Re: Preview: Girls, Girls, Girls
03-14-2004, 07:20 AM (This post was last modified: 08-19-2019, 11:17 AM by Bob Schroeck.)
03-14-2004, 07:20 AM (This post was last modified: 08-19-2019, 11:17 AM by Bob Schroeck.)
Okay, now that chapter 15 of DW2 is released, I can restore at least part of this teaser.
Again, beware that this is a highly-volatile project subject to radical change as the Walk develops. Sana's appearance below reflects a comment that started as a joke, has evolved to a serious consideration, and may yet decay away back into a joke; which is to say, don't take it as gospel for the end of DW3. The number and identities of the girls are likely to change; I am already starting to figure out how to include Rinrin from "Sister Princess" in this gang, for example.
Take it for what it is -- a very raw idea in progress, and enjoy.
-- Bob
-------------------------
Carefully, Ed stepped up to the angled sheet of transparent
aluminum that formed the booth's main window. He studied the
whirling hole in space-time below and the small, diverse group
that stood in front and to the sides of it. "Min, check me. Am
I seeing what I think I'm seeing?"
The ACI nodded. "One Herald of Valdemar, complete with
Companion. One small auburn-haired girl, ethnic Japanese,
wearing a variant on a 'Kid Flash' costume." She peered down at
the girl in question, who blurred from wall to wall, standing
still only to chat briefly with the others before careening off
again. Instead of small wings on either side of the yellow cowl,
her costume had holes through which a pair of long auburn
ponytails streamed. "And she seems qualified to wear it. A
blonde wearing a knock-off of Sailor Mercury's fuku." She
paused, blinked, and studied the girl further. "Boss, crank up
the weirdometer another notch. The blonde in the fuku is a dead
ringer for Lisa Vanette from 'Bubblegum Crisis'. Look." One of
the monitors before them flickered to life with a closeup from a
security camera, then split-screened with a photo taken some
years before, during their stop in the BGC world. Physical
statistics scrolled up both sides, with comparisons highlighted.
"Except for being in her mid- to late 20s, she matches the Lisa
we knew to within three significant digits."
"Gah." Ed shook his head as he watched a black cat leap from a
packing crate to the blonde's shoulder, where it perched like a
parrot. The monitor clearly showed a crescent moon on its face.
"And she's got a moon-cat, Min. Or what appears to be a moon-
cat. There's something very wrong here."
Minerva nodded. "Even weirder, boss -- there's something
strangely familiar about the combination of Lisa Vanette and
senshi. I'm going to have to go through my off-line memory,
though, to figure out what."
Ed frowned. "You do that, baby, just later."
"I don't recognize the college-age redhead," Min continued, "nor
the bleach-blonde she and the Herald are chatting with.
Interesting, though. All three of them are discussing magical
theory and... slaying vampires? 'Curiouser and curiouser,'" she
added. "One more oddity to toss into the mix. The Herald is
speaking idiomatic American English. To be precise, her vocal
patterns are pure native Southern California, late 20th Century."
"*What*?" Ed hissed.
"You heard me. Somewhere she learned... Uh-oh," she interrupted
herself.
He closed his eyes briefly. "Uh-oh?"
"Getting another spike," Min noted. "Someone's coming through
the gate... no, make that two... correction, *three* someones..."
There was a moment of silence. Then...
"We're *so* screwed, you know that, Min?"
Absently, she nodded. "Lina Inverse, Rei Ayanami and Skuld.
Together with all those others. B'wana, I have a sneaking
suspicion that we've been dumped into someone's crossover fic."
"What was your first clue?" Ed asked dryly. "What really worries
me is that I've seen pictures of Rei Ayanami in plugsuits, school
uniforms and kimonos, but I've never imagined her in white Nikes,
denim shorts and a 'Lilith Fair' concert t-shirt. Maybe I'm
paranoid, but that bothers me." He paused and reconsidered.
"That, and the fact that she looks about eighteen and has
goddess-marks like Skuld."
"I wonder if they're all ... non-standard in some way," Minerva
mused. Below, in the cargo bay, the three newcomers had added
the backpacks they had been carrying to the small pile of others
which had lurked, previously unnoticed, in the shadow of a stack
of packing cases. Skuld was already intently studying a nearby
data terminal while Lina joined the thaumatology discussion
group. Rei simply stood in the middle of the floor and studied
her surroundings impassively. Behind them, the dimensional
gateway collapsed with an audible pop, then vanished.
"Energy signature is gone, boss. As if you couldn't guess."
Ed nodded absently and stepped towards the elevator. "Well, they
look peaceful so far. Might as well play the gracious host."
Minerva slid to his side. "Are you sure that's a good idea,
B'wana?
Ed snorted. "Hell, no. But it's better than ignoring or
attacking them." He inclined his head toward the elevator.
"Come on, pretty lady. Let's go greet our guests."
* * *
"And then Buffy says to Cordelia, 'Okay, you won't tell anyone
I'm the Slayer, and I won't tell anyone you're a moron!'"
