A Fist Full of Tendous

Chapter 01: Never Trust a Ripped Codex

By Kevin D. Hammel

A fanfic crossover involving 2 fanfics (diced and separated), a dash 
of Ranma, and a pinch Sailor Moon.

Ranma 1/2 is property of Rumiko Takahashi. Publication Rights are 
held by Viz in The US and Shogakukan in Japan. Sailor Moon is 
property of Naoko Takeuchi. Publication rights held by Kodansha Ltd. 
in Japan and Mixx Entertainment in the US. My purpose is to honor 
these creators and their works. No infringement intended.

This story is a bit out of continuity of both of the fanfic series it 
combines. Also, if the names "Children of Fire" and "Honor and Love" 
mean nothing to you, here there may be spoilers. If they DO mean 
something to you, you just might enjoy the story, maybe...

***

This place was hot, noisy, crowded, polluted, and BIG. In fact it was 
really, really big. A lot bigger than where she came from. Big is 
good, the girl thought as she walked among the stalls in the bazaar. 
And someday when all the fighting was over, and all those pesky 
Senshi dealt with, all this space would be... hers, or at least 
theirs. But first, she had to prove herself. She would use her head, 
not her fists. She'd show her big sister that there was more to her 
than... whatever. 

Her disguise was perfect... The clothing was classy, yet functional. 
It consisted of a deep purple skirt and jacket combo over a white 
silk shirt. A pair of knee-high gray socks and black hiking boots 
completed the outfit. The bullwhip coiled around one shoulder 
provided a perfectly matched accessory, to finish off the outfit. All 
archeologists used one of the arcane weapons, after all. And right 
now, in this chaotic market in crowded Cairo, she was an 
archeologist.

The young woman stopped at an intersection of sorts. Four rows of 
stalls converged, with four tides of humanity trying to flow four 
different directions at once. She stood firm, adjusting her nearly 
opaque black glasses as she surveyed the three directions she could 
go. Which way to turn? There had to be some cool magical book or 
artifact somewhere. She'd seen more than enough of those historical 
documentaries on the VCR working with Margaret back in Japan.

Like the one she had watched about that great Archeologist. What WAS 
his Name... Nebraska Smith? Ohio Gozaimus? Oh well, the name didn't 
matter. What was important was that it showed that these places like 
this bazaar were loaded with incredible magical artifacts and tomes. 
But where were they? She knew what she was looking for would be down 
one of those aisles.  The girl tapped her left foot in frustration. 
Decisions like this were really...

"Pardon Me, Madam. May I be of service?" A voice oozed from behind 
her. She turned to see a rumpled, elderly man. His eyes and wrinkled 
face spoke of all kinds of bizarre arcane knowledge. Or at least over 
exposure to the sun, which was very easy around here. The girl shook 
her head as she wiped some sweat off her brow. This guy just had to 
have something for her. After all, that's how it worked on TV.

The young woman gave her most imperious look, and then realized it 
wouldn't show through the glasses. Frowning slightly she replied, 
using textbook Arabic provided by a small spell. "Perhaps, good sir. 
I'm looking for magical..."

"Shhh..." the man replied, holding a finger to his aged lips. "Come 
with me," he said with a bow. "Miss..."

"Fff... Florida Thomas." The girl replied. A slight flush of victory 
showed her pleasure in coming up with a convincing name for an 
archeologist so quickly.

The man big-sweated, arched an eyebrow, then bowed. "Very well, 
Miss... Thomas. Follow me."

As Florida followed the merchant, she noticed two heavily built men 
in dark suits and fezzes shadowing her at a discrete distance. The 
young archeologist-wannabe smiled thinly. She MUST be onto something 
now.

***

The young woman followed her guide through the maze of humanity. Soon 
the pair, and their mysterious escorts, left the bazaar and walked 
down unnumbered dim, narrow, twisty streets. Finally, they came to an 
unmarked doorway on a street full of... unmarked doorways.

