The End of the Circus: Shipgirl Short Stories - Pyeknu (2024)

Chapter 1: Hearts of Oak! The Lucky Woodpecker of Battle Recommissions!

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: Concurrent with fair dealing clauses of the Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42) of Canada and fair use clauses in copyright legislation in other nations, this is a work that was created solely for entertainment purposes. Furthermore, it is posted freely on the Internet without expectation or requirement of remuneration.

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The End of the Circus: A Tale of the Yizibajohei
Shipgirl Short Stories: Hearts of Oak! The Lucky Woodpecker of Battle Recommissions!
By Fred Herriot

L'Amour est Bleu (Love is Blue), composed by André Popp with lyrics by Pierre Cour

Based on characters and situations from Kantai Collection, created by Kadokawa Games; Sister Princess, created by Kimino Sakurako and Tenhiro Naoto; Sherlock, created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss (based on Sherlock Holmes, created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle); Harry Potter, created by Joanna K. Rowling; Urusei Yatsura, created by Takahashi Rumiko; and normalman, created by Jim Valentino.

Also including characters and situations from Urusei Yatsura — The Senior Year, created by Mike Smith and Fred Herriot.

****

Somewhere in Time and Space...

It was so quiet here...

Like a calm and tranquil sea...

The sixth of her particular name, like other ship spirits who came Here after their time in the mortal world — regardless of what would befall their physical hulls once they were either sunk or dismantled; the living souls of museum ships hadn't come to this place as far as she could sense — had slept pretty much since the day she had finally surrendered to the tender mercies of the breakers, who had to come to her final resting place at Saint Michael's Mount near Penzance in Cornwall to do what the Kaiserliche Marine, the Kriegsmarine, the Luftwaffe and the Regia Marina had singularly failed to do.

Heh! "Grand Old Lady", indeed...!

Huh...?

Blue, blue, my world is blue;
Blue is my world since I'm without you.
Grey, grey, my life is grey;
Cold is my heart since you went away...

Hearing that beautiful voice — a Greek accent even if the words were clearly English — a pair of bright blue eyes opened as the once-formless spirit began to coalesce into something more human-like. And while ships had been called "she" since Time immortal as far as she understood — what made the captain of Kriegsmarineschiff Bismarck want to call that murder machine which had so easily destroyed His Majesty's Ship Hood near the Denmark Strait one bleak May day in 1941 "he", she would NEVER begin to understand — that her very spirit was assuming the form of a graceful woman in her twenties was something she personally hadn't expected since she had forever slipped the bounds of King Neptune's Realm for This Place...

Red, red, my eyes are red;
Crying for you alone in my bed.
Green, green, my jealous heart;
I doubted you and now we're apart...

While long hair as golden as the very Sun itself spilled into her field of vision, she felt her shapely body become draped in a glittering silver crystal-like bodysuit. It wasn't form fitting; actually, it seemed quite comfortable as the amassed memories of all those who had helped make the second Queen Elizabeth-class fast super-dreadnought what she had been for thirty years bearing the Royal Commission from the time of King George V through that of his completely love-struck eldest son King Edward VIII to that of his long-suffering second son King George VI immediately fell in love with the sheer softness of the fabric now cloaking her definite female form. Wondering what in God's name was making her be transformed into THIS, she closed her eyes...

When we met,
How the bright sun shone!
Then love died;
Now the rainbow is gone!

Oh, dear...!

Prussia Cove...

Yet...!

Wait a minute...!

Sea cadets...?!

And not just boys, but girls as well! Not just British sea cadets, but Australian, New Zealander, Canadian...

Oh!

Oh, my...!

Number 98 Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps...?!

The Crown actually allowed the sea youth service of the oldest of the Dominions to receive Royal patronage...?!

Then why didn't the United Kingdom's own junior sea service...?

Eh...?!

Er...?

No. 98 Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps "W-...?

Oh, my...!

Oh, dear...!

This was EMBARRASSING...!

This unit named itself after HER...?!

A ship's bell then rang...!

Black, black, the nights I've known;
Longing for you so lost and alone.
Gone, gone, the love we knew;
Blue is my world since I'm without you...

As the hearts and fondest wishes of HUNDREDS of brave boys and girls seemed to ring through her very soul, she then perked on sensing one particular lad, a native of Penzance whose grandfather had actually...!

Oh...!

Ah...!

She understood now...!

Yet why on Earth...?!

Huh...?

WHAT?!

When we met,
How the bright sun shone!
Then love died;
Now the rainbow is gone!

The souls of dozens, HUNDREDS of warships — and yes, the odd civilian ships — had done WHAT?!

Had...become HUMAN?!

No! Had become METAHUMAN...?!

Like those "mystery men" and "mystery women" in their colourful fighting uniforms whose deeds had been prime news from North America — and yes, even many places in western Europe and the British Isles as well — during the latter years of the Great Depression before the fifth round of the Great European Free-for-All began in 1939...!

Far more civilized than a tonne of those useless magicals hiding in the shadows of society since 1689 had EVER been...!

Love is blue, now I'm without you...

Sensing that lovely song ending, she felt herself rising, noting a point in this ghostly place off to starboard turning bright, such displaying an image on a cliff overlooking the final place where she had come to rest before the breakers came to end her...!

Love is blue, now I'm without you...

As bos'n calls shrilled the still and one cadet rang a ship's bell.

Well...!

No sense in just ignoring this...!

Standing — and marvelling that her living spirit could now actually do things normal people, men and women alike, could do — she moved towards that portal leading from This Place back to the mortal plane...

Tene lomher'buo, Charlene Victoria Boleyn...!

****

Marazion Beach (three kilometres north of east from Penzance in Cornwall), overlooking Saint Michael's Mount, the last Wednesday of October in 2012, noon hour (Tōkyō time: Mid-evening)...

"Nothing...!"

"Bloody nothing...!"

"You sure this could've worked...?!"

The current executive warrant officer of the combined cadet force based out of the Camborne Science and International Academy near Redruth on the Atlantic side of Cornwall from Penzance exchanged a knowing look with the coxswain of No. 98 Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps from Kitchener in southwest Ontario. "I thought that Grandpa working as part of her crew would do it," WOCDT John Blake — just a year's away from attending the Britannia Royal Naval College to follow in his family's long tradition of answering the Crown's call to become part of the Senior Service — breathed out as the heads of the cadet corps who had been summoned to this place ultimately by the new Sixth Sea Lord of the Royal Navy had their charges stand easy. "A lot of shipgirls did come back 'to duty' when someone of their crew wished them to come back from wherever the kami go..."

CDT CPO1 Marilyn Jones of Woolwich located outside the largest city of Ontario's Waterloo Region bit her lip. "What's the special ingredient we're missing then?" the soon-to-be freshman student at Wilfred Laurier University in the city of Waterloo beside Kitchener asked; she hadn’t contemplated a professional career in the Royal Canadian Navy even if a new "stone frigate" naval reserve unit, HMCS Conestoga, had been re-established in nearby Cambridge. "We know there are parts of the captain's hull out there in the cove; the breakers didn't get to all of it when they got to water level by '55."

Here, she waved towards Prussia Cove in emphasis. "Don't the Specialized Warfare Regiment have cadet corps affiliated to it, Lynne?" WOCDT Patrick Lowell, executive warrant officer of Training Ship Leander in Auckland — whose namesake served in the Mediterranean during the Second World War alongside the "grand old lady" herself — noted as he gave Jones a hopeful look.

A snort escaped the Ontarian as she gave the Aucklander a weary stare. "The SWR and the 'old metahumans'..." — here, she made finger quotes to not mention the "M" term; the surgeon rear admiral who organized Operation: Woodpecker Hunt warned them that mentioning Britain's long-hidden magical population would definitely attract unwelcome attention from idiots under Northumberland Avenue in Westminster — "...keep that sort of thing under their hats, Pat! Thanks for the haka, anyway!"

"Best we could do, Lynne," the native of the city known to many in the Realm as Tāmaki Makaurau affirmed. "Any ideas you can give us, Lee?" he asked his opposite number from Training Ship Perth in the namesake capital city of Western Australia.

CDTCPO Lee Shannon shook her head. "Not a bloody thing, mate..."

Tene lomher'buo, Charlene Victoria Boleyn...!

Everyone jolted on hearing that booming male-like voice — the SAME voice that heralded the return of the most famous warship of the modern era a little over two months prior in the North Atlantic west-southwest of here — echo over the scene...

"Damn!" Blake breathed out as a point of very bright light appeared in the sky overhead to the south. "I think we did it!"

Immediately, the cadets all moved to straighten their ranks. "PIPE THE SIDE!" the CCF senior cadet then barked out.

One of the Canadian cadets grasped the rope tied to the small ship's bell which had been set up by his British counterparts right next to the stone memorial honouring the Royal Navy's most successful warship overlooking where she had finally surrendered to her fate after World War Two, while bos'n mates from all four countries forming a row raised their calls to their lips...

...just as the sounds of large sections of metal clanging against each other echoed through the local sky!

****

Somewhere under Northumberland Avenue in the City of Westminster, that moment...

"Oh, Merlin's Beard...!"

"What is it, John?!"

"It's happening HERE, Shack!" John Dawlish declared, pointing.

Kingsley Shacklebolt blinked before he looked...

...then he gaped on seeing the bright target icon appear on the map of the British Isles used by the Ministry of Magic's various departments to monitor significant magical events within their area of jurisdiction.

Said target icon now indicating something BIG was happening right near Land's End in Cornwall!

And given what the Ministry of Magic had learned from other magical governments over the last few months...

"What was there?!" the Grenadian-descent auror sergeant barked to one of the few people in this place who had gone to Canada to train at the Institute of Sorcery and Magic, coming back with considerable knowledge about muggle naval affairs.

Given that the crews of the eight monster-slaying magical battleships of the Dominion all trained at the end of the Sibley Peninsula where the Great Old One known as Nanabozho was rumoured to be resting...!

Whispering a spell, the retired auror now working for the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes' office of misinformation — which really didn't have to do much these days when it came to THEM! — blinked as a ghostly parchment appeared before him. Gazing at the small list of names on said parchment — which also contained a quick note concerning the final fate of warships who had sunk at or near that part of Cornwall — he ran through them before gaping.

His Canadian teachers — all veterans of the Wars of Liberation from all eight of the Dominion's great monster-slaying battleships — had waxed poetic about THIS particular warship's actions during BOTH world wars...!

"It's Warspite...!" he then called out.

Shacklebolt — even if he was a pureblood, he was quite the expert in muggle matters and had forced himself through a crash course on the naval side of muggle military affairs in recent months thanks to the reborn sea spirits now known as "shipgirls" in English worldwide — blinked before he gaped as that name rang loud in his memory. "The BATTLESHIP?!"

"Same! She ran aground there when she was en route to scrapping after Grindelwald's War ended, then was SCRAPPED there!"

"Shack! Look!"

On hearing Dawlish's shout, the dark-skinned auror looked at the map once more...

...then he grimly nodded. "Her scrap metal's being gathered to be reassembled..." he concluded.

People stared at him, then turned back to morbidly watch as MANY streaks of light seemed to emanate from all over southern England and Wales to converge at the very point of interest now attracting the attention of the Ministry's magical sensors. "I'll warn the Minister," Dawlish then declared as he moved to leave. "He'll want to know about this..."

Shacklebolt rolled his eyes. "Do the words 'Magical Royal Proclamation' mean something to you, John?"

That made the known arse-kisser to Cornelius Fudge visibly wince as he gave his superior a wary look...

****

Near Saint Michael's Rock, a minute later...

"Bloody HELL, that's FAST!"

"It'd take YEARS to rebuild her the NORMAL way!"

"What the hell makes this happen, anyway?!"

"Only Father Ranginui and Mother Papatūānuku know that damned answer, Lee...!"

As the assembly of cadets from four Commonwealth realms watched in overwhelmed awe, crowds of people streamed from nearby homes and cars who had been travelling along the West End between Marazion and Goldsithney to the east and Long Rock and Penzance to the west began to gather in the park around the simple stone memorial to Britain's most successful warship, drawing out cell phones and even the odd professional digital camera to take photos of the second of the Queen Elizabeth-class fast super-dreadnoughts literally being REBUILT while hovering in the air about a half-kilometre above the waters of Prussia Cove. While there hadn't been any police presence at this gathering — given a shipgirl's power, the idea of someone actually WANTING to cause issues here had been waved off by the just-appointed Surgeon Rear Admiral Katharine Jones when she was appointed as Sixth Sea Lord/Commander Naval Specialized Warfare Forces a few months ago — two constables of the Devon and Cornwall Police soon drove up in their modified Ford Focus patrol car, parking in the lot next to the marker set up by the HMS Warspite Association in memorial to their beloved ship next to her final mortal resting place.

Soon enough, both constables threaded through the crowd of excited people to find themselves facing the aft-most row of cadets now standing at divisions awaiting the arrival of their namesake ship. "Excuse me! Who's in charge here?!" one called out.

The four senior cadets forming a row at the head of this crowd now facing the effectively half-rebuilt HMS Warspite looked over their shoulders, then the one in the recognizable uniform of the Combined Cadet Force walked between his gathered subordinates to come to attention, saluting the just-arrived constables. "Gentlemen, can we be of assistance?" John Blake asked.

The constables returned that courtesy. "When did THIS start, lad?!" one asked. "Do you have any authorization for this?"

Smiling, the native of Redruth reached into his dress jacket pocket to pull out a folded letter. "From the Sixth Sea Lord with her sincerest compliments, Constable," he said as he handed said letter over.

Taking it, the two men gazed on what was written there before they blinked on seeing the written note there from the future head of the United Kingdom's shipgirl forces; the surgeon from Chatham east of London had been assigned to her present post after spending two years as Director General of Defence Medical Services, the first woman promoted to such a position. "Look there," the junior constable then stated after noting what was written in a VERY familiar scrawl over the main body of the text:

We desire this. La Reyne le veult.
Elizabeth R

Both constables chuckled as the letter was handed back. "Would have been nice for someone to warn US this was happening," the senior of the pair commented. "Can't imagine what's happening on the A394 right now..."

A radio then squawked, making him pick up his portable set to answer his dispatcher over in Penzance. "First time this is happening," WOCDT Blake explained. "She was picked first since she's the most prominent of all Royal Navy ships from the second go-around with the Germans." Here, the handsome Kenyan-descent senior sea cadet indicated the rebuilding Warspite, which was now effectively complete to her upper weather deck, the eight 15 inch BL Mark I main cannon — among whose number one of the longest shots by a naval rifle had been fired on 9 July 1940 during the Battle of Calabria due east of Sicily, such a blow hitting RM Giulio Cesare in the aft funnel — awaiting their chances to be inserted into reassembling gun houses.

The constable nodded. "And with Bismarck returned 'to duty' thanks to that whole damned thing with the Marvel universe back in August, with a load of U-boats and minor ships finally following her without defecting to Canada of all places..."

"Aye, sir..."

"IT'S HAPPENING!"

Both men looked up to see Warspite now effectively complete, the whole hull moving to glow star bright; none of the witnesses on this at ground level could see the very tiny point of light marking the true "special ingredient" CDT CPO1 Marilyn Jones from the battleship's namesake sea cadet corps asked about when the assembled cadets moved to begin this summoning exercise.

"EVERYONE! COVER YOUR EYES! DON'T LOOK AT HER!" the constable barked after yanking out a megaphone.

As people turned away or shielded their eyes from the most magical part of this whole evolution, the reassembled mass of 33,110 tonnes of steel, regenerated wood and other elements that had gone in to make the second Queen Elizabeth-class fast dreadnought what she was then collapsed into a ball of raw power glowing with the up-front effect of a noonday Sun...!

Nesu...RIMKUTI!

Silence fell...

...before the ground suddenly quaked as something human-sized in dimensions came down about a couple metres away from the assembled cadets, nearly knocking down the row of bos'n mates ready to call the still and announce the reborn Warspite's arrival.

Fortunately, even if her just-transformed new "hull" was adjusting to human dimensions — including body mass — the woman now being hailed elsewhere as the Lucky Woodpecker of Battle, Rimkuti ("Warspite"), hadn't hurt anyone with her landing.

People blinked before a melodic West Country accent called out, "Oh, dreadfully sorry! Didn't mean to trip anyone up!"

Everyone moved to look...

...they then beholding the transformed and reborn Charlene Boleyn standing there in her forest green martial arts gi-like uniform. Such was a design common to shipgirls born of Great War-era ships as well as cultural traditionalists like a certain Japanese aircraft carrier who missed out on the whole Second World War until her transformation at the start of April this year. Charlene also possessed gold belt and boots, her ship's crest with its gold Elizabethan Era cannon on a green field over her heart and the pennant 57 — her original Great War hull number, the gathered Sea Cadets knew; the pennant 03 which Warspite used in World War Two had been assigned in the previous war to the light cruiser HMS Weymouth, name ship of her sub-series of the well-regarded Town-class cruisers — in white-bordered black on her upper thighs. Atop that, said costume was decorated liberally with frolicking European green woodpeckers trimmed in soft grey, dancing gaily all over the darker green background.

"Bloody hell! She's a damned LOOKER, that one!" one young man hissed from the assembled civilians nearby.

Perking as she tried NOT to blush at such a compliment — she really needed to see a mirror, for God's sake! — the reborn battleship then jolted as who appeared to be the senior British cadet present called out, "PIPE THE SIDE!"

All the cadets snapped to attention as the bos'n mate manning the bell rang it twice to announce the arrival of a senior officer. In response, the adopted native of Devonport in Hampshire (where she was personally built) and Deptford on the south bank of the Thames within the modern London borough of Lewisham (where the first ship named Warspite had been built to serve the navy of the original Queen Elizabeth and her successive monarchs Kings James VI/I and Charles I) immediately snapped to attention and saluted the unofficial "brow", she noting she had the four rings with Elliot's Eye on the top of a captain in the Royal Navy on her sleeve cuffs. "WARSPITE, ARRIVING!" the quartermaster of the watch beside the line of bos'n mates called out, saluting.

A minute pause followed, then the two-tone notes of the "carry on" was piped then by the bos'n mates off to her port. Then the senior British cadet — a transplanted colonial from Africa somewhere by the looks of him — approached her. "Captain Boleyn, welcome back, ma'am!" the fellow — whose rank insignia composed of the Arms of Dominion in red thread, something Charlene couldn't recognize now — greeted her after giving her a salute, which she returned. "Cadet Warrant Officer John Blake, executive warrant officer of the Combined Cadet Force unit at the Camborne Science and International Academy in Redruth, commander of Task Group 'W' assigned to complete Operation: Woodpecker Hunt, reporting with personnel from my corps, Number 98 Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps Warspite of Kitchener in Ontario, Training Ship Perth of Perth in Western Australia and Training Ship Leander of Devonport in Auckland, ready for your inspection and post-salvage briefing."

The blonde, blue-eyed battleship took that in, then she sighed, lowering her arm. "I assume there's a reason not just myself but hundreds like me worldwide are being salvaged and transformed into this?" she wondered, waving to herself.

WOCDT Blake smiled as he reached into his pocket to draw out a formal envelope, such sealed with red wax with a VERY familiar sigil keeping it closed. "From Her Majesty with her sincere complements, ma'am."

Her blue eyes went wide before she took up the letter, then snapped it open, revealing one folded sheet of paper. "I know the King passed away while I was being scrapped here, so I assume his daughter is the current Queen..."

"Has been since 1952, ma'am," Blake assured her. "It's Hallowe'en day in 2012 now, ma'am."

"Very good, Warrant," she noted as she opened the folded letter. She then smiled in delight as the lady with the Arms of Canada as her rank insignia and the ship's crest Charlene bore over her heart on her uniform jacket came up, offering her hand. "I assume you're a warrant officer as well, Miss Jones?" she wondered, noting the newcomer's name tag under her corps badge.

"Chief Petty Officer First Class, ma'am," CDT CPO1 Marilyn Jones answered as she took the empty envelope in hand. "Warrants in Canada are Army and Air Force — and Army Cadet and Air Cadet — rank titles. We don't mix them as they do here in old Blighty, much less Down Under." Here, she winked at her counterparts from TS Leander and TS Perth.

Both CDTCPO Lee Shannon and WOCDT Patrick Lowell laughed at that comment. "Leander and Perth, eh?" Charlene then mused. "Good ships, both of them. Heard that old Leander went to New Zealand; has she come back this way?"

"Both of our namesake ships, ma'am," Shannon answered. "Perth is Captain Helen Farncomb..."

"And Leander is Captain Wendy Rivett-Carnac, Captain," Lowell added before calling out, "Petty Officer Dyson!"

"Aye-aye, Warrant!" a woman with the crossed anchors and crown of a cadet petty officer in the New Zealand Sea Cadet Corps called back, taking one step forward from the ranks and saluting the reborn battleship, with she returned with a nod.

"Send an e-mail to Captain Rivett-Carnac and Captain Farncomb to inform them of the captain's return!"

"Aye-aye, Warrant!" POCDT Lois Dyson said before reaching into her jacket to draw out what looked like a slate of glass and metal the size of a pocketbook novel to the adopted native of Devonport.

Blinking as she THEN realized there was something tucked away in her new uniform belt pouch on her right — starboard? — hip, she then switched the letter from Buckingham Palace to her left hand to reach for whatever was there.

"Um, ma'am," Blake called out. "Before you pull that out, you best read that part."

Noting he was pointing to the letter, Charlene blinked before looking over, noting one paragraph all in bold print:

Charlene, please do NOT openly speak of where your new "hull" comes from. As to the "why", you'll be briefed on as soon as you're in a secure place by your new admiral. The safety of Earth as a whole depends on your silence!

Humming in understanding as she nodded thanks to Blake — the four senior cadets in charge of this operation had been given a more thorough briefing about how shipgirls became what they were and WHY such had to be kept secret from the general public given a certain situation occurring now just outside Tōkyō in Japan — she turned back to read the Queen's letter in full...

...before her cheeks reddened as her empty stomach suddenly and LOUDLY creaked!

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

Then...

"Rations?" Jones proposed.

"Too early for tea time, Marilyn!" Shannon advised.

Charlene gaped. "Too early for TEA?! Tosh! Go get some food summoned up, Chief!"

The native of Woolwich smartly saluted her. "Aye-aye, ma'am!"

****

In the city of Westminster, the headquarters complex of the Ministry of Magic under Northumberland Avenue near Whitehall, a half-hour later...

"A shipgirl?!"

"Yes, Minister."

"A BRITISH shipgirl?!"

"HMS Warspite, one of the Great War battleships, Minister. She was at Second Dogger Bank."

Cornelius Fudge looked as pale as a ghost as he took a moment to absorb that blasting hex just delivered to him by John Dawlish and Kingsley Shacklebolt. Also in his office with the two aurors were Dawlish's and Shacklebolt's top superior Director Amelia Bones, chief auror Rufus Scrimgeour, Fudge's new junior undersecretary Percy Weasley...and, much to Bones', Scrimgeour's and Shacklebolt's personal annoyance, Lucius Malfoy; given that Dolores Umbridge was currently working at Hogwarts as this school term's "yearly sacrifice", she was currently in Scotland. "Oh, dear Merlin...!" the current Baron of Cotswold who had been elected as Minister for Magic — which he and many others like him often mistakenly called "minister OF magic", forgetting that the official title had been imposed by Royal Warrant in 1707 with the reorganization of the governing body for British magicals — as a compromise between "light" and "dark" factions in the Wizengamot could only breathe out. While the news of the reborn first-generation battle dolls from the third world of Kaeyu having merged with the literally kami of sea warships that had been occurring over many parts of Earth had been in general magical public circulation since the soul of the destroyer Fubuki became f*ckushima Fujiko in mid-March, the Daily Prophet and most of the other major newspapers and magazines serving wizarding Britain had been encouraged to downplay such incidents, even after the shocking return of the legendary German battleship Bismarck in the personage of Luisa von Bismarck-Schönhausen a little over two months ago.

But with a BRITISH warship having been changed that way...!

"We must find a way to subvert these creatures to protect ourselves, Cornelius," Malfoy then warned.

"We can't, Lord Malfoy," Weasley then spoke up, making the "pro-shipgirl" magicals in the room — all save Dawlish, who was a fence-sitter when it came to the existence of such beings — perk at the junior undersecretary's words. "Her Majesty the Queen has issued a Magical Royal Proclamation forbidding Ministry interference when it comes to ANY shipgirl, especially if they come from the United Kingdom or any of the Commonwealth realms or the muggle government's allies in this NATO alliance. Master Mycroft Holmes will be in overall charge of them in his place as leader of the Specialized Warfare Fencibles."

Hearing THAT man's name made the Marquess of Avebury based out of the heart of Wiltshire openly wince as Bones and Scrimgeour exchanged knowing looks and Shacklebolt hid his own smile. Given that both laws passed by the muggle Parliament at the Palace of Westminster upriver from the MoM's headquarters complex and magical royal proclamations — the latter being the supreme law for all magicals in the United Kingdom no matter how much traditionalists sometimes loudly wished otherwise — had been in effect since Grindelwald's War ended in 1945 to prevent magicals from interfering with non-magical metahumans, the fact that a man like Mycroft Holmes had such control over such people made those like Fudge quake in their boots, they hoping NOTHING would happen that would force the man's hand against people such as they. Given Malfoy's true affiliations as a certain tattoo on the man's inner left arm loudly declared — he always wearing clothes to hide the Dark Mark from public view — the fact that MUGGLES had such power over MAGICALS was something he hated with all his being.

Such a view was shared by a certain dark lord and his other followers, who had managed to pull off a spectacular prison break earlier this morning at Azkaban in the North Sea east of the Shetland Islands...!

That alone made Fudge's day VERY bad, much to Malfoy's private delight!

But to have something like THIS drop down on people's heads at the same time...!

"There has to be a way around this, Mister Weatherby," Malfoy then snarled.

Weasley's eyes flashed his annoyance at the mispronunciation of his family name. Yes, there was the long-standing feud between the Malfoys of Avebury and the Weasleys of Ottery Saint Catchpole, but Weasley's decision to not follow his family's mad drive to warn people that He Who Must Never Be Named had somehow returned back in late May should have earned him respect with "darker" factions in both the Ministry and the Wizengamot. "There is NO way around this, Lord Malfoy. Mister Holmes is FAR smarter than that and we've NO idea if Lady Warspite is actually the FIRST shipgirl of the United Kingdom to have 'returned to duty' in this particular manner." As Fudge gargled in disbelief, he added, "Many warships of the Royal Navy were lost overseas during both the Great War and the Wars of Liberation; the chances are good that a shipgirl born from a vessel sunk in the Mediterranean Sea, the Indian Ocean or the Pacific Ocean basins could have come back earlier. Given how much Lady Saeru gets around on her weekend or holiday trips around the world thanks to Professor Thomas' floating umbrella..."

"She has to be stopped from doing that!" Malfoy snapped. "Cornelius, you HAVE to make a firm stand here!"

"If you're that hell-bound to be BEHEADED by Lady Yonaga of all people, Lucius, please go right on ahead!" Bones teased, making Voldemort's chief financier turn as white as a ghost; the news of THAT particular shipgirl and what she and her still-living crew had been doing in the hinterland of Siberia for over seven decades started getting around back in late April.

"Amelia, please!" Fudge urged. "There's no time for that...!"

A rapid knocking was heard at the door. "Minister!"

Said minister looked over. "What?! What?!"

The door flew open to reveal another auror, he quite wide-eyed. "Minister, a whole SLEW of shipgirls appear to be coming back! Scapa Flow — both IN the bay and outside it! — not to mention the English Channel and elsewhere...!"

As people's jaws dropped, Malfoy sneered as he HOPED that his master was monitoring things through the Dark Mark.

What happened on Monday night in Whitby couldn't be allowed to happen AGAIN...!

****

The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the mountains of Perth and Kinross in Scotland, that moment...

"Oh, dear...!"

Hearing that mused statement from her prize pre-NEWT student, Professor Sybil Trelawney looked over. "What is it?"

The woman that the great-granddaughter of Britain's most famous Seer knew was ALSO a Gifted adopted Yizibajohei — and who knew the TRUE fate of the Boy Who Lived even if she was sworn to total secrecy over that matter — looked up from her crystal ball, it now displaying the image of a smiling blue-eyed blonde twenty-something being walked into a fish and chips restaurant somewhere in the United Kingdom by equally-smiling uniformed youth, everyone chattering away as many bystanders went and took pictures. The badge over her heart loudly declared who she had once been. "Britain's first shipgirl."

Trelawney came over to gaze on her, then nodded. "Warspite. Queen Elizabeth-class battleship, veteran of Second Dogger Bank on the muggle side of things," she declared, her voice exceptionally clear; both Hirosaki Chikage and Luna Lovegood had been on the older woman's case to stop drinking so much when she was in class, especially now with a certain "pureblood" senior undersecretary — who violated the tenets of Hogwarts' by-laws by working here while STILL being employed by the Ministry of Magic! — causing too much in the way of disruption, especially among students in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classes. "Most decorated warship of the Royal Navy as I recall you telling me when I asked about your sister potentially bringing back Her Majesty's warships as shipgirls thanks to the largess of the Healer of Destruction. Was Hinako involved?"

"No, she'll be preparing for bed right now, Professor," Hirosaki Chikage advised. "She only goes on 'shipgirl hunts' on the weekends when she can spare time from friends and homework. I don't recall Mycroft asking for her help in finding warship kami to see salvaged and Gifted to serve under Surgeon Rear Admiral Jones' new command." Here, the Dark Heart of Pure Chaos, Nosyo'or'bem ("Dragonheart"), took a sip of some welcome tea; she didn't have any classes for the rest of today, so she was spending time with Trelawney helping tutor junior students in divination. "Oh, Pansy, we need Dolores' floo portal blocked for the rest of today. Her 'dear Cornelius' might be persuaded by Draco's father to move directly against Charlene and whoever else might be summoned back to duty once they sense her Gifting's happened. No doubt, Tom might take offence."

