Blood and Eternity Juri Arisugawa relaxed by the bar, though in truth that relaxation was a illusion. As the owner and manager of the bar the orange haired woman's eyes swept the room, monitoring the women, feeling the tone of the room and being ready to move at a moment's notice. The library was well populated tonight as Yomiko Readman lead a tour of college students through the rare books they had acquired, the dance floor pulsed and moved as women bumped and ground, the kareoke stage was occupied by one boozy singer after another and the café style tables were packed with women eating merrily. "You seem tense," Setsuna Meiou murmured to her wife, the green haired older woman reaching out to massage Juri's shoulders. "Sorry," Juri smiled at her apologetically, "there's been a odd feeling in the air, and I'm not sure I like it." "That raid still bothers you?" Setsuna asked. "Yeah," Juri frowned in agreement, "that and what happened to Keiko..." Less than a week ago, a band of armed men had attempted to break into the bar chasing after a customer, claiming they were affiliated with something called SHIELD. Making things worse they were trained in fighting superhuman foes, and if it hadn't been for the customers pitching in the staff of the bar could have lost the fight. Setsuna smiled down at her comfortingly, "It was just one variant possible world, there's no telling if we'll ever encounter it again, and I'm sure May's pampering Keiko right now." "We're not that lucky," Juri said wryly. "Lighten up, boss," Minagi noted as she delivered a fresh colored gingerale to her. The blue haired space pirate with the cheek scars lingered a moment, "We got a bit soft, but it's not going to happen again. Ryouko and I are already drilling the staff." "Even Alpha?" Setsuna blinked in surprise, thinking of the seemingly meek and mild green haired android. "Actually, she's a crack shot with a pistol," Minagi informed them, "Mahoro has lent Alpha her spare gun, and I wouldn't want to run into Alpha with that at her side." "Fair enough," Juri conceded, looking up as she noticed a group of young women coming up the hallway from the outer doors. Excel Excel smiled cheerfully at the three young women as the blonde haired woman said, "Welcome to Arisugawa's Locket. Can I take your coats?" "I suppose," Saya Otonashi said, the dark brown haired young woman shrugging off her coat, "I understand this place is neutral territory?" "You'll be perfectly safe," Excel smiled cheerfully. "We've got a sword with us," Mao Jahana said, carrying the modified weapon's case with surprising ease, "do we keep it with us or...?" Hyatt leaned against the wall, bone pale as the black haired woman noted, "We'd prefer you turn in weapons at the bar." Kaori Kinjou smiled as the light brown haired athlete said, "Then that's what we'll do." "Have fun," Hyatt waved as they made their way through the crowds up to the bar. "Interesting place you've brought us to," Mao noted dryly as she looked up to meet her Queen's eyes. Ever since Saya had shared her chirotopean blood with Mao to heal what would have been a deadly injury Mao had become one of her cavaliers, something both of them were still adapting too. Saya smiled back wryly as she protested, "Hey, I've never been here before!" She gestured to the third member of their trio as she added, "It was Kaori who picked it out for us." "Oh really?" Mao looked over at Kaori thoughtfully as she askedher fellow cavalier, "You wouldn't be trying to tell us something, would you?" "No, I am not," Kaori answered, but a blush tinged her cheeks. Saya fought back a chuckle as they reached the bar, waiting just a moment for the bartender to reach them. "Hiya," Minagi gave them her most engaging smile as she asked, "what can I do for you?" "We've got a weapon to turn in," Saya nodded to Mao who hefted the disguised sword case up onto the bar. "Always, ma'am," Minagi nodded respectfully, picking up the weapon and reverently putting it away. "Welcome to the bar," Juri nodded as she sipped from her ginger ale, "I'm the host, Juri Arisugawa." "You have a very interesting bar," Mao noted, taking in the library, kareoke stage and busy stairs going up to the second floor. "We try," Juri chuckled softly. "Anything to drink?" Minagi asked them as she tossed a can of beer to a customer waving from up the bar.. "Wine," Mao said, dropping a large bill on the bar. Kaori chuckled, "Sake for me." There was