The man stopped then turned to his customer. "This is my shop, Madam 
Thomas." He unlocked the door, then bowed while opening it with a 
flourish. "After you..." He said, grandly motioning toward the 
doorway.

Florida was collected, cool, and not a fool. "No, after YOU." She 
commanded in a voice that Big Sister would be proud of.

"Very well, then." The man said before entering the doorway, the 
young lady following.

The room was dark. First only a match lit it, then a flickering lamp. 
Florida took off her shades. Nobody in here would recognize her 
anyway. She sniffed the musty air. It fairly reeked of old paper and 
bindings, as a quick glance around showed ancient manuscripts 
everywhere. Stacked, on shelves, and in overflowing boxes. Books as 
far as the eye could see, which wasn't very far in the tiny room that 
barely qualified as a closet. A very large closet, to be sure, but...

Florida's keen senses detected the two men in fezzes silently 
entering the room. A scarcely discernable click betrayed them drawing 
two guns. With almost inhuman speed, Florida spun around to face the 
invaders.  A lightning-fast foot sweep had both her opponents down in 
a flash. After that, a freak wind somehow blew them both out the door 
and across the alleyway. Fortunately an overfull fruit cart prevented 
serious injury to the two men, but not serious indignity, as they got 
covered with a melange of melon pieces, smashed vegetables, and 
various fruit juices.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Her host shouted. "Those were my bodyguards, 
you imbecile!"

"How was I supposed to know?" Florida spat. "They looked pretty 
suspicious to me... and they had guns!" Turning and stomping out the 
door, she easily hefted both huge, dazed men up and set them on their 
feet. Waiting a few seconds for the woozy pair to regain their 
bearings, she gingerly let go. The girl didn't want to make the 
debacle any worse. "Sorry, guys..." She sheepishly said, with a 
winning smile.

Both men shrugged and leered at her with stupid-looking grins, as 
sticky red, orange, and green streams ran down their faces. Maybe 
their brains had been knocked out of their heads, as if they had any 
before, Florida thought. With an audible 'humph!' she turned on her 
heels again and strode back into the shop.

The two guards and the proprietor watched the girl's actions open-
mouthed.

"So sorry." She apologized again with a less successful attempt at a 
smile, then her face became dead serious. "Now, where are the books?"

"My shop is full of them. What sort of books are you looking for?" 
The man asked, already deciding that getting this customer out of his 
shop was a very good idea. Lost profits were infinitely preferable to 
lost lives. Especially his own.

"I was looking for something on dimensional gateways. You got any 
books on that subject?" The young lady asked, with hands on her hips. 
She was already getting a bit irritated, and it showed.

The proprietor began to sweat, then tried to look thoughtful as he 
mentally walked through the shop's inventory. His mouth substituted 
for legs, arms, and eyes as he went through his stock inside his 
head. "Well... I DO have a very rare and valuable codex that I just 
might part with." The elderly man said as he turned, then used a 
rusty key on a corroded lock closing a decrepit chest. He couldn't 
get it to work. A moist breeze on his neck revealed his customer just 
behind.

"Let me." Florida said. The man moved out of the way, then she broke 
the lock clean in half with a loud, bell-like snap. With a smirk she 
dropped the two pieces into the dumbfounded storekeeper's 
outstretched hands. Then flipped back over the counter again.

The man brought an ancient, hide-bound volume to the counter. A 
corner of the cover was ripped off, leaving the title as "The Big 
Book of Dimensional".

"Perfect." Florida whispered, the looked up. "How much?"

"Well... how about..." He shrugged his shoulders as he pulled a wild 
number out of the air. "Twelve thousand dollars American?" He hoped 
he hadn't priced it too high. She would bargain, no doubt. But a huge 
profit was in the offing anyhow.