Lina, Phoebe and Delandra burst out in laughter. "That sounds
just like a couple of people I know," Lina commented. Over Dee's
shoulder, Willow saw Skuld look up from the computer terminal and
scowl, and felt inexplicably guilty for a moment. It was a
familiar sensation these days, and her travels had done little to
make it go away.
Sana ran up and began demanding something in rapid-fire Japanese
while waving her arms energetically; before she had a chance to
get frustrated by the four women's inability to understand her,
though, Lisa stepped over to them, Luna wrapped around her
shoulders like a collar.
"She wants to know what you were laughing about," Lisa said in
her faintly-accented English.
"Oh!" Willow gave a kindly smile to the young Japanese girl. "I
was just telling a story about Buffy. I can tell you later and
you can tell it to her, if you'd like."
Lisa relayed this and listened Sana's response, then smiled.
"Sure, that'd be fine."
"So, like, where do we stand?" Phoebe asked.
"Smell wild magic," Luna murmured from her perch on Lisa's
shoulders.
"Yes, Luna. Good cat." Lisa raised a hand to scratch behind
her familiar's ears. "Like Luna says, there are very strong
traces of wild magic all over this place. He was definitely here
for a while." Lisa waved her free hand in an all-encompassing
gesture. "Wherever 'here' is."
"It's a spaceship," Skuld declared from the computer terminal.
She turned and strode over to the gathering while Lisa updated
Sana in a burst of Japanese.
"A spaceship?" Phoebe's eyebrows crawled up under her hairline.
"Cool." Willow and Tara exchanged surprised glances.
Delandra and Lina looked around blankly. "What's a 'spaceship'?"
they said in unison. From where he stood on the other side of
the room, Sylvath gave a derisive snort. "Oh, shut up, you old
thing. You don't know, either, do you?" Dee called over her
shoulder in Valdemaran as Lisa continued to translate for Sana.
Skuld hopped up on a packing crate next to Willow. "More than
just a spaceship. It's a starship. And really, really
advanced." The others could feel the techno-envy and desire in
her voice.
"Wow," Phoebe and Willow said together. "I wonder who owns it,"
Willow continued.
"I do," a male voice echoed across the room. As one they turned
to locate its source: A dark-haired man on an open elevator that
lowered him slowly from a glass-walled both high on one wall of
the huge room. A black-tressed woman in a cocktail dress that
matched her hair stood with her arm around him and studied them
dispassionately. He raised his hand. "Welcome, ladies, to
Fantasy Island!"
"You're nuts, b'wana, if you think I'm going to do a Herve
Villechaise impression," his companion muttered just loud enough
to carry across the floor.
Edit (5/18/2012): Replaced text munged during one of the changes in ownership undergone by Yuku with properly wrapped material.
Also, PLEASE NOTE: This cast is now obsolete; several of the Steps that were planned when this was written were abandoned, and in some cases the choice of character who joined the Girls has changed.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Again, beware that this is a highly-volatile project subject to radical change as the Walk develops. Sana's appearance below reflects a comment that started as a joke, has evolved to a serious consideration, and may yet decay away back into a joke; which is to say, don't take it as gospel for the end of DW3. The number and identities of the girls are likely to change; I am already starting to figure out how to include Rinrin from "Sister Princess" in this gang, for example.
Take it for what it is -- a very raw idea in progress, and enjoy.
-- Bob
-------------------------
Carefully, Ed stepped up to the angled sheet of transparent
aluminum that formed the booth's main window. He studied the
whirling hole in space-time below and the small, diverse group
that stood in front and to the sides of it. "Min, check me. Am
I seeing what I think I'm seeing?"
The ACI nodded. "One Herald of Valdemar, complete with
Companion. One small auburn-haired girl, ethnic Japanese,
wearing a variant on a 'Kid Flash' costume." She peered down at
the girl in question, who blurred from wall to wall, standing
still only to chat briefly with the others before careening off
again. Instead of small wings on either side of the yellow cowl,
her costume had holes through which a pair of long auburn
ponytails streamed. "And she seems qualified to wear it. A
blonde wearing a knock-off of Sailor Mercury's fuku." She
paused, blinked, and studied the girl further. "Boss, crank up
the weirdometer another notch. The blonde in the fuku is a dead
ringer for Lisa Vanette from 'Bubblegum Crisis'. Look." One of
the monitors before them flickered to life with a closeup from a
security camera, then split-screened with a photo taken some
years before, during their stop in the BGC world. Physical
statistics scrolled up both sides, with comparisons highlighted.
"Except for being in her mid- to late 20s, she matches the Lisa
we knew to within three significant digits."
"Gah." Ed shook his head as he watched a black cat leap from a
packing crate to the blonde's shoulder, where it perched like a
parrot. The monitor clearly showed a crescent moon on its face.
"And she's got a moon-cat, Min. Or what appears to be a moon-
cat. There's something very wrong here."
Minerva nodded. "Even weirder, boss -- there's something
strangely familiar about the combination of Lisa Vanette and
senshi. I'm going to have to go through my off-line memory,
though, to figure out what."
Ed frowned. "You do that, baby, just later."
"I don't recognize the college-age redhead," Min continued, "nor
the bleach-blonde she and the Herald are chatting with.