The very shadows of the divination classroom seemed to stir at that statement from the native of the magical side of Tōkyō who had some VERY powerful relations...including the man-turned-woman who saved Pansy Parkinson's life years ago, thus seeing the daughter of the current Earl of Keerford in Lancashire eventually Gifted as the Shadow Hunter, Semtato ("Silhouette").

«Done, Chikage,» the dark-haired reality/shadow warper called back telepathically from the Great Hall. «What's going on?»

"Mycroft is getting a very nice Hallowe'en present," the high-level arch-mage sorceress replied.

«Oh, that's nice...!»

****

Scapa Flow within the Orkney Islands (north of John o' Groats at the northernmost tip of Scotland), that moment...

A fisherman busy moving to get some fresh catch from the waters of the old wartime fleet anchorage perked as the very calm waves off to the north and west of his current position began to churn wildly...

Tene lomher'buo, Jocelyn Daphne Dick....

Tene lomher'buo, Kimberly Rachel Maclachlan...

Turning to look as the waters over the wreck sites of the first of the Revenge-class super-dreadnoughts and the last of the Saint Vincent-class first-generation dreadnoughts (as seen by launch date) had been sunk, he then cackled in delight as streaks of energy flew across the sky from the south to see salvaged fittings and other parts of either HMS Royal Oak or HMS Vanguard fly into place, ready to reunite with the remainder of the hulls now rising from the Flow. "Ruddy about time...!"

Tene lomher'buo, Marie Charlotte mu Württemberg...

Tene lomher'buo, Catharine Ottilie mu Zähringen...

Tene lomher'buo, Augusta Victoria mu Preußen...

Tene lomher'buo, Joanelle Kamrie Tietgenns...

Tene lomher'buo, Wilhelmina Bathilda Schulz...

Tene lomher'buo, Loralei Constanze Kaulhausen...

Tene lomher'buo, Katrina Didrika Franck...

"Bloody hell! Even the German ships, too?!" the fisherman exclaimed before another delighted laugh escaped him.

Noting that the very hull of Royal Oak was now surfacing off to the north, he then shrugged as he sat back in his chair, setting aside his fishing pole as he moved to pull out a camera to get some decent pictures.

He wasn't going to miss THIS for the whole damned world!

To Be Continued...!

****

WRITER'S NOTES

The timeline of this particular short sets it happening on Hallowe'en in 2012, seventeen days prior to the start of the first part of the main story Boy Meets Girl Meets Metahuman.

Translation list and source language: Kaiserliche Marine — Imperial Navy, title of the German maritime warfare service from 1871-1918; Kriegsmarine — War Navy, title of the German maritime warfare service from 1935-1945; Luftwaffe — Air Force, title of the German aviation warfare service from 1935-1945 and from 1955 to today; Regia Marina — Royal Navy, title (and ship prefix) of the Italian maritime warfare service from 1861-1946; Kriegsmarineschiff — War Navy Ship, ship prefix for German navy warships from 1935-1945 in my stories (short-formed KMS); WOCDT — Cadet Warrant Officer (English abbreviation); CDT CPO1 — Cadet Chief Petty Officer 1st Class (English abbreviation); CDTCPO — Cadet Chief Petty Officer (English abbreviation); Le Reyne le veult — The Queen wills it (Norman French); BL — Breech Loading, the standard indicator for a non-muzzle loading or quick firing naval weapon in the Royal Navy (English abbreviation); POCDT — Cadet Petty Officer (English abbreviation); Mu — Of, equivalent of the German name honorific von (Yizibajohei).

Elder deity notes: Nanabozho is the trickster spirit of the Ojibwe (AKA the Chippewa) who once dominated territory from southern Manitoba through central Ontario to western Québec in central Canada. Ranginui and Papatūānuku are the divine creator couple (of sky and earth respectively) of Māori mythology in New Zealand; the latter was confirmed to be a Great Old One (the oldest sentient beings on Earth in my stories, averaging about two to three million years in age) in Part 38 of Boy Meets Girl Meets Metahuman. The Great Old Ones as a whole were first mentioned in Part Three of Magic and Canada.

The phrase Great European Free-for-All to identify a continent-wide war was coined by Shaithan in his very funny KanColle short story Germany Can(not) Into Navy, which is listed in the "Kantai Collection Fanfic Idea and Recs" snippet collection at Space Battles, post #24076928. According to him, the various "iterations" of the GEFFA are as follows:

First round: The Thirty Years War (1618-1648)
Second round: The Seven Years' War (1756-1763)
Third round: The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815)
Fourth round: The First World War AKA the Great War (1914-1918)
Fifth round: The Second World War (1939-1945)

Surgeon Rear Admiral Katharine Jones was first introduced in the universe of this story in Part 35 of BmGmM; she first appeared in The Seventh Shipgirl. As a doctor, she is accorded the "surgeon" title prefix to her rank, such is short-formed Surg RAdm. As noted before, she was selected to the position of Sixth Sea Lord/Commander, Naval Specialized Warfare Forces (6SL/COMNSWF) due to her also possessing a doctorate degree in psychology atop her combined bachelors degree in medicine and surgery; this would help her better deal with all forms of shipgirl insanity. As an aside, there has never been a Sixth Sea Lord in the Royal Navy in real life; the First Sea Lord (1SL) is the professional head of the senior service, the Second Sea Lord (2SL) is the administrative deputy commander of the Royal Navy, the Third Sea Lord (3SL) was the chief of equipment procurement/management, the Fourth Sea Lord (4SL) was in charge of all naval supply issues and the Fifth Sea Lord (5SL) was chief of naval aviation services. Note that the titles for the Third, Fourth and Fifth Sea Lords were effectively discontinued by 1965 in real life; they were revised in the universe of my stories after shipgirls began to appear.

The Second Battle of Dogger Bank is the magical name for the Battle of Jutland on 31 May-1 June 1916. The involvement of magicals from Canada in that fight is described better in Part Seven of Magic and Canada.

Mycroft Holmes (from the BBC Sherlock television series first produced in 2010) is the Master of the Royal Specialized Warfare Fencibles; he was first mentioned in this series in Part 11 of BmGmM. A fencible regiment (from the term "defensible") was a home defence unit created by the British Army during the era of the Napoleonic Wars to act as its title states it should; such a unit is NEVER meant for duties away from the homeland. The Royal Specialized Warfare Fencibles (RSWF) was authorized by the Crown in the Specialized Warfare Act, 1949 which codified all rights and responsibilities for metahumans in the United Kingdom; this would bring together all metahuman military personnel in emergencies. Given "he IS the British Government" (according to his brother Sherlock Holmes), Mycroft's taking command of the RSWF both in peacetime and war makes sense.

As for the shipgirls introduced here (safe for who was being Gifted in the final scene; such will be noted in the following part), starting with the Commonwealth realms:

Captain Charlene Victoria Boleyn RN (His/Her Majesty's Ship Warspite [pennant 57, formerly pennant 03])
Captain Helen Louisa Farncomb RAN (His/Her Majesty's Australian Ship Perth [CL-20, formerly pennant D29], formerly His Majesty's Ship Amphion [administrative pennant C29])
Captain Julia Wendy Rivett-Carnac RNZN (His/Her Majesty's New Zealand Ship Leander [pennant C72, formerly pennant 75], formerly His Majesty's Ship Leander [administrative pennant C75])

Charlene Boleyn (HMS Warspite) and Helen Farncomb (HMAS Perth) both take after their Kantai Collection selves. Wendy Rivett-Carnac (HMNZS Leander) resembles her Azur Lane interpretation. Note that pennant numbers in the Royal Navy, due to their being reused during the world wars and afterwards, were reorganized into a single list; this is the reason Charlene went back to her original Great War pennant number. The Royal New Zealand Navy makes use of the same type of system; note that in both the RNZN and the RN, pennant superior letter "C" indicates a cruiser. The Royal Australian Navy used pennant numbers until the Vietnam War, when it switched to the American hull classification code system; the code CL means "light cruiser". Also note that during the World Wars, the Commonwealth realms did not use a type-specific pennant superior system, hence the reason Helen got pennant D29; pennant superior letter "D" in the RN and RNZN these days indicates a destroyer.

Note that all British-built warships are given an administrative pennant number if they're transferred overseas.

A quick note about the ship who originally had pennant 03 in the Great War...

Captain Evelyn Vanna Underhill RN (His/Her Majesty's Ship Weymouth [pennant C163, formerly pennant 03])

As I strongly doubt that games such as KanColle will ever get around to introducing shipgirl versions of Great War warships, there is no physical lookalike to Vanna Underhill (HMS Weymouth) I can personally reference to. As for cruiser pennant numbers, ships from World War Two get first pick of allotments (usually their old pennant number with the "C" superior), then Great War vessels would fill in remaining numbers from 00-99 (except 13, naturally) before going into higher numbers, then anything commissioned prior to 1914 who was either directly active or had sisters active during that particular conflict.

The opponents from the Battle of the Denmark Strait on 24 May 1941...

Captain Mary Sonia Hood RN (His/Her Majesty's Ship Hood [pennant 51])
Kapitän zur See Wilhelmina Luisa, Fürstin von Bismarck-Schönhausen KMDR (Kriegsmarineschiff Bismarck [pennant 62])

Luisa von Bismarck (KMS Bismarck) takes after her KanColle self. Mary Hood (HMS Hood) takes after her Azur Lane interpretation. Note that the German Navy (the service code here is KMDR, for Kriegsmarine der Deutschen Reiches ["War Navy of the German Realm"]) never used pennant numbers for anything above a destroyer in the Second World War; the pennant 62 indicates Luisa is the sixty-second battleship built in Germany. Like in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, capital ships do not receive a pennant superior letter. Being what she is and who she was named after, Luisa receives the honorary rank of Kapitän zur See ("Captain At Sea", short-formed KptzS) and the noble honorific Fürstin (normally translated as "princess").

Finally, the two Japanese shipgirls mentioned here are better explained in Part One of BmGmM.

Chapter 2: Hearts of Oak II: The Battle of Marazion

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: Concurrent with fair dealing clauses of the Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42) of Canada and fair use clauses in copyright legislation in other nations, this is a work that was created solely for entertainment purposes. Furthermore, it is posted freely on the Internet without expectation or requirement of remuneration.

****

The End of the Circus: A Tale of the Yizibajohei
Shipgirl Short Stories: Hearts of Oak II: The Battle of Marazion
By Fred Herriot

Based on characters and situations from Bible Black, created by ActiveSoft; Mahō Sensei Negima, created by Akamatsu Ken; Kantai Collection, created by Kadokawa Games; Sister Princess, created by Kimino Sakurako and Tenhiro Naoto; Worm, created by John C. McCrae; Sherlock, created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss (based on Sherlock Holmes, created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle); Harry Potter, created by Joanna K. Rowling; Urusei Yatsura, created by Takahashi Rumiko; and normalman, created by Jim Valentino.

Including mention of characters from X-Men, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Also including characters and situations from Urusei Yatsura — The Senior Year, created by Mike Smith and Fred Herriot.

****

Near the Avebury henge earthworks (ten kilometres south-southwest of Swindon in County Wiltshire), the last Wednesday of October in 2012, two hours after lunch (Tōkyō time: An hour before midnight)...

"You have all sensed this?"

The considerable crowd of hooded and masked people now prostrating themselves before the man born Thomas Marvolo Riddle all put their covered faces to the linoleum floor of the main dining room of the primary residence of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Malfoy AKA the magical Marquessate of Avebury at their dreaded lord's question. "Yes, my Lord!"

"You have all felt such beings' power?"

"Yes, my Lord!"

"Bring this Warspite to me! And any other of these 'shipgirls' who dares rise to defy me!"

"YES, MY LORD!"

And with that, a dozen Death Eaters immediately portkeyed away from the current base of Lord Voldemort...

****

Marazion east-northeast of Penzance in Cornwall, that moment...

«I say! Warspite?! Is that you down by Land's End?!»

Perking on hearing that voice echo in her mind, the Lucky Woodpecker of Battle blinked before she looked around, causing the considerable crowd inside the Tutor Chappy fish and chips/ice cream store to silence themselves. "Royal Oak...?"

As people's breaths all caught in their throat on hearing THAT particular tragic battleship's name, Charlene Boleyn then closed her eyes, she sensing a considerable stream of visual data pour into her mind from her younger half-sister who had been struck down by a torpedo strike IN SCAPA FLOW OF ALL PLACES in the mid-autumn of 1939 by an unbelievably daring crew of submariners aboard KMS U-47 commanded by a bold captain named Günther Prien. «Yeah, it's me, 'Spite! I felt it when you got salvaged and merged with one of the Healer's creations right now! Old Vanguard's with me as well...!»

«'Lo, 'Spite!» a new voice cut in, this one with a Cumbria accent marking her place of construction at the Vickers-Armstrong yard in Barrow-in-Furness; the first one she had sensed through her telepathic "secure communications" had the same accent Charlene herself possessed as the third of the Revenge-class battleships had also been built at Her Majesty's Naval Base at Devonport near Portsmouth in Hampshire. «Even got seven of our friends from across the North Sea here, too...!»

«Guten Nachmittag, Freiin Warspite!» another voice cut in, this one with the clipped Prussian tones indicating a native of that old kingdom...though such was also mixed with some other type of German accent that Charlene did not recognize. «Much that I'm personally glad that our nations are allies now — can't believe the Kaiser was so stupid to invade Belgium to start the blasted row between our empires in the first place! — but do you have ANY idea what's going on here?!»

«KÖNIG! How in God's name can you question the Kaiser of all people?!» another voice shrieked in outrage.

«Um...nearly two million dead, Markgraf?» the reborn Royal Oak then sympathetically advised.

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

Then...

«Lieber Gott im Himmel...!» the reborn SMS Markgraf — her accents were quite the melodious mixture as well — moaned.

«You girls must be hungry,» Charlene then sympathetically cut in. «Feeling as if all your fuel tanks are empty now? I'm in Marazion near Penzance on the shores of Prussia Cove right now. Lovely fish and chips shop with even lovelier tea and ICE CREAM as well! Come down here to get rations; the folks who helped me return to the Queen's service suspected more of us would come back this way today. Oh, Oak, Vanguard, one thing; pass it on to any of our other fleet mates who come back as you come down here to join me: Her Majesty's DIRECT orders are to make NO public mention of Yiziba!»

That made the reborn warships perk as they floated over the middle of Scapa Flow. «Why?» the reborn SMS König demanded.

«Something about the whole of Earth's safety being potentially in danger; that was Her Majesty's warning about same...»

«I can explain that to my countrywomen, Kapitän Boleyn.»

That made the adopted native of Devonport gasp. "Bismarck...?!"

The whole crowd inside the Tutor Chippy exclaim in disbelief...

****

Thirty minutes later, on Marazion Beach...

"Damn! Didn't expect THIS sort of crowd!" WOCDT John Blake tried not to moan.

His fellow senior cadets from Canada, Australia and New Zealand nodded as they took in the sight of a considerable crowd of shipgirls from Britain and Germany — effectively hosted by the reborn HMS Warspite and KMS Bismarck, the latter looking somewhat wary given how the government in Berlin was QUITE skittish over the idea of having the living personifications of the warships who served during both the fourth and fifth reiterations of the Great European Free-for-All "come back to duty" as shipgirls — chatting excitedly away with each other. Also present were two shipgirls bearing the badge of the Royal Danish Navy on their belt buckles, one of whom was a native of that nation while the other was an adopted German of all things!

Hehilde Zenne had been the planned second SMS Wiesbaden of the Cöln-class light cruisers — two of their number had been scuttled at Scapa Flow in the summer of 1919 to never be salvaged, SM Schiffe Cöln (now Loralei Kaulhausen) and Dresden (now Didrika Franck) — but since the second Wiesbaden had not been completed by the time of the Armistice of Compiègne on 11 November 1918, she had been scrapped...which freed up her living soul to be ADOPTED by the Land of Lego as KDM Limfjorden, named in tribute to the shallow sea dividing the northernmost part of Jutland from the remainder of continental Europe. Right now, the adopted native of Aalborg (largest port of the Limfjorden), Wiesbaden (her namesake city had she served in the Kaiserliche Marine) and Szczecin in northwest Poland (where she was built) was busy showing a wide-eyed Loralei and Didrika about the many things that were common in her adopted homeland via a holographic image emanating from the ubiquitous paperback novel-sized devices that came with the shipgirls' new "sea uniforms"; Blake and his fellow senior cadets knew where THOSE devices ultimately came from and how they helped the reborn warship spirits adopt to the modern age.

"So even if the bastards in the Benderblock are publicly saying nothing about German shipgirls and where they go, they're busy preparing themselves for when the rest of the public back home accepts them back, huh?" CDT CPO1 Marilyn Jones mused.

"Being smart if you ask me," WOCDT Patrick Lowell noted, crossing his arms. "You saw what old Bisko did to that wanker terminator Nimrod when he moved to attack the Queen Mary 2 the day she 'recommissioned', right?" As the native of Woolwich near Kitchener nodded — indeed, who HADN'T seen what the most famous warship of all had done to the mutant-hunting Sentinel also known as "Bastion" when he tried to strike at clones of the X-Men who had gone to the current flagship of the Cunard Line on the seventy-second anniversary of KMS Bismarck's commissioning? — the Auckland native added, "The Germans got a right to be wary of the Nazis trying to come back — especially with those Gesellschaft bastards who are backing up the Empire Eighty-Eight over in America and their friends elsewhere — but Bisko's as anti-Nazi as they come!"

"Do not worry about those mörderischer Abschaum, Herr Oberdeckoffizier," a voice called out, making Blake, Jones, Lowell and their Australian friend CDT CPO Lee Shannon jolt before they smartly turned to salute the reborn SMS König.

"Admiral, congratulations on your appointment!" Blake called out. "Hello to you as well, Admiral Iuel."

Hearing that, the woman now called Marie Charlotte von Württemberg chuckled as she returned that courtesy, as did the current "flagship" of Denmark's corps of flådejomfruer, the reborn post-Great War armoured ship/training cruiser KDM Niels Iuel now known among her peers in the defence forces of Denmark as Kommandør (acting Flotilleadmiral) Christel Iuel. "Danke, Herr Oberdeckoffizier," the adopted native of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg (birthplace of her effective namesake, King Wilhelm II of the Kingdom of Württemberg) and Wilhelmshaven in the former grand duchy of Oldenburg (where she was built as the first of her class of super-dreadnoughts) stated as she lowered her arm. "Tell me; I fear I might have misaddressed you...!"

"None of us would technically be seen as 'Oberfähnrich zur See', Your Highness," Jones noted with a polite bow of her head.

"Though we definitely might consider joining our respective armed forces if this whole thing about starship versions of all of you being built now is true, ma'am," Shannon added, his own eyes twinkling in amusem*nt; yes, the senior cadets present today had been briefed on THAT as well. "Captain Farncomb just can't stop going on and on about what her starship-self can do."

The older shipgirls laughed. "Did you get a chance to deal with these interdimensionale Eindringlinge back in August, Christel?" Charlotte asked, she trying NOT to blush madly at being called "your highness" of all things. Yes, as a living namesake of the Royal House of Württemberg, she was entitled to the 'Fürstin' honorific applied to her adopted family name...!

The adopted native of Oslo in Norway (birthplace of her namesake) and Copenhagen (where she was built as Denmark's last coastal defence ship), shook her head. "Sadly, nothing came our way, Charlotte. Our Swedish, Polish and Finnish cousins got involved — without their starships, sadly — but Denmark, the Faeroe Islands and Greenland weren't invaded."

"Wonder what Captain von Bismarck did when she took that wanker Nimrod back to his universe," Lowell mused...

...then the shipgirls all tensed. "Incoming from the area west of Guernsey!" Elizabeth Kitchener, the reborn armoured cruiser HMS Hampshire who had been sunk via mine strike west of the Orkney Islands in 1916, barked out.

Heads turned south. "Two of them!" Elizabeth's sister Margaret Campbell, the reborn HMS Argyll sunk by grounding a year earlier near Dundee in Scotland, said as she shielded her eyes from the early afternoon sun. "Two battleships!"

Christel and Charlotte peered intently at the two small dots in the southern sky slowly growing as they moved to make landfall. "One's Baden!" the latter then announced. "The other one seems to be an Orion-class..."

"Monarch," Charlene Boleyn declared before she concentrated. «Hello, Monarch! Can you hear me?!»

«Huh?! That you, Warspite?!» a strange voice with a mix of Geordie English marking HMS Monarch's place of construction at Elswick in Newcastle-upon-Tyne — and some version of French of all things — called back, sensed by all the shipgirls present.

«I'm at Marazion now near Penzance off Prussia Cove, along with a whole FLEET of others like us!» the adopted native of Devonport warned. «Come see us now so we can get our kit in order before reporting to the Admiralty.»

«Baden, a whole slew of girls from Germany are here, too!» Charlotte added. «No mention of Yiziba, ladies; direct orders from the Benderblock. You'll be explained why once you get some food into you.»

«Jawohl, meine Flagschiffe!» came from the last of Imperial Germany's completed capital ships, SMS Baden.

"WAIT! BROOM RIDERS, DUE NORTH!"

Heads snapped over...

"Mein Gott!" Luisa von Bismarck snarled on seeing at least a dozen people in cloaks on riding brooms now hovering over the nearby A394 roadway. "Don't those Idiotische Magie know not to stick their noses out of their enclaves like that?!"

"Why the devil are they wearing masks?!" Jocelyn Dick, the reborn ninth warship named Vanguard — who would KEEP her name should her immediate successor to said name be reborn as Patricia Agnew — then demanded; Luisa had been quite kind as to help the newly-reborn shipgirls key into their personal administrative assistant devices to get updates on a LOT of things.

That made Luisa, Christel and Hehilde perk before their eyes went wide. "Todesser!" the adopted native of Schönhausen snarled.

Charlene blinked. "'Death Eaters', Luisa?"

The taller reborn battleship glared at the spiritually older woman. "Magical rebels against the British Crown, Charlene."

Charlene's own blue eyes went wide. "Like that lot who followed that Grindelwald fool from Hungary?"

"Worse! They're magical equivalents of the Nazis of all things!"

Everyone's eyes went wide. "Oh, how CHARMING!" Kimberly Maclachlan, the reborn HMS Royal Oak, mockingly noted. "Shall we teach these — oh, what's that word?! — ah, I recall now! Those STALEBLOODS about loyalty to the Crown?!"

Savage grins crossed the faces of the other shipgirls present. "Warrant Jones! Get all the civilians under cover now!" Charlene then barked. "Charlotte, Christel, would you and yours care to join us in this little exercise?"

"Why, you're far too courteous, Charlene!" Charlotte affirmed with a courtly bow as Christel nodded savagely...

****

North of Marazion, moments later...

"The muggles are dispersing, Corban!"

"I see it, Thorfinn!" Corban Yaxley declared as he reached into his robes to draw out his wand. The current head of Wizengamot administrative services at the Ministry of Magic — who had taken a "day off" to attend to the Dark Lord at Avebury, thus was made the co-leader of this mission — tried not to scowl. "Did those shipgirl things spot us?!"

"Impossible!" Antonin Doholov sneered behind his own mask to Yaxley's right rear. "There's no magic in those things...URK!"

"Good day, sir."

Heads snapped around...

"Impossible!" Yaxley exclaimed in disbelief.

...to see the descendant of Russian magicals who had fled the just-formed Soviet Union after the October Revolution for safety in Britain now being held at the back of his head by a woman FLOATING in mid-air, her free hand snaring Dolohov's broom before it dropped towards the highway almost a half-kilometre below. As he tried to twist around to unleash his signature blood-boiling curse at his current captor, the other Death Eaters who had come to find the reborn HMS Warspite drew out their own wands to send curses her way, aiming in a way to give the veteran of Voldemort's rebellion against the Ministry of Magic in the late 1980s and early 1990s a chance to escape. Several bolts slammed into the pretty brunette's head and arm, leaving no mark on either her quite soft skin or the medium blue traditional sleeved uniform dotted in gold French fleur-de-lys with the white-bordered black number 55 on her upper thighs. As Doholov finally managed to get a good firing arc, he hissed out something in Russian...

...before the side of his very SKULL was allowed to smash into Nicola Poincaré's forehead!

Blood exploded from a caved-in head as Doholov's hand dropped his wand, such snatched up by a fast-moving blur which melted into a younger woman — the reborn HMS Monarch appeared to be in her mid-twenties age-wise; the newcomer bearing the badge of HMS Hampshire on her silver-trimmed blue uniform with red-and-white checkered trimming appeared to be as if she just graduated from Hogwarts herself — who arced around to float upside-down in front of the mortally-wounded wizard.

"Need some help with the trash here, Nicola?" Elizabeth Kitchener then teasingly asked, she then scowling as her nose scrunched. "Bloody hell, does this thing SMELL! Doesn't even LOOK bloody British to me...!"

"ALIEN BITCH! AVADA KEDAVRA!"

A bolt of green light slammed into the reborn first of the Devonshire-class armoured cruisers (by launch date), the burning effects of the Killing Curse unleashed by Thorfinn Rowle dancing over her uniform for a second before it dispersed into nothingness...

...leaving a very ALIVE reborn adopted native of Winchester (seat of her namesake county) and Elswick (where she was built).

"What the devil was THAT?!" the namesake of Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener, the war hero who died on her decks when she was sunk in 1916 days after Jutland — due to succession issues with said earldom after the death of the field marshal's grandson the previous year, all Elizabeth got was the right to be addressed by the prefix The Honorable in lieu of being made either the Viscountess of Broome or the Baroness of Denton — as she stared at the mere SPECK of a man who just tried to kill her.

As other shipgirls — be they British, German or Danish — swung into an encircling formation around the attacking force that portkeyed in from Avebury moments before, Rowle nearly dropped his wand in horror. "Impossible...!"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that, sir..."

He yelped as a hand snared his wand, he then looking up to see his team's target now floating nearby, a wry smile on her face. "Let me try something," Charlene Boleyn then trilled as the wand she snared began to glow brightly.

"CRUCIO!"

A bolt of nearly-blinding red light lashed out to rip into Rowle, that causing ALL the Death Eaters to howl in agony...!

****

Across the United Kingdom...

In their various homes and places of work, those followers of Voldemort who hadn't been called out to Malfoy Manor this afternoon in response to the salvage of Britain's most successful warship ever screamed out as their Dark Marks lit up with burning energy, searing through ALL their nerves as if they had been dipped in a boiling pot of sulphuric acid.

Not even the Dark Lord himself could escape such horrifying torture; at his current base of operations, the man born Tom Riddle was practically on FIRE as his newly-rebuilt body — formed in part by supposed stolen blood from Neville Longbottom, the so-called "other prophecy child" who had been effectively orphaned by the Lestrange family in the late fall of 1996 shortly after Voldemort himself had disappeared thanks to the late Lily Potter at Godric's Hollow — convulsed from the burning outrage of THOUSANDS of muggles being funnelled through the newly-forged soul of one Charlene Boleyn into Thorfinn Rowle. Among those who helped design, build and crew HMS Warspite over the three decades and more were dozens of nimmibs — known commonly in Britain as "squibs" — who survived the traditional culling of such "dead blood" by their relatives to erase the "shame" of their existences, then had been forced to throw in their lot with their muggle countrymen and serve the Crown.

And given that the Crown had — near the start of the rebellion against the Ministry of Magic back in 1985 — issued a Magical Royal Proclamation demanding the DEATHS of Voldemort and his followers to ensure that such narrow-minded "stalebloods" couldn't spread their fascist-like poison over Her Majesty's loyal subjects both normal and metahuman...

...in a strange way, the reborn second of the Queen Elizabeth-class fast super-dreadnoughts was seeing said proclamation being carried out in a way that Voldemort could never had predicted when he branded his followers with the Dark Mark!

And as a panicking Dolores Umbridge — who, while not branded as a Death Eater (no doubt because the Dark Lord knew of her being not as "pure" due to her muggle mother and squib brother), was quite sympathetic to their goals — was trying to call from Hogwarts to get officials over to Scotland away to help administer to a wildly-screaming Severus Snape, he being tortured in his own potions laboratory in the dungeons of the old castle in front of a chorus of wide-eyed freshmen students...

...the "leader of the Light" was calmly watching things through Hirosaki Chikage's own crystal ball...

****

Hogwarts, that moment...

"That may be a problem, Chikage."

Hearing her headmaster's warning words, the Dark Heart of Pure Chaos could only chuckle as she sat back in her chair before Albus Dumbledore's desk. "Given that any ship that was sunk or was damaged — and thus, suffered fatalities among the crew — potentially inherits the memories and skill sets of those who died on their decks, that Charlene can pull off something like THAT shouldn't really be surprising at the end." She pointed to the image of the reborn HMS Warspite continuing to funnel her huge pool of raw power through Thorfinn Rowle's wand into the man who had dared tried to use a Killing Curse of all things on Elizabeth Kitchener just now. "See how Thorfinn's wand is disintegrating from the power input, Albus?" As the headmaster of Hogwarts and veteran of the European side of the Wars of Liberation known locally as "Grindelwald's War" nodded in cold understanding, the native of the magical side of Tōkyō added, "I can alert Luisa to tell Charlene — who will be seen as the 'commodore' of local British shipgirls since she's the first of their number returned to duty this day that we know of — to have all the bodies dumped off Land's End to feed the colony of kraken there. No evidence for Amelia Bones' people to look at to find out what happened and why. Cornelius can scream and yell to his heart's content, but it'll get nowhere."

Several of the Order of the Phoenix — who were privy to the secret of Chikage's Gifting as Dragonheart in the summer of 2008 before the start of her second year at Hogwarts — all grimly nodded at that dry observation. "The Queen's already nixed any attempts by Malfoy and the rest of that lot to declare shipgirls as 'magical creatures', Albus," Alastor Moody declared, he grimly smiling at the sight of Rowle now literally being BURNED ALIVE by Charlene Boleyn. "And whoever's been playing around with the Law Scrolls at the Ministry over the last year to remove the anti-muggleborn legislation has too many of Fudge's fools at the complex running around as if they were baby dragons with their heads cut off. Once Mycroft smacks the fool down..."