Florida Thomas considered the offer for a millisecond. She KNEW this 
was it. Everything was perfect. The old shopkeeper, the dusty store, 
the men in fezzes, it all added up... this had to be the place to get 
the book she was after. "Do you take..." She reached to pull a small 
leather bag stuffed in her belt out. "Diamonds?" she asked as she 
opened it, the sparkle from the bag reflected into all the eyes in 
the room, including Florida's own big purple orbs. "You like?" She 
asked the shopkeeper, who could only nod yes. Dumping a small fortune 
into his hands, she took the book and turned to leave. On the way 
out, she tossed each member of the fez patrol a sizable rock.

Walking a short distance down the roadway from the merchant's, 
Florida found a dark passageway between buildings. After carefully 
looking both ways, she entered the alleyway, and disappeared a few 
moments later.

***

Back in her room at home, the girl who had been Florida just a short 
time ago sat in contemplation of her handiwork. Bedding had been 
tossed against the wall in a jumble to provide a large open area on 
the floor. In the center of that clear area, she had just finished 
inscribing a circle that would serve as the focus of her spell.

The girl studied the book again, and then swallowed. She was going to 
help out by using her head, and earn her rank back. That would show 
Big Sister that she COULD use more than her fists. And maybe help 
Mother out too.

"Ooh, a spell circle!" came a voice from behind. "Don't tell me 
you've decided to take up another Art, Little Sister."

The girl looked up from the book, to glare a little at her sister. 
"Laugh all you want, Big Sister, but I've just found a way to open a 
portal to another place besides Tokyo..."

"Do tell, " The older girl taunted. "And how did YOU do it when mom 
hasn't figured it out yet?"

"Simple, I bought this really neat book in Cairo." She said as she 
thrust the book at the older girl.

"The Big Book of Dimensional... Uh... where's the rest of it?"

"Not to worry, there's enough here for me to cast a spell that will 
open a dimensional portal." With that, she snatched the book back 
from her sister, and began to chant.

After a few syllables, the circle began to glow, and then a myriad of 
multicolored flames began to burn inside a cylinder described by the 
markings on the floor.

The younger girl looked down at the book again. "Okay, the portal is 
set. I just need to see where it goes." Closing the book, the girl 
stood.

"Sister dear, I thought you were going to use your head... not LOSE 
it. Who knows WHAT will happen if you step in that circle?"

"I read the book, so I'm not worried. I'll show you!" With that, she 
stood and prepared to enter swirling maelstrom.

Another, older, voice entered the room. "Girls? What's going on 
here?"

The younger girl turned from the edge of the circle to see an older 
woman. "Mom! I just opened up a dimensional portal. Look!" She turned 
to face the flames again, took a single step forward, and was gone. 
Then all heck broke lose as the whole room was filled with the 
multicolored, cold flames.

When the cold fires receded, the room was empty again. Only a few 
minutes later, the flames built again, and a set of shapes 
materialized from within... but that would be getting ahead of 
things.

***

Six people materialized in a green field strewn with huge, monolithic 
stones. The rocks were laid out in a great circular pattern, too 
orderly to be nature's work alone. Winds whistled and the sun threw 
great shafts of light down through cloud cover on the strange scene.

Three of the people were girls dressed as Sailor Senshi. There was 
purple-skirted Sailor Titan, black-skirted Sailor Charon, and cyan-
skirted Sailor Europa. Only a few meters away stood the other group, 
also of three people. One of the others was a green-haired girl 
wearing a filmy green dress that was clearly not made for the current 
weather conditions. A shorter, black haired girl wore a purple 
business suit while holding a tattered book in her right hand. For 
some unknown reason, there was a bullwhip coiled around her left 
shoulder. Finally there was an older black-haired woman dressed in an 
elaborate gown.

It was the older woman that drew the three Sailor Senshi's attention.

A cry of, "Sailor Senshi!" arose from the throat of the purple-clad 
girl. That shout was immediately followed by a rushed, ineffective 
blast of wind from said girl. The three Sailors were sent scrambling 
for cover behind a nearby rock.

The normally imperturbable face of Sailor Titan was... perturbed. 
"No, it can't be." She whispered.

Sailor Europa looked with concern at her teammate. "I think it was. I 
really think it was. But WHY would they attack us?"