Interesting, though. All three of them are discussing magical
theory and... slaying vampires? 'Curiouser and curiouser,'" she
added. "One more oddity to toss into the mix. The Herald is
speaking idiomatic American English. To be precise, her vocal
patterns are pure native Southern California, late 20th Century."
"*What*?" Ed hissed.
"You heard me. Somewhere she learned... Uh-oh," she interrupted
herself.
He closed his eyes briefly. "Uh-oh?"
"Getting another spike," Min noted. "Someone's coming through
the gate... no, make that two... correction, *three* someones..."
There was a moment of silence. Then...
"We're *so* screwed, you know that, Min?"
Absently, she nodded. "Lina Inverse, Rei Ayanami and Skuld.
Together with all those others. B'wana, I have a sneaking
suspicion that we've been dumped into someone's crossover fic."
"What was your first clue?" Ed asked dryly. "What really worries
me is that I've seen pictures of Rei Ayanami in plugsuits, school
uniforms and kimonos, but I've never imagined her in white Nikes,
denim shorts and a 'Lilith Fair' concert t-shirt. Maybe I'm
paranoid, but that bothers me." He paused and reconsidered.
"That, and the fact that she looks about eighteen and has
goddess-marks like Skuld."
"I wonder if they're all ... non-standard in some way," Minerva
mused. Below, in the cargo bay, the three newcomers had added
the backpacks they had been carrying to the small pile of others
which had lurked, previously unnoticed, in the shadow of a stack
of packing cases. Skuld was already intently studying a nearby
data terminal while Lina joined the thaumatology discussion
group. Rei simply stood in the middle of the floor and studied
her surroundings impassively. Behind them, the dimensional
gateway collapsed with an audible pop, then vanished.
"Energy signature is gone, boss. As if you couldn't guess."
Ed nodded absently and stepped towards the elevator. "Well, they
look peaceful so far. Might as well play the gracious host."
Minerva slid to his side. "Are you sure that's a good idea,
B'wana?
Ed snorted. "Hell, no. But it's better than ignoring or
attacking them." He inclined his head toward the elevator.
"Come on, pretty lady. Let's go greet our guests."
* * *
"And then Buffy says to Cordelia, 'Okay, you won't tell anyone
I'm the Slayer, and I won't tell anyone you're a moron!'"
Lina, Phoebe and Delandra burst out in laughter. "That sounds
just like a couple of people I know," Lina commented. Over Dee's
shoulder, Willow saw Skuld look up from the computer terminal and
scowl, and felt inexplicably guilty for a moment. It was a
familiar sensation these days, and her travels had done little to
make it go away.
Sana ran up and began demanding something in rapid-fire Japanese
while waving her arms energetically; before she had a chance to
get frustrated by the four women's inability to understand her,
though, Lisa stepped over to them, Luna wrapped around her
shoulders like a collar.
"She wants to know what you were laughing about," Lisa said in
her faintly-accented English.
"Oh!" Willow gave a kindly smile to the young Japanese girl. "I
was just telling a story about Buffy. I can tell you later and
you can tell it to her, if you'd like."
Lisa relayed this and listened Sana's response, then smiled.
"Sure, that'd be fine."
"So, like, where do we stand?" Phoebe asked.
"Smell wild magic," Luna murmured from her perch on Lisa's
shoulders.
"Yes, Luna. Good cat." Lisa raised a hand to scratch behind
her familiar's ears. "Like Luna says, there are very strong
traces of wild magic all over this place. He was definitely here
for a while." Lisa waved her free hand in an all-encompassing
gesture. "Wherever 'here' is."
"It's a spaceship," Skuld declared from the computer terminal.
She turned and strode over to the gathering while Lisa updated
Sana in a burst of Japanese.
"A spaceship?" Phoebe's eyebrows crawled up under her hairline.
"Cool." Willow and Tara exchanged surprised glances.
Delandra and Lina looked around blankly. "What's a 'spaceship'?"
they said in unison. From where he stood on the other side of
the room, Sylvath gave a derisive snort. "Oh, shut up, you old
thing. You don't know, either, do you?" Dee called over her
shoulder in Valdemaran as Lisa continued to translate for Sana.
Skuld hopped up on a packing crate next to Willow. "More than
just a spaceship. It's a starship. And really, really
advanced." The others could feel the techno-envy and desire in
her voice.
"Wow," Phoebe and Willow said together. "I wonder who owns it,"
Willow continued.
"I do," a male voice echoed across the room. As one they turned
to locate its source: A dark-haired man on an open elevator that
lowered him slowly from a glass-walled both high on one wall of
the huge room. A black-tressed woman in a cocktail dress that
matched her hair stood with her arm around him and studied them
dispassionately. He raised his hand. "Welcome, ladies, to
Fantasy Island!"
"You're nuts, b'wana, if you think I'm going to do a Herve
Villechaise impression," his companion muttered just loud enough
to carry across the floor.
Edit (5/18/2012): Replaced text munged during one of the changes in ownership undergone by Yuku with properly wrapped material.
Also, PLEASE NOTE: This cast is now obsolete; several of the Steps that were planned when this was written were abandoned, and in some cases the choice of character who joined the Girls has changed.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.