"You might have to arrange an accident to prevent Umbridge from stirring the pot up more, Professor," Nymphadora Tonks, who had come to the old castle with her senior instructor, wryly added. Like the veteran auror, the cadet magical law enforcement officer had quickly conformed with the more hard-line attitude the nominally-pacifist Dumbledore now expressed when it came to the Death Eaters who were responsible for the deaths of over SIX THOUSAND people from 1980 to 1996.

"I can deal with that, Dora," Chikage stated.

"What if she tries to go after your family, lass?" the native of the magical side of Edinburgh — who was tutored by Chikage's own grandfather Hirosaki Ryūji when he attended Hogwarts during the run up to the Wars of Liberation — wondered.

The arch-mage sorceress/dark lady of the Sith gave Moody an amused look. "WHAT are the laws concerning the defence of one's home again, Alastor?" she coolly asked before she pulled out her PAA from her jacket pocket.

Moody cackled as Tonks and her peers snickered while Dumbledore grimly nodded...

****

In the skies over Marazion, a moment later...

As the now clearly dead Thorfinn Rowle slumped on his faltering umbrella — his body now nothing more than a burnt-out husk of flesh, his clothes smouldering from the sheer raw power of Charlene Boleyn's surprising replication of a Cruciatus Curse of all things — Luisa von Bismarck, who had placed herself off to one side of this ad hoc formation of shipgirls from three nations, perked as her PAA buzzed in her belt pocket. Taking the device out of its pouch, she tapped the control crystal, blinking as her new "hull's" telepathic-like "secure communications suite" picked up the message from the one member of a remarkable family of Metamenschen currently in the United Kingdom continuing her local magical studies. Seeing the message from Hirosaki Chikage there, she then aimed the multiversal use device at Rowle's body just as Margaret Campbell moved to scoop up said corpse to ensure it didn't fall down and cause a mess in someone's car or farm field below; this confrontation had happened near the intersection of route A394 and Gwallon Lane. Before the reborn fifth of the Devonshire-class cruisers could snare said corpse, it vanished, being teleported several dozen kilometres off to the west to fall into the waters of the Celtic Sea.

The blonde, golden brown-eyed adopted native of Inveraray (seat of her namesake county) and Greenock near Glasgow (where she was built) blinked at such an action before she gazed in curiosity at the adopted native of Schönhausen. "Why?"

"A suggestion by one of the Admirale who are the siblings to the man who gave us all our human names, Kapitän Campbell," the tall Aryan-like blonde calmly answered as she slipped her PAA back into her belt pouch. "The Todesser are all condemned to die by order of your Queen via a magische Königsproklamation issued in 1985; if you had nimmibs — 'squibs' to quote these tote Blutschweinhunde here — among your crew, you'd know that such a thing is the supreme law of the land for magicals here."

Hearing that, eyes locked on Charlene; much to the reborn fast super-dreadnought's delight, the members of her ad hoc "fleet" of shipgirls had snared the other Death Eaters and their brooms before they fell to the ground, thus preventing the Obliviators — who, while their mission was distasteful in the eyes of the adopted native of Devonport, were simply doing their jobs to protect their fellow magicals from uncontrolled discovery by normal people — from dealing with no end of issues. "Well, if that's the Queen's desire, we've no choice but to obey! Where did you send that particular fellow anyway, Captain von Bismarck?"

Luisa pointed to the west. "Wonderful colony of Krake out past Land's End there, Frau Kapitän!" she declared, winking.

That made the other shipgirls present gape. "Wait! What?! KRAKEN?!" Cheyenne Bridgeman, reborn name-ship of the Drake-class armoured cruisers who had been sunk off the coast of County Antrim in 1917 by SM U-79, then squealed.

"Oh, God! I want to see these things!" Jacqueline Drummond, the reborn HMS Aboukir who had been sunk by SM U-9 in the first major anti-surface ship action by a submarine in the Great War in 1914 off the coast of the Netherlands, squealed.

Hearing the other shipgirls chatter excitedly, Charlene exchanged looks with Nicola Poincaré, Kimberly Maclachlan and Jocelyn Dick — who, as the reborn Monarch, Royal Oak and Vanguard respectively, were "deputy commodores" of their "formation" — before she shrugged, then gazed westward. "Well, let's get these wastes of flesh out of people's hair, everyone!"

****

Fifteen minutes later, back at Hogwarts...

"Oh, bollocks...!"

Hearing that hissed statement from Gregory Goyle, his friends from Slytherin looked his way. "What is it, Greg?" Pansy Parkinson asked as people in the divination classroom all fell silent...then she gaped. "Oh, sh*t...!"

Eyes locked on the beefy — yet not as dumb as some people made him to be — native of Wolverhampton northwest of Birmingham before their eyes locked on his left hand. On the ring finger there, the sigil marking him as heir apparent to the Most Noble House of Goyle/Viscountcy of Wolverhampton had changed to a much more intricate design, that making all those who understood when things like this happen gape with a mixture of horrified understanding and surprise. Coming over herself to see what the hullabaloo was about, Professor Sybil Trelawney blinked on seeing what had happened, then she bowed her head formally. "My Lord, may I express my deepest condolences at the demise of your father. I pray it wasn't painful."

Hearing that earnest statement from his fellow alumnus of the house of the cunning, Gregory bowed his head in turn. "My deepest thanks, Mistress Sybil," he ritually returned, his eyes misting. Despite what his father had been involved with since he himself graduated from this school over two decades before — and which had come back with the force of a cyclone, threatening the future of his and so many other families across the British Isles — he still had feelings for the older man; blood purist or not, Lance Goyle had been a very good father for his only child. "If you'll excuse me, I'll need to speak to the Headmaster..."

"Of course, My Lord. If you may escort him there, Lady Parkinson...?"

The Shadow Hunter perked before nodding. "Certainly, Professor. C'mon, Greg..."

Rising, the Wulfrunian teen allowed his arm to be taken by his beloved peer from Lancashire, then both walked out of the divination tower to the nearest stairwell to get them into the main castle itself before heading to the entrance to the administration tower at the centre of the complex. As they went, Greg drew his wand to put up a privacy spell; again, despite how people in other houses — especially Gryffindor — viewed the man, he wasn't as stupid as he often acted. "Who was it, Pansy?"

The reality/shadow warper — who was known by her peers as owing a Life Debt of all things to the Trickster of the Show, Tuyuki ("Coyote"); such seeing herself Gifted as Silhouette in the spring of her second year in 2009 during the whole Chamber of Secrets business — took a deep breath. "We've got our own shipgirls now, Greg," the native of Morecambe overlooking the bay of the same name north of downtown Lancaster warned. "A whole slew of them came back around noon down by Penzance in Cornwall. Lead of them was HMS Warspite, a battleship who was in both World Wars; don't ask me what human name Ataru gave her, though I'm sure Chikage would know." As he nodded, she added, "No doubt, given what happened on Monday with Greyback and his lot, the Dark Fool decided to get himself some metahuman help to deal with potential opponents since the idiots he and his rescued from Azkaban earlier this morning won't be in any decent fighting shape for a while."

He grimaced. "And if what you learned from Mistress Josephine is true...!"

"Someone passed on word about the MRP from '85 that condemns Riddle's idiots to death if they're caught in the open."

"Chikage?"

"Probably. She's with the headmaster and several of the Order of the Phoenix now in his office."

Greg nodded at that. Given the current political climate and the loud denials from Cornelius Fudge about the return of Lord Voldemort of all people at the end of the Triwizard Tournament earlier that spring, Albus Dumbledore had to be very circ*mspect when it came to prosecuting any sort of campaign against the Death Eaters, which Lance Goyle had happily rejoined when the muggle nobleman's son had been given his new body with the involuntary help of Neville Longbottom while Cedric Diggory was busy winning the Tournament against Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour. "Not any sort of death cheating, I hope?"

Pansy smirked. She hadn't revealed that the young Marquess of Holdenhurst based in eastern Dorset near Bournemouth was himself gifted as the Master of Plants, Ukor'be Dumdyatosi ("Vinclozolin"), around the same time that she had become the Shadow Hunter; like Pansy, Neville owed Tariko Katabarbe a Life Debt due to her rescuing him from being nearly KILLED by his paternal granduncle Algeron Rosier to "scare the magic out of him". "Good guess," she said, making her housemate blush. "No, Nev's not an idiot when it comes to that. He had pouches of his father's blood with him when Pettigrew kidnapped him so Riddle could get the blood of the 'enemy forcibly taken' to see that death cheater given something of a physical body."

Greg snorted...before he perked. "Wait! Nev got blood from his FATHER?! How'd he...?"

Pansy winked. "Spoilers," she warned as they arrived at the administration tower before blinking. "Chikage!"

Turning to see the Dark Heart of Pure Chaos standing there with an understanding look on her face, Greg twirled his wand to disperse the privacy spell around he and Pansy, then sadly smiled. "Tell whoever did it to pass on my thanks, Chikage."

Hirosaki Chikage chuckled as she came over to grasp his hands in her own; a flick of her eye indicated her own privacy spell going up to ensure their conversation couldn't be eavesdropped on by the portraits lining the stairs heading to Albus Dumbedore's office. "He's finally at peace right now, Greg. While I suspect that his death scene was not what he'd want in the end, if we move smartly enough, neither you nor your mother will have to suffer because of Tom's depravity anymore."

He grunted. "Family comes first," he breathed out...

****

London, no. 10 Downing Street in the City of Westminster, the first Thursday of November, after breakfast...

"They're coming now, Mister Prime Minister."

Hearing that comment from the portrait of Minister for Magic — and later Supreme Mugwump — Faris Spavin hanging from the wall of the Messengers Room at the residence of the United Kingdom's head of government, David Cameron could only sigh. "Rather fast, don't you think, Minister?" the native of London who currently held the seat for Witney in Oxfordshire while also serving as the chief minister of Her Majesty's Government then mused as he exchanged looks with Mycroft Holmes.

"Pureblood LORDS have died, David," the mugalophile long-term head of Britain's magical government who had been shuttled off to lead the International Confederation of Wizards in 1903 just to get him away from driving the conservative purebloods up the wall noted with a wink. "Given how much of a greedy fool Fudge is, any loss of potential 'contributors'..."

"Who's in the party, Professor?" the "heart" of the normal British government then wondered.

"Himself, the toad, dear Amelia and Rufus Scrimgeour, plus two escorting aurors, Sergeant Shacklebolt being one," the spirit echo of one of the country's more eccentric Ministers for Magic — one who loudly acknowledged the Crown's traditional oversight when it came to Britain's magical population as witness what he did when Queen Victoria died two years prior to his move to Switzerland — declared with an amused snort. Given how much of a mugalophile he had been — as witness his flat-out support of the Canadian Ministry of Magical Affairs when they launched the first two generations of magical battleships to deal with the so-called "sea leviathans", dementor-like creatures the size of a small skyscraper who came out during the Great War (and later the Second World War) to consume the souls of sailors lost in battle — the idea that the "stalebloods" had taken such control over people these days would make him physically ill were he still a living person. "No marked fools, fortunately."

"Oh, joy," the Master of the Specialized Warfare Fencibles chuckled. "I'll warn the girls, David."

"Thank you, Mycroft," Cameron breathed out.

A minute later, a fireplace at one corner of the room flared the familiar green flames indicating someone was travelling through the magical corridor connecting No. 10 Downing Street to the Ministry of Magic complex under Northumberland Avenue four hundred metres northeast. Soon enough, a man in a green bowler hat emerged. "Ah! Prime Minister!" Cornelius Fudge called out as he moved to stand aside, allowing his current bodyguards Kingsley Shacklebolt and John Dawlish to come through.

They were soon followed by Dolores Umbridge, Amelia Bones and Rufus Scrimgeour. Seeing the loathsome "pureblood wanna-be" who was causing no end of headaches in Hogwarts given her drive to make the students there conform to her boss' wishes to deny the return of Tom Riddle to cause more issues in the land, Cameron tried not to scowl at her as he came over with his hand out to shake that of his effective opposite number. "Do come in, Minister, ladies, gentlemen. I trust your day isn't as harsh as the message Minister Spavin relayed to me earlier today's hinted at. Everyone's in the Cabinet Room."

The native of Cotswold near Gloucester in the West Country shook his head. "Horrible business, Mister Prime Minister! Just horrible business!" he declared with a shake of his head as they walked out of the Messengers Room into a corridor leading to the ante room beside the place where Cameron's cabinet gathered. "While I can understand your desire to have these shipgirls here to protect the muggles, they've been accused by trusted people in the murder of a dozen prominent citizens on our side..."

"Oh?" the prime minister blinked with well-disguised surprise in the eyes of Bones and Scrimgeour, not to mention Shacklebolt. "From what we've learned from the ladies who've rejoined us, the people who were caught near Penzance were marked followers of this Riddle chap the late Marchioness Potter was so kind to deal with back in '96 during Mister Blair's ministry..."

"Nonsense, Minister!" Umbridge derisively declared as they reached the ante room, moving to head straight into the place where the normal Cabinet gathered when they came to No. 10 to consult with their leader. "Such fallacies...!"

"LA REYNE LE VEULT!"

Instantly, a vise-like feeling seized all the vising magicals, making them snap to attention as they all gazed upon the smirking Master of the Specialized Warfare Fencibles, who had been waiting alongside a shorter woman with her long blonde hair partially done up in a beautiful French braid that was tied off at the top of her head. Her green-and-gold woodpecker-bedecked battlesuit immediately made the magicals gape before their eyes fixed on the gold box under the naval coronet of her ship's crest.

As they DID understand the proper relationship between the Crown and the Ministry, Bones, Scrimgeour and Shacklebolt politely bowed to the reborn second of the Queen Elizabeth-class battleships. "Lady Warspite, welcome back, ma'am," the regent of the Noble House of Bones/Barony of Bute declared with a delighted smile. "Mycroft, good to see you again."

"And you as well, Amelia. Rufus. Kingsley," the brother to the world's first true consulting detective affirmed before he focused on Umbridge with a stare that reminded the magicals of someone gazing upon dragon dung. "Fudge, you were specifically warned NOT to bring this selfish woman to this meeting. Captain Kitchener, if you would be so kind, please...?"

"Certainly, Master Mycroft!"

KK-KRACK!

Fudge awked after a fist smashed into the top of Umbridge's head, making the woman literally kiss the floor, she passing out from the harsh blow delivered by the reborn HMS Hampshire. As Shacklebolt's eyes went wide on seeing her ship's crest over her heart, Elizabeth Kitchener smirked as she grabbed Umbridge by the back of that sickeningly-sweet pink sweater of hers. "Sorry to make a mess, Mister Prime Minister," the adopted native of Winchester stated, her chestnut brown eyes twinkling.

"Hampshire...?!" the Grenadian-descent auror sergeant from Portchester near Portsmouth breathed out in delight.

Elizabeth gazed his way. "Yes?"

Shacklebolt smiled. "Named after the late Field Marshal Kitchener by Mister Moroboshi, I assume?"

"That's right. Why...?" Here, the reborn first of the Devonshire-class cruisers then gaped. "A relative in my crew?"

"A squib...! Pardon me, a nimmib. He 'died' when you were sunk."

As Charlene Boleyn and several other local shipgirls came over to see this quasi-reunion of sorts — the reborn German shipgirls had been taken to the Benderblock in Berlin to be briefed on many interesting things before they would "disappear" from public view, actually heading to the Main Dockyard at the third Sol-Mars libration point to help with starship designs; the two Cöln-class light cruisers scuttled at Scapa Flow in 1919 had been adopted by Denmark and were now in Copenhagen meeting with Queen Margrethe II and her prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt before Loralei Kaulhausen and Didrika Franck would be commissioned into the Søværnet — Elizabeth then chuckled. "I assume your relative is living in Canada now?"

That made Shacklebolt gape. "The field marshal knew, ma'am?"

"Tosh! Of course he did, lad! He was Secretary of State for War at the time those ships were commissioned." Here, the reborn armoured cruiser hummed. "It was Sundown that was there for my 'dead', right? The one who didn’t get her 'A' Turret stove in during Jutland — I know you people call that battle differently — when the sea leviathans tried to eat everyone's crews?"

The auror sergeant laughed as Bones and Scrimgeour grinned, Dawlish looked confused and Fudge seemed to be on the edge of panic. "Indeed so, Lady Hampshire. In fact, Lady Sundown has herself been Gifted along with Lady Sunbeam; it happened around the time Lady Bismarck also returned to duty. I'll send a message to her to inform her of your asking about her."

That made Elizabeth breathe in. "Oh, bloody hell! What the hell do you give as a present to one of the Dragon Slayers?!"

"Um...Elizabeth, don't you have something to do first?" Mycroft then helpfully cut in.

That made the reborn cruiser awk before she flustered. "Ah, bollocks! Sorry about that, Prime Minister!" As she picked up the still-unconscious Umbridge, she winked at Shacklebolt. "We'll get together at the Leaky Cauldron sometime!"

"I look forward to that, Captain," he affirmed.

As she carried the unconscious senior undersecretary off, Fudge slowly turned to face the true heart of the British government, who now had a HUGE proverbial club by which he could use to keep the magicals down. "Mycroft...!"

"You LISTEN, Cornelius," Mycroft declared as the shipgirls all crossed their arms and focused directly on the bumbling fool who was effectively help setting up the whole of the United Kingdom, normal and metahuman alike, for a disaster. "Those so-called 'distinguished citizens' are marked as TRAITORS to both the CROWN and MAGIC itself by Her Majesty's Magical Royal Proclamation of 1985 when she let loose our friends from Meridiana like Josephine Crowley on Riddle and his fools...!"

As the Master of the Fencibles moved to smartly dress down the Minister of Magic, the shipgirls exchanged amused looks...

The End...For Now...!

****

WRITER'S NOTES

This short takes place right after the previous short and extends to the first day of November in 2012, that about sixteen days prior to the start of Boy Meets Girl Meets Metahuman.

Ye old shipgirl list; it's a biggie this time. First, from the United Kingdom...

Captain Jocelyn Daphne Dick RN (His/Her Majesty's Ship Vanguard [pennant 39])
Capt Henriette Nicola Poincaré RN (His/Her Majesty's Ship Monarch [pennant 55])
Capt Kimberly Rachel Maclachlan RN (His/Her Majesty's Ship Royal Oak [pennant 67, formerly pennant 08])
Capt The Honourable Frances Elizabeth Kitchener RN (His/Her Majesty's Ship Hampshire [pennant C150, formerly pennant 50])
Capt Marjorie Margaret Campbell RN (His/Her Majesty's Ship Argyll [pennant C180, formerly pennant 80])
Capt Finella Cheyenne Bridgeman RN (His/Her Majesty's Ship Drake [pennant C129, formerly pennant P09])
Capt Jacqueline Esmé Drummond RN (His/Her Majesty's Ship Aboukir [pennant C177, formerly pennant N00])

Jocelyn Dick (HMS Vanguard) and Nicole Poincaré (HMS Monarch) are based on fan art done of them by the wonderful artist Siirakannu. Jocelyn's art can be seen at Pixiv, ID #46140069 (page 4) while Nicole's can be seen at ID #45287159 (also page 4). Kimberly Maclachlan (HMS Royal Oak) is based on her Warship Girls interpretation, such available at Danbooru, ID #2631273. As noted in the previous part, ship pennant numbers were reorganized into a singular list per type, hence the changes of pennant numbers for several of the Great War-era battleships and cruisers listed above. See below to get a better explanation for Elizabeth Kitchener (HMS Hampshire) and her special prefix honorific.

A spoiler alert here...

Captain Patricia Caroline Agnew RN (His/Her Majesty's Ship Advance [pennant 38], formerly His/Her Majesty's Ship Vanguard [pennant 23])

Patricia Agnew (HMS Advance, née HMS Vanguard) takes after her Azur Lane interpretation. She is the tenth vessel named Vanguard to serve in the British maritime warfare service, but to prevent confusion with Jocelyn Dick (who keeps the name due to the loss of almost her whole crew when her magazines went up in 1917 when she was in Scapa Flow), Patricia would be renamed; there has never been an HMS Advance in the Royal Navy.

From Germany now (including those not mentioned in the narrative here but were introduced at the end of the previous part)...

Kapitän zur See/Flottillenadmiral Marie Charlotte, Fürstin von Württemberg DKM (Seiner Majestät Schiff/Deutsches Marineschiff König [pennant 42])
KptzS Catharine Ottilie, Markgräfin von Zähringen DKM (Seiner Majestät Schiff/Deutsches Marineschiff Markgraf [pennant 44])
KptzS Augusta Victoria, Fürstin von Preußen DKM (Seiner Majestät Schiff/Deutsches Marineschiff Kronprinz Wilhelm, formerly Seiner Majestät Schiff Kronprinz [pennant 45])
KptzS Heilwig Judit, Kurfürstin von Zähringen DKM (Seiner Majestät Schiff/Deutsches Marineschiff Baden [pennant 50])
KptzS Joanelle Kamrie Tietgenns DKM (Deutsches Marineschiff Bonn, formerly Seiner Majestät Schiff Karlsruhe [pennant K66])
KptzS Wilhelmina Bathilda Schulz DKM (Seiner Majestät Schiff/Deutsches Marineschiff Brummer [pennant K69])

The acting rank given to Charlotte von Württemberg (SMS König) noted here, Flottillenadmiral (literally "flotilla admiral", short-formed FltlAdm), is the equivalent of a commodore in the navies of the Commonwealth of Nations. The service mark for Imperial Navy warships as seen here is DKM (Deutsche Kaiserliche Marine, literally "German Imperial Navy"). Ship prefixes for warships of the Imperial Navy is Seiner Majestät Schiff (literally "His Majesty's Ship"), short-formed as SMS. The modern German Navy ship prefix in my stories is Deutsches Marineschiff (literally "German Navy Ship"), short-formed as DMS; note that in real life, the German maritime warfare service does not use a ship prefix even if the NATO English FGS ("Federal German Ship") is used to identify them in international publications. As with other European powers, capital ships are not given pennant superior letters; cruisers will be marked with pennant superior K (Kreuzer).

As for the reason Joanelle Tietgenns (SMS Karlsruhe) is renamed as DMS Bonn, here's another spoiler alert...

Kapitän zur See Magdalena Wilhelmine, Markgräfin von Durlach KMDR (Kriegsmarineschiff Karlsruhe [pennant K84])

As she was sunk with casualties in 1940 during the invasion of Norway, Magdalena von Durlach (KMS Karlsruhe) will keep her ship name. This required Joanelle to be renamed; the first DMS Bonn (pennant A1413) wouldn't commission until 2013. Magdalena takes after her Azur Lane interpretation, allowing Joanelle to take after her latter namesake's Warship Girls self.

Now the two Scapa Flow girls now adopted by Denmark...

Kommandør Loralei Constanze Kaulhausen KSN (formerly Kapitän zur See DKM) (Kongelige Danske Marine Waddenzee [pennant K32], formerly Seiner Majestät Schiff Cöln [administrative pennant K71])
Kdr Katrina Didrika Franck KSN (formerly KptzS DKM) (Kongelige Danske Marine Midtjylland [pennant K33], formerly Seiner Majestät Schiff Dresden [administrative pennant K72])

The rank title equivalent of a navy captain in the Danish maritime warfare service is Kommandør (short-formed Kdr), literally translating as "commander". The service mark here is KSN, which literally means Kongelig Søværnet ("The Royal Navy"). The ship prefix for Danish warships is Kongelige Danske Marine ("Royal Danish Navy", using a different translation for "navy" here), short-formed KDM; in English-language publications, such is rendered as HDMS ("His/Her Danish Majesty's Ship"). Pennant numbers for cruisers are given superior K (Krydser); such was never given beforehand. The order of numbers for Danish cruisers begins at K20 and will count native cruisers first before adopted ships from other nations are brought in.

The three submarines mentioned in the narrative here...

Kapitänleutnant Haldis Jauslyn Spieß, Reichsfreiin von Freiburg DKM (Deutsches Marineschiff Halsbrüke, formerly Seiner Majestäts U-9 [pennant U09])
Lieutenant de Vaisseau Véronique Heidi, Freiin von Jeß de Réveille MN (formerly KptLt DKM) (Sous-Marin Victor Réveille [pennant S135], formerly Seiner Majestäts U-79 [administrative pennant U79])
KptLt Margarete Lubeck Prien KMDR (Deutsches Marineschiff Kamelien, formerly Kriegsmarineschiff U-47 [pennant U647])

In the Imperial Navy, submarines got the prefix Seiner Majestäts (literally "His Majesty's"), short-formed SM. Thus, when combined with pennant numbers such as SM U-9, such could literally be said here as "His Majesty's Submarine No. 9" (Seiner Majestäts Unterseeboot Nr. 9). In the universe of my stories, it was decided to allow German submarines to be named, names taken normally from the various non-city/town municipalities (Gemeinde in German), such being the effective equivalent of townships in Canada or the United States. Halsbrüke is a municipality in the state of Saxony (Sachsen) in former East Germany, located not far from Freiberg. The honorary ranks for subgirls in the German Navy is Kapitänleutnant (literally "lieutenant-captain", short-formed KptLt), which is the equal of a navy lieutenant in the Royal Navy.

After the Great War ended, some submarines were surrendered to the Allied nations to allow them to advance their own underwater warfare services. SM U-79 was one, she being taken over by the French and renamed SM Victor Réveille. This is why her human name combines the names of her first captain KptLt Heinrich Jeß (1884-1962) with her latter namesake CapV Victor Réveille (1866-1916); the latter's rank title is short for Capitaine de Vaisseau ("ship-of-the-line captain"), the equal of a captain in the Royal Navy. France doesn't use ship prefixes but type prefixes; the ship prefix here is Sous-Marin ("submarine"), short-formed SM (such influencing the pennant superior letter S, also meaning "Sous-Marin"). Véronique's rank in the Marine Nationale ("National Navy", short-formed MN) is Lieutenant de Vaisseau ("ship-of-the-line lieutenant", short-formed LtV), equal to a lieutenant in the Royal Navy.

In following the same habit the Royal Navy used with pennant numbers, the Kriegsmarine reused pennant numbers for their submarines and other unnamed ships. Thus, to provide one single list of pennant numbers for ALL of Germany's undersea warfare craft, the World War Two-era ships have their actual pennant number increased by 600 (thus giving space for all interwar submarines who could be seen as technically German by design but were built elsewhere). Thus, Margarete Prien (DMS Kamelien, née KMS U-47) — as an aside, she takes after her Azur Lane interpretation — would have pennant U647. Atop that, some World War Two-era submarines would get their new names from their unofficial ship's crest often displayed on the conning tower; the word kamelien is German for a type of camellia flower (Camellia sinensis) whose leaves go into making tea!

Now the two Danish shipgirls who appeared here, including one adopted from Germany...

Kommandør/Flotilleadmiral Christel Nielsdatter Iuel KSN (Kongelige Danske Marine Niels Iuel [pennant P15])
Kdr Hehilde Walburga Zenne KSN (also Kapitän zur See DKM) (Kongelige Danske Marine Limfjorden [pennant K35], would-be Seiner Majestät Schiff Wiesbaden [administrative pennant K73])

The Danish rank title Flotilleadmiral (short-form FA) is the local equivalent of a commodore in the Royal Navy. Note that pennant superior P means Panserskib ("Armoured Ship"), marking the effective capital ships in the Søværnet.

And finally from Canada...

Captain (Navy) Stacey Lynn Keel RCN(M) (His/Her Majesty's Canadian Ship Sunbeam [BB-48, formerly pennant 48])
Capt(N) Darlene Ann Saint Germain RCN(M) (His/Her Majesty's Canadian Ship Sundown [BB-50, formerly pennant 50])

As noted many times before, the magical battleships of the Dominion are my creation; their history is revealed in Magic and Canada. The service mark here is RCN(M), short for the Royal Canadian Naval Magical Service. Their rank title is Captain (Navy), short-formed Capt(N); this is done to differentiate the naval rank from the army/air force rank Captain (Capt), which is three steps down on the rank scale from the navy rank. The Royal Canadian Navy used British-style pennant numbers until 1946, when they switched to the American-style hull classification code system; naturally, BB indicates a battleship.

Translation list (all German save one): Guten Nachmittag — Good afternoon; Freiin — Free lady, equal of a baroness; Lieber Gott im Himmel — Dear God in Heaven; Mörderischer Abschaum — Murderous scum; Oberdeckoffizier — Senior Deck Officer, rank title in the Imperial Navy for a chief petty officer; Flådejomfruer — Fleet maidens (Danish); Oberfähnrich zur See — Senior Ensign at Sea, rank title for an officer candidate equal in rank to a first class petty officer in the Royal Canadian Navy; Interdimensionale Eindringlinge — Interdimensional invaders; Meine Flagschiffe — My flagship; Idiotische Magie — Idiot magicals; Metamenschen — Metahumans; Admirale — Plural of Admiral in German; Magische Königsproklamation — Magical Royal Proclamation; Tote Blutschweinhunde — Dead-blood pig-dogs, combining a local version of "staleblood" (see below) with the German language's most wounding insult; Krake — Kraken (can be both singular and plural).

The term Nimmib is my creation. It's the phonemicization of the initials NMMB, which is short for "non-magical magic-born". This is a "politically correct" way of addressing squibs in the Harry Potter series like Argus Filch. As an aside, staleblood is a deliberately-made insult to counter the term "mudblood"; the origins of same can be seen in Part Four of Magic and Canada.

Now, explaining the German noble honorifics...

A Fürstin (literally "lady first", normally translated "princess") is the wife/other female relative of the leader of a principality which is subordinate to a kingdom within the Holy Roman, German or Austrian empires; if such a principality is directly answerable to the Emperor himself (in other words, has imperial immediacy), the prefix title Reichs ("Imperial") is added.

