The Rebound Effect--Chapter 10
The Rebound Effect--Chapter 10
C&C needed on this part, believe me. Drop me a note if you even have a vague idea of what can be added/changed to make this part better.
Disclaimer goes here (Sailor Moon and Tenchi Muyo!).
Part 10
Usagi stared out the train window at the countryside as it rushed past. //What a way to spend a Saturday night,// she thought. She sighed deeply and snuggled into Mamouro's arm a little more.
Their closeness had a lot to do with Serenity and Endyminion, but there was also something there between the younger two. It was too early for it to be anything definite, but they shared the memory of a love from long ago, and that was a start.
Ami watched them impassively. Her life had changed rather radically in the last two days and she was still trying to sort out where she stood on everything. Complicating things even more, Usagi, or was it Serenity? Anyway, Usagi hadn't been able to completely recover her memories. She still had bits and pieces missing, as did they all, but her gaps were far more numerous.
Currently, she was playing with the Mercury computer and grinning. //The funny part is, if they had told be that this thing came with the job, I would have volunteered,// she mused to herself.
***
Haruka and Michiru, meanwhile, had finally found their way out of Washuu's laboratory. Just after dinner, too.
They drug themselves into the dining room just Sasami and Hotaru were starting the clean up process. Hotaru spotted them and giggled when she saw the ravenous looks they were shooting at the remains of dinner. Sasami smiled and told them that they were welcome to what was left. Fortunately, a fair amount of food remained and they gleefully fell upon them. Yay, there was much gnashing of teeth and rending of noodle.
When they were finished, they offered to help Sasami clean up, but she politely declined, saying that Hotaru had already offered to help. Instead, she suggested that they go find everyone and tell them that she was going to cut up the rest of the watermelon they had started on the day before.
Haruka and Michiru knew that they couldn't leave before they got a chance to talk to Mercury again, and they certainly weren't going to wander back into that sick funhouse that Washuu called a laboratory looking for her, so they agreed. To kill time, if nothing else.
After they had left, Sasami and Hotaru finished clearing the table and set about washing dishes.
"So, those two are your friends?"
"Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama? Yes, they're nice."
"Papa? I thought your father was in Washuu's lab, and isn't he a bit young?"
Hotaru giggled. She was a lot happier since she had woken up. For some odd reason, she didn't feel as alone as she had before, or as weak. In fact, she had even made a new friend. Of course, Sasami didn't know about her healing powers yet, but Hotaru was almost convinced that she wouldn't care. Almost.
"No, Haruka-papa isn't my real papa. She... she... something I don't remember." Hotaru's cute little face wrinkled in an effort to recall why she even knew Haruka's name, much less felt the urge to call him "papa."
"She? Hmm... yeah, she did look sort of feminine. But why did you call her ‘papa' then?"
Hotaru frowned. "I can't remember. I know but I don't know. It's strange."
"Don't worry about it. You'll think of it eventually. Hey, why don't you go take these bowls to Washuu and the others? They haven't been out of the lab all day, and I bet they're hungry."
"Sure!" Hotaru scooped up the bowls and made off for the lab, her bad mood totally defused.
***
Tenchi, as it turned out, was busy tending his fields. Ever since the school had been destroyed, he had been finding himself with more and more free time. Not normally a bad thing, but being around the house for such long periods of time wasn't good for his mental, and quite possibly physical, health.
So he came out here, to the broad, skirtlike plateau about a third of the way up the path to the Masaki shrine and gardened. None of the other members of the household objected, Ryo-okhi least of all.
Most days he would come down early in the morning, but it had rained today, so he'd decided to give the soil a little time to dry out and do his work after dinner. Right now, he was engaged in a healthy bout of weeding.
And thinking. He had a lot to think about. This Kiyone individual, for one.
She was cute and not from earth, that usually led to him attracting a new admirer, though she didn't seem to be interested. Yet. Some small part of him found that disappointing but was savagely beaten my the more rational part of his brain.
She would almost definitely be living with them since she was here because of Mihoshi. Not that she seemed very happy to have found her. He'd thought about avoiding her, but it didn't prove necessary. Neither she nor Mihoshi had been seen all day.
//I just hope that they haven't killed each other,// he thought.
Then there was this Mercury lady. She was... she was way too much like Washuu for his tastes. Well, not really like Washuu. Sure, there was a certain intense intelligence that she radiated, but it didn't come with the dynamic feeling that Washuu gave off. Mercury was much more stable... colder.
He shook his head. If this Mercury woman did stay, she'd probably spend all her time in Washuu's lab, far away from him.
The others... well, the other group that had shown up the day before hadn't been seen since entering Washuu's realm.
//I wonder if I should say a prayer for them?// he wondered.
It was then that a voice snapped him out of his revere. He looked up from his work and spotted a rather large group of teenagers standing on the pathway to the shrine. One of the blond girls was waving to him and was apparently the one who had called out.
He shouldered his hoe and went to greet the guests. //I'm beginning to wonder if I shouldn't just post signs saying "Aliens take next left, shrine worshipers go straight" or something. I'd get more work done, at least.//
***
"He looks like my old sempai," Makoto whispered to Minako, who giggled.
