Luna was not a happy camper. No sir.
Well, most people would be upset if someone had slapped a gag over their mouths for no reason other than they found them annoying, but Luna was seriously on the edge, here.
Thus, it came as no surprise when, after Ranma removed the bandage, she pounced on the gray moon cat and both advisors briefly vanished into a typical "cartoon violence" dust cloud in a flurry of angry yowling.
Sailor Moon didn't notice. She was currently standing in-between Ranma and Sousuke while hugging Negi to her chest again with a serene smile on her face and little hearts surrounding her.
She was surrounded by cute, powerful boys! Now THIS is was her kind of superhero team!
Oh, sure, she loved Ami dearly, and Rei was... a big help, but Sailor Mercury was clearly new at committing acts of violence. Sailor Mars was not, but hardly seemed as ruthlessly efficient as Orion's new additions to the team.
That Luna seemed opposed to the whole idea only confused her. What was wrong with having more help? And what did it matter if they were men who weren't reincarnated royalty? Well, if Luna wanted to drive off the two new slices of beefcake she had been handed, or the ultra-adorable little British boy, she would have to get through Sailor Moon... who could throw a crying tantrum with the best of them! That'd show her!
Negi squirmed slightly in Usagi's relentless grip, his face flushed. As he had grown up without a mother or a wet nurse, he was fairly sure he had never had so much sustained contact with a woman's breasts in his life. "Don't you think we should stop those two?"
"I'M not getting anywhere near them," Sailor Mars said, shaking her head.
"Now that we've reached a more secure location, it would seem best that we exchange information while our... respective commanders are occupied," Sousuke said formally, hands clasped behind his back.
Sailor Mercury sweatdropped. "Uhm... Luna isn't actually our commander..." Though she had to admit the moon cat sure acted like it.
Sousuke blinked. "I see. Then who is your superior?"
"I'm the leader!" Sailor Moon cheered, waving one hand in the air as the other kept a death grip over Negi's chest (Ranma had been trying to figure out a way to get Negi free without physically manhandling Moon for quite some time. He had come up with nothing).
Sousuke wondered if it wouldn't be wiser to allow the cat to be in command, but didn't say it aloud. After all, if Sailor Moon was in charge, then she was of equal rank or higher rank than Orion, who was HIS commander. Superiors were to be obeyed at all times, and tended not to like having their competency questioned. "Understood. At this time we should transfer information so that each group is able to contact the other and find sanctuary if assaulted by the enemy. Here is our current address and a list of contact numbers, each one all but untraceable." He handed Sailor Moon a slip of paper. "I recommend you memorize the information and destroy that note to ensure the security of our operation."
The others sweatdropped, but Moon took the note. "Okay. So we should tell you about ourselves, right? My name is-"
"NO!!" a panting Luna shouted, suddenly diving out of the dust cloud and landing flat on her belly. "You can't tell them your secret identities!"
Sailor Moon pouted. If she couldn't tell them who she was, how could she go out on dates with them? People would probably notice Sailor Moon being escorted into a movie theatre, and she was fairly certain the seifuku would get her kicked out of most of the better restaurants.
Orion landed on top of Luna, swatting her in the head with his paw. "Idiot. They already know who Sailor Moon is!"
"WHAT?! Orion, you moron!"
Sousuke nodded. "Indeed. We already have a respectable dossier on Sailor Moon, A.K.A. Usagi Tsukino. Daughter of Ikuko and Kenji Tsukino, whom you reside with, along with a younger brother by the name of Shingo. You also attend Juuban High." He stopped and glanced at the others. "However, I have not had time to procure information on your associates. While I understand the need for secrecy, this information is critical to our operations."
Sailor Mercury nodded. That made perfect sense to her. Of course, there was always the chance that one or more of these boys were agents sent to kill them, but Ami wasn't an inherently suspicious person. "My name is Ami Mizuno. I live with my mother - divorced - and go to Juuban High with Usagi-chan."
"No! Don't tell them that! They can't be trusted!" Luna shouted in dismay. Orion snorted and jumped off of her.
Sailor Mars sighed. Well, if the others were going to go blab, she might as well do the same. Besides, there was no way to hide her involvement once somebody knew about Usagi and Ami; HER house had always served as their meeting place. "I'm Rei Hino. I live at the Cherry Hill Temple with my Grandfather. I don't attend Juuban High; I go to T*A Private School for Girls."
Her eye twitched as she noticed Sousuke taking down notes. "Why do you need to know that, anyway? Can't you just zero in on the youma like we do when they're causing trouble?"
"Negative," Sousuke said, putting away the notebook. "It's more efficient if we coordinate our efforts rather than act as a purely reactionary force. In addition, part of our tasks involve protecting you outside of battle."
"What?" Mars said, suddenly alarmed. "Now wait a minute, I don't want some crazy military nut stalking me all day!"
Sailor Moon, for her part, couldn't imagine what Mars' problem was. To her, the idea of being constantly escorted by handsome young men was a Godsend.