A Kurfürstin (literally "electoress lady first", normally translated "princess electoress") is the wife/other female relation of the leader of the several principalities who have the right to nominate the next Emperor of the realm.

A Markgräfin (literally "lady count of the march") is the wife/other female relative of the leader of a county/province on the outer borders of an empire; in English, the German term Markgraf is often translated as Margrave. Such is the equivalent of a British marquess; the wife/female ruler of such a person is a Marchioness and their territory is known as a marquessate.

A Reichsfreiin (literally "imperial free lady", normally translated "imperial baroness") is the other female relative of the equal of a baron (in German, Freiherr or "free lord") granted imperial immediacy. Note that the wife of a Freiherr is known as a Freifrau; correspondingly, the wife of a Reichsfreiherr is a Reichsfreifrau.

Now the situation with Elizabeth Kitchener (HMS Hampshire): Her namesake is Field Marshal Herbert Kitchener, the first Earl Kitchener of Khartoum and Broome (1850-1916), so known due to his participation in the Battle of Omdurman near Khartoum in 1898 during the Anglo-Egyptian conquest of the Sudan from 1896-1899; as an aside, Broome Park in Canterbury in the County of Kent was is where the field marshal's country home was located. Due to the succession of the earldom being male-only, the death of the third earl, Henry Kitchener (1919-2011), without any heirs effectively rendered the peerage extinct. However, the younger Kitchener did have a brother who gave birth to a daughter, the Honourable Emma Kitchener (born 1963), now a lady-in-waiting to Princess Michael of Kent (born 1945), who tried to become the first Countess Kitchener. Sadly, the rules for royal succession which allowed the first-born child of any gender to succeed to the Throne were not extended to lower-ranked peerages, so Lady Emma lost out. This is why Elizabeth is given the title The Honourable in lieu of being made the Viscountess of Broome (title given to the wife of the immediate heir to the earldom) or Baroness of Denton (title given to the wife of the second-line heir to the earldom). As an aside, all noble titles in the House of Lords Wizengamot are my creation; they're better explained in the first Wizards and Avalonians side story to Phoenix From the Ashes.

Finally, Josephine "Jody" Crowley (Lady Shadow) is a character from the adult six-part OVA series Bible Black New Testament, released from 2004-2007. She is first noted on in this story in Part 19 of BmGmM. As noted there, Jody is actually a peer of the characters of the first anime OVA series released from 2001-2003. As she is said to be the granddaughter of the real-life Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) — founder of the spiritual religious movement Thelema — Josephine herself was born in the universe of this story in 1940, attending the Meridiana School of Magic (from Mahō Sensei Negima) from 1946-1956.

Chapter 3: Taffy Three Returns: Shipgirls on the Hellmouth!

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: Concurrent with fair dealing clauses of the Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42) of Canada and fair use clauses in copyright legislation in other nations, this is a work that was created solely for entertainment purposes. Furthermore, it is posted freely on the Internet without expectation or requirement of remuneration.

****

The End of the Circus: A Tale of the Yizibajohei
Shipgirl Short Stories: Taffy Three Returns: Shipgirls on the Hellmouth!
By Fred Herriot

Based on characters and situations from The Seventh Carrier, created by Peter Albano; Katekyō Hitman Reborn, created by Amano Akira; Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, created by Seth Grahame-Smith; Kantai Collection, created by Kadokawa Games; Sayonara Zetsubō-sensei, created by Kumeta Kōji; Sister Princess, created by Kimino Sakurako and Tenhiro Naoto; Sweet Valley High, created by Francine Pascal; Harry Potter, created by Joanna K. Rowling; Urusei Yatsura and Ranma 1/2, created by Takahashi Rumiko; normalman, created by Jim Valentino; Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon; Dial "H" for Hero, created by Marv Wolfman and Carmine Infantino; and Stargate SG-1, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner.

Also including characters and situations from Urusei Yatsura — The Senior Year, created by Mike Smith and Fred Herriot.

****

Sunnydale in California (twenty-five kilometres/fifteen miles north of west from Santa Barbara), the last Thursday of October in 2012, an hour after supper/approaching astronomical twilight (Tōkyō time: The last Friday of October, an hour before lunch)...

"Um...hey, Sammy?"

"Yeah, Gamby?"

"Why approach town after nightfall?"

The scowling golden brown-eyed high school freshman (in physical looks) with the blue-tinted blonde hair done up in buns at the backs of her temples snorted as she scanned around the beach where they just made landfall in the United States for the first time in sixty-eight years. "You know the creepy-crawlies that love this place always come out after sundown, Gamby."

Her taller, pure-blonde twenty-something companion (again in physical looks) blinked before she sighed. "Yeah..."

"So in case someone comes out before we go find a flag officer to report to, best to hit them early before they fully 'wake up'."

"True...but still..."

Both girls' stomachs then ominously rumbled.

"Right..." the "destroyer escort who fought like a battleship" then muttered. "Rations first...!"

With that, the reborn US Ships Samuel B. Roberts and Gambier Bay — now Samantha Brooke Roberts and Honore Chloe Zitzewitz respectively according to the living spirit of the Forge of the Seekers; both had chosen their new middle names as what they could be addressed by in case they needed to disguise themselves among normal people like Superman did in the comics — walked towards a set of stairs to get off the beach towards Harbour Drive beyond the edge of the runway of the local airport.

"Wonder why I got a new hull number," Chloe then absently mused as she gazed down at her blue-shaded pant legs, seeing the black-shaded white 173 written midway up her thighs...

****

In Sweet Valley (fifteen kilometres/nine miles west of Sunnydale), that moment...

"And...done!"

Taking a deep breath, the Grey Ghost, Leduo ("Enterprise"), slowly stretched herself before rising from the table where she had poised on while her host finished work on the painting that Yvonne Swanson had commissioned from DeeDee Gordon to be hung in the main reception hall of the new headquarters complex for the United States Joint Specialized Warfare Command soon to be built at Fort San Antonio in Texas. Allowing her service dress blue uniform — whose "salad bowl" of medals was utterly prosaic when it came to people possessing her honorary rank of captain; unlike normal-born O-6s, the reborn second of the Yorktown-class aircraft carriers only had six medal ribbons in two rows of three over her heart with three unit decoration ribbons on her right breast under her name tag and the new badge displaying her revised ship's crest — into her grey-and-medium blue battlesuit as one of the two most powerful American shipgirls alive today, the Mad Artist of the South, Ito ("Canvas"), smile as she turned the beautiful portrait around to allow the adopted native of River Vale near Newark in New Jersey (where her stern plate had been kept as a memorial after her scrapping) and Newport News (her place of construction) to gaze on what had been done.

Given her cosmic abilities to manipulate all matter to create a vast museum's worth of art, the unofficial "cutest girl in Sweet Valley" was able to make Yvonne's portrait as lifelike as possible while still ensuring people will see it as a painting and not a heavily computer-manipulated picture. The right tone of skin shade, hair colour, eye tones and uniform hues seemed to make the Great Ghost's portrait almost as alive as a magical portrait often did, which made Yvonne blush as the brown-haired reborn artist from old Krodututo made a dramatic wave of her hands. "You are forever immortalized, Captain!" DeeDee declared.

"A beautiful portrait it is, Gordon-dono," a grave voice then declared from one side of the living room of the Gordon household overlooking Main Street; unlike other small cities on the Pacific coast, Sweet Valley had yet to merit a bypass being built to get US Highway 101 around its downtown core. "Are you sure there's no one like you in Japan?"

Yvonne gave her fellow "comic shipgirl" — who had preceded her in being salvaged and Gifted six days earlier at the start of April — a wry look. "I would think, Yoiko, your crew would be LONG over that sort of thing!" the blue-eyed blonde cautioned.

The extraordinarily tall Itō Yoiko could only groan. "It's not any of my crew, Yvonne-san," the Ice Warrior of Eternity, Gaeyuo ("Yonaga"), cautioned as she gave her would-be opponent from the Greater East Asia War a wry look. "It's actually people back in Japan who are in the know about Tariko-san's casting drive. Much that they do admire Diana-san's work..."

"They prefer local, E," the other "cosmic" American shipgirl and the first of her service to be salvaged and Gifted not days before the heavily rebuilt/modified fifth of the Yamato-class had done, Naomi Haight-Ashbury, sagely noted.

"I'm not jealous, if that's what you think," DeeDee noted as she crossed her arms before perking as her boyfriend Bill Chase — now the King of the Waves, R'bosuor'ba ("Kele") — came up with a can of Coca Cola for her to sip from. She then hummed for a moment before exchanging looks with the blond surfer she had fallen in love with in their sophom*ore year. "Harumi?"

Bill hummed. "Sounds like a good idea. She can do realistic art if she pushes herself."

"'Harumi'?" the Grey Ghost asked.

"Fujiyoshi Harumi," DeeDee answered, speaking of a fellow cosmic-powered artist from Yokosuka known now as the Painter of the Universe, Namiti ("Sharaku"). She was a member of the Kumeta Group of metahumans Gifted, becoming so effectively by accident when she became one of several "living horcruxes" after getting an organ transplant from a pre-Gifted nimmib daughter of an insane magical researcher, Akagi Anne (now the Traveller in the Night, Tadi Butuor'ba ["Ghost Walker"]).

"She normally does yaoi dōjinshi, Admiral Gordon," one of the Grey Ghosts four-girl squadron of escort destroyers, Tracey Jenkins, cautioned from her place close to the entrance to the kitchen, crossing her arms.

Noting how the Wise Navigator of the Old Dominion, Jenkins, and her sisters had positioned themselves to keep watch over their "flagship", Yvonne exchanged amused looks with Yoiko and Naomi. Given that attacking the home of a certified cosmic-level metahuman was seen as the height of insanity on the World of the Forge, that Tracey and her sisters Samantha Nicholas, Renée Saufley and Tamara Waller were here as well while the current "commodore" of America's growing fleet of shipgirls was something their adopted people would see as being unnecessarily paranoid. Being reborn warships brought to life, though...!

"She does commissions in lifelike art when people ask her to, Tracey," DeeDee noted...

...before a phone rang. "Got it!" Renée called out before picking it up, noting an icon on the caller ID screen indicating someone in the know about Yizibajohei was calling. "Hello, Admiral Gordon's residence, USS Saufley DD-465 answering. Who's this?"

A giggle answered the Bluegrass Flyer of the Panhandle, Saufley. "Oh, hello, Renée! What are you doing in Sweet Valley?"

"Ah! Admiral Rosenberg!" the adopted native of Stanford near Danville in Kentucky called out, making everyone look her way. "Um, the Commodore's getting her portrait done by Admiral Gordon to be put up in the new HQ building the Seabees are building for us now over at the Fort, the one they're naming after Ranger Collins? You need to speak to her?"

"Well, any shipgirl will do, Renée," Willow Rosenberg noted as DeeDee tapped the control to turn on the speakerphone. "Tara, Xander and I are at the Bronze right now and we all just sensed two of yours come into town."

Everyone perked, then Yvonne looked to the east. «Any shipgirl in Sunnydale right now, this is Enterprise! Call in!»

A shocked gasp echoed over the shipgirls' private "secure communications" psionic network; to ensure the "normal" people in both the Gordon home and the people calling in from the Bronze in Sunnydale themselves could overhear this, America's first shipgirl gestured with a finger to allow them to overhear this conversation. «E?! Is that you?!» a woman's voice called out.

Yvonne shook her head. "Sorry, I don't recognize you off the bat. ID yourself," the Grey Ghost declared.

«Ah! S-s-sorry!» the unknown sputtered back. «Charlie-Victor-Easy-Seven-Three here! I'm with Dog-Easy-Four-One-Three on what the sign calls as Harbour Drive, near the town airport. We just came in now.»

The other American shipgirls save the Cosmic All-Seer, Kyotam ("Long Beach"), gaped in disbelief; Naomi herself simply exchanged a knowing look with Yoiko, who seemed amused. "It's just you guys?!" the Grey Ghost then wondered.

«Yeah, just us, E!» a new voice cut in, making the destroyers literally goggle in awed shock. «We tried calling back the others in Taffy Three for an HOUR after we got salvaged and merged with our new 'hulls', but they didn't answer. Er...»

«We HAD to come back here, E!» the voice of the first shipgirl to report in from the Hellmouth added.

Sensing the emphasis on that statement, the Grey Ghost sighed. "Stay there! We're on our way!"

****

Sunnydale, at the corner of Harbour Drive and Market Street, ten minutes later...

"Anything, Sammy?"

"Nope, not that I can see. But if that weird magic that was used to make people forget that bastard Wilkins...!"

"Oh, how CUTE...!"

Brooke Roberts perked as Chloe Zitzewitz yelped before they turned to look towards the empty house on the north side of the intersection where the main entrance to Sunnydale Municipal Airport was located...

"Yeah, that magic's working alright," the Escort Who Fought Line Warriors, Samuel B. Roberts, dryly noted.

...as a grinning dark-haired girl with the warped wolf-like face marking her as one of the more common denizens of Sunnydale's "nightlife" came out of the shadows, her fangs barred as she gazed hungrily at the two shipgirls standing there in the open like that, she not noticing their hull numbers 413 and 173 on their pant legs. Given it was just under a week before Hallowe'en, said newcomer automatically assumed these two walking bags of blood and flesh were trying out their costumes; the "mystery man" theme being quite popular as the woman born Charisma Carpenter — a peer of Cordelia Chase, Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris — could immediately recall. As the screaming urge to get a new meal overcame the dark-haired vampire, she lunged...

...only to be snared by the hand of the reborn twentieth of the Casablanca-class "combustible, vulnerable and expendable" escort aircraft carriers built en masse at the Kaiser Shipyards in Vancouver across from Portland. "HEY! LEGGO...!" the undead ex-cheerleader — who, like so many who had fallen to Sunnydale's "nightlife" over the years, had actually been reported to have died from mundane causes like drug overdoses — shrieked as she tried to pull away before her glowing eyes went VERY wide as the relative unarmoured would-be cargo ship's strength registered. "Oh, sh*t, you're one of those shipgirl freaks...!"

SS-SHING!

"Young lady, I would STRONGLY suggest that you curb that tongue given that Gambier Bay-dono can easily crush your throat and decapitate you by hand grip alone," a cold voice declared as the gleaming silver blade of a VERY sharp sword appeared right before her eyes. "You appear to be one of Summers-dono's several friends temporarily lost to the night here..."

A barking laugh answered her. "Hah?! The SLAYER?! Get real, Ice Bitch!" Charisma snapped with a show of false bravado on recognizing the seventh carrier of the Pearl Harbour attack in shipgirl form. As both Brooke and Chloe gaped in mind-boggled disbelief as they sensed the aura of THG Yonaga around the newcomer, the dark-haired vampire spat, "I wasn't friends with her before Angelus and his friends made me LOADS better one night before last Hallowe'en! I wouldn't be caught DEAD...!"

A fist slammed into her gut, nearly folding her right in half. "Lucky thing we found out we're at peace with Japan now, kiddo!" Chloe then declared, her pale blue eyes now glowing with a deadly orange-yellow flare that made Yoiko blink before her eyes went wide with recognition while Brooke seemed to back away a couple steps from her task unit mate. "That's a CAPTAIN in the Imperial Navy you're addressing right now, never mind what she and her crew have been through for the last seven decades." The Wary Jackrabbit of the Hellmouth, Gambier Esei ("Gambier Bay"), then gave the taller shipgirl a clearly amused look. "Apologies, Captain Itō. You and your crew's reputation do precede you if what those strange signal boxes we got with our new hulls said about what happened to you all is anywhere NEAR the damned truth! Are you really sisters with Yamato?"

"Yasuko-san has yet to return as we have, Captain Zitzewitz, but yes, I too am of the Yamato-class; ordered originally as the fifth even if I was first commissioned into the service of the Heavenly Sovereign. May I ask this: Che famiglia sei?"

Chloe gasped, letting the gasping Charisma go to drop to the street. "LO SAI?!" she screeched in Italiano.

"I am allies with one adopted of the Vongola and one adopted of the Cavallone, Captain: Regia Marina Roma and Regia Marina Pola respectively to be precise," Itō Yoiko returned in her accented English. "They're two of the fleet now assigned to the man who is the one who created our human names. Oh, Commander Roberts, could you please restrain Miss Carpenter?"

KK-KLONK!

"Aye, ma'am! She's restrained!" Brooke declared after bopping the hapless vampire on the head to knock her out. Shaking her head, the younger-looking shipgirl then gazed in annoyance at her task unit mate. "So what the hell's going on, Chloe?! What's this damned secret about you literally switching personalities like that when that weird power of yours shows up?!"

That made Chloe awk as the aura of her Sky flames disappeared from her eyes. "It's considered a fleet secret among American and Italian shipgirls alike, Roberts-dono," Yoiko cut in as she gently squeezed the smaller carrier's shoulder in reassurance, that making the adopted native of Xootsnoowú in the Alaskan panhandle (where her namesake bay was located) and Vancouver in Washington (where she was built) relax herself. "As we are all allies in the defence of Earth as a whole as our 'hulls' served for the Healer of Destruction ever since the lar'beke foolishly tried to seize the Forge of the Seekers five millennia ago, we all respect same, as do those human-born metahumans such as Rosenberg-dono, Maclay-dono and Harris-dono now approaching us do."

"Whoa! What?! You saying she's got Dying Will Flames?! Now THAT is seriously cool! What type, Captain?!"

Chloe awked in surprise on hearing that delighted question escape the Wild Scavenger of the Plains, Suoti ("Hyena"), born Alexander Harris while he and his two friends among the Scooby Gang approached the three shipgirls and the stunned vampire by one's feet. Seeing the earnest look on the dark-haired man's face, she then chuckled as she held up her hand, allowing golden-orange flames to appear around that gloved extremity. "Oh, you have Sky Flames!" Willow Rosenberg said after she exchanged a knowing look with her lover Tara Maclay. "Hmm...'CVE', huh? Oh, escort aircraft carrier! That makes sense!"

Chloe blinked, surprised that this civilian seemed to register what was on her formal ship's crest over the cleavage diving her impressive "superstructure", then she chuckled as she scratched the side of her head beside one of those rather BIG fluffy ponytails of hers. "Um...h-how did you g-g-guess that, Admiral...?" the adopted Alaskan/Washingtonian then wondered.

The Arch-Mage of True Passion, R'bemdo R'bem ("Crimson Heart"), winked. "Well as soon as Captain Itō's fleet mate Commander f*ckushima Fujiko — that's the destroyer Fubuki if you don't know — was found by a friend of ours back in March, I felt it was just being smart to prepare for when American shipgirls such as Captain Swanson and her friends coming in just now would become part of our lives. Hello, Yvonne, Mama Cass, girls!" she then hailed, looking up towards the west.

That made the just returned members of Task Unit 77.4.3 at the Battle of Leyte Gulf turn before they literally sagged with relief on seeing the Grey Ghost and her escorting destroyers — plus someone whose aura indicated a cruiser...but with NO VISIBLE GUNS anywhere on her weather decks! — coming down to land nearby. "Welcome home, girls!" Yvonne Swanson called out.

Chloe breathed out. "Oh, thank God! We're safe now!"

That made Yvonne blush as the others gazed knowingly her way...

****

The Bronze, an hour later...

"So, can we take her, Faith?"

"Damn straight we can, B!" Faith Lehane said with an approving nod after she BARELY was able to arm-wrestle Brooke Roberts to the win. "Given she helped literally scare away the Big Y's sister and her friends from Samar that day with her pals, it's no wonder that the Little Scrapper here is as strong as she is! What's your displacement, Scrapper?"

The adopted native of San Francisco (where her namesake Coxswain Samuel Booker Roberts, Jr was born) and Houston in Texas (where she was built as the fifty-fifth of the John C. Butler-class escort destroyers/frigates) blushed. "Admiral Lehane...!"

"Oi! Oi! No 'admiral' sh*t!" the Belle of the Wilderness, Yati ("Wildflower"), scolded as she reached over to playfully tap the younger-looking shipgirl's cute nose. Being bisexual even before she was Gifted in the early spring of 2010, Faith couldn't wait to teach this kid all the things adults do...which, given that any shipgirl was "born" from the combined memories of all the people who designed, built and crewed her throughout her service career from keel laying to scrapping/sinking/preservation as museum ship, could make things QUITE interesting. Since Brooke did look like she was a couple years younger than the native of south Boston, it wouldn't be seen as too problematic even by the scant number "moral majority" who lived in this literal hellhole of a city. "Yeah, I know girls like you want someone like the A-man to be your spiritual boss, but I'm not it!"

"Kanami could," Buffy Summers noted. All of the Scooby Gang — known on the World of the Forge as the Atar'bero-dir'ba, chosen for them by Tariko Katabarbe's would-be detective sister Yotsuba Dunn AKA the Master Interrogator, Nyuosyo'o ("Bleachtaire") — were present save for the group's most powerful member, the former Saotome Ranma now calling him/herself Hayashi Kanami; the Untameable One, Muona ("Mustang"), was at her new home catching up on some homework.

"Mistress Kanami is too busy helping April here adjust to being fully organic, My Mistress," Coya Gutierrez warned.

Gazing on the reborn "Inca mummy girl" saved by Xander before the previous Hallowe'en who was now Gifted as the Volcanic Handmaiden of the Dark Gaol, Raeru Uoto ("Pacha Kamaq"), the others nodded. "Are you a shipgirl, April?" Chloe Zitzewitz asked as she gazed in confusion at the current incarnation of the Wild Beast of the Mountains, Yamem ("Sasquatch").

"No, Captain, I'm not," April Mears said with a polite smile. "I used to be what's properly addressed as a 'gynoid'. Think of me as I was built as a human-shaped machine, with gears, wires, control boxes and motors inside my body, plus a computer — like your personal administrative assistant devices, but with self-control and self-thinking functions added in — before Xander helped me become Gifted." As Chloe and Brooke gaped in shock, the dark-haired, mid-level FISS who was reborn of a cold weather specialist from somewhere in the eastern equatorial continent added, "My creator was a late peer of Buffy and the others, Warren Mears. He discovered a Shōzoki construction pod outside town some months ago, then managed to have me created."

"Shōzoki are aliens, right?" Brooke wondered, she crossing her arms.

"Yeah, they are, Scrapper. Most of them are pretty cool people like April here," Faith answered, waving to the pretty brunette she had a couple pillow scenes with before April had elected to become Kanami's effective girlfriend, helping the boy-turned-girl master martial artist recover from the hell s/he had been put through from the spring of 1997 until May this year when she allowed herself to be Gifted. "Some of them are controlled by this 'mother' thing back on their home planet. They're the ones you have to watch out for, but I don't think no Gifted Yizibajohei human or shipgirl like you could be hurt by them."

The two veterans of the famous Taffy Three formation that performed WAY above expectations one autumn day off the coast of Samar in the Philippines sixty-eight years before exchanged looks. "We've got so much to learn!" Chloe breathed out.

"What the hell made you guys come back HERE of all places?" the Gang's only pre-Gifted member, Cordelia Chase, then asked.

Gazing on Charisma Carpenter's former best friend — said teen vampire was now stashed away in the basem*nt at Buffy's home on Revello Drive not far from city hall — the two shipgirls blinked before Chloe sighed. "Memories."

"What memories?" Tara Maclay gently asked.

"Memories of those of our crews — both the survivors, the true dead and the 'dead' taken off by the Dragon Slayer that was there that day — who were born here, Admiral Maclay," Brooke tiredly answered before she wryly smirked. "Boca del Infierno."

The normal humans there moaned. "The Hellmouth," Xander Harris finished, shaking his head. "What happened to them?"

"Relatives vanishing to become part of the 'nightlife' here...then being made to FORGET they even existed after they enlisted and deployed out of town," Chloe hissed, her eyes glowing with the metahuman fire she had been given as an extra power beyond her new 'hull's' standard FISS capabilities plus projection blast powers equivalent to her old weapons suite and composite air squadron combined. "Atop that, a mayor who seems to be practically IMMORTAL of all things...and definitely knew the crap that was befalling people left and right." As her new "admirals" all gaped, the adopted native of Xootsnoowú added, "A couple of my 'dead' who got saved by those magical soldiers from the Dragon Slayer that was there that day had daughters who were actually SACRIFICED by 'Mayor' Wilkins to help him STAY immortal."

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

Then...

"Wait!" Buffy said, thumbing towards City Hall. "Are you saying that our Mayor Wilkins...?!"

"Richard Wilkins?" Brooke asked.

"Yeah! He's a f*cking DEATH CHEATER?!" the Mighty Maid of the Mountains, R'besuoto ("Virago"), hissed.

"Oi, don't swear, Buffy!" the Wild Scavenger mock-chided. "You know His Honour doesn't like four language."

"He's no daywalker vampire if that's what you're asking, Admiral Summers," the reborn destroyer escort noted. Fortunately for them all, Willow and Tara — the latter was the Tailor of Pure Chaos, Nabuor'be (the "Enchanter") — had weaved a powerful "notice-me-not" field around them so they could enjoy the music and fun of the Bronze while having this important meeting; such had also prevented the growing legion of shipgirl fans currently inside the all-age bar from swarming the reborn Samuel B. Roberts and Gambier Bay. "He's a sorcerer, but I don't think he was trained at either Ilvermorny or Seven Hills."

"Oh, sh*t!" Faith moaned. "Do we HAVE to deal with the idiots on the other side of the Hudson? Could we ask Uncle Abe?"

"I can contact him, but this IS our fight scene, Faith," Buffy warned.

The Belle of the Wilderness nodded. "Always!"

****

The Summers home at 1630 Revello Drive, Friday, an hour before breakfast...

"You're an ADMIRAL now?!"

Buffy Summers sighed as she gave her mother an amused look. "Got adopted, Mom."

Joyce Summers blinked before she sat down at the dining room table. They were alone at this time; the now-human Charisma Carpenter had been removed from the house by Cordelia Chase minutes before. "How?"

"Two of the girls from that Taffy Three bunch that got into that really super, big bad fight scene off the Philippines in '44 came back last night," her daughter — who was both one of the two living Vampire Slayers in a line that went back millennia...PLUS was an adopted member of the only known race of metahumans in the Universe — calmly answered, causing the older woman to start in wide-eyed surprise. "One of the frigates — oh, they were destroyer escorts back then — that got sunk by Captain Itō's sister and her friends, plus one of the two carriers who got sunk back then, the one that didn't go down via kamikaze." As the older blonde — whom Buffy was TRYING to help get into a relationship with her current Watcher, Rupert Giles; given what happened when they both consumed the tainted Milk Bar chocolate candies that had been distributed by SOME asshole on all the adults in town a couple weeks before, seeing Joyce happy with a man again was something the younger woman could agree to — gaped in shock, Buffy shrugged. "'Sides, you can't say NO to someone who could arm-wrestle FAITH to the ground when she's even younger-looking than any of the destroyer gals who hang out with Captain Swanson over at Fort San Antonio."

Joyce hummed. Like many parents to adopted Yizibajohei across the planet, she had adapted well to the concept of shipgirls when their existence was confirmed in late March — especially after the USS Long Beach became Naomi Haight-Ashbury at the end of that month; given what she had done to the staleblood magical idiots who tried to enslave her...! — but she hadn't really delved into research concerning the reborn warship spirits-made-metahumans. Living in a place like Sunnydale was bad enough with all the many creepy-crawlies hiding in the shadows only to come out and play once the sun went down. And while the town WAS effectively exempted from laws such as the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, the ever-annoying presence of what those in the know called "Sunnydale Syndrome" and how it affected the many bystanders to such madness could drive anyone up the wall. "I wish I did better in American history when I was in school and university," she lamented, sipping her coffee.

"Well, I..." Here, Buffy then tensed. "Visitor."

Joyce likewise tensed as her daughter scanned around the area with her highly-enhanced empathic senses; being the reborn incarnation of a special forces warrior from Nesetimtuto two millennia before when the Dawn of Power happened, developing such a highly-honed "danger sense" had been a survival requirement that did Buffy VERY well once she awoke as the current Slayer shortly after the turn of the New Year two years prior...much to the annoyance of the "tweed brigade" back in England that Joyce's own would-be boyfriend ultimately still worked for even if he had been forced to conform to the Scooby Gang's rather UNIQUE way of dealing with vampires and other critters of the night in the wake of the first big fight scene with the Master the previous June. "Can you tell who it is?" she wondered as she picked up a handy wooden stake. "It's daytime..."

The Mighty Maid blinked before she relaxed. "Okay! It's Brooke!" she breathed out before calling out, "C'mon in, Brooke!"

The front door then opened — the whole house had been modified by Willow Rosenberg shortly after she befriended Buffy to ensure that NOTHING that wasn't wanted inside could come in — to allow someone to step inside, the footfalls instantly telling her mother that the newcomer was in the ubiquitous fighting uniforms the Children of the Forge often wore when they got into battles with others like them. A moment later, an impossibly cute girl appearing to be two years younger than her daughter with long blue-shaded blonde hair done in two buns at the backs of her temples turned the corner from the main foyer and the stairs leading to the upper floor. "Admiral Summers, ma'am," said newcomer said as she came to attention to salute them properly. "John C. Butler-class destroyer escort Samuel B. Roberts, reporting for mission assignment! Good morning, Mrs. Summers."

Joyce looked at her, then she stared at Buffy. "We're keeping her!"

The older of the Slayers laughed on hearing that...

****

Two hours later, Sunnydale High School on G Street at Third Avenue...

"Holy sh*t! Are they what I THINK they are?!"

"Oh, my God! Where the hell did Summers and her idiots find THEM?!"

"Why are they so BEAUTIFUL?! I'd KILL to have hair like that blonde girl!"

"The bigger one's too old-looking to be a cruiser! Her hull number seems right, but...!"

"Younger one's definitely a destroyer! Her number's kinda right for one of them...!"

"Nah! DD-413 is USS Mustin! That's a Sims-class ship!"

"Wasn't she one of those who went through the whole Crossroads thing that Captain von Savoyen went through in '46?"