"He is kind of cute, I bet he'll be gorgeous in a couple years, though," Minako replied. They stopped talking when he looked up from his work in response to Usagi's greeting.
He picked up whatever farm instrument he had been using and made his way over to them, almost reluctantly.
"Hello. Can I help you?" he asked. For some strange reason, a his voice seemed to carry a note of resignation. Almost as if he was expecting them to kill him.
They were saved from answering when someone called out "Tenchi!" from farther up the path.
"Ahh... That's me, why don't you all come along up to the house for some tea." They nodded agreement and followed him up the stairs a short ways before encountering Haruka and Michiru.
"Tenchi, Sasami said that she's going to..." Haruka trailed off as she spotted the people following him. "Well, I'm glad you guys finally decided to show up."
This brought a few giggles, but Usagi looked at her sternly. "Some of us can't just forget about school to go traipsing off into the mountains." When Haruka's face had reached the appropriate level of shock, anger, and confusion, Usagi let herself go and giggled along with the rest of them.
After a couple seconds of Haruka's older mind kicking her younger self around a bit and giving her a speech on relaxing more, she broke into a smile, too.
"Anyway, there's probably enough watermelon for everyone if she cuts really small pieces." She spared a look at Usagi. "REALLY small pieces."
***
"...but would that kind of reaction lead to the effect that we witnessed? I mean, this isn't just a couple of lesser dimensions that we're talking about here, these are whole world threads. I mean just look at-"
"No, the model works fine. The distance between the threads is what makes it work so well..." Washuu paused and looked over as a monitor flickered to life. "Hello! Looks like we have more visitors."
Mercury looked over at the screen. "Oh, I was wondering when they'd show up. Shall I go and bring them in here?"
"Yeah, I haven't had this many guena pi... I mean, patients in a long time."
Mercury just shook her head and went to greet her friends. It certainly was a good thing that she'd arrived. Some of the "improvements" that Washuu had decided to add to the Senshis' new bodies would NOT have been well received.
***
The Senshi hadn't even finished removing their shoes before Mercury stepped into the hallway.
Haruka and Michiru had already know that she was here and didn't share in the shock and confusion that the others were experiencing. "Oh, yeah, and Mercury's here," Haruka said as matter of factly as she could manage.
Usagi turned a mild glare her way before starting to launch questions at Mercury.
Mercury, for her part, held up a hand to stop her. "We'll talk later. Right now, Ms. Washuu needs to run tests so that we can get everything started." She gestured toward the opened door. "Right this way."
The others choked down their protests and filed into through the door. Everyone except Tenchi, who knew that he wasn't included and had already wandered into the kitchen, Ami, who Mercury had pulled aside, and Haruka and Michiru, who weren't going back in there if they didn't specifically have to.
Mercury looked at Haruka and Michiru. "Oh, you two should go on in, too. Your bodies are ready."
***
Ami sipped her tea slowly, trying to draw reassurance from the warm liquid. "So... You're me?" She lowered her cup and gave Lady Mercury a steady look. //Well, at least I grow up pretty,// she thought.
"Yes, in a manner of speaking. Though not really... well, that explanation will have to wait for a while, I still don't understand it entirely."
Ami tried to figure out what she was talking about but failed. "Umm.. Is that a yes?"
"Yes. Well, sort of. I'm a you that you could be."
"Alright, I can handle that," Ami said.
Mercury smiled. "So, I hear that you want to be a doctor."
"Yes," Ami replied, deciding to play along. "I've always dreamed about being able to help people. Like my mother."
"Of course. How about other areas of study?"
"Well, I have a decent knowledge of history and I can read English fairly well."
"Hmm... have you ever considered getting some outside tutoring? I mean, learning things that aren't in your schools curriculum."
"Certainly. But most tutors are rather specific and I don't like to be tied down so much in what I learn."
"I understand. What if I knew of someone who could teach you a lot about everything? Would you be interested in learning from her?"
"Her? I take it you are referring to yourself."
"Yes, indeed. There's no way that I'd try to get you to study under Washuu. She's brilliant, but she's not quite safe to be around, if you know what I mean."
***
In another part of the house, a part that wasn't even on the same plane of existence, screams of horror could be heard. The kind of horror that comes from specially designed medical instruments that are always cold to the touch. REAL horror.
END
Okay, this chapter is no where near as good as previous parts. There are several reasons for this, the biggest of which being that there are just too many **** people in each scene for me to write it well. I know that I gloss over a LOT of stuff, but that's because I'm very uncomfortable with this section and want to get it over with as fast as possible. Also, I'm having real trouble envisioning how these meetings should go. I scrapped five separate versions of the Tenchi meets Inner Senshi scenes before I settled on the one that's in here. The Mercury intro was only slightly easier.
There is only one main scene that I really have to put into this arc then I can do a bit of wrap up and get the cast back to a manageable number. There are more than 25 characters running around in this right now, and I'm sure that a couple of them got lost.
Anyway, this is the first chapter that I'm out and out asking for C&C on. I need you to tell me which parts just don't work and why and what parts I need to add. This chapter isn't writing itself, and I don't seem to be able to pull it together, so what do YOU think?
Tim Williams
https://www.angelfire.com/tn/twillia/
twillia4@utk.edu
