots and then went into Penny's room with Penny were they made a lot of noise and now Uriel is Penny's new partner,” Charlotte explained hurriedly, she knew Penny would be upset if Uriel and Britanny started fighting.
Penny opened her mouth, closed it before slapping her hand across her face. “Charlotte....” she groaned in disbelief, how could she so innocently make a business deal sound so dirty?
From the way Uriel was frowning, she hardly found the thing amusing. Oh well, time for a cut in before a fight broke out.
“She's my new house guest and business partner,” Penny stated firmly before anyone else could say anything, “nothing more.”
“Of course she is,” Archon stated acidly looking at the Dynasty woman, “its not like any member of the Dynasty could care for anyone besides themselves.”
Uriel snarled, stepping forward to threaten Archon and was slapped in the face by a giant fish.
No, Archon had not just thwacked Uriel with a large haddock. That would be silly, no matter how much Asrial had wished she had.
What I mean to say when I say Uriel was slapped in the face by a giant fish, is that she was belly flopped on by a Atlantian princess traveling at... say... 23.7569 mph, give or take a decimal place.
The Dynasty of Stars are tough even without the legendary power their symbiotes gave them, however being suddenly and unexpectedly slammed into by a ninety plus pound fish could stagger anyone.
Needless to say Uriel went down.
“What the?!?” Britanny cried as she barely managed to avoid being hit by Uriel and what looked like... princess Tyr?
The tangled twist of two alien princesses crashed into the wall and promptly lost any momentum they had, falling to the ground in an ungraceful heap.
“Urgh...” groaned a rather unhappy Uriel as she tried get out of the heap she was in by none too gently pushing the giant fish off of herself. She was aided by Britanny who lifted the still stunned Atlantian princess off of her although that was more from Princess Tyr's benefit rather than her own. Stripe came over and offered his hand to the fallen woman, Uriel hesitated for a moment but grabbed his hand and pulled herself to her feet.
“Are you okay?” Gina asked princess Tyr, who was being supported by Britanny, whilst she looked the Atlantian over for any kind of visible injury.
The princess moaned to prove she had consciousness and grabbed her pounding head in her hands as she sat down on one of the kitchen stools. “What happened?” she asked disorientated as she tried to search her memory for what had happened in the last few hours.
“We were hoping you could tell us,” Archon replied wondering why the Atlantian princess had fell into the kitchen like that.
“Did something go wrong in Nerima?” Stripe asked from where he was standing next to Uriel who was displeasedly brushing herself off.
“It had better be something titanic,” Uriel stated darkly as she cracked her fingers, she was getting sick and tired of being taken down by these insects. Had the Dynasty fallen this far since their glory days?
“Nerima?” Tyr questioned curiously before memory hit, “Nerima! That... that... that... place!! Gah!! F*&KERS, when I get home I'm having Leviathan level that place!”
Everyone blinked at hearing the usually reserved Atlantian princess swear and threaten like that.
“Sooo... I take it didn't go that well then?” Britanny commented with morbid curiosity as she came closer and then recognized a scent hanging around Tyr. She narrowed her eyes, “Those wererat kids didn't do anything do you?” she asked whilst crackling her knuckles, despite being kids they were more than deserving of a good beat down for some of the things they pulled.
“Wererats?” Tyr asked confused before it came to here, “No. No! They saved me! Big Cat... gotta stick together... yes, yes... evil cats...”
“What?” Britanny replied confused, not sure whether to be offended or not.
She didn't get the chance to decide as Tyr grabbed onto Britanny's shirt and dragged the werecat forward in a surprising show of strength “A... Giant..... Ghost.... Cat.... tried.... to..... eat..... me......” she stated wide-eyed and stressing each word as if it was the most important thing in the world.
“Oookay...” Britanny murmured as she tried to disentangle herself from the crazy princess.
Uriel raised her tattoo covered eyebrow at this piece of information “What sort of place is this Nerima?” she asked with a mixture of curiosity and incredibility as she watched the conversation, completely forgetting her previous intents on beating Archon and Tyr down for their insults.
Tyr's head span on her shoulders to level a demonic gaze at Uriel, “Hell. On. Earth.”
Uriel blinked in surprise, but showed no other outwards reaction.
“Wow... exorcist moment....” Asrial murmured as she backed away from Tyr slightly, idly wondering if the Atlantian princess was going to start sprouting horns.
“She's scary!” Charlotte whimpered as she hid behind Penny away from the oddly acting Atlantian.
Penny decided she'd heard enough and walked past the others, wrapping her arms around the shell-shocked princess, “Shhh... come on, lets get you to bed. Everything will be better in the morning.”
Tyr looked at Penny intensely, “You won't let them get me will you?” she asked importantly.
“No, no I won't let anyone get you,” Penny reassured her and the princess relaxed enough to allow Penny to guide her out of the room towards one of Gina's guest bedrooms.
“Jinkes, that was... disturbing,” Gina stated as she took her glasses off and polished them before putting them back on.
Britanny crossed her arms, frowning. “What on earth could have disturbed her that much?”
“I've think we've established that it was Nerima that disturbed her... ” Stripe stated, feeling terrible for letting Tyr go alone although he hadn't expected her to be immediately dragged into the Nerima madness. He wondered why she hadn't immediately hit her light gate the moment that things started getting crazy.
Britanny sighed. “I hope she'll be alright,” she commented looking down the corridor where Penny took Tyr.
“I think she was just stressed out by nearly being eaten. I'll have Genn check in on her when she gets back with Séance but I think she'll be alright after a good nights sleep to calm down,” Gina stated authoritatively, she probably knew the most about biology and medicine out of all the people there.
“Quite correct daughter, the minor bad luck curse that was inflicted on her probably didn't help matters,” Dr Theodore Diggers announced as he stepped into the kitchen.
“Someone cursed Tyr?” Archon asked concerned for the Atlantian princess, the Kryn and Atlantians were allies.
“Yes, I noticed it when I passed Ms Pincer and Princess Tyr in the corridor. It was easily removed however I suspect that combined with the general unpleasantness of Nerima is responsible for her current state of mind. I shall have to look into the abuse of magic in Nerima yet again it seems,” Dr Diggers informed the group somewhat displeased before moving on, “anyway, I need everyone to assemble in the front room. I need to talk to you all and it would be best if everyone was there.”
“Why? whats it about dad?” Gina asked curiously.
“It's a family matter, however I think it best to be explained to everyone at once to limit any misunderstandings,” Dr Diggers stated, “now I have to collect your mother and her students from the Dojo, so if you could make your way to the front room and I'll explain when I return.”
Gina and Britanny shared a concerned glance, especially at how their father was being so cryptic but along with everyone else began filing out of the kitchen to the front room.
Theodore watched them go before striding off in the opposite direction, towards the Dojo. He had to first explain this incident to Julia, hopefully she'd take it better than she took Brianna. On the other hand Grave had built herself up a bit of a reputation, especially amongst any Jade natives and then there was her current status. Yes, Julia was possibly going to be less than thrilled. He just hoped to keep the misunderstandings as few as possible, otherwise this had a true danger of completely blowing up in his face especially if it came to a fight.
He sighed, why could things never be easy?
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(Posted Sat, 17 Feb 2007 19:42)
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