"Yeah, that's her! But this gal can't be Commander Mustin!"

"How can you tell, man?!"

"Look at her collars! She's got lieutenant commander's rank on her!"

Eyes focused on the blue-haired girl who was walking arm-in-arm with Buffy Summers onto the grounds.

"She's not a subgirl! They all dress mostly in black!"

"Then that means...HOLY sh*t!"

"What?! WHAT?!"

"SHE'S DE-413! THAT'S SAMUEL B. ROBERTS! HOLY DAMN! TAFFY THREE'S IN TOWN!"

A shocked chorus of cries escaped many of the students gathered in their various cliques across the school's front yard as they focused on the adopted San Franciscan/Houstonian, she dressed in her white top-and-light blue pants battlesuit that showed off a VERY well-formed body for what seemed to any normal person to be a high school freshman. As said person froze on sensing DOZENS of eyes instantly lock on her, Willow Rosenberg sent her group's new charge a curious look. Blinking as she took in the mixed chorus of awe, disbelief, honest curiosity and even the odd stares of lust from boys and girls alike — being a shipgirl, Brooke Roberts did know that a small fraction of her crew had turned to each other to relieve THAT sort of stress while busy on the high seas, never mind what Faith Lehane clearly wanted to do with her if she got the chance — she sighed as she straightened herself, giving the many students now gaping both at her and at Chloe Zitzewitz a polite salute. "Good morning, everyone!"

That instantly broke the spell as people streamed over to gaze closely at her. "Damn! You ARE Samuel B. Roberts!" Paul Albert exclaimed on seeing Brooke's ship's name and new hull number FF 413 written on the gold rope-line blue stadium ring that formed the standard United States Navy ship's crest frame. "When the hell did you get back, ma'am?! Where are the others?!"

"We got Gambier Bay here in the captain here!" Chris Boal, one of the victims of the infamous vampire Darla when the Order of Aurelius had been in town two years before — he had been saved from being turned by a diluted blood transfusion thanks to Xander Harris — noted as he waved to Chloe. "Damn! Guess that whole thing about escort carriers is true!"

"What thing, dude?" Xander asked.

"They're on the same list as the fleet carriers like Captain Swanson and her sisters," the other man said as he indicated the blonde Alaskan's new hull number CVE 173 on her ship's crest. "Any of the others came back, ma'am?"

Chloe chuckled as she subconsciously reached out with her Sky flames to help calm the crowd around them down and ensure that any potential peer rivalries which normally existed among people like this didn't flare up into something idiotic. "Well, I'm not sure about the others from our task unit, but the Commodore told me that Liscome and Bismarck are back."

"Oh, yeah! Captains Wiltsie and Pratt," Ted Chirvin noted, nodding. "Well, welcome back, Captain! Commander!"

Smiling, the two shipgirls saluted the would-be boyfriend of fellow sophom*ore Ginger Noxon. "Thanks, Mister Chirvin," Brooke called out, making Ted gape before the adopted San Franciscan indicated Buffy. "Admiral Summers showed me her yearbook from last year this morning and I memorized all the pictures. Gotta know who's who, after all."

As Ted blushed, Mark Helf then whispered to Faith Lehane, "Hey, Faith! Could they go on dates?!"

The transplanted Bostonian smirked. "Well, if you want to get your spine crushed to powder when you do the passion dance with the Little Scrapper there, it's your choice, man!" she slyly noted. At his curious look, the Belle of the Wilderness called out, "Yo, Wills! What did you figure out concerning how strong the Little Scrapper there really is?!"

As Brooke blushed in embarrassment, the Arch-Mage of True Passion smirked. "Well...!" she drawled before looking at the crowd around them. "Anyone who knows! Standard displacement of a John C. Butler-class ship?!"

"Easy! One thousand, three hundred and fifty tons!" Brad Konig, one of those who often dated Cordelia Chase's "friend" Harmony Kendall, answered as he indicated Brooke. "Full load for wartime is 1,745 tons."

"Now QUAD it!" Willow then said with a knowing smirk.

People exchanged looks, then Jack O'Toole drew out his cell phone to do a quick calculation. As both Chloe and Brooke tensed on sensing something WAY off about the dark-haired man with the goatee and moustache, Xander gently squeezed the reborn carrier's hand, making her look his way. Seeing the Wild Scrapper shake his head and silently mouth "Not in public!" to her, Chloe nodded before she glanced to starboard, she relaying that message telepathically to Brooke. Relaxing as the reborn destroyer escort/frigate calmed down — indeed, given that poor Jack was a ZOMBIE of all things, the smell that came from him would have made Xander nauseous if he didn't have the memories of his many past-selves to help keep him calm and disciplined! — the leader of his own gang of "daywalker undead" then gaped. "Holy f*ck! Superman, MOVE OVER!"

"How much, dude?!" Mark asked.

"Three TRILLION, three hundred and twenty-one BILLION, five hundred and six MILLION, two hundred and fifty THOUSAND tons, man!" Jack exclaimed, making jaws drop as they stared at Brooke, who now looked a little embarrassed.

"Of course! That makes sense!"

Eyes locked on Tara Maclay. "What do you mean, Tara?" Amanda Singer asked.

"The 'destroyer escort who fought like a BATTLESHIP', Amanda?" Cordelia wondered as she gave her old "subordinate" — most of the so-called "Cordettes" had effectively "defected" to Harmony's side when the former "queen" of Sunnydale High's social scene herself sided with the Scooby Gang after the previous year's rather interesting Hallowe'en adventure — a look. "Hey, Buffy, didn't you say earlier that Captain Itō herself came to town last night when Brooke and Chloe came here?"

Jaws dropped. "Yonaga?!" Cameron Walker — one of the school swim team who fell victim to a transformation curse early the previous fall which turned he and his mates into fish-like creatures; such was reversed thanks to Willow — eeped.

Who the hell did NOT know of the seventh carrier of Operation Z after her appearance the previous month in Tomobiki?

"Yeah, it was her, alright, Cam," Buffy said as she shared a knowing look with her would-be boyfriend; even if he had tried to force himself on her just before that whole nonsense began — getting a broken nose from the Slayer as a result — what Willow had done after the swim team had been made into virtual MERMEN allowed them to reconcile.

"Oh, yeah! Hey, Wills, what did Captain Yoiko say about Brooke here again?" the Mighty Maid of the Mountains asked.

As Brooke blushed an even more deeper shade of red, the Arch-Mage of True Passion smiled as she gave her friend a knowing look. "She said that all of Taffy Three showed 'true samurai spirit' for standing their ground against her sister and her friends that day even with that idiot Halsey was busy chasing ghosts off northeast Luzon during that whole battle?"

"Um...Admiral Rosenberg, ma'am, I wouldn't call Captain Matsubara and her friends 'ghosts'," Brooke cautioned.

That made Willow blink before she sighed. "Right! Right! The Matsubara twins and the younger one's friends from Cape Engaño came back around the same time you two did!" she muttered, slapping the top of her head.

People gaped. "Oh, yeah! That's right! Moroboshi Ataru put out a YouTube podcast about that last night over in Japan!" Elliot Terhune called out, making people gaze on the would-be actor — the Scooby Gang got to know him and others two years before when the school talent show nearly turned tragic thanks to a knife-welding organ thief...which turned out to be a disembodied demon hunter who was trapped in a ventriloquist's DOLL of all things! — while he pulled out his own cell phone. "Here! These are the Matsubara sisters; they're the Shōkaku-class carriers. Shōkaku's the blonde, Zuikaku's the brunette with twintails."

Some went over to look while others drew out their own phones to scan YouTube; podcasts done by the world's most famous teenager had appeared on that and other platforms starting in April after his would-be "marriage" to some alien queen and had kept going despite all efforts by his rich peer Mendō Shūtarō to have them taken off-line out of protest over the man's defaming of his "wife" Redet Lum all the time. "Kanako and Suzue," Brittany Podelle read from her own screen. "Wow! Even if he's been accused of everything under the damned sun by the idiots in that place, Ataru really thinks up nice names for shipgirls!"

"We're hoping to see Admiral Moroboshi and his sisters sooner or later, Miss Podelle," Chloe explained, making the would-be boyfriend of Owen Stadeal squawk on being recognized by the reborn aircraft carrier. "After all, as the Commodore explained it, we gotta do a courtesy call and all that." She giggled in embarrassment. "Yeah, she told us how those guys he's got to deal with in that place are total idiots because they like that alien so much, so we'll probably smack them around when we get there!"

"Do it, Captain!" Jack urged. "My grandpa nearly lost his whole gas station business when those alien taxis came around to steal the world's oil like they did because those 'Stormtroopers' of that bitch bilked on the fare!"

Brooke gaped. "Oh, f*ck! Are there actual Nazis over there?!" the adopted San Franciscan asked.

"From what Ataru says all the time, they always act like it, Commander..."

Elliot's voice was cut off by the warning bell for first class. "C'mon in, girls!" Buffy then bade as people began to break up and head for the main doors. "We'll get you over to see Mr. Giles before we face Snyder the Troll..."

"Same dork who accuses you of causing crap when you're innocent, ma'am?" Brooke wondered as she slightly tightened her grip on the older woman's arm while they and the others in the Scooby Gang headed in as a group.

"Same dork," the Mighty Maid assured as she tried not to wince; as a Slayer, she had enhanced strength but as Jack O'Toole just affirmed moments before, it was NOTHING in comparison to what the reborn destroyer escort could do.

There are times I really wish I went for a FISS-type two years ago...! the Angelino high school senior lamented.

"Good! We can practice on him and his friends before we go over to Japan," the adopted San Franciscan said with a smirk.

As her task unit mate snickered at that dry observation, they passed through the threshold into the building that had sat atop the physical Hellmouth itself since it was built decades before. "Damn!" Chloe hissed as her eyes flared, she immediately reaching out with her Sky Flames — such visible thanks to a slight golden glow around her gloved hands — to create a protective aura around her and the others in the group, thus ensuring that WHATEVER was running around invisibly through the school wouldn't hurt any of them that much. "I wonder if any of the famiglia active in America have come here," she whispered.

Xander hummed. "Not really too sure about that, Chloe," he quietly noted. He had been quick to sense her moving to shield all of them thanks to his own ki sensing abilities, such having been enhanced by some excellent teaching by a certain freshman boy-turned-girl master martial artist who made her own way to school so as to not attract too much attention on herself by revealing she was a part of the Scooby Gang. "We haven't really run into any of them since we got Gifted."

The adopted Alaskan hummed as they made their way to the library...

To Be Continued...

****

WRITER'S NOTES

This story takes place about a week prior to the preceding Hearts of Oak omake short stories concerning the rebirth of Charlene Boleyn (HMS Warspite) and her friends, putting this twenty-four days before the start of Boy Meets Girl Meets Metahuman. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer continuity, this occurs after the events of "Beauty and the Beasts" (third season, episode four). Note that continuity concerning BtVS will be skewed in this sub-series of omake as note what was revealed in Part 13 of BmGmM.

Now, the shipgirl list. Introducing first the two ladies of the famous Taffy Three who come to Sunnydale here...

Captain Honore Chloe Zitzewitz USN (United States Ship Gambier Bay [CVE-173, formerly CVE-73])
Lieutenant Commander Samantha Brooke Roberts USN (United States Ship Samuel B. Roberts [FF-413, formerly DE-413])

Both girls take after their Kantai Collection selves, naturally. Note that as with some other nations, the hull numbers for escort aircraft carriers (CVE) and destroyer escorts (DE) were merged into master lists for the general ship type. In Chloe's case, all escort carriers had hull numbers increased by 100 to fit in after fleet carriers. In Brooke's case, since the concept of "destroyer escort" was done away in the great reclassification of American warships in 1975, the hull code was switched to frigate (FF).

Now the other American shipgirls appearing here...

Captain Yvonne Claudia Swanson USN (United States Ship Enterprise [CV-6])
Captain Ellen Naomi Michelle "Mama Cass" Haight-Ashbury USN (United States Ship Long Beach [CGN-9, formerly CLGN-160])
Commander Tracey Alexandra Jenkins USN (United States Ship Jenkins [DD-447])
Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Mary Nicholas USMC (also Commander USN) (United States Ship Nicholas [DD-449])
Commander Renée Caroline Saufley USN (United States Ship Saufley [DD-465])
Lieutenant Colonel Antonia Tamara Waller USMC (also Commander USN) (United States Ship Waller [DD-466])

Yvonne Swanson (USS Enterprise) takes after fan art I did of her on Pixiv, ID #90028037. Naomi Haight-Ashbury (USS Long Beach) resembles fan art I did of her also on Pixiv, ID #89349711. Tracey Jenkins (USS Jenkins) and Samantha Nicholas (USS Nicholas) take after their Azur Lane interpretations. Renée Saufley (USS Saufley) takes after the Warship Girls interpretation of her eldest sister Frederica Fletcher (USS Fletcher); such can be seen on Danbooru, ID #2465308. And Tamara Waller (USS Waller) takes after the Warship Girls version of her sister Matilda O'Bannon (USS O'Bannon); such can also be seen at Danbooru, ID #2170007. Note any shipgirl who was named in honour of a member of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) is accorded honorary rank equivalent to her Navy peers' honorary rank; thus both Tracey and Tamara are seen as both lieutenants colonel (short-form LtCol) in the Marines as well as commanders in the Navy.

One quick spoiler alert...

Commander Heidi Crystal Mustin USN (United States Ship Mustin [DD-413])

She takes after fan art done of her by the artist Yorktown CV-5 as shown on Pixiv, ID #91667123. At the time of this omake, she has yet to be salvaged from where she had been scuttled as a target off Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands.

Also, the sisters of Chloe Zitzewitz (USS Gambier Bay) mentioned in the final scene will be introduced in a future omake.

Of course from Japan...

Itō Yoiko-taisa DNTR/DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Yonaga [KB-11])
f*ckushima Fujiko-chūsa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Fubuki [KK-156])

As noted before, Itō Yoiko (THG Yonaga) is named in honour of the ubiquitous carrier from The Seventh Carrier series from 1987-1996. She resembles fan art I did on Pixiv, ID #89349755. More information is available in the writer's notes in the initial parts of both BmGmM and the side story Before the Dream. Naturally, f*ckushima Fujiko (THG Fubuki) takes after her KanColle self. Another spoiler alert: The Japanese shipgirls reborn from the ships lost at the Battle of Cape Engaño during the overall Battle of Leyte Gulf spoken of by Elliot Terhune in the last scene will be introduced in a future omake.

And from Italy...

Capitano di Vascello Roberta Carlotta Ansaldo di Bergamini, Vongola Patrizia di Roma e Trieste RM (Regia Marina Roma [pennant 21])
Capitano di Vascello Paola Maria de Pisa de Lerici, Cavallone Patrizia di Pola e Livorno (Regia Marina Pola [pennant I76])

Both of them take after their KanColle selves as well, in physical appearance and behaviour...and yes, that includes the heavy drinking Paola de Lerici (RM Pola) engages in. Their welding Dying Will Flames (from Katekyō Hitman Reborn) was first noted on in Part Eight of BmGmM. As an aside, a Capitano di Vascello ("ship-of-the-line captain", short-formed CapV) is the equal of an American naval captain. Pennant numbers for Italian warships are a post-World War Two concept; both these girls' numbers indicate the order they were built. As an aside, pennant superior letter I means Incrociatore ("Cruiser").

Translation list and source languages: O-6 — American rank/pay code for a navy/coast guard captain or army/air force/marine corps colonel (English abbreviation); Krodututo — Analogue of Italy (Yizibajohei); Kele — Chief (Hawai'ian); Seabees — Phonemicization of CB ("Construction Battalion"), the nickname for the American Navy’s in-house ground engineers; Lo sai — You know about that (Italian); Atar'bero-dir'ba — Literally "clue seekers", based on the co*ckney word "Scooby" (Yizibajohei).

Any American shipgirl automatically receives the awards and decorations she gained as a warship while in service. For Yvonne Swanson (USS Enterprise), her decorations come in two types: Unit awards (worn on the right breast of the dress uniform jacket or underlying dress shirt) and campaign awards (worn on the left breast over the heart). Her unit awards include the Presidential Unit Citation (for her crew's exemplary early work in World War Two), the Navy Unit Commendation (awarded post-war for her performance throughout World War Two from 1941-1945) and the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation (for her participation in the liberation of the Philippines from 17 October 1944 to 4 July 1945). Her campaign awards include the American Defence Service Medal (marking her crew's combat service in defence of America), the American Campaign Medal (for her defence of American territory after Pearl Harbour, especially at the Battle of Midway from 4-7 June 1942), the Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal (the general award for all operations in the Pacific Theatre of the war), the World War II Victory Medal (the general service award for American personnel in World War Two) and the Philippine Liberation Metal (awarded by that nation to mark her crew's help in liberating their nation in reflection of her receiving that nation's PUC). Her sixth "campaign medal" is British, marking her a Member of the Order of the British Empire (post-nominal letters MBE); this reflects her hosting members of the Admiralty Board (senior officers of the Royal Navy) at one time, when her crew was given the dark red-and-gold sideways anchor pennant of the Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom as a mark of respect.

As an aside, Yvonne's American Campaign Medal has the "Fleet" clasp for navy and marine corps personnel who were active on the high seas. Her Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal will have four silver battle stars, marking her overall battle honour credit for World War Two; the silver star is a singular mark taking the place of five bronze battle stars. This is a simple show loudly declaring the Grey Ghost as the most decorated American warship of the Second World War.

Bill Chase (Kele) and DeeDee Gordon (Canvas) are two minor characters from the Sweet Valley High young adult novel series published from 1983-2003; they both first appeared in the eighth novel, Heartbreaker, first published in 1984.

Fujiyoshi Harumi (Sharaku) and Akagi Anne AKA Fu'ura Kaf*cka (Ghost Walker) are from the Sayonara Zetsubō-sensei manga series published from 2005-2012. Please see the alternate timeline short story A New History to explain how they became empowered in the universe of this series; these two and their peers also make an appearance in Extreme Shipgirls.

The "Ranger Collins" referred to here by Renée Saufley (USS Saufley) when she was speaking to Willow Rosenberg (Crimson Heart) in the second scene hails to a character who first appeared in the 1980s version of DC Comics' fan-inspired Dial "H" For Hero series published in various magazines in the early 1980s. San Antonio native David Collins of the Texas Rangers is this universe's version of one of Christopher King's many personas who appeared in DHfH, the Wrangler (created originally by Tom Reed); first seen in Adventure Comics #480 (April 1981). I first made use of him — his real name and origins are my creation — in The Seventh Shipgirl. In the multiverse of my series, Collins is the leader of the Liberty Legion (officially the 1st Joint Volunteer Specialized Warfare Legion), the mobilized American "mystery men" of World War Two. During said war, Collins was made a major in the 124th Cavalry Regiment, one of the Lone Star State's two Army National Guard armoured units.

The phonetic alphabet used by Chloe Zitzewitz (USS Gambier Bay) here is the Joint Army/Navy Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet introduced in World War Two. It goes in this order: Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog, Easy, Fox, George, How, Item/Interrogatory, Jig, King, Love, Mike, Nan, Oboe, Peter, Queen, Roger, Sail/Sugar, Tare, Uncle, Victor, William, X-Ray, Yoke and Zebra. The extra words for "I" and "S" no doubt were placed to allow faster communications in certain places.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer character notes: Charisma Carpenter is my creation; I named her after the actress who portrayed Cordelia Chase in both that series and in the spin-off series Angel. Coya Gutierrez (Pacha Kamaq) is my name for the Inca mummy girl who appeared in the episode of the same name (second season, episode four). April Mears (Sasquatch) first appeared in "I Was Made to Love You" (fifth season, episode fifteen). Note that her family name is my creation and is based on her creator Warren Mears, who also first appeared in that episode; he would be one of the Big Bads in the sixth season. The immortal Mayor Richard Wilkins was the third season's Big Bad, first appearing in "Homecoming" (episode five). Paul Albert and Mark Helf were both listed in a notebook denoting people who voted for Buffy Summers (Virago) to become school homecoming queen in "Homecoming". Chris Boal first appeared in the series premier, "Welcome to the Hellmouth"; he was one of the victims of Darla (whom I give the birth name Julia Kramer). Ted Chirvin and his girlfriend Ginger Noxon (family name my creation) were mentioned in "The Wish" (third season, episode nine). Brad Konig first appeared in "Real Me" (fifth season, episode two); naturally, this short happens way before he was sired by his would-be girlfriend Harmony Kendall (who first appeared in the series' second episode "The Harvest"). Jack O'Toole first appeared in "The Zeppo" (third season, episode 13). Amanda Singer first appeared in the non-canon novel Return to Chaos (published in December 1998). Cameron Walker first appeared in "Go Fish" (second season, episode 20). Elliot Terhune first appeared in "The Puppet Show" (first season, episode nine); this was also where the disembodied demon hunter in a ventriloquist's doll, Sam, also appeared. And Brittany Podelle and her would-be boyfriend Owen Stadeal were mentioned in "Phases" (second season, episode 15).

Of course, Elizabeth "Buffy" Summers (Virago), her mother Joyce Summers, her Watcher Rupert "Ripper" Giles, Alexander "Xander" Harris (Hyena), Willow Rosenberg (Crimson Heart), Cordelia Chase, Faith Lehane (Wildflower), Tara Maclay (the Enchanter) and Liam O'Connor AKA Angel/Angelus (his family name is my creation) were main stars throughout either the whole series or at least over multiple seasons.

The story behind Hayashi Kanami née Saotome Ranma (Mustang) is better shown in Parts 8-9 of BmGmM.

Being that events depicted in the novel Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is part of the overall cosmology of my stories (as you can read in Magic and Canada, especially in Part Three), it would be natural for the Scooby Gang to know of the "Rail-Splitter" as President Abraham Lincoln would be named by magicals and mystics worldwide, especially during the Score and Four rampage — where Lincoln actually ran into Angelus and his lover Darla during the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 — from his "death" in 1865 to his restoration of sanity in 1889 at the hands of Dean Raeburn.

Chapter 4: Taffy Three Returns: The Reality of Sunnydale!

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: Concurrent with fair dealing clauses of the Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42) of Canada and fair use clauses in copyright legislation in other nations, this is a work that was created solely for entertainment purposes. Furthermore, it is posted freely on the Internet without expectation or requirement of remuneration.

****

The End of the Circus: A Tale of the Yizibajohei
Shipgirl Short Stories: Taffy Three Returns: The Reality of Sunnydale!
By Fred Herriot

Based on characters and situations from Mahō Sensei Negima, created by Akamatsu Ken; Katekyō Hitman Reborn, created by Amano Akira; Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, created by Seth Grahame-Smith; Kantai Collection, created by Kadokawa Games; Sister Princess, created by Kimino Sakurako and Tenhiro Naoto; Sweet Valley High, created by Francine Pascal; Harry Potter, created by Joanna K. Rowling; The West Wing, created by Aaron Sorkin; Urusei Yatsura and Ranma 1/2, created by Takahashi Rumiko; The Guns of the South, by Harry Turtledove; normalman, created by Jim Valentino; and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon.

Also including characters and situations from Urusei Yatsura — The Senior Year, created by Mike Smith and Fred Herriot.

****

Sunnydale High School, the last Friday of October in 2012, lunchtime (Tōkyō time: The last Saturday, an hour before dawn)...

"Still an hour before dawn over there, Admiral Giles."

Hearing that statement from the reborn fifty-fifth of the John C. Butler-class destroyer escorts-now-frigates, the would-be Oxford alumnus who was quite the powerful magical in his own right even if he never went to formal training at either Hogwarts or Meridiana nodded his thanks. "Well, we might have to wait until after school for Hinako and her siblings to come visit us so you can meet Ataru," Rupert Giles mused as he looked through one of his vast collection of mystical tomes which proved to be quite the source of choice information for the Scooby Gang to use in their never-ending battles against Sunnydale's "nightlife".

Brooke Roberts — who had been scanning one of the five volumes of the Books of Ascension while munching on a hoagie she got from the cafeteria before the rush of students poured into the ground floor room to get meals into them before afternoon classes — nodded in understanding. "Around 0900 local time there, sir," the adopted San Franciscan then stated...

...before footfalls made both of them gaze over as a rather unhappy elder Slayer marched into the room. Seeing the frown on the face of the Mighty Maid of the Mountains, Brooke instantly tensed. "Who do I get to kill, Admiral?" she coldly demanded.

Buffy Summers jolted before she chuckled. "No one, Brooke!" the Angelino senior student said as she wagged her finger at the azure-haired reborn frigate. "It was amicable. Scott could tell I was distracted, so we called off the Homecoming date."

Giles took that in, smiling with concern. "I'm sorry to hear that, Buffy. At least Mister Hope didn't turn out like some of the other boys you've dated since you moved into town." As the reborn empathic mountain warrior from old Nesetimtuto laughed while taking her seat beside her new charge, Brooke gave the Watcher a curious look, making the Englishman add, "Mister Hope is gay, Brooke. And yes, that's considered acceptable these days, especially here in California."

A shrug answered him. "Don't care about that, Admiral. A few of my crew had secret relationships since they didn't have girls to go to pillow stations with while out on the high seas. You gotta answer those needs one way or another, sir."

Both Buffy and her Watcher gaped. "Whoa! TMI! TMI!" the former yelped, batting her ears several times.

The native of Camden in London blinked before he moaned. "Dear God! How do you girls LIVE with all that knowledge literally stuffed into your heads like that?!" he wondered as he gave the adopted San Franciscan a pained look.

"I was a warship before the Conservator — is that what you call the Spirit of the Forge these days? — salvaged my hull, sir," Brooke wryly noted before taking a big bite out of her hoagie before turning back to her book.

Buffy blinked. "What's with that book?"

"I asked the Admiral here about ways that jackass Wilkins could have lived all this time since at least before the Depression, ma'am," the reborn member of Taffy Three explained. "This was one of the books he gave me."

A scowl crossed the Mighty Maid's face. "Death cheating...!"

That made Brooke blink. "Why's that such a huge bugbear with folks back on Yiziba these days, Admiral?"

Giles hummed as he stepped down from the library's upper level to join them. "As you'll know, Brooke, Yiziba's planetary environment is so charged with mesonium radiation and particles in the atmosphere that it's quite possible for disembodied spirits to latch onto them to remain effectively 'alive' even on a world as fundamentally dangerous as that one," he said as he sat down, sipping from his tea before continuing, "However, since so many had died during the Dawn of Power — especially during the Starvation Times that followed the collapse of all the national governments on the planet about a decade after the third Healer of Destruction launched the Freedom Parade — many of the 'ghosts' had become SO threatening that special experts had to get involved to start exorcising them to end their sufferings and let them move onto the next life. Seeing that eventually convinced the survivors of that holocaust — both the Named and Nameless — that any form of 'cheating death' was, to quote Buffy here, 'seriously of the bad'." As the Angelino smirked on noting the normally "stuffy tweed" librarian/Watcher was willing to make use of local slang, he sat back in his chair. "Ironically, Special Agent Black's many past selves became quite expert at that."

"Doctor Death, right? Reborn assassin from Yiziba's version of Ratziland..." — saying that made Buffy laugh and Giles smirk — "...who's seen as the nastiest supervillain on the planet right? How'd she become the President's personal hit girl?"

Buffy smirked. "Well, Tariko...huh?!"

Tensing, the elder of the currently living Vampire Slayers rose from her chair, looking towards the door...

...before she grinned with delight. "Uncle Abe! Uncle Jed! Hey, girls!"

"Buffy!" Josiah Bartlet called out as Brooke awked, immediately sensing what this distinguished gentleman with the clear New England accent was, she bolting to her feet and saluting her current commander-in-chief. As the reborn frigate's eyes then went wide on seeing the taller and more sombre figure accompanying Josiah Bartlet to this meeting, she immediately relaxed on noting the presence of the two Secret Service agents now moving to guard the doorway into the library while two reborn destroyers — the adopted San Franciscan was quick to see both had the spiritual auras of Benson-class ships though she couldn't see their hull numbers — in service dress blues with the proper golden aiguillettes making them as current aides-de-camp to the President moving to stand guard outside in the hallway leading towards the side entrance onto the grounds...though much to Brooke's shock, one of them had silver-line red ARMY rank straps for a lieutenant colonel in the Corps of Engineers on her shoulders!

"Hello, Rupert," the former governor of New Hampshire said as he shook Giles hand before giving Brooke a grandfatherly smile. "Welcome home, Commander Roberts," he said as he offered his hand, which the reborn San Franciscan immediately took.

"M-m-Mister P-p-President...!" Brooke sputtered, her cheeks a deep red as her spiritual boilers seemed to redline right there. "Um...th-the Commodore s-s-said that we'd go up to DC to see you sometime tomorrow...!"

"Fortunately, Abraham here was visiting the White House to tell me of the goings-on with the magical native communities; I hardly get ANYTHING from the Department of Magic concerning them given that almost none of them make use of wands!" Bartlet stated as Giles waved both he and Abraham Lincoln to the upper deck so they could relax at the table there. "I'm sorry I couldn't ask Lord Needham to join us so that you could see him as well, Rupert, but he's having some issues with your nominal 'superiors' back in London. He hasn't told me much, but from what he's hinted, it will be quite distressing to Buffy here."

That made the locals tense. "About what?" Buffy demanded as Brooke placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"It's the Cruciamentum, Rupert," Abraham Lincoln stated, his hazel eyes flashing with a cold fury that Buffy's currently-missing would-be lover Liam O'Connor would recall right away from the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 when the Rail-Splitter ran into the elder members of the Whirlwind — Angelus and his siress Darla (born Julia Kramer) — which nearly unleashed huge breeches in various secrecy pacts that could have allowedall forms of chaos to spread across North America in the post-Civil War period.

The man once known as "Ripper" blinked before he paled, his jaw dropping in horror, then his face flushed with a level of rage that made even Buffy visibly wince. "I take it that is seriously of the bad," the Mighty Maiden wryly mused.