Punctuating the Senshi's last statement, an unnatural blast of wind 
blew through the rock behind which they were huddled. A shower of 
stone fragments showed just how serious their opposition was.

"No matter WHO she looks like, they're trying to kill us." Sailor 
Charon stated, then swallowed. She turned to Europa, "Why not try a 
pressure wave on 'em?"

"Bu... but what if she's..." The small Senshi stammered.

"First of all, how could it POSSIBLY be her? She's dead, and has been 
for ten years... But I do want to get to the bottom of this." She 
looked thoughtful before continuing, "I think I'll try to do 
something." With that Sailor Charon reverted to her civilian guise, 
Tendou Nabiki. Instead of her Sailor Senshi fuku, she was wearing a 
Juuban High School woman's uniform. She untied the ribbon, then un-
buttoned her shirt. She shouted "Truce!"

Not hearing a response, she took off the shirt, then re-buttoned it. 
Next, she thrust a dead branch through the arms to make a crude flag. 
Shouting "Truce!" again, she thrust the flag over the rock. A new 
blast of wind broke the branch cleanly in two, and the shirt just 
vanished. As she shook her head, she tied her broad uniform ribbon 
around her chest. At least she would wear SOME clothing besides 
underwear.

"You dope! What do you think you're doing? That was a flag of truce!" 
rang out one of their opponents' voices.

"Well, what do you expect? Who knows what kind of evil Sailor Senshi 
tricks they might be up to?" A younger voice responded.

"I don't think they're out to get us... really." The girl responded 
to the other, then shouted, "OKAY!"

Sailor Titan looked concerned, "You know, those two sound just 
like..."

"Us." Nabiki finished. She looked at both her sisters; "You two have 
real attacks, so you can cover me, got it?" She asked in a loud 
whisper.

Both her teammates nodded in agreement, and all three girls stood to 
peer over the rock. About twenty meters away, three other heads 
peeked over another boulder to look back at them.

Nabiki waved the broken stick again and called out, "Truce!"

Originating behind one of the other stones came a voice that might be 
her twin's, "We meet at the center."

Figuring it was better to be a fully dressed, and much stronger 
Sailor Senshi than a normal girl, Nabiki transformed. "I'm not going 
to let that lose wind cannon get a good shot at me." Charon stated 
after the light show.

"Good luck, Charon... Sister." Europa offered as her sister walked to 
meet their opponent.

"Thanks... Sis." Charon replied in a confident voice edged with just 
a touch of doubt. She turned, stood, then moved to meet the young 
woman who was already making her way across the grassy expanse 
between the stones.

As the Sailor Senshi approached the other girl, Charon noticed 
something. Except for differences in hair and eye color, both being 
green, her opponent was her twin. When they were less than a meter 
apart, each girl just stared at her opposite of a few moments.

The Sailor Senshi finally broke the silence. "I'm Sailor Charon."

"I'm... call me Tourmaline." The other girl replied.

Charon held back a bemused smirk as she continued, "The older woman 
looks familiar. We'd all really like to talk to her." Her eyes 
narrowed, as she continued, "Actually, you look familiar too... Does 
the name 'Tendou Nabiki' mean anything to you?"

"Nabiki..." the other girl whispered. After swallowing, she 
continued, "Anyway, why would you want to talk to... the other 
woman?"

"Because, she looks familiar to us. And, I think you DO recognize the 
name Nabiki, right?" Charon asked with a raised eyebrow.

Tourmaline felt a little strange, almost like something was out of 
her control. But of course that was impossible. "Uh... maybe I do. 
I'll go get my people and you get yours. Okay?"

"Okay." Charon replied.

Both girls walked gingerly backward, neither letting the other's eyes 
out of sight for even a moment. After a brief but tense period, they 
both tripped over rocks at the same time, falling backwards. In a 
flurry of activity, both girls were hurriedly escorted back to cover 
by their respective entourages.