"Not to worry," Sousuke said with a slight reassuring smile that nobody actually found reassuring. "My last assignment was of precisely the same nature, and I gained valuable insight and experience as to the procedures when functioning as a bodyguard. I will not fail."
"That's not the problem here!" Sailor Mars said.
"Indeed. You DO go to a different school. That will complicate matters," Sousuke mumbled, rubbing his chin. "I suppose we can get Saotome reassigned to your school to keep watch."
"It's an all-girls school!"
"The position is not as a student."
"What?!"
Ranma shifted uncomfortably. "I dunno... wouldn't it be easier to get Rei transferred to Juuban?" For some reason, the thought of being a gym teacher for large classes of boy-starved girls around his own age sent shivers down his spine.
"Now wait just a-"
"Hold it, hold it, hold it!" Luna said, interrupting Mars' retort. "Now look here! We can't go about like these boys can be simply dragged into Senshi business! They have their own lives!"
Ranma shrugged. "Not really. I don't have nothin' better to do."
Negi shook his head. "I have to complete this assignment, no matter what!" His determined expression made him look even cuter, and he squealed as Sailor Moon hugged him tighter.
Sousuke was unrelenting. "This is my job."
Luna sweatdropped while Orion smirked at her. "Well... uh... this simply isn't their fight!"
"Aren't these youma dorks tryin' to take over the world? I'm pretty sure that makes it everyone's fight." Ranma slapped a fist into his palm for emphasis.
"Erk! Well... uh..." Luna stammered. Then she brightened. "What if they're recognized! The Senshi have magical defenses to keep from being recognized when seen! If people figure out these boys are allies of the Senshi, they could track the Senshi through them!"
Orion blinked in surprise and the Senshi suddenly looked worried. That actually WAS a plausible concern.
Sousuke sniffed. "I am well-trained in camouflage and covert operations. I will not be traced."
Negi scratched his head. "Well, actually, I have magical defenses like you just mentioned. It's sort of a glamour field that keeps people from noticing me off-hand when I'm using magic, or recognizing me at a glance."
All eyes turned to Ranma, who sweatdropped under the scrutiny. "Uhm... well..."
Orion blinked, noticing the sweatdrop. Of course! "I've already taken care of Saotome," he said smugly. "He has a magical disguise to use in battle, though he's not using it now." He made a show of glaring at the pigtailed boy. "What have I told you of not using your battle disguise? What if the enemy had gotten away, or an emergency response team had actually - Serenity forbid - shown up to deal with the fire and explosions?"
Ranma stared down at the gray tomcat who was lecturing him. "Huh?"
"Sagara, you have your canteen on you?" Orion said. Sousuke nodded, immediately understanding. Ranma took a split-second longer, and winced.
Splash! The Senshi all gasped as the muscular raven-haired boy was now replaced by a bitter-looking redheaded girl. Luna quailed, unable to think of another good reason to reject the new help that the girls would give any credit to.
"Wow! You look so... REAL," Sailor Moon said in surprise.
"For all intents and purposes, the change is 'real'. This disguise is a bit more inconvenient than your Senshi forms, since it relies on water of either cold or hot temperature to activate and deactivate respectively, but the unlike your glamour fields the change is physical, which makes identification much harder." Orion looked immensely proud as Ranma glared at him. Ranma had to admit that passing the curse off as a "disguise" was pretty clever, and might save him a lot of digusted looks, but he could have thought of a better time to bring it up than in the middle of a darkened alley after they were all tired from a major battle.
"I can see why," Mercury mused, utterly fascinated. "It appears he's literally lost mass. Where does it all go?"
"I think I can take a guess," Sailor Mars mumbled, looking at the redhead's full, round breasts. Of course, by all accounts Ranma was a bit older than her, so it made sense that he... she would be more developed, but the fire Senshi found it irritating that a boy's magic disguise was so much better looking than her.
"If there are no further issues that need to be addressed, I recommend we return to our respective bases," Sousuke said, much to Ranma's relief (Moon's thoughtless prodding and touching was getting annoying, and Mercury was oberving him far too closely and thoroughly for comfort).
"Oh, but can we meet again tomorrow?" Sailor Moon pleaded, her eyes wide and shining. "I wanna know all about you guys and how you beat up those youma and Jaedite! It was SOOOO cool!"
"Affirmative. I will soon be attending Juuban High, as will Saotome. We will have adequate time to share intel," Sousuke said, already making the appropriate plans in his head.
"Okay!" Moon said cheerfully, waving to the teenagers. "See you later!"
Neither Sousuke or Ranma moved. Finally, Ranma coughed into her fist. "Ah... Usagi?"
"Hm?"
"You can't take Negi home with you," Ranma said gently.
The blonde superheroine blinked and then looked down. Negi was still gripped firmly under her arm, looking absolutely mortified. "Oops! Sorry. Heh heh..."
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(Posted Sun, 19 Nov 2006 23:06)
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