"Of all the BLOODY...!" Giles snarled before he took a deep breath, then yanked off his glasses to start cleaning them with one part of his sweater; it was thin enough due to the mostly-warm weather here in southern California, but he had an image to project to even those consistently blinded by "Sunnydale syndrome", so he stuck to it even if it got uncomfortable.

Bartlet scowled. "Abraham?"

"It's a test for those Slayers who reach their eighteenth birthday, Josiah," the frontier lawyer-turned-nearly immortal vampire hunter — unlike the "demon-possessed" forms of the undead that a Slayer dealt with, the Kentuckian and adopted Illinoisan concentrated on the so-called "daywalkers" like the beast who slew his mother in 1818 — coolly declared. "Since most of Buffy's and Faith's line do not normally outlive their teenage years, the Cruciamentum is meant to prove that there's no sudden 'fluke' towards a Slayer living so long after being called to her 'duty'." Here, the current resident of the Greasy Grass Settlement which was magically hidden from normal view near the shores of Lake Traverse on the Minnesota/South Dakota state line gazed on Buffy. "In effect — as I vividly remember when I watched poor Belle Malone endure this when we and Mollie Bean were in Cincinnati in the early 1880s — a special drug is administered to a Slayer who's past her eighteenth birthday to remove all her special powers, then she is sent off against a vampire to prove she can still perform her task even when powerless."

As Buffy hissed in disgusted shock — no doubt, Bartlet realized, her inbred Yizibajohei revulsion towards any sort of forced removal of metahuman powers provoking said reaction — Giles took a deep breath, obviously hoping to get a chance and let his "ripper" self loose to vent his outrage at this development. "Buffy won't turn eighteen until January in 2014, Mister President! Faith won't reach that age until December of next year! Dear God, what the HELL is Travers thinking?!"

"Whoever comes here to do that to Admiral Summers or Admiral Lehane is a dead man, sir."

Eyes locked on Brooke, who seemed to softly glow with an aura of barely-contained fury. "That will be MY responsibility to see carried out, Commander Roberts," Bartlet then sternly ordered, instantly making the adopted San Franciscan relax.

Buffy blinked. "Margo?! Uncle Jed, that's OVERKILL!"

An icy smile answered her from the former economics professor of Dartmouth University. "Do you think I will stand back and allow an American citizen — No! Excuse me! TWO American citizens! — to be ATTACKED like that?! Especially given how much good said citizens have done since they were both empowered like they were?!" Here, he shook his head as he walked over to a lectern where a large Bible now lay. "The Specialized Warfare Treaty GIVES me the DUTY to do just that! I know you people believe you have to deal with your own fight scenes, Buffy, but this is an attack on people I swore I'd protect!"

"Whoa! If you weren't married, Uncle Jed, I'd marry you just for that!"

Heads turned. "Faith...!" Bartlet moaned as the others of the Scooby Gang — even a calm Hayashi Kanami — stood together as a group on the lower deck level, they having been joined by the two destroyer girls who had stood watch outside the library when the current and former Chief Executives had come to visit their leader, Brenda Laffey and Jenn McLeod Murphy.

Laughter then filled the room...

****

Minutes later...

After Chloe Zitzewitz had been called from the cafeteria to join her former task unit mate — which instantly got the Sunnydale High gossip network going on hypersonic overdrive when those who had walked the adopted Alaskan over to be with Brenda Roberts had spotted who looked like Josiah Bartlet of all people in said library before they were chased away by two VERY intimidating men in business suits; since state governors also had bodyguards, the presence of the chief executive of California, Gabriel Tillman, could have also been expected since certain shipgirls adopted of the Golden State did serve in the local Naval Militia — the Oaths of Office were administered to them by the current president with his famous predecessor as primary witness and the reborn US Ships Laffey and Murphy taking pictures for eventual release to the general public. Such wouldn't happen right away as certain parties in the city with a Hellmouth would IMMEDIATELY object to the presence of such a high-ranked person — especially since he was escorted by the (in)famous Rail-Splitter of all people as well! — everyone relaxed in the upper level of the library as discussion switched from topic to topic while a special lunch was being prepared elsewhere.

A flash of energy then made people looked towards the closed main doors, which had been enspelled with a notice-me-not charm by Willow Rosenberg to keep the curious away, such then producing a cute-beyond-words mauve-haired metahuman chef from Nagoya, she accompanied by two Japanese shipgirls in their fighting uniforms with the three stripes-and-executive curl of Imperial Navy commanders on their collars. "Ojiisan-tachi! Minna! Hime's here!" Osamu Shirayuki called out.

"Hey, Snow-gal!" Faith Lehane called back as the Great Chef of the West, Syuosekuo ("Küchenchefin"), came up to join them, she escorted by the just-returned Moon Dancer of Autumn, R'bodate ("Akizuki"), and the Shiny Moon of Mid-Summer, Rudate ("Hatsuzuki"). "Hey! You even brought the two Duckies with you, huh?! What A-man said about them is true?!"

Shirayuki sighed before she gave the now-blushing Akiyama Tokina and Motoko — the reborn air defence destroyers Akizuki and Hatsuzuki respectively — a fondly annoyed look, making both adopted natives of Maizuru near Kyōto become even more red. "Hai, Faith-san, they're just like Nii-sama said they would be!" the master trofikinetic declared as she winked knowingly at the Belle of the Wilderness before she wagged a finger at her current bodyguards. "Now, you two are going to eat EVERYTHING Hime gives you when she serves lunch to Ojiisan-tachi and everyone else here, desu no?!" she then ordered.

The pony-tailed Tokina awked while the foxy-haired Motoko waved her hands. "B-b-but Shirayuki-sama...!" the former eeped.

"DAME DESU NO!" Shirayuki snapped. "Hime loved cooking even before she was Gifted to become a better cook! There's no rationing anymore and you're going to EAT properly while you live in Welcome House! Desu no?!"

Both reborn destroyers awked before rapidly nodding their heads, which made Shirayuki smile as she placed the large basket on the table where everyone was sitting at before opening it to draw out covered plates. As both Tokina and Motoko gaped in mind-boggling awe at such a show of largess by the Great Chef of the West, both Bartlet and his famous predecessor were served first, then everyone else came afterwards. While that was being done, Shirayuki then laid out two very large plates for Brooke and Chloe, making them now gape in shock on noting that such contained a very cute cake with candles on same, such pierced in the middle by modified swizzle sticks bearing the oval stadium ring ship's crests of US Ships Gambier Bay and Samuel B. Roberts.

"Um...h-hey, Admiral Osamu, this is a little much, isn't it?!" the adopted San Franciscan then protested...

...before a finger landed on her nose. "Dame desu no, Brooke-san!" Shirayuki declared. "Buffy-san told Hime that you both came here to this silly place on virtually empty stomachs! Hime won't stand for that sort of silly thing!"

A cute eep answered her from the Escort Who Fights Line Warriors. "Y-y-yes, ma'am!"

More laughter echoed from around the table...

****

Five blocks away at City Hall (the corner of Broadway and First Avenue), that moment...

"Oh, f*ck me...!"

"Bob, PLEASE?!"

Hearing that scolding admonishment from his very long-lived metahuman boss, the chief of the Sunnydale Police Department visibly winced before he gazed apologetically at Richard Wilkins. "Sorry, Mister Mayor," Bob Munroe tried not to eep as the much older man — even if he seemed to be only in his early forties physically at this time — before he waved to the television screen set up on one wall of the mayor's private office. "But you better see who's visiting Giles at the school right now, sir!"

Humming, the dark-haired master sorcerer/would be-elder demon rose from his chair, walking over to gaze upon the images; despite what the Scooby Gang had done to the "nightlife" since they came together as a fighting team two years before, none of them really bothered to concern themselves with the plethora of security cameras and other systems set up all over town. Given how incredibly intelligent Willow Rosenberg herself was, that surprised the man who had — as the "first"Richard Wilkins — founded Sunnydale before the turn of the previous century. "Ah, Mister President," the second-generation German-American from Salem in Massachusetts — he had magical relatives on both sides of his family even if he himself would have been seen in those days as a nimmib (he preferred the more polite Canadian term than something disgusting like "squib"), both in America and back among his ancestors' families in Bavaria — trilled out. "Well, given our town's two new very honoured guests..."

"Look who's seated beside the President, Mister Mayor," the balding police chief then advised.

Wilkins blinked before peering intently at the rather thirty-something man seated to Josiah Bartlet's immediate right, then his jaw dropped in obvious surprise. "Abraham Lincoln...!" he breathed out, crossing his arms. "Oh, my..."

"Sir, isn't that a danger?"

Seeing Munroe gaze at him, the older man chuckled as he moved to sit at his desk, reaching over for a remote to kill the feed from Sunnydale High School. "No need to be concerned, Bob," Wilkins noted with his normal genial smile. "Again, that wonderful sense of propriety that adopted Yizibajohei like Miss Summers and her friends follow quite religiously will get in the way here. Besides, how can you NOT admire a man like President Lincoln? Gladly, willingly making himself an effective IMMORTAL on the same scale as Josef von Taserich himself to prosecute a war against daywalker vampires?!"

Hearing that, Munroe blinked before he grimly nodded. Much that there was still a small part of him who violently balked at the idea of aiding a person like Wilkins to become one of the infamous Old Ones themselves — he was one of many in Sunnydale who wasn't affected by the many notice-me-not spells laced over the territory of the city throughout the last century and more, thus knew of practically most of all the dark and nasty things that befell many people living here — the facts of life when one was close to the Hellmouth made those like Munroe develop a brutally practical outlook when it came to staying alive and free in general. Using excuses like gangs overdosing on phencyclidine to explain off all the weird deaths — of which there were many; Sunnydale didn't have a total of twelve cemeteries and forty-three houses of worship serving a population of about forty thousand all told for nothing, after all! — had become quite mandatory given the many secrecy conventions that cloaked a place like this, least of which was the rather annoying International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. Considering the people who effectively governed America's wand-waving magical population from "the other side of the Hudson", Munroe was more than glad that Wilkins had developed some very nasty anti-magical wards which shielded Sunnydale from the outside world.

"I was a child when the Civil War happened," the immortal mayor breathed out before reaching over to take up a cup of coffee. As Munroe gazed on him, Wilkins added, "Oh, being recently moved over from Bavaria, my parents were Unionists. Being magicals from the old country, we weren't as blind as to the real causes of that war as too many 'no-majs' at that time who lived under the effects of Rappaport's Law were." Here, he chuckled, picking up a baseball to toss it between his hands, acting like any fan of America's favourite pastime would. "Some of my relatives who had magic actually volunteered to help the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the Coloured Troops fight against Sewell's rebels. Now THERE was a nasty piece of work indeed!" he tsked as he thought about the five millennia-old vampire who found a way to use mesonium of all things — ebony mesonium, of course, given its darker effects on one's soul — to allow him to survive exposure to the Sun, not to mention "retain" his soul from being "possessed". Thanks to Buffy Summers and her friends, Wilkins learned the truth about "demon-possessed" types of undead who were the first of their kind to rise on Earth in the wake of the End War twenty-five millennia ago; this was also when a fisherman born Tash Ri from Rügen off the northeast coast of modern-day Germany near the Polish border would become empowered to be Earth's first true immortal being, the infamous Undying Lord himself. "Did you know that Mister Lincoln actually killed that man by tricking him into attacking a train in Maryland believing said train bore silver bullets to deal with Sewell's allies?"

Munroe perked. Working for Wilkins did give the younger man — even if he now looked quite older than his boss — chances to learn some very choice tales about the hidden side of American history over the previous century and more. "No, I didn't."

"It's true," Wilkins affirmed. "The Department of Magic — this was at the time when the Magical Congress didn't blind themselves so much to the EXACT wording of the Magical Constitution as they would after Mister Wilson was elected in 1912 — threw their lot onto the Union side, supporting Mister Lincoln all the way. One of General Lee's own troopers was a magical marshal who disguised herself as a man to fight in III Corps leading up to Gettysburg; Mollie Bean would get the Medal of Honour for that and later accompanied Mister Lincoln on his quite amusing 'score and four' rampage. They'd already teleported up the silver needed to deal with Sewell's people to provision the elements of the 7th Cavalry and those normal troops in the Army of the Potomac who were in on the secret — plus those in Lee's troops who were Unionists like Miss Bean was due to her oaths as a magical marshal — to wipe out all the vampire fighting forces in Pennsylvania at the time. Even more, Mrs. Lincoln dealt with Sewell's own sister Valdoma in the White House herself while her husband was busy dealing with that man."

Munroe nodded. "You think Sewell might still be alive, sir?"

That made the mayor blink. "Why do you ask that, Bob?"

"Horcruxes, sir. My boys yesterday overheard Summers and Lehane complain about what that Potter kid over in England has to deal with because of this Voldemort bast-..." — he caught himself as Wilkins sent him a reproachful look — "...um, character!" he quickly corrected himself. "Splitting the soul, putting the split-off parts into things to hide them away. That's how Voldemort survived Potter's mother putting the guy down on Hallowe'en in '96 according to Summers and Lehane."

The older man shook his head. "Sewell's rumoured to have invented the horcrux process; he was magical before he was turned when he worked for Pharaoh Djer. Came up with the idea to help His Majesty remain immortal." Here, he shook his head. "Doesn't work in the long term unless you get some serious help from the other side of the line...and given what the Rittmeister did during the End War, conservatives in Europe would NEVER do that." The would-be Old One — he was contemplating trying an Ascension on Hallowe'en; if that didn't give him what he wanted, he could wait for the summer solstice when stellar patterns would be perfect — smiled as he put the baseball on his table. "Besides, rumour has it Mister Riddle didn't learn how to properly split his soul apart from Professor Slughorn while he was at Hogwarts, then had to mix in parts of a Korean soul-breaking ritual they call the nŏksbae." At his guest's look, Wilkins translated, "'Soul boat'." At the other man's nod, the sorcerer added, "Which explains Ms. Potter's delightful girlfriend Ms. Peverell. Or 'Lady Slytherin' as she'd be known among British wand magicals."

"Important?"

"She'd be effectively magical royalty there, Bob." Here, Wilkins then sighed. "Have Reginald come see me after school." He then raised a cautioning finger. "Not now, Bob. Since Brenda Laffey was one of the President's escorts..."

"She's just a destroyer, Mister Mayor," Munroe cautioned.

"Personal apprentice to CaptainNaomi Haight-Ashbury, Bob," Wilkins warned.

That made the police chief wince. "Oh, HER!" he hissed out. "Right, Mister Mayor! I'll call him!"

"Good man..."

****

Somewhere hidden in Sunnydale, that moment...

There were days that Balthazar honestly wished he obtained some daywalker vampire minions to help him.

The morbidly obese demon — who didn't consider himself one of the Old Ones; even if he was quite powerful in his own right, he hadn't the abilities to set continents ablaze as those ancient monsters sometimes did in their seventy-millennia long war with the Great Old Ones who were Earth's TRUE first sentients — based himself near the edge of town and those remarkable anti-magical wards his once-mortal opponent Richard Wilkins set up to keep the wand wavers based out of Manhattan these days clear of the Hellmouth. While he did admire the would-be Old One — Ugh! To think that a mere human could become THAT?! Sickening! — for ensuring those nosy busybodies stayed away, the idea that the man still had his precious amulet made the blob-like being want to scream throughout all the dimensions of Existence about how unfair life had been for him over the century.

And while he knew those mesonium-touched metahumans who lived and worked in Sunnydale since the winter of 2004 — when Willow Rosenberg and Alexander Harris had been Gifted thanks to the travelling Tariko Katabarbe to respectively become the Arch-Mage of True Passion and the Wild Scavenger of the Plains — still seemed clueless about the "polite" man...

Sensing THEM in town now...!

Hissing as he recalled the many rumours of what happened to those like him when they tried to invest the World of the Forge to gain control over the mightiest power in all of Existence itself...!

Shipgirls!

A practically divine soul born from the combined memories and dreams of THOUSANDS on average...

...then somehow mated to the bodies forged by the second Healer of Destruction of all people!

Balthazar had nearly gone catatonic when he sensed the living spirit of the USS Enterprise become Yvonne Swanson back in April over in Sweet Valley, a place that was likewise shielded from outside interference as Sunnydale was...!

To confront not just a shipgirl, but one of the very few cosmic shipgirls to come alive this year alone...!

It would be infinitely worse if any of the monster-slaying battleships active during the World Wars — vessels built by Canadian and later Australian and New Zealander magicals to fight creatures (whose origins were still a mystery even to someone like him) who could easily have fought any of the Old Ones on an even footing themselves! — became something like THAT...!

Still, it wasn't all too bad...

Given that Yizibajohei custom of not interfering in other people's battles, the "Scooby Gang" had been effectively alone, isolated from outside help, since the first of the two now-living Slayers — herself Gifted by that accursed world into becoming a very exceptional empathic urban warfare fighter — in the late summer of 2010. Thus, they could be hopefully dealt with.

Even with the arrival of two people in Faith Lehane and Hayashi Kanami — who BOTH were totally invulnerable to ALL forms of attack, especially from psionic, magical or other metaphysical sources — earlier this year didn't really make things impossible for someone like Balthazar or any of his peers should they move to force those annoying kids through their "death scenes".

But now...!

Now...!

There were several of Batae Erba's own creations now on the Hellmouth!

And two of them looked like they were going to LIVE here from now on!

Why?!

Why...?

Snarling, the demon tried to relax in his overlarge bed.

He'd have to wait for sunset in a few hours to get the El Eliminati onto the streets to find out...

****

In another hidden location in Sunnydale near the airport...

The dark-skinned vampire known these days as "Mister Trick" simply couldn't understand many of his fellow undead these days.

Having been turned during the Roaring Twenties when he lived in Harlem, the veteran of the famous Hellfighters of the 369th Infantry Regiment who kicked ass and took names in the final years of the Great War born Kevin Freeman had been quick to submerge into his "demonic" side early in his undead "life". However, as years passed, Trick came to develop a profound distaste for many of his fellow undead and their adherence to "traditional" ways of doing things when it came to the living. It galled him when an older vampire, Kakistos, contacted Trick a decade ago to help destroy potential Slayers before they were "called" into service. While the Great War veteran could understand culling those girls before they became trouble, the pig-ass ignorance the undead Mycenaean Greek nobleman from what would become Sparta showed when it came to the modern world made Trick want to defect...if he didn't want to wind up TRULY dead for his "betrayal"! Seeing the old warrior put down so easily by a just-Gifted Faith Lehane in Boston in the spring of 2010 — especially given HOW the Belle of the Wilderness did it: KICKING the old fool high enough into orbit to let him be turned ashes by the Sun had been mind boggling to see — was a relief to the undead New Yorker even if he got his ass out of Massachusetts while the-then would-be Slayer began clearing out her home city in vengeance over the loss of her Watcher/adopted mother Rebecca Mulligan. Much to the horror of people like Angelus after he "returned to the dark" on New Year's Day this year, Faith's Gifting awoke many of her Slayer powers as well, guaranteeing the split inheritance provoked by what Xander Harris did in the final fight with the Master and the Order of Aurelius the previous June found a worthy heir to the collected memories of all Slayers who had ever lived from the daughter of Sineya onward after Angelus' "child" Drusilla Keeble killed Kendra Young in mid-May would find a worthy heir in the native of south Boston.

Now if she only did NOT have a Gift making her invulnerable to handy things like magic or psychic attacks...!

...much less had been joined a couple weeks later by the greatest martial arts talent in his/her generation when Hayashi Kanami moved into town after s/he finally ditched her old identity as "Saotome Ranma" back in Japan.

Yeah, this would make things a little TOO exciting even for a man of action like Trick.

Hopefully, his present employer Richard Wilkins would become strong enough on his Ascension — Hallowe'en evening looked promising to the immortal mayor of Sunnydale — to at least drive Lehane and Hayashi off and leave people like him alone.

If what he had heard from the local vampire rumour mill was even HALF true...!

Uh-uh! No thanks! He liked his current undead "life", thank you very much!

Being FORCED to embrace the SUN again...!

Thinking about that as he stood behind the elderly Justin Pitt — who purchased Angel's old mansion on the corner of Union and Market Streets; as to where the once-member of the Whirlwind and his "daughter" and "grandson" vanished to after Faith chased the infamous vampire off, saving Jenny Calendar along the way — while he monitored the movements of his would-be "hunters" while they settled themselves down in a motel near the edge of town, Trick could only smirk. While he — like all vampires, even the daywalkers — really didn't care to be up from his crypt-like "bed" when the Sun was up, he didn't want to miss something like what he had arranged at Wilkins' behalf when he was hired by the immortal sorcerer months before.

"Let the SlayerFest begin..." the undead New Yorker breathed out before patting Pitt's shoulder. "Good luck, Mister Pitt."

The elderly man perked before he chuckled. "Thank you, Mister Trick. I WILL win this, of course!"

The dark-skinned vampire nodded as he patted the older man's shoulder. "Good attitude to have, sir!" he politely declared before nodding as he headed for a nearby stairwell leading to one of the vast network of tunnels that crisscrossed Sunnydale safely away from potential sources of sunlight. Before the man born Liam O'Connor had moved into the city just prior to Buffy Summers' arrival two years before, another vampire — whose name Trick never got — had owned this particular mansion, using it to drill out said tunnels to make hunting for blood for himself and his peers much easier in the long term.

Trick knew he needed to rest up before tonight's fun began...

****

Off US Highway 101 midway between Sunnydale and Sweet Valley, that moment...

"'SlayerFest '12?!' What the damned f*ck is that wanker Trick thinking of?!"

Hearing that demand from Spike, Angelus could only snort as he paced around the basem*nt of the abandoned home his "daughter" and "grandson" had set up for themselves the previous summer as a fall-back base for the younger members of the Whirlwind to use in case things in Sunnydale itself got a little too hot even for the people born Drusilla Keeble and William Pratt. "He's doing some distraction for Wilkins, Spike. Relax! We won't get involved in that," the man born Liam O'Connor breathed out before turning to sip from the cup of blood that he had poured for himself; even if they were all safe from the brutal rays of the Sun in their current place, using blood to help revitalize oneself was a good way for a vampire to stay alert and ready.

Given what happened in February when that bitch Kalderash was saved from the revived One With the Angelic Face who had been one of the terrors of the Whirlwind in the late Nineteenth Century before his "soul" was restored — not to mention what had befallen the Judge of all things not a week later thanks to someone that seemed to be DEATH PERSONIFIED who had blown into town one Saturday evening to help the Scooby Gang, virtually DISINTEGRATING the ancient demon mean to "cleanse" humankind from Earth with just the TOUCH OF HER HANDS! — Angelus wasn't going to do something stupid.

Especially in the face of THEM!

Metahumans...!

They never had people like them back before the Clan Kalderash cursed the undead cloth merchant's son...!

Oh, wait! They did have such people!

They were called "magicals"...!

"We can't let Summers and her friends think they've won, Angelus!" the would-be poet from London snapped.

"We won't!" the older vampire turned just before the start of the Seven Years War vowed as he glared intently at his bleach-blond "grandson". "We just need to find ways to get back into town and into the groove without Buffy and her friends coming down on us like a ton of bricks, Spike! You know things in Sunnydale have gone straight into the weird ever since Lehane came!" Here, he shook his head. "Actually turning vampires BACK into living people?! I don't know what she was thinking...!"

Spike nodded. Since even BEFORE the Kalderash were virtually chased out of Sunnydale by the Scooby Gang when the Belle of the Wilderness came to support them against Angelus — when Buffy Summers threatened to unleash someone called the Archangel of Mortality on the whole clan for "flubbing up the revenge scene"...whatever the hell THAT meant! — vampires had disappeared from the city with noticeable frequency. They weren't slain; whenever the Slayer went to do things — in a costume that gave Angel and Angelus hot dreams whenever they saw her in that skin-tight sleeveless affair that left NOTHING to the imagination! — she knocked them out, then got her friends Rosenberg, Maclay and Harris to vanish the bodies somewhere before they were staked. As to "where", Angelus' timid "other-self" never learned; whenever he asked Buffy, the woman winked at him, reassuring him things were "dealt with" in a way that would ensure such beings would never threaten a normal person again.

What the hell made Angelus' other-self just ACCEPT that?!

Was there some weird "mojo" that Rosenberg and Maclay — both of whom were quite accomplished wandless witches even if they never endured formal schooling — used on him to keep him blind as to what was going on?

Why hadn't his other-self sensed what was happening?

Both as Angel and Angelus, Liam O'Connor had considerable experience with magicals of many stripes...!

"It is wise not to interfere in this manner, dear Father."

Perking on hearing the haunted voice of his effectively Seer of a "daughter", the undead cloth merchant's son looked over. "What do you mean, Dru?" he asked as he came over to gently squeeze her shoulders in support.

"The Sea Angels now look this way, Angelus," the psychically-gifted — even BEFORE she was turned! — vampire said as she reached up to grip his hands warmly. "They are allies with your would-be beloved and her friends...!"

Both men blinked before Spike's eyes went wide. "The bloody shipgirls?! Why?!"

"The Escort Who Fights Line Warriors and the Skittish Jackrabbit claim spiritual blood in this land, Spikey!" Drusilla said as her voice then softened, she looking fondly at the man she herself had sired not nine years prior to the end of the Score and Four. "They accepted the gifts from HIM/HER when they re-birthed themselves off the Isles of Lazarus days ago, seeking vengeance for their crews' slain relatives who fell at the hands of the would-be Old One who is King of Sunnydale...!"

Her voice faded as images slammed into her mind, making her hiss as she grasped her forehead with her hands, leaning forward. Letting go on seeing how much pain she was in, Angelus could only blink before his eyes went wide. "The Mayor...?!"

Spike gaped. "Wilkins?! Get off it, Angelus! That polite bloke's too damned NORMAL from what I saw of him!"

His "grandfather" shook his head. "No! No! You haven't been in this town long enough to explore it, especially the LIBRARY before Giles magically blocked it off to us, Spike!" Angelus said. "I was there as — Ugh! HIM! — a few times, remember?!" Grateful for the younger vampire's understanding look — for a "tweed" fool from the old country, Rupert Giles was quite the nasty bugger when he had to be; one didn't get to be called "Ripper" of all things for nothing after all! — the Irish-born master vampire squeezed his fists. "Isn't it funny that pictures of the old mayors — who have the same damned NAME as the current one! — show the VERY SAME MAN?!" An admiring chuckle escaped him as he shook his head. "Damn! When did he show up over the Hellmouth anyway?! What type of deal did he make with whatever demon he ran into here to save his ass?!"

As Spike nodded while considering that, Angelus walked over to sit down before their computer; vampire he may be, but modern day human conveniences were quite handy. "So let's see who our two 'sea angels' are...?"

"Oh, I'm afraid you won't be able to learn that right now, Master Liam."

That made Angelus balk before he and Spike spun around...

...then both men screamed as reddish energy lashed out from the hands of a certain reborn "Inca mummy girl" who just appeared in their supposedly "secret" base without warning. As Drusilla spun around to look, an elbow slammed into her forehead, knocking her out. "You'll keep, lady!" an accented voice then called out. "Hey, O'Connor! Pratt! We finally found you!"

"Indeed, they couldn't have fled far after Mistress Margo chased them out of town, friend Kanami," Coya Gutierrez coyly stated as she turned her hands, sending probes of energy into the two trapped vampires to make them scream out with considerable pain. "Hurts, doesn't it?" the Volcanic Handmaiden of the Dark Gaol mused as the Untameable One roughly picked up Drusilla to drag her over, dropping her onto the floor by her peer's feet. "Much that I know your turnings were never really your fault, the fact that you've caused my dear Mistress Elizabeth much pain needs to be answered for, Master Liam! And you WILL answer for it in a way the fool Kalderash could NEVER imagine when they 'returned' your 'soul' to you after you killed their relative."

Angelus tried to push himself clear of such a vise-like grip. "How...did you find us...?!" he snarled, letting his game face come on in some vain hope that he could scare the stupid bitch into letting him go so he could kill her.

"Your ki signature, O'Connor," Hayashi Kanami said as she came over...

...then made both Angelus and Spike scream in horror as she elevated herself off the ground. While the dazed Drusilla opened her eyes to see that — which made her shriek in fright before a sweeping kick from April Mears knocked her out anew — the boy-turned-girl who had the honour of being one of TWO men to be listed in the primary index of The Book of Pretty Girls leaned into Angelus' face, said face turning back to normal. "Damn! You really disappoint me, Liam! Big, bad master vampire with nearly THREE CENTURIES of experience...and it didn't ONCE register in your head that Buffy, Wills, Xander and Tara had become METAHUMANS themselves?! Didn't Buffy's battlesuit tell you anything?! You 'lived' during the Second World War, didn't you?! You saw all the sh*t between all the mystery men active in that time! You should have known...!"

"Mistress Willow enspelled them, Kanami," the reborn Inca princess — who had been forced to consume the Draught of Living Death of all things after she had somehow survived being sacrificed to the god of a VOLCANO of all things in hopes of driving the Spanish out of her ancestral lands in the 1550s — declared, making Angelus shriek and Spike snarl. "Even if he was far more civil at the time, he believed in the 'old' ways of dealing with those like himself, just like Master Rupert's 'friends' do back on the Island of the Angles. He would never approve of what dear Xander proposed after he lost his friend to the Master."

"Yeah, that figures!" Kanami sneered, shaking her now-free flowing red hair. "We got classes to get back to soon. Get these idiots into the Dark Gaol right away, Coya! You're gonna STARVE to the point where the 'demons' inside you will GIVE UP WILLINGLY and let you go before we let you have blood again, O'Connor! Have a nice day!"

Before Angelus could scream out, a warp leading into a place of total blackness then opened...

...and in the blink of the eye, the members of the Whirlwind found themselves teleported nearly three hundred light-years away!

Once the warp to that place in the very heart of the Great Crystal of Power was then closed, Kanami looked over to one side. "Thanks for finding those three, Clover," the physically strongest of the Children of the Forge called out.