The younger girl in Tourmaline's group could be heard to laugh and 
say "Who's the dope now, Tourma-chan?"

"Well, if you went out there, there might be someone we wouldn't want 
dead... dead."

"You actually think one of those Sailor Senshi could take me?"

"I don't know, but I don't want to attack those girls." After a 
pause, she spoke again, "Let's move out."

Sailor Charon again spoke to her group. "I think we should go out to 
meet them..."

Her two sisters nodded in mute response.

With six pairs of wary eyes searching for any stray movement, the two 
trios cautiously approached each other. Not unexpectedly, the 
Sailors' shock showed clearly through their disguise fields... Like 
most things, actually. Of course the other three didn't worry about 
such trivialities. Finally, when the two groups were less than a 
meter apart, both stopped. Each of the Sailor Senshi could sense 
something odd about the other three. It was hard to put a finger on 
it, but something about them felt off. Sort of like when they were 
near the monsters back home.

Sailor Titan spoke first, looking at the older woman. She was 
concerned about the fact that the others had immediately attacked, 
but felt she had to find out more about her. "Excuse me, but..." with 
a light show washed out by the blaring sun, she reverted to her 
civilian form, Tendou Kasumi. "You look just like Mother. And your 
children look like my sisters."

"Sailor Titan!" Europa shouted, "WHAT are you doing?"

"What I need to do, Europa-chan." Kasumi replied. "She has to see me, 
not a Sailor Senshi."

The older woman blinked twice, then asked the question her own heart 
forced her to, "I heard the other Senshi ask about 'Tendou Nabiki', 
do you have any questions about similar names?"

"Yes, about Tendou Kasumi. Do you know her?" Kasumi asked, with eyes 
locked on the woman. If her opposite even flinched, she would know.

Kasumi's careful study was quickly rewarded, as the woman tensed for 
a moment, the relaxed. "I believe I recall hearing of someone with 
that name... long ago."

Kasumi closed her eyes as she considered whether to continue the 
verbal game of cat and mouse. After a few tense moments, her eyes 
opened to study the woman anew. "My name is Tendou Kasumi..." She 
said, her voice trailing off.

The woman looked sad as she continued. "I once had a daughter with 
that name, but she disappeared ten years ago." Her look became a bit 
more serious, "Do you girls live here?"

"Heck no!" Charon tartly answered... "We had just finished a battle 
in Tokyo and, somehow, ended up here. In fact, she said, narrowing 
her eyes accusingly, we just fought off some... creatures that also 
shot first and asked questions later." She accused, forgetting her 
own suggestion to Europa.

The short girl with black hair in the purple business suit looked 
angry, as an intangible wind began to blow through her hair. 
"Creatures... Creatures? Why the only creatures I see here are three 
evil, despicable, rotten, louse-ridden, Sailor..."

"Put a cork in it, Feldspar!" The girl who called herself Tourmaline 
shouted to the shorter girl.

The shortest of the Sailors seemed to have reached her boiling point 
as well. Much like the unseen wind surrounding Feldspar, a fine mist 
of ice crystals and a few wisps of fog began to form around her. 
"Creatures? Who are you calling creatures?" She began, sounding 
distressingly like Feldspar.

"Please, no fighting." Kasumi requested.

"Oh dear, it's the 'Temper Tantrum Twins'!" Tourmaline added.

Sailor Charon fought a losing battle with a smirk at her double's 
observation.

"She started it!" Europa and Feldspar chorused, then looked a bit 
embarrassed as their battle auras deflated.

Nobody spoke for a while. Finally, the older woman broke the silence 
after looking thoughtful for a few moments, "Ah, reciprocity!"

The five girls answered with "huh" or "what".

She looked at the shortest of her companions as she spoke, "That's 
why this is NOT a good way to summon a dimensional portal, Daughter. 
Somehow, this technique creates a rift in a 'reciprocal' universe, 
pulling a analogue for each person who enters from the other 
universe, then transporting both to the third." Looking up, she 
gestured at the large stones surrounding them, "I'm not surprised we 
ended up in a circle of standing stones. It's not Stonehenge, so I'm 
uncertain exactly where we are."