a soft gurgling rumble and both young woman looked at Saya. "Sorry," she sighed, "do you think I could get something to eat, first?" Setsuna gave them a sympathetic smile as she said, "I'm sure our kitchen can make you up a snack." "Better make it a meal," Kaori said, "Saya may be small, but she eats like a horse." "Kaori!" Saya blushed even brighter. Juri and Setsuna watched Saya and her friends carry their drinks over to one of the dining tables as May hurried over to serve them. "Ah, young love," Alpha noted, the green haired android carrying a tray of her specialty coffee. "Not exactly young," Juri noted. As Alpha gave her a questioning look she added, "A similar looking girl came in a while ago... she claimed to have fought monsters in both World War II and Vietnam." "She's a android?" Alpha guessed. "Or some other kind of immortal," Setsuna agreed. "There are a lot of types of people possessing long life spans," she explained, "and not all of them are nice." Alpha nodded seriously, "I'll keep an eye on her." 'Not quite what I intended,' Setsuna thought as she looked over the crowd, 'but it'll do.' Her eyes widened as a black haired woman in military style gear walked in, "Juri, trouble." "I see her," Juri responded, recognizing the uniform as matching that of the agents who had tried to attack the bar. She noted the antagonistic vibe from the patrons and nodded as Mahoro left the kitchen to see what was happening, "Can you bring her to me?" "Right," Mahoro headed off any of the customers from interfering with the woman and lead her up to where Juri was sitting. "I've had friendlier greetings," the woman noted as she reached the bar. "Some of these people had friends hurt when your goon squad attacked last week," Juri answered flatly. "Who are you, and what do you want?" "My name is commander Maria Hill," she responded coolly, "I'm the second in command of the Strategic Hazard Intervention, Espionage Logistics Directorate." "I guess that explains the cute shield logos on the troops who tried to invade my place of business, shot innocent people and," Juri suddenly roared, "HURT ONE OF MY STAFF!" Maria Hill jerked backward even as the bar went dead silent. "SHIELD troops were here in persuit of a wanted fugitive," she responded, "and we tried to use minimal force." After a moment's pause she continued, "How is the injured woman?" "Keiko Sonada's recovering at home with her lover, May," Setsuna said dryly, "no thanks to your people." Juri got her temper under control, though it took some effort. "I want you and your organization to understand something," she said flatly, "this bar is neutral territory, and we have the power to enforce that." Maria Hill looked unhappy, but nodded. "Our psionics division has already briefed me on the unique nature of your bar," she admitted, "and Director Stark doesn't feel our mandate extends across alternate worlds." Setsuna's lips twitched up slightly, "And you don't want to make yet another powerful enemy, correct?" "That too," Maria willingly conceded. She looked at Juri, "I hope you'll pass on my apologies to Keiko, and let your people know we won't attack again." "I'll do that," Juri said flatly. "Thank you," and with that Maria walked to the door, back straight and head high. "Damn, I was almost hoping for a rematch," Minagi muttered as her sister Ryouko teleported in, the unscarred woman looking amused. "You might get it," Ryouko noted, "I don't trust her." "You don't trust anyone who looks like a cop," Juri noted wisely. Ryouko frowned, "So what? Cops can't be trusted!" Setsuna chuckled softly as she looked at Juri, "Do you think they'll attack again?" "I don't know," Juri admitted, "but there's no harm in being on guard." To be continued... The Staff: Ryouko and Minagi are from Tenchi Muyo, Juri and Keiko are from Revolutionary Girl Utena, Setsuna is from Sailor Moon, May is from Hand Maid May, Alpha is from Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, Mahoro is from Mahoromantic and Excel and Hyatt are from Excel Saga. Our Cast this Episode: Saya, Keiko and Mao are from Blood Plus and Maria Hill is from the marvel comic Civil War and related series. Notes: Maria Hill and SHIELD tie in to my "Tales of Civil War" series and a upcoming crossover I'm planning with Arisugawa's locket. Blood Plus is a alternate timeline from Blood the Last Vampire, and this is MY version too.
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