A warp appeared, allowing a raven-haired woman in a black diver's skinsuit-like battlesuit to emerge, the hull numbers 277 on her thighs in white. "It was my pleasure, Admiral Hayashi," the Unseen Sea Hunter of the Eastern Coasts, Kanibaka ("Scamp"), having been reborn from the sixty-sixth of the Gato-class fleet submarines as Clover Hollingsworth affirmed with a nod.

"Keep an eye out for friends, please," Coya bade before she summoned a teleportation circle to get her, April and Kanami back to Sunnydale High School. "No doubt, Master Liam turned several of Mistress' peers to act as his spies."

The subgirl who was one of the first salvaged and Gifted back in late April gave then a jaunty salute as they headed off...

To Be Continued...

****

WRITER'S NOTES

This omake takes place right after the previous one, twenty-one days prior to the start of Boy Meets Girl Meets Metahuman.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer notes: The Books of Ascension were first mentioned in "Enemies" (third season, episode 17). Scott Hope first appeared in "Faith, Hope & Trick" (third season, episode three). The Tento di Cruciamentum was first introduced in "Helpless" (third season, episode twelve). Belle Malone was introduced in promotional clips known collectively as History of the Slayer, aired prior to the series premier in 1996 and 1997 on the WB Network. Quentin Travers also made his first appearance in "Helpless". Bob Munroe first appeared in "School Hard" (second season, episode three). Reginald Snyder first appeared in "The Puppet Show" (first season, episode nine); his given name was created by Barefoot XO for his wonderful one-part BtVS/V for Vendetta story X is for eXecution, which is on the Fanfiction website at entry #11178826 (no doubt inspired by his first initial R). Balthazar first appeared in "Bad Girls" (third season, episode 14); his minions, the El Eliminati, also appeared there. Mister Trick and his late employer Kakistos first appeared in "Faith, Hope & Trick"; Trick's birth name Kevin Freeman and his history is my creation. Rebecca Mulligan is my name for the Watcher originally assigned to Faith Lehane (Wildflower), first mentioned in "Faith, Hope & Trick". Both Drusilla Keeble (family name my invention) and her "son"/lover William "Spike" Pratt first appeared in "School Hard". The immediate successor to Buffy Summers (Virago) as Slayer, Kendra Young, first appeared in the two-part "What's My Line?" (second season, episodes 9-10). Justin Pitt is my name for the "old man" who was a player in SlayerFest '98 (in this story as seen above, SlayerFest '12) in "Homecoming" (third season, episode five); his name is taken from a previous character played by his actor, the late Ian Abercrombie. Jennifer "Jenny" Calendar (AKA Jenna of the Kalderash) first appeared in "I Robot, You Jane" (first season, episode nine). Her overall clan was first mentioned in "Surprise" (second season, episode 13); this story was also when the Judge first appeared.

As an aside, as I freely mix plot elements of Harry Potter, Mahō Sensei Negima and Buffy the Vampire Slayer into my stories, it is not surprising that Richard Wilkins would be the nimmib/squib son of migrants from Bavaria (this was chosen due to his actor Harry Groener having been born in Augsburg west of München [Munich]). See Part Three of Magic and Canada to understand how the universes of Harry Potter and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter interacted during the hidden side of that war. That file also contains information concerning Rappaport's Law and how it affected American and Canadian magicals; the issue with President Woodrow Wilson — known among magicals as the Panic of 1914 — is covered in Part Six. As an aside, Adam Sewell is my name for the chief antagonist in both the AL:VH novel and movie; so named after his actor, Rufus Sewell.

Sweet Valley High character note: Margo Black (Doctor Death) first appeared in The Morning After (novel #95).

The West Wing character note: The term "Lord Needham" referred to by Josiah Bartlet here is more commonly known as Lord John Marbury, who first appeared in the episode of the same name (first season, episode 11). While commonly referred to by his given and family name in TWW, the character identifies himself as Marquess of Needham and Dolby (as well as Earl of Croy and the Baronet of Brycey). Now, such a form of address is incorrect; as he is a marquess of the United Kingdom, the man's proper form of third-person address is "Lord Needham". Atop that, being BOTH a marquess and an earl at the same time doesn't happen among nobles in the United Kingdom. What typically happens is that unless the titles are ceremonially seen as separate peerages, earldoms are subordinate to marquessates. Thus, John Marbury would have been born as the Earl of Croy (located in real life east of Glasgow in Scotland), then be elevated to Marquess of Needham and Dolby (the former locality is in Norfolk on the border with Suffolk; the latter is clearly fictional) on the passing of his father. As to how Marbury became a baronet at the same time, I can't say; that particular civil rank is a noble title though not seen as of the peerage.

Mollie Bean was a real woman who disguised herself as a man to fight for the Confederacy in the Civil War. She was a part of the 47th North Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiment, which was part of III Corps under the Army of Northern Virginia at the Battle of Gettysburg on 1-3 July 1863. She became a primary character in Harry Turtledove's The Guns of the South, first published in 1992. I fell in love with that portrayal (which is partially fictitious as her real history has little in the way of proper documentation), then took the character and made her a magical. She would appear in my stories in the third Wizard and Avalonians side stories to Phoenix From the Ashes; her history concerning Abraham Lincoln is described in Magic and Canada.

Notes on the shipgirls appearing here, first from America...

Commander Eleanor Barbara Laffey USN (United States Ship Laffey [DD-459])
Lieutenant Colonel Jenn McLeod Murphy USA (also Commander USN) (United States Ship Murphy [DD-603])
Lieutenant Commander Jannine Clover Hollingsworth USN (United States Ship Scamp [SS-277])

Barbara Laffey (USS Laffey) takes after her Azur Lane self. Jenn Murphy (USS Murphy) looks like Brenda's Blue Oath self; such can be seen on Danbooru at entry #4385031. Clover Hollingsworth (USS Scamp) takes after her Kantai Collection self.

Now, as to why Jenn is rated as a lieutenant colonel (short-form here LTC) of the United States Army (USA) is due to her namesake, Colonel/Acting Lieutenant John McLeod Murphy (1827-1871). Having served in the Navy as a midshipman from 1841-1852, Murphy would become the founding colonel of the 15th New York Regiment of Engineers at the start of the Civil War. Restored to Navy service in 1862 as an acting lieutenant, he would serve on gunboats for the following two years until resigning his commission and returning to civilian life. Due to this, Jenn became the first shipgirl to be made an Army officer. Thanks to her namesake's initial Civil War service, she is seen as an officer in the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), whose branch colours are red with white trim as seen on her shoulder strap insignia. Administratively, LTC Jenn McLeod Murphy is seen as a supernumerary officer to Headquarters North Atlantic Division of the USACE, based at Fort Hamilton at the Brooklyn end of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge connecting that borough to Staten Island.

Now from Japan...

Akiyama Tokina-chūsa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Akizuki [KK-260])
Akiyama Motoko-chūsa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Hatsuzuki [KK-263])

Both of these girls resemble their KanColle selves, of course, both in looks and behaviour. To explain the whole "Duckies" theme, go to Danbooru and look at posting pool #10990, titled Kantai Collection — Feeding the Ducks, to understand same.

I created the nŏksbae ("soul boat") concept in The Icemaidens and the Philosopher's Stone. Note such is written in han'gŭl as 녻배. The "S" (ㅅ) in the first syllable's character cluster would only be pronounced if followed by a vowel; since the next sound is a slurred "P" (ㅂ) pronounced /b/, the "s" is silent and the previous "K" (ㄱ) slurs to a /g/. Thus, while written in Latin script as nŏksbae, the word is pronounced /nʌɡ'bɛ/ (akin to NAUG-beh). As an aside, Thérèse Peverell first appeared in IM&PS; the origins of the version of her in the universe of this story is quite similar to that as will be revealed in a future mainline story.

Chapter 5: Taffy Three Returns: No SlayerFest Here, Boys!

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: Concurrent with fair dealing clauses of the Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42) of Canada and fair use clauses in copyright legislation in other nations, this is a work that was created solely for entertainment purposes. Furthermore, it is posted freely on the Internet without expectation or requirement of remuneration.

****

The End of the Circus: A Tale of the Yizibajohei
Shipgirl Short Stories: Taffy Three Returns: No SlayerFest Here, Boys!
By Fred Herriot

Based on characters and situations from The Seventh Carrier, created by Peter Albano; Katekyō Hitman Reborn, created by Amano Akira; Azumanga Daiō, created by Azuma Kiyohiko; Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, created by Seth Grahame-Smith; Kantai Collection, created by Kadokawa Games; Worm, created by John C. McCrae; Harry Potter, created by Joanna K. Rowling; Urusei Yatsura and Ranma 1/2, created by Takahashi Rumiko; normalman, created by Jim Valentino; Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon; and Stargate SG-1, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner.

Also including characters and situations from Urusei Yatsura — The Senior Year, created by Mike Smith and Fred Herriot.

****

Sunnydale, the former residence of Natalie French at J Street and Ninth Avenue overlooking Rosedale Cemetery, the final Friday of October in 2012, an hour after suppertime (Tōkyō time: The final Saturday, an hour before lunch)...

"YOU DID WHAT, COYA?!" Buffy Summers shrieked out. "THE DARK GAOL?!"

The woman born as Coya Yupanqui in 1530 — two years prior to the start of the conquest of her home empire by the hated Spaniards under the command of Francisco Pizarro González — took a deep breath before she crossed her arms. "I have my reasons, Mistress," the Volcanic Handmaiden of the Dark Gaol declared.

"Oh, there BETTER be good reasons for this!" the Mighty Maid of the Mountains stated, crossing her arms.

As the other teenage members of the Scooby Gang seated on nearby couches and chairs — they now joined by four American and two Japanese shipgirls — watched this confrontation between the team leader and one of the two new girls who joined the group the previous fall, the native of what today was Cusco in Peru held up her hand, allowing a magical image to appear. As Buffy recoiled on seeing her beloved Liam O'Connor along with William Pratt and Drusilla Keeble tied against a softly glowing onyx black wall of crystals while ruby energy flowed in and out of the struggling vampires, Coya added, "Being as I am one of my Master's handmaidens since our first lives fighting the lar'beke five sagas ago..." — here, the Peruvian sorceress/living avatar to an ancient Yizibajohei volcano deity grinned on seeing the shipgirls (save a calmly meditating Brenda Laffey) perk on hearing of the Goa'uld — "...I'm fully aware of where the less lethal parts of the Dark Gaol actually are within the Great Crystal."

"Holy Moley! There are 'less lethal' parts of the Dark Gaol?!" Xander Harris wryly asked.

As Faith Lehane laughed while playfully bopping the Wild Scavenger of the Plains on the side of his head, Coya smirked. "Aye, Xander, there are! My Master and my peers did not ALWAYS kill those who angered our past selves as we did to Anubis' fools!" As the shipgirls moaned on remembering the partially-ascended Goa'uld System Lord who personally attracted the wrath of the second Healer of Destruction due to what he did to himself to overcome her during the War of the Second Great Banishment, Coya allowed the image to magnify to show Angelus in a close-up. On seeing him scream while tears flowed down his cheeks, Buffy winced before she smiled her thanks as Hayashi Kanami squeezed her shoulder in support. "Right now, spells I unleashed on Master Liam, Master William and Mistress Drusilla are passing through their souls, forcing them to confront all the horrors they were made to unleash by their turnings on normal people. Yes, this is what those fool Roma spectacularly FAILED to do all those years ago when they caught Master Liam, but this will definitely help all three of them grow the necessary internal strength necessary to drive out the so-called 'demonic' influences on their hearts and recover once they're properly pre-Gifted."

"It was your plan all along to help Liam become one of us, Buffy," the Untameable One then added, making Buffy blush at that reminder from the transplanted native of Nerima. "Bill and Dru deserve the same treatment, just like every other vampire we've run into since well before I came into this sewer pit of a town! 'Sides, don't you remember the Dragoness' spell?"

That made the elder Slayer moan again. "Yeah, yeah, Kanami! Yizibajohei can't mate with non-Yizibajohei! I know, I know!"

"Besides, it's a miracle to me that Uncle Jed didn't order Margo to come into town to hunt down Liam in the first place after that 'curse' got broken on New Years Day," Tara Maclay added as she squeezed her lover's hand. "Yeah, he's done a ton of good as 'Angel', but Uncle Jed was told about what he and his siress did back in 1871 when they ran into Uncle Abe in Chicago."

"The C-in-C's only got so much patience, Admiral Summers," Jenn McLeod Murphy warned, she crossing her arms. The reborn USS Murphy of the Benson-class fleet destroyers, she had lost the front third of her hull in a collision in 1943 just outside New York City. It had been enough for Yvonne Swanson to see her salvaged and Gifted — even with the surviving two-thirds of her hull having been scrapped in 1972 — as the Amphibious Engineer of the Lënapehòkink, Murphy. The only combat warship-turned-shipgirl to be an officer in the United States Army — her namesake formed an engineer regiment in the Empire State in the Civil War, thus guaranteeing the Army Corps of Engineers would claim her before the Navy did — she had the silver oak leaves of her rank as lieutenant colonel on her collars on red fields trimmed in white, the colours of her other-self's service while with the land forces. Her uniform was red overall, with silver belt and boots, her hull number 603 on her upper thighs as her older sister wore hers on her light blue battlesuit pants; her ship's crest had a mixture of USACE and USN insignia marking her namesake's unique career in uniform from 1841 to 1864. "Like Admiral Maclay said, Mister O'Connor's done loads of good. He deserves a chance, as does Miss Keeble and Mister Pratt. Still, from what E told us when she briefed us on the goings-on in this place, it could have got a TON worse after that curse wore off until Admiral Lehane chased him out of the city limits proper."

"And we found him and his pals at a site where they could use the damn tunnels underground to get back into town if they weren't so scared of Faith," Kanami added before she smiled as Akiyama Tokina came over with some welcome tea for the red-haired boy-turned-girl martial art prodigy. While the American members of the Scooby Gang moaned on being reminded of the crap they hadn't really focused on underground since they came together two years ago, she added, "Sure, Willow's and Tara's spells blinding him to your Giftings worked like charms so he didn't probe too deep into what you've done to vampires you've caught since you went to war on them, so there's no worry in case friends we haven't accounted for come looking for them."

"The house is being watched?" the Arch-Mage of True Passion wondered.

"Since we've been getting more subgirls back after the mess with our friends in the Marvel universe, they'll take eight-hour watches on site until we've rounded them up or when Liam and his friends are deemed safe so they can help," Brenda said.

Eyes locked on the silver-haired seventh of the Benson-class known now as the Meditative Tippler of the Great River, Laffey; despite such a moniker, the adopted native of Ireland's County Galloway (birthplace of her namesake Bartlett Laffey) and San Francisco (where she was built) didn't drink. An apprentice to America's first shipgirl Naomi Haight-Ashbury, the reborn destroyer had developed an incredible cosmic sense of her own, almost akin to that of the most powerful of the Children of the Forge herself, Kasuga Ayumu AKA the Goddess Who Walks Among Men, Nodim ("Infinity"). It came with some costs; since she spiritually only massed about one-third the displacement of the reborn USS Long Beach, Brenda had developed a noticeable case of narcolepsy. Fortunately, since sundown was approaching — and she also had her starship-self now in geosynchronous orbit at the meridian of the City by the Bay to use when necessary — she would be alert for whatever would happen tonight.

"Um...could I propose something, Teitoku?"

Eyes locked on the wary-looking Tokina. "What is it, Tokina-chan?" Kanami asked.

The adopted native of Maizuru — such was also the place Tokina's sister Motoko was built as THG Hatsuyuki — hummed. "Well, since Brooke-san and Chloe-san came here to deal with this immortal mayor who's said to be here — and who clearly has HAD to have made deals with someone incredibly powerful to stay alive in THIS place all these years! — wouldn't it be wise to bring a battleship shipgirl or two here as well? I'm aware that all the Montana-class and the last two of the Iowa-class have returned, as have the former Washington of the Colorado-class and the older South Dakota-class ships...!"

Xander shook his head. "They're still being drilled in ship handling duties and getting their basic metahuman wing qualifications under their belts before Yvonne would trust them to do anything any shipgirl who saw active service could, Tokina."

"What about any of the battleships with Teitoku at Welcome House then?" Motoko then asked from her position by the kitchen; April Mears was busy on snack duty. "We have Roma and all four of the Kongō-class ships back now."

Jenn stared warily at her older sister. "Um...better not be Hiei, though," the adopted native of Westchester County in New York then warned...before she blinked as Brenda raised her hand to wave her off. "Brenda...?"

"Not because of what happened at the 'Canal, Jenn," the silver-haired destroyer said before sipping from her ever-present bottle of Coca Cola. "Because Mama Cass teaches me her version of Zen, Sarah tends to get weirded out around me."

"Let's not bring in the huge guns just yet until we know what's really going on with the Mayor," Buffy then advised, smiling in thanks at the two visiting Japanese shipgirls' kind offer. "After all, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the idea of someone like 'I'll never swear' Richard Wilkins actually being a DEATH CHEATER of all things..."

A knock echoed from the front door, making Chloe Zitzewitz — she and her task unit mate from the Battle off Samar would permanently take over the former home of the She-Mantis who was one of the first beasts the Scooby Gang had dealt with after they came together as a group in the autumn of 2012; Xander Harris gladly gutted the creature with his ki claws before bringing an actual LANDSHARK from Yiziba to EAT the kleptes-virgo as a tasty snack — head over to answer it. "Oh! Admiral Chase! Come in!" the adopted native of Xootsnoowú on the Alaskan panhandle called out, waving Cordelia Chase inside.

The former queen of Sunnydale High's social scene wasn't alone; she had an arm wrapped around a dazed darker-haired version of herself in fresh clothes. "Hey, Chari! Welcome back!" Buffy called out to Charisma Carpenter. "How you feeling?"

A stunned look answered the Mighty Maid of the Mountains. "What the HELL did you DO to me, Summers...?!" the just-reborn vampire weakly asked even if she didn't resist her former groupie helping her sit down on a nearby sofa.

"You drank blood with loads of meson in it from one of us," Buffy explained. "It jump-started your heart, cleared out the bad mojo that made you a vampire, then let you 'live' again as a normal person." As Charisma's jaw dropped in shock, the older Slayer calmly drew out one of her signature silver-and-mesonium-lined vibro-knives she had built specifically by the leader of the Sweet Valley Boosters, Elizabeth Wakefield, shortly after the Angelino teen was Gifted in the spring of 2010. "As for the 'demon' inside you, there never was one. After you got turned, the ebony meson and the demonic mojo just warped your soul so bad, most normal folks said you were possessed. After all, how did Angel 'get his soul back' when the Kalderash caught him?"

"In our cosmology, it just doesn't make sense, Charisma," Willow Rosenberg helpfully added.

The other girl blinked before she seemed to shy away as Brooke Roberts came over to stare intently at her. "Wow, she's really out of it," the Escort Who Fights Line Warriors whose crew punched WAY above their abilities sixty-eight years before mused.

Her new "admirals" gazed her way. "You don't have Dying Will Flames too, do you?" Xander asked.

Charisma moaned. "Oh, sh*t! The metahuman MAFIA is here?!" she groaned.

"Liam told you about them?" Buffy wondered.

"Yeah! He ran into them in the way-old days when he was in Europe, just after he fought this Rail-Splitter guy over in Chicago!" the just-restored vampire breathed out. "Especially those Vindice bastards! Angelus tried to turn one of the Mafia bosses in Sicily back then, then nearly got wiped out of existence when these cloaked bastards showed up and chased him off!"

"Show her, Chloe," the elder Slayer then declared.

Charisma blinked before she gargled as the reborn escort carrier held out one gloved hand, allowing golden-reddish Sky flames to leap out of her palm to cover that extremity in a very bright aura. "That's a warning, by the way," Cordelia noted as she gave her old friend a wry look. "You try to blab about it, you're on your way to Vendicare, which is said to be even NASTIER than that Gonebren prison the Brit wand wavers have over in England or what the Canucks have up on Ellsemere Island."

The just-restored vampire turned as pale as a ghost. "sh*t...!"

"What about Miss Carpenter's family, Admiral?" Brooke asked. "How do we reveal to them that their daughter's okay?"

As Charisma blushed at the show of concern by the reborn destroyer escort, the only-still pre-Gifted member of the Scooby Gang sighed; even if she had been linked to the Great Crystal of Power thanks to Tariko Katabarbe after the latter recovered her memories in April, she surprised her empowered peers by wanting to hold off and make the right choice. "It's just like others who lose their kids to the night, Brooke," the daughter of one of the richest people in Sunnydale grimly declared. "Soon as Chari 'OD'd', they packed their bags and vamoosed from town, being made to forget they HAD a daughter in the first damned place by whoever put up those magical screens around this damned place. Haven't any idea where they moved off to, either."

"She can stay with us, Admiral," Chloe stated, making Charisma gape. "It's cruel that Wilkins — if it WAS him, by the way — would literally take your FAMILY away from you, Miss Carpenter." Here, she held up her glowing hand. "Family's important. And I'm from the time when the idiots on the other side of the Hudson gladly KIDNAPPED magical children from 'no-maj' parents, then OBLIVIATED the parents' memories of ever HAVING a child. That was a crime against humanity itself."

Willow scowled. "Thank God that disgusting sh*t was stopped when the Übermenschen trashed the Magical Congress in '42 and President Roosevelt got in there with Magical Executive Order 9005 to shut it all down."

The other non-shipgirls in the living room — plus Brenda and Jenn — nodded in understanding. "By the way, girls, did you have a chance to look through your PAAs and find out who was there for your crews off Samar?" the Meditative Tippler asked.

As the Scooby Gang all grinned knowingly, the two veterans of Taffy Three looked over. "What do you mean?" Chloe asked.

Pulling out her multipurpose communications/healing/teleportation device, the Meditative Tippler laid on the armrest of her chair, then tapped the control crystal. Such produced a beautiful holographic diagram, projecting the image of a HUGE battleship which seemed a longer cross-bred version of a Montana-class from America with a Littorio-class from Italy. As the two Japanese shipgirls seemed to shy away from gazing upon such an image — the impact the vessels they and their peers called Ryūseizen had on their living kami made such ships seem practically sacred, on the same level as the legendary pre-dreadnought battleship Mikasa who was Tōgō Heihachirō's flagship at Tsushima in 1905 was — Chloe's and Brooke's jaws nearly dropped to the deck before they nearly teleported themselves to lean right into Brenda's face. "YOU KNOW HER?!" both girls screeched.

The members of the Scooby Gang all laughed at such a reaction...

****

On Market Street heading towards the Bronze, an hour later...

"Thanks for the fresh clothes, Cordi!"

"Anytime, Chari!" Cordelia Chase said as she warmly hugged one of April Mears' arms while the Scooby Gang and their guests headed west towards the popular all-age nightclub. Even if everyone were in civilian clothing — even the shipgirls now among them — there was a tense alertness being projected from all of them; the sun had gone down two hours before and it was a half-hour past the end of astronomical twilight. Even more so, Sunnydale's public works department had never been good when it came to provide proper street lighting for its public thoroughfares; there were places of considerable darkness which could be used as ambush points. Fortunately for Buffy Summer's friends, their leader was an experienced empath who could sniff out approaching danger even without the need of her Slayer senses; in fact, over the last two years, the Angelino high school senior had come to rely on her Yizibajohei Gifts far more than what had been passed down to her over the previous five millennia ultimately from Sineya in Africa when the Slayer line had first originated with the help of the Shadowmen.

"We've got incoming, people," Brenda Laffey, who had agreed to be Buffy's date for this evening, quietly warned.

As the Akiyama sisters nodded in understanding — the two reborn air defence destroyers were prepared to use their photokinetic abilities (they so blessed because their ship names include the kanji 月 for the Moon) to light up the neighbourhood if necessary — while they, Chloe Zitzewitz, Brooke Roberts and Jenn Murphy began to scan around, the Mighty Maid of the Mountains hummed. "Half-dozen. All skilled martial artists, too," she announced, making Hayashi Kanami perk. "Sword fighters."

"Stupid," the Untameable One noted as she allowed her own ki senses to reach out; while not as well-trained as she would like to have been, her abilities to detect unseen potential targets were almost as good as her fight team leader.

"Why do you say that, Teitoku?" Akiyama Motoko wondered as she drew close to Coya Gutierrez, earning the Shiny Moon of Mid-Summer a warm smile in return; since the Volcanic Handmaiden had been an ally of her new "hull's" creator five millennia before, she was seen by all the shipgirls as someone who DEFINITELY deserved to be protected. "They feel like samurai."

"Not knocking Yoiko-san or her crew down, Motoko-chan, but depending too much on weapons makes you vulnerable in case they break," the physically strongest of the Children of the Forge noted as she exchanged a look with Faith Lehane; the Belle of the Wilderness was one of two battle lines on Yiziba who could equal Kanami strength for strength. As the south Bostonian nodded in agreement while warmly gripping Chloe's hand — they had agreed to be dance partners, which could develop into something more passionate as the night moved on, given the weekend started at midnight — the teen martial arts prodigy added, "Take away a sword or wand or other tool, what have you got? Look at all the stupid stalebloods from Europe..."

"You dare dishonour us, woman?!"

Everyone stopped as people dressed in soft gold martial arts gi appeared out of the shadows, their faces deformed in a very familiar way as they brandished a mixture of Oriental bladed arms, mostly Chinese in origin as only two had recognizable katana in hand. In flashes of energy, all the metahumans present switched into their very colourful battlesuits, with Buffy drawing out two duelling machetes. "Hey, guys! Nice night out, isn't it?" the reborn Nesetimtuto-mem frontier warrior asked.

Smiles answered her. "Indeed it is, Lady Summers. A nice night to die, of course!" their obvious leader growled.

"No thanks," she quipped. "I'm very much in love with living. So are my friends. Who are you, anyway?"

Surprised yet inwardly quite pleased by such a Zen-like show, the attacking vampires slightly relaxed. "We are known as the El Eliminati, Lady Summers," the leader's right-hand man noted. "Atop our other duties, we've been invited to kill both yourself and Lady Lehane. I trust you understand that sort of thing given what you've both done so far upon the Hellmouth."

Faith chuckled as Chloe shifted herself to silently call up her Sky flames, allowing the golden-orange energy to spread out to encompass all those around her. "Hey, we've got this thing about death cheating! It's not right," the Belle of the Wilderness said as she cracked her knuckles, surprising the attackers by not drawing out a weapon. "'Sides, you boys' boss mind this?"

"He will understand even if he cares not to join in on Mister Trick's so-called 'SlayerFest'," a third vampire ventured.

That made Faith perk. "What?! Trick?! Hey, Kevin's still in town?! Good! Need to talk to the man...!"

She then jolted as something slammed into her chest above her cleavage, the loud echo of a gun sounding off. "Sniper!" Jenn screamed out. "We got normals here, too! Duckies, light up the sky! Watch your eyes, everyone!"

Both Motoko and her sister Tokina put up hands, bursts of blinding light exploding from them...

...which made a dozen people BEYOND the Scooby Gang and their friends — and the El Eliminati as well, who ducked when the Amphibious Engineer barked her command to the visiting Japanese destroyers — howl at such eye-searing brilliance.

"GOT 'EM!" the Escort Who Fights Line Warriors bellowed as she lunged.

Before either of the Gruenshtahler brothers Hans and Frederick could react, the reborn destroyer escort was on them in an instant, her hands crushing the barrels of their sniper rifles before they could accidentally discharge and hit someone who didn't have any sort of physical invulnerability as Faith possessed. Such an action also blinded four other people who had weapons out and had moved to close in on the Scooby Gang: One normal man in what appeared to be a sniper's ghillie suit, two other vampires in somewhat dated clothes which would have been in fashion in the 1920s and a green-skinned demon with spinal horns on the top of his skull. Also blinded were several bystanders, including some of the Scooby Gang's peers at Sunnydale High and a man in a dark business suit. "TAKE OUT THE SNIPERS!" the Meditative Tippler ordered. "SOMEONE BURN THAT DEMON!"

Both of the Duckies perked before they focused on the hissing humanoid who had been dangerously close to Cordelia. Without hesitation, they allowed their photokinetic abilities to merge with their first generation battle dolls' force projection powers to send two three metre-wide beams of pure burning power at the snarling member of the Miquot Clan.

Kulak shrieked in agony as his whole body turned into an instant inferno before the force elements of Tokina's and Motoko's attack crushed his body, sending him flying backwards to be impaled on a nearby tree branch, he just having deployed bony claws from his inner forearms before he could have got at the slayers. Seeing that, Xander Harris laughed as he ran over, jumping off the ground with Willow Rosenberg's help using a telekinetic boost. "NICE!" the Wild Scavenger of the Plains whooped as ten foot-long burning gold ki blades extended from his fingertips as he landed before his target, his very experienced eyes noting that the reptilian-like humanoid was moving to regenerate. "Scream, boy!"

Forming solid shanks with his primary weapons, the reborn hunter from the northern polar continent closed in, shearing off both the demon's hands before Kulak could pull himself clear of the damned tree he was still stuck on. As the others of the Scooby Gang exploded into action while the members of the El Eliminati moved to gang up on Buffy, Cordelia moved to grab Charisma and get her to safety since Brooke was busy with the two German terrorists who had several murders on their tab, not to mention a successful attack on an American passenger aircraft a year before. Seeing the two obvious civilians moving to get clear and knowing the very fashionably dressed girl was an ally of the Scooby Gang, William Frawley — who was getting his sight back after those sisters used some light-generating power to blind him — spun around to level his sniper weapon on Cordelia's head. Before he could squeeze the trigger — the werewolf hunter's eyes were more used to pyrotechnics since he often used them to blind his targets in the same way that Tokina and Motoko did just now — a blur of white and blue appeared in his scope...