"Wow," Sailor Charon said, speaking for all of the children.

The youngest daughter, Feldspar, perked up. "So we just get rid..." A 
look at Europa froze her voice in her throat. There was something 
strange about the girl. "Nothing." She concluded.

"It's going to take a while to come up with a counter-spell or ritual 
but until then, we need to stick together. One thing puzzles me, 
though." Her gaze focused on Kasumi, "Why would you end up here 
instead of me?"

"Our mother's dead," Kasumi quietly answered. "I had to take her 
place ten years ago."

The older woman frowned slightly, then nodded once in understanding, 
and sympathy. "This must be difficult for you girls..."

Three affirmative nods provided mute assent.

"My name is... Moonstone and... where we're from, I was your mother, 
Kasumi. SO, for a little while, I'd like for you to... think of me as 
your mother."

The three girls didn't seem too thrilled with the offer. It's hard to 
accept someone who wanted to kill you a few minutes ago as your 
mother, but their hearts conflicted with their rationality.

Charon finally spoke, looking askance at her double, "Why the weird 
names?"

"I doubt YOUR name is 'Sailor Charon'!" Tourmaline shot back.

With a nod, Charon reverted to her civilian guise. "You're right, my 
name's Nabiki." She shivered slightly, as it was windy and the 
uniform ribbon didn't provide much protection from the wind for her 
upper torso.

Tourmaline, realizing the faith girl had shown in their intentions, 
nodded once before she spoke. "We gave up our old names when we... 
moved to another country. But when I was young, my name was Nabiki... 
too." Looking at her opposite, she caught a glimpse of what she might 
have been...

The smallest girl looked at the last Sailor Senshi, "I'm Feldspar, 
and my name was Akane." She looked down for a moment, then up again. 
"Sorry 'bout how I acted earlier." She said, stealing a glance at 
Nabiki for a moment.

Europa reverted to Akane, then looked at the girl who might be her 
twin, except for a much more muscular body and deep purple eyes. She 
looked a little hurt as she spoke, "Well, everybody tells me that I 
think with my fists first, so... I guess I understand."

"But..." Nabiki stated with a glare at Feldspar, "You owe me for a 
shirt."

"Oh, that..." Feldspar stated, then pulled a small pouch from her 
belt. Withdrawing an emerald this time, she tossed the rock at a 
wide-eyed Nabiki. "Keep the change." She said with a smirk.

Nabiki easily caught the stone, then stared at it. Soon, the 
glittering gem entranced both her sisters as well.

Feldspar had to smile at the girls' reaction to common, garden-
variety gemstones.

A low droning in the distance attracted the group's attention. A huge 
silvery object could be seen moving slowly toward them. The six 
people sought cover and watched the leviathan fly overhead.

Nabiki recognized it from her history books... "Where the heck are 
we?" She asked. "Or... should I say when?"

Moonstone nodded her head, "Nabiki-chan, you're right, that's a 
dirigible. The last one was scrapped more than 50 years ago."

The shining craft had strange markings on its tail, resembling a red 
white and blue bull's-eye on its rear stabilizers. Clearly visible on 
its side was the airship's name, which consisted of a roman character 
and arabic numerals: R-107.

Sheer amazement captured the attention of the entire group until the 
ricochet of a gunshot off a nearby stone broke the spell. All six 
ducked, three as they whispered transformation phrases...

***

(End of Chapter 1)

Thanks to John Biles, William Dix, Andrew Norris, and Mike Rever for 
excellent C&C. On the FFML, David Johnston caught a few more 
glitches.

Hopefully, no stories were harmed in the writing of this piece. I 
presume you can determine the ones threatened...

C&C always welcomed.

Kevin D. Hammel

January 23, 1999

========================================
khammel@anime.sobhrach.com
kevinsff@pacbell.net
http://www.anime.sobhrach.com/~khammel/
========================================