Plan B
Prologue
By Ozzallos
“I’ve always envied the love you share…”
Blood burbled up from the mouth of the woman at Sailor moon’s
feet; the result of a myriad of internal injuries sustained at the hands of the
blonde towering over her. She managed to brush a long lock of luscious red hair
from her eyes, not bothering to wipe the crimson fluid from her mouth. It
didn’t matter.
She’d be dead in minutes, anyway.
Queen Beryl stared up at the daughter of Serenity with a
mixture of disgust and admiration, marveling at just how badly she had
underestimated her opponent. For all the girls’ naivety, she was her mother’s
daughter and had the all the power needed to back up her crusade of love and
justice… even if it would lead to the death of billions. The thought fueled her
resentment for the princess, but its edge was lost, partly due to the fact that
she was dying. Her Master’s control was fading with her life, and with it, the
all consuming hate. Oh, Beryl still hated the blond for the events her and her
own would one day precipitate, but it was the hate for it’s
own sake was fading. And her power. No need to fuel
the body of a soon to be corpse, right Metallia?
Beryl thought bitterly. Now there was only regret left to fill the void. Regret
that she had failed to stop the spawn of Serenity.
The world began to grey out as blood loss and organ damage took
its toll, causing the red head to sink further. Death was coming, and even as
it claimed the evil queen, one through burned through her despair. Death would
not stay her purpose. She had failed here, but for Beryl, death was only the
beginning.
There was always Plan B.
October 15th, 1969. Nineteen years ago.
A pair of chocolate brown eyes peeked out from around the
corner of the local market, her scarlet curls of hair shifting with intensity
as the sunlight refracted through their layers. Nodoka Toki stroked the ever
present practice blade at her side as she stalked her prey with nervous
intensity, her blue and white school uniforme
fluttering with the breeze as if keyed to her nervousness. The prey in question
was currently across the street, laughing over some obscure topic with his best
friend.
That was half the problem in and of itself.
Oh, sure, it didn’t help that the man of her dreams was
absolutely gorgeous, hunky and a superb martial artist to boot. That alone made
him nigh unapproachable, as his very presence sent goose bumps across her skin
and shivers down her spine. Nor didn’t it help that martial arts was his all
consuming passion to the exclusion of all else, including girls in general. But his friend… Even if she managed to get by her own
romantic jitters, Mr. Dreamy’s imposing stature and
his life focus, there was his best friend, who never
seemed to leave his side. One hunky martial artist was more than enough to make
her task nearly impossible, but the presence of two while asking the first
out?
Panic began to grip Nodoka and her breathing quickened. She
could do this, she could do this… Genma was a manly man. A
man’s man. Handsome, strong, a martial artist… and
single. He could be hers… All she had to do was take a step… Step
over to the pair… Unfortunately, there was another portion of her mind that
refused to disengage her hand from the brick wall she hid behind or move her
feet in the desired direction. She stood immobile, nearly shaking for another
precious few moments before the opportunity passed and both young men continued
down the street, laughing.
Another missed opportunity.
It took a good minute for the labored breathing to subside, and
once it did, she simply slumped into the wall, spent. The redheaded kendo
practitioner took one last look down the street and sighed wearily. At least
that went better than last time. Last time she nearly fainted from hyper
ventilation. There was always next time, she thought, then frowned. Who was she
kidding? She had been doing this for nearly six months straight. She knew him
and his schedule like the back of her hand in that she followed him around so
much, and somehow, he had not only failed to notice her, she had failed to work
up the nerve to ask him out. The situation was becoming quite intolerable!
The uniformed schoolgirl shook her head and turned to leave in
the opposite direction, immediately finding herself face to face with a taller
woman with pale skin and a mane of flowing red hair. Nodoka blinked, lerching backwards as to avoid running into the woman who
had invaded her personal place so thoroughly. The woman in the deep blue dress
smiled slightly and took her hand, keeping the school girl from loosing her
balance.
“And how are you today, Miss Toki?”
Nodoka blinked, as she pulled her hand away from the unexpected
contact. How did she know…? The question forced more observations, and the Toki
in question noted that while the girl- no, woman –herself may have looked
somewhat Japanese, the liberal cut of her dress was quite foreign and very our of place on the warm summer’s day. More telling was her
hair. It’s flowing red tress nearly matched her own, and Nodoka knew the odds
of finding another such genetic anomaly in a society predominated by black hair
was next to nothing. The fact that they matched the woman's eyes only fueled
her curiosity to nearly insatiable levels.
“Who…are you?”
The redhead opposite of her smiled a bit more. Her sharp
features ensured it looks positively impish in nature. “Think of me… as a
friend.”
Nodoka Toki cocked her head, unspoken questions practically
radiating from her. “A friend?”
The woman nodded. “A friend who can help you
with your problem.”
“But I don’t have…” The kendoist’s
words trailed off as she watched a knowing smile crawl across the older woman’s
face.
“Your boy problems.” Nodoka’s face instantly
took on a pink hue and the woman’s impish grin reasserted itself with a
vengeance. “No, no problems at all I see.”
Nodoka’s breath quickened once more as the words conjured up
mental images of Genma Saotome, not all of them decent and most of him in one
compromising position or another with her. “I… but… how…?”
The redhead looked upon the younger girl with an almost pitiful
expression. “I know all about your romantic pursuit, child.” The girl was left
speechless. How in the world could this woman whom she had never met know what
was on her mind and her heart! How could she…! “…and as mentioned, can help.”
“…h-how?”
“I have the means to make him yours.”
The younger redhead’s eyes widened and caught a breath. Genma…
Hers! The suggestion was ludicrous, of course, but that minor detail rocketed
straight past her common sense. “You can…?”
“I can.” The taller woman stated certainly, then
continued with a narrowed gaze. “But you must do something for me, of course.”
Nodoka’s brain had short circuited over the prospect and she found her head
nodding wildly in spite of itself. The woman smiled, and had the school girl
been more aware, she might have noted the malicious turn in her lips as she
pulled the a locket from the folds of her dress.
“Of course!” Nodoka blurted, heedless of the troubled
waters she was sailing into.
The older redhead took her hand and pooled the silver locket
into her palm. “But we’ll talk about that later. Simply wear this
necklace in the presence of the one you covet and he will bend to your desires.
Now go.”
Another round of enthusiastic nodding and the woman was gone
after the object of her pining, leaving a smiling red eyed, red haired woman in
her wake, one who promptly wavered out of existence.
Prologue notes
Timeline; Present day 1989. Nodoka, age 37. Meets Genma 1969, age 18. Ranma born, 1971, age 20. All
timelines are in keeping with Ranma ½ manga
publishing dates, plus or minus as per my interpretation. Sailor Moon and Ranma
timelines are happening in parallel, ie; around the
time Moon is disposing Metallia, Ranma is nuking
Saffron.
Nodoka Toki; Maiden name pre-Saotome marriage. Toki is a
famous Samurai clan for those curious as to the origin. Yes, irony.
Plot; The polar opposite of Heir to the Empire. Enjoy
<evil grin>