...then he awked as a blue-covered boot slammed into his chest to knock the air out of his lungs! Frawley folded in on himself as his attacker tore his weapon away from him, crushing the barrel to ensure the rifle didn't discharge, then she dropped an elbow on his skull, knocking him out. "Admiral Chase! Ms. Carpenter! Watch over this guy!" the reborn Samuel B. Roberts snapped.

Cordelia and Charisma nodded, they moving to stand over the stunned hunter just as a voice called out, "Snack time...!"

Before Candy Gorch could snare the once-queen of Sunnydale High's social scene, her friend lashed out with a backhand punch that slammed right into the mouth — and the extended fangs — of the blonde native of Abeline in Texas. Gasping as her head rang from the still-vampire high blow, the wife of a known killer from the latter days of the Old West before he was even turned then felt several drops of what had to be the most richest-smelling blood she had ever encountered fall onto her tongue...

...then she screeched in agony as the shards of mesonium in the just-restored vampire teen's blood instantly seared into her own body, causing it to glow slightly as the demonic magic descent from the time of Maloker during the final years of the End War — that Old One had been imprisoned with friends in a dimensionally-displaced cave somewhere in Existence, one created by the Undying Lord himself — began to be burned OUT of her reviving body. Seeing what the brat had done, Candy's husband Lyle screamed out before leaping over to knock Cordelia down, his own fangs plunging into the girl's outstretched arm.

"Hey, asshole!" she said with a smirk even if her nerves were afire from the puncture wounds. "I'm ALSO pre-Gifted!"

The undead murderer from Abeline blinked on hearing that...

...before he shrieked in agony as Cordelia's blood now in his mouth began to work on his long-dormant body. Shoving the man off her, she got up, then delivered a well-aimed kick at his groin to ensure that the howling murderer would stay down. "Nice one, Teitoku!" Motoko called out, having seen what the once-vapid and self-centred girl had done to her attacker...

...then she jolted as several bone claws tried to punch into her spine.

Snarling, the Shiny Moon of Mid-Summer turned to see another of Kulak's clan now staring at the snapped ends of his own weapons, her golden-grey eyes then blazing with infernal energy. "BURN!" the adopted native of Maizuru hissed.

Said idiot then was literally burned alive by her eye beams, the extremities of his arms and legs surviving such an onslaught before Coya teleported in behind Motoko, waving her hands to send disintegrating beams of lava-like energy to wipe out the rest. "Looks like Spikey here brought friends!" Xander called out before using the claws of one hand to behead Kulak.

"HUMAN FILTH! THAT WAS MY BROTHER!"

"DOWN, TEITOKU!"

As another member of the Miquot leapt from a nearby tree to attack the Wild Scavenger, Xander dived aside...

...just as both eye and arm beams from the Autumn Moon Dancer literally turned him into ashes in one blow!

****

Three blocks away at Angel's mansion...

"Damn...!" Mister Trick breathed out in disbelief.

As his current host called out into a microphone to get the mercenaries he hired to retreat to safety, the veteran of the Great War shook his head, wondering how the hell that so many people — himself included — had totally got things WRONG...!

****

On Market Street by Third Avenue...

Jenn McLeod Murphy perked as she felt something ping the spiritual version of her AN/WLR-1 electronic countermeasures system — which she herself had not been fitted with, but several of her sisters had been so equipped after World War Two on their transfer to Taiwan and Italy — then she gazed east for a moment towards the mansion once used by Liam O'Connor.

"Oh, THERE you are...!"

And in a flash of energy, the Amphibious Engineer of the Lënapehòkink vanished in a burst of PAA teleportation energy...

****

Angel's mansion...

"Oh, sh*t!" the vampire born Kevin Freeman croaked as his own well-honed danger senses went crazy.

His host looked over. "What is it...?" Justin Pitt demanded...

...before a flash of energy caught the elderly man off guard, an elbow slamming on his head to stun him!

Before Mister Trick could lunge for a nearby doorway and escape, the reborn sixteenth of the Benson-class fleet destroyers was on him, snaring the man in a headlock while pulling out a handy canteen from her belt pouch. Dropping both herself and Trick backwards into a neck hold belly-to-back suplex, slamming the Harlem native onto the floor hard! That made Trick gasp, his mouth opening wide...which was enough for Jenn Murphy to drain the small canteen's worth of blood down his throat.

As the former Harlem Hellfighter shrieked in agony while the mesonium in that blood went to work on his animated corpse, she let go, somersaulting over the man back to her feet. Once on a solid deck again, the Amphibious Engineer pointed at Pitt, a bolt of energy appearing at the tip of that extremity...only to see the older man's hands raised in surrender, which made Jenn relax herself. Before the man who had hired the Gruenshtahler brothers to help out in SlayerFest '12 could say anything, another flash of PAA teleportation energy produced a dark-haired reborn submarine. "Lucky thing I just got off watch!" Clover Hollingsworth said as she reached over to snare the man's shoulder before mentally keying her PAA to teleport them both to Fort Sam Houston.

Jenn smirked before she perked on hearing Trick croak out, "Wh-why...?"

Looking over her shoulder to see the dark-skinned veteran of the Great War gaze painfully at her as his "game face" melted back into his normal looks, the adopted native of Westchester County north of the Big Apple proper smirked. "I honour the history of the Hellfighters by being an Army girl, Sergeant Freeman," the rather daring-looking blonde noted, her pale grey eyes twinkling with both amusem*nt and interest, which would have once made the Harlem native blush on seeing a WHITE girl look at her like that. "Yeah, you love the night. I can get that, but trying this sh*t on Admiral Summers isn't going to be tolerated."

The slowly-reviving Kevin blinked before the pain of his transformation back into a living being totally overcame him...

****

Back on Market Street by Third Avenue...

He had been contemplating this for months now.

Ever since he really began to clue into the horrible truths behind his boss — which had been easy to obtain when one knew where to look — Deputy Mayor Allan Finch had planned for a chance like this since he decided it was time that Richard Wilkins had to be done away with...and letting that monster fall at the hands of Buffy Summers and her friends would do that very well.

Unlike most of those who understood the truths of living in this town, the dark-haired administrator was not a Sunnydale native; his family moved into the city with a Hellmouth from Ohio when he was a teenager, in days where the "nightlife" hadn't been so active and such beings could get away with what they did to innocent people — including a long-dead girlfriend of Finch's when he attended Sunnydale High in the 1990s — without too many asking very embarrassing questions. It was only when he had graduated from the University of California's local site on the east end of Sunnydale's urban area with a BBA in 2003 that things started to dawn on him, matters slowly conformed over the years he worked up the administrative ladder at City Hall before being chosen as Wilkins' running mate in the 2008 elections. Once he got to his current office, the transplanted Ohioan was thrown right into the deep end; as deputy mayor, he served as direct liaison between the long-lived sorcerer and city department heads who were in on Sunnydale's all-too many secrets. And while he contemplated resigning his post and fleeing town shortly after he had learned that a former schoolmate's son had been lost to the night, the opening battles between the just-formed Scooby Gang and the Order of Aurelius under the overall command of the Master suddenly gave him a sense of new hope.

He wouldn't be stupid about it, though. Doing that in a town that was as compromised magically as Sunnydale was could only lead to either suicide-by-vampire or something far worse in case Wilkins himself got wind of what was going on. With the nightlife soon fighting for their very existences at the hands of one — later two when first Kendra Young, then Faith Lehane came to town! — vampire Slayers and their friends, more and more people within Sunnydale itself soon began to shake off the local "ignorance syndrome" that blinded them to far too much. While the once-nimmib master sorcerer and would-be Old One had long prepared for such an eventuality — the town was layered in a way that no pure-magical habitation could ever HOPE to possess, with well-designed layers of notice-me-not wards to block out the sensors of the Department of Magic in downtown Manhattan from noting such magic, memory altering wards that made standard magical Obliviation seem quite prosaic in comparison, plus some technomagical systems that frequently sent probes through the Internet to ensure no one on line could learn more about Sunnydale as a whole — such shields were breaking down and more and more people from outside the city were looking more carefully at the place, interfering with Wilkins' efforts to mask things from such nosy outsiders.

Then came the revelations of February and March...

First came the arrival of Faith Lehane from Boston, who had appeared in front of town-wide security cameras in a green sleeveless battlesuit with various flowers decorating said suit liberally...

...and with her displaying abilities which made her seem like Superman himself in a way!

Anyone who didn't recognize an honest-to-goodness METAHUMAN in the so-called "Dark Slayer" from Boston was an idiot!

And then came the events at the Sunnydale Mall in the early part of March...

...when the very woman believed to have killed Usāma bin Lādin himself the previous May appeared, supposedly at Buffy Summers' request, to literally DISINTEGRATE the Judge — a being said to be totally invulnerable to any weapon forged by the hands of mortal men — with her BARE HANDS, such an act sending the members of the Whirlwind fleeing!

Seeing that woman's black jumpsuit with hooded rune-line cape and the muted skull-and-crossbones on her upper chest — and learning it was the SAME design as what had been worn by the dark angel who had delivered the free world's vengeance and judgment on the leader of al-Qā'idah at his hidden base in the mountains of Pakistan, a being whose existence had confirmed the presence of the so-called "Angels of Darkness" who had plagued Islamic terrorist groups for a half-decade in the Middle East — had been quite the eye-opener to Wilkins and those of his lackeys who were fully in the know about things, including Finch.

The rumoured Second Age of Metahumans had really fallen on humanity!

While Wilkins had guarded against the state-led "parahumans" — whose powers were NOT derived from the Atom of True Life whose capabilities, if used correctly, could easily trump that of the would-be Old One himself — in recent decades...

...said guards were proving to be quite USELESS against people who WERE touched by mesonium!

Before long, staff at City Hall soon learned exactly WHERE such empowerment came from...!

And how it had affected a ton of people, INCLUDING Buffy Summers, Faith Lehane and their allies in the Scooby Gang.

The World of the Forge itself had somehow begun to interact quite directly with the city on a Hellmouth!

As to the "how", people at City Hall directly answering to Wilkins still weren't sure...

...but given the battlesuits that Summers, Lehane and her friends wore when they went on their patrols around town...!

Then came the final nail in the coffin for Wilkins...and Finch himself.

The open revelation of shipgirls...!

Having sensed the rebirth of the Grey Ghost herself in early April within Sweet Valley — a town that was exceptionally warded itself from outside detection; as to the "who" did that, Wilkins simply had no idea — but not understanding it...

...until Captain Yvonne Claudia Swanson USN of River Vale in New Jersey, Newport News in Virginia, Brooklyn in New York — and Sweet Valley here in California! — was publicly revealed by the President himself in the wake of the quite PUBLIC salvage and transformation of the famous German battleship Bismarck off the coast of France in late August!

The existence of THOSE beings — several of whom had been reborn from the destroyers lost in the Honda Point disaster which occurred near Sunnydale in the spring of 1923 — had driven the mayor into a near-panic...

...which accelerated his plans to evolve himself into a being who could FIGHT such reborn ship spirits on an even level!

That would most likely occur on Hallowe'en evening not five days away!

Having long learned how POWERFUL such ancient demons really were...!

It was the last straw for Allan Finch.

He had to get away...

He had to warn Buffy and her friends what was coming down...

With the little shred of true humanity in his soul, he had to save as many as he could...

Even in...

****

A gunshot rang through the air!

"sh*t! More snipers!" Brooke Roberts screamed out.

"Here!"

Hearing the voice of the Wary Jackrabbit — who was in full metahuman Mafia mode now, allowing the memories of the several of her crew from the Famiglia Beccio who had died on her decks when she was sunk or were rescued by magical sailors from the Royal Canadian Navy during the Battle of Samar — call from nearby, Buffy Summers waved her duelling blades (which she had coated with her own blood to overcome the members of El Eliminati who came out to kill her and her sister Slayer this evening) before she looked over, then she gasped on seeing who was now being cradled by Chloe Zitzewitz. "Mister Finch!"

The others of the Scooby Gang and their friends perked on hearing the name of the deputy mayor before they moved to gather close to the adopted native of Xootsnoowú, who was trying to stem the blood now spurting from an arterial wound in his upper chest; the bullet that nailed him from a just-recovered Hans Gruenshtahler punched through the man's right subclavian artery that fed directly from his heart. As Chloe tried to cauterize the wound with her Sky flames, Akiyama Tokina leapt over to nail the German terrorist with a knee to the jaw, snapping his neck along the way while her sister Motoko kicked his pistol clear of his hand before turning around to punch his brother Frederick in the head to effortlessly crush his skull. "sh*t! It's bad...!" Xander Harris hissed as he knelt beside the reborn aircraft carrier. "Wills, we need healing spells, quick as you can!"

"No...too late...here...!"

Finch shakily held up his hand, opening it to reveal a computer flash drive. "Everything...about Wilkins..." he gasped before his head dropped to one side, a final relieved breath escaping him. "Go...Razor-...backs...!"

Silence fell as Xander reached over to pick up said flash drive before turning the man's hand around to reveal his school ring. "Class of '99," the Wild Scavenger of the Plains breathed out, then he handed the flash drive to Willow Rosenberg.

"I'll take that, Miss Rosenberg!"

People perked before they turned...

...then they sighed on seeing an infantry section's worth of both uniformed and plain clothed members of the local police force moving to surround them, weapons drawn and aimed their way. Noting Chief Bob Munroe himself was in charge of this group — among them were well-known idiots who always tried to find any way to remove the Scooby Gang from the streets of the town, they OBVIOUSLY knowing the many truths of this place — the Mighty Maid of the Mountains took a deep breath before she gazed on her would-be date for this evening. "Hey, Brenda, is sh*t like this enough to declare MARTIAL LAW?"

Brenda Laffey hummed before drawing out a bottle of Coca Cola. "Captain Zitzewitz's friends from the old country..."

"SHUT UP!" Munroe snapped as he aimed his pistol right at Buffy's head. "I've had ENOUGH of you wrecking things, Summers! You're under arrest on accessory to first-degree murder charges! Hand over that flash drive, Rosenberg!"

Snarling, Chloe held out her hand, allowing her flames to send a burst of energy right into the sky!

"...will be here right away," the Meditative Tippler then finished before sipping from her drink.

Before anyone could say anything, a dark smog-like miasma of energy soon flooded over the scene...

"WHO OF THE FAMIGLIA BECCIO SUMMONS US?!"

...then the policemen and those bystanders who weren't aware of things screamed on seeing black humanoid-like beings appear around them. Before the policemen — whom, Buffy then mused, Principal Reginald Snyder himself often described as "deeply stupid" on occasion because of their virtual lack of training and experience, especially when dealing with issues that happened after the Sun went down — could react, hands as cold as deepest space snared their weapons before they were seized by arms possessing incredibly inhuman strength. "I did!" the reborn escort carrier then declared, facing the warrior of the Vindice who how held a gasping Munroe down. "These devil-aligned fools would gladly destroy OMERTÀ serving a monster who has the blood of THOUSANDS — especially relatives of MY OWN CREW — who have fallen in this Godforsaken place!"

The others of the Scooby Gang and their friends moved to close ranks around the adopted native of Xootsnoowú. "We do not know you, Sea Angel with the Flames of the Sky," another of the Vindice demanded from Chloe's right. "Who are you?"

"«Honore Chloe Zitzewitz, Beccio Patrizia di Xootsnoowú e Vancouver,»" the Arch-Mage of True Passion said in Italiano, a smile on her face. "«Nineteenth of the Famiglia della portaerei Casablanca, who fell at the Battle of Leyte Gulf.»"

"My admirals honour Omertà, Signori," Chloe then declared with a bow of her head. "These animals do not and would gladly help unleash Hell itself once more on Earth were their master to succeed! They DESERVE Vendicare!"

The Vindice present all nodded. "For the peace of all, it will be done, Signora Capitano," their leader declared...

...then before any of the trapped police officers could react, they were teleported across two continents and an ocean away!

As the Scooby Gang and their friends relaxed themselves while some drew out PAAs to send the stunned vampires off to a place owned by Xander — who, as an emancipated minor, didn't have to worry about his drunkard father or airhead mother trying to take away what money the Wild Scavenger earned — so they could recover, the Escort Who Fights Line Warriors gazed at her old task unit mate. "Gamby, captain or not, you GOT to tell me what's going on with mooks like that!" Brooke warned.

"Let's lose some bodies first before we hit the Bronze," Xander then suggested.

"Good point," Buffy breathed out as she drew her own PAA...

To Be Continued...

****

WRITER'S NOTES

Translation note and source language: Lar'beke — Snake leech (Yizibajohei); C-in-C — Commander-in-Chief (English abbreviation); Kleptes-virgo — Virgin thief (Latin); Ryūseizen — Dragon-killing ship (Japanese); Omertà — Based on the Greek word ámartis ("without witness"), this is the traditional code of silence criminal clans from the old country use to prevent snitching to the proper authorities (Italian); Famiglia della portaerei Casablanca — Literally "family of the Casablanca aircraft carriers" (Italian); Signori — Plural of Signor ("lord/mister") (Italian).

Buffy the Vampire Slayer notes: Natalie French AKA the She-Mantis first appeared in "Teacher's Pet" (first season, episode four). Note that the backstory of Coya Yupanqui (Pacha Kamaq) is my creation, such as her year of birth and how she wound up as she did when she was helped in being Gifted by Xander Harris (Hyena). Sineya first appeared in "Restless" (fourth season, episode 22). The men who empowered her, the Shadowmen, first appeared in he third issue of Mr. Whedon's Fray comic book series (published in August 2001). Hans and Frederick Gruenshtahler first appeared in "Homecoming" (third season, episode five), as did Kulak of the Miquot Clan, William Frawley (his given name is my invention) and Candy Gorch; note that Candy's husband Lyle Gorch first appeared in "Bad Eggs" (second season, episode 12). Maloker first appeared in the twenty-third issue of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine comic series (published in July 2013). Deputy Mayor Allan Finch also made his first appearance in "Homecoming". Note that his background is my invention, inspired by his actor Jack Plotnick, who was born in Worthington near Columbus in the Buckeye State; his actual year of graduating from Sunnydale High School is calculated by the actor's actual age when he "died" in the series, shifted to match the timeline of this story.

Stargate SG-1 notes: Anubis was first mentioned in "Between Two Fires" (fifth season, episode nine) and first appeared in "Revelations" (fifth season, episode 25).

Lënapehòkink is the native American name for a region stretching from Delaware north to the Hudson River valley in New York state as far north as Albany, spanning west to east from the Susquehanna River valley in Pennsylvania to the modern borders of New England. This is the traditional home territory of the Lenape peoples, known more historically as the Delaware.

The shipgirl list of the "Quaky Quartet" AKA the Kongō-class from Japan...

Chihaya Anna-taisa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Kongō [JS-5])
Chihaya Sarah-taisa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Hiei [JS-6])
Chihaya Isabel-taisa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Kirishima [JS-7])
Chihaya Heather-taisa DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Haruna [JS-8])

They take after their Kantai Collection selves in looks and behaviour. The hull code JS means Junyō Senkan ("Battlecruiser").

One spoiler alert...

Tōgō Mihoko-shōshō DNTK (Tennō Heika Gunkan Mikasa [ZS-6])

When she is salvaged and Gifted, she will take after her Azur Lane self save for the horns; the shipgirls of the Sakura Empire in that particular series are most often depicted as one sort of therianthrope or another. Given who she served as the flagship, Mihoko would be granted the traditional rank of Kaigun-shōshō ("Navy Lower Flag Officer"), the equal of a rear admiral in English-speaking maritime warfare services; her equivalent Maritime Self-Defence Force rank title is Kaishō-ho ("Assistant Navy Flag Officer"). Her hull code ZS means Zendokyū Senkan ("Pre-Dreadnought Battleship"); despite there being one line of numbers for all capital ships in the Land of the Rising Sun, the difference between pre-dreadnoughts and dreadnoughts (the latter group being given hull code DS, meaning Dokyū Senkan or "Dreadnought Battleship") is noted on.

Since I doubt any will appear in these omake, the "incomplete" American battleships mentioned by Akiyama Tokina (THG Akizuki) won't be listed here. For your personal perusal, their names and looks can be seen on Space Battles at post #78671464 or on Questionable Questing at post #4724689. Several of them did appear in Extreme Shipgirls.

Elizabeth Wakefield (the Academician) is one of the two stars of the Sweet Valley High novel series, appearing in all novels published alongside her twin sister Jessica Wakefield (Rampage).

Katekyō Hitman Reborn notes: The Vindice first appeared in "The End and the Aftermath" (manga chapter #81). Their prison Vendicare (which is also a name used to describe the Vindice as a group in some translations) first appears in "Mukuro Arrives!" (manga chapter #116). As an aside, Her Majesty's Prison Gonebren was created by myself for the Icemaidens series and has appeared in most of my writings when I mention the British wizarding world. Gonebren's Canadian counterpart, Quttinirpaaq Magical Penitentiary, was first introduced in Part Six of Magic and Canada.

The AN/WLR-1 system is an early form of electronic countermeasures fitted to NATO warships in the 1960s; at this time as noted in the narrative, six of the Benson-class destroyers were active in the Republic of China Navy and the Italian Navy and made use of such. The model code is based on the JETDS (Joint Electronics Type Designation System) format as follows:

AN — A system that can be used by both the Army and Navy
W — Navy system for both surface and underwater craft
L — Electronic countermeasures system
R — Passive detection system
1 — Model number

Now, magnified with a shipgirl's MSSB ("magical sparkly shipgirl bullsh*t") abilities, it is easy for people to understand how Jenn McLeod Murphy (USS Murphy) was quick to detect the transmission from Justin Pitt to the Gruenshtahler brothers.

As noted in other stories, there is a legal difference in the United States between metahumans and parahumans, based on the source-point of their powers. If one gains abilities from mesonium (either through Gifting from Yiziba or via empowerment on Earth from exposure to local sources of the Atom of True Life), one is seen as a "metahuman" and would fall under federal oversight. People gaining abilities without the input of mesonium (such as the "capes" from the online novel Worm and its sequel Ward) would fall under state or territorial oversight. In reflection of Mr. McCrae's series, the several states and commonwealths of the Union have locally-controlled Parahuman Response Team (PRT) defence forces as well as affiliated Protectorate teams of parahuman fighters to aid in civil defence. Since they're a team of Yizibajohei Gifted metahumans, the Scooby Gang would fall under direct oversight of Headquarters United States Joint Specialized Warfare Command (HQ JSWC), based out of the Fort San Antonio annex of Joint Base San Antonio within the same city of the Lone Star State.

When it comes to shipgirls possessing Dying Will Flames, they're given an honorary suffix title as note what was revealed about Roberta Ansaldo (RM Roma) and Paola de Lerici (RM Pola) earlier in this series. All such people are given the honorary rank Patrizia, the female form of Patrizio; this term is descent from the Roman patricians who formed the aristocratic families of the ancient republic. Being named "Beccio Patrizia" by Willow Rosenberg (Crimson Heart) identifies the specific famiglia that Chloe Zitzewitz (USS Gambier Bay) spiritually belongs to. Atop that, suffix terms are added indicating the spiritual "home" of said shipgirl and her place of construction; in Chloe's case, such is Xootsnoowú in the unorganized borough of Alaska (AKA Admiralty Island, on which her namesake bay borders) and Vancouver in Washington on the Columbia River.

Chapter 6: Taffy Three Returns: The Scooby Gang Goes to War!

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: Concurrent with fair dealing clauses of the Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42) of Canada and fair use clauses in copyright legislation in other nations, this is a work that was created solely for entertainment purposes. Furthermore, it is posted freely on the Internet without expectation or requirement of remuneration.

****

The End of the Circus: A Tale of the Yizibajohei
Shipgirl Short Stories: Taffy Three Returns: The Scooby Gang Goes to War!
By Fred Herriot

Based on characters and situations from Katekyō Hitman Reborn, created by Amano Akira; Kantai Collection, created by Kadokawa Games; Sister Princess, created by Kimino Sakurako with Tenhiro Naoto; Worm, created by John C. McCrae; RWBY, created by Monty Oum; Harry Potter, created by Joanna K. Rowling; The West Wing, created by Allan Sorkin; Urusei Yatsura, created by Takahashi Rumiko; normalman, created by Jim Valentino; Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon; and Stargate SG-1, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner.

Also including characters and situations from Urusei Yatsura — The Senior Year, created by Mike Smith and Fred Herriot.

****

PREFACE

This particular omake was written on the very same day that the wreckage of United States Ship Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) was discovered off the coast of the Island of Samar by Texan billionaire investor/explorer Victor Vescovo.

This story is fondly dedicated to the lost crew of the Destroyer Escort Who Fought Like a Battleship who fell at their posts on Wednesday 25 October 1944 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

****

In low orbit over Brockton Bay in Massachusetts (thirty kilometres/nineteen miles north-northeast of Boston), the last Saturday of October in 2012, an hour after lunch (Sunnydale time: Two hours before lunch; Tōkyō time: The last Sunday, two hours after midnight)...

"DAME DESU NO, WILLOW-SAN!"

Hearing that annoyed shriek from behind her, the Arch-Mage of True Passion winced before she and her friends from Sunnydale turned to gaze warily at the Great Chef of the West, who was standing at the entrance to the wardroom of DD(S)-605, United States Starship Murphy, her foot thumping on the deck while she held up a large tray filled with food, such interspersed with two carafes with hot liquids in same, no doubt one of tea and one of coffee. "Damn! Shirayuki, you scared me!" Willow Rosenberg moaned as she gave Osamu Shirayuki a pleading look. "Would you mind WARNING people before you show up like that?!"

"Dame desu no, Willow-san!" the teen chef from Nagoya again snapped as she marched in, ignoring the several wincing culinary specialists — both native-born Terrans and Avalonian-American volunteers from all the NOSCs based in the state of New York — before placing the tray on the table beside the scattered PAAs, dataPADDs and two Tinker-built laptop computers on the surface. As a smiling Jenn McLeod Murphy — who was seated at the head of the table where her executive officer normally would sit as head of the wardroom, pair of parahuman Tinkers seated to either side of the adopted native of Westchester County outside the Big Apple — sent a grateful look towards the sister of the admiral who gave the reborn sixteenth of the Benson-class her human name, Colin Wallis and Tess Richter tried not to snicker at the verbal smackdown that was about to come.

Shirayuki did not disappoint. "Hime heard what happened to Willow-san and her friends last night when those silly people showed up in Sunnydale to start that silly SlayerFest thing!" the powerful trofikinetic said as she leaned right into the older girl's face, wagging her finger. "Jenn-san told Hime Willow-san and her friends haven't got a WINK of sleep since Filch-f*ckushichō was killed by those stupid terrorists! How can you get a proper revenge scene if you don't SLEEP, much less EAT?!"

"Traitor!" Xander Harris croaked as he gazed in faux-pain at the Amphibious Engineer of the Lënapehòkink; even if he didn't say anything, the Wild Scavenger of the Plains himself had got concerned about his oldest friend's moving to research the past of their new potential "big bad" to such a degree that even would leave a normal hyper-genius polymath on Yiziba breathless.

The blonde reborn destroyer shook her head. "NCA himself asked Admiral Osamu to come here directly so you guys could hit the racks and sleep before moving to finish off this Wilkins bastard, Admiral Harris," the geokinetic whose earth-manipulating skills — which had developed almost as soon as she had been salvaged and Gifted in early May at the prompting of the Grey Ghost herself — had her effectively drafted into the United States Army Corps of Engineers before the Navy's construction battalions could snare her for themselves declared, making Willow, Xander and Tara Maclay gaze wide-eyed at her. "Yeah, you guys work your butts off to keep the battle record you have. Civilians in Sunnydale have suffered next to NO casualties since you started going out at nights to sweep the streets clean of the creepy-crawlies that have lived in the town for whoever-knows how long now. But sh*t happens! That's what war's about! You got to take the hits if you want to stay combat effective."

"And EAT and SLEEP when you need it, people," Tess added. A beautiful twenty-something with long black hair and dark eyes, she was physically a Terran-form Avalonian whose shell had been specially prepared to accept the living soul of a remarkable AI program known commonly by her battle name Dragon, the creation of a Tinker from Newfoundland — who was also a member of the Rock's local infantry unit, the Royal Newfoundland Regiment of Gallipoli and the Somme fame — who became the first such being to ensure a "trigger event" and become a parahuman; this was when terrorists later calling themselves the Dragonslayers had come to her creator's home to force him to work with the rogue Thinker known worldwide as "Teacher". Now seen as one of the greatest Tinkers alive, the adopted native of Deer Lake was a captain in the Specialized Warfare Regiment of Canada, a specialist in their Advanced Technologies Development Squadron; it was that sub-unit of the Dominion's metahuman fighting group which helped in the development of Earth's growing fleet of starships, helping fuse ancient Karollan technology found at the base on the slopes of Barbeau Peak on Ellesemere Island — where the Regiment was headquartered alongside the country's only magical prison, Quttinirpaaq Magical Penitentiary — with the incredible mixture of Sagussan/Avalonian and Yizibajohei technology already at the effective beck and call of the planet's equally-growing large fleet of shipgirls.

"I can't count the amount of times that Tess got on my case to get me to sleep even when I was in a Tinker fugue," Colin dryly added. Known commonly as Armsmaster to the general public and being quite the famous Tinker in his own right, he was the field commander of the Massachusetts Protectorate's main branch based out of the Commonwealth's second largest seaport, which was finally reopening after decades of gang-induced neglect to augment Boston when it came to international and coastal trade. While the local Protectorate was dropping in popularity in comparison to the Bay's resident team of Gifted adopted Yizibajohei, the Brockton Bay Undersiders, the native of Worcester in the middle of the state was still very well-known mostly thanks to his blue-and-silver battle armour he designed for work in the field, echoing the days of the knights in medieval Europe...though brought up to date thanks to his using a specially-built motorcycle on the streets and not a living horse.

"There! You see!" Shirayuki then snapped as she wagged her fingers. "Hime was able to get Buffy-san and her friends to get some sleep even if they're sleeping here on board Jenn-san's ship! Hai, hai, what happened to f*ckushichō-san was a terrible thing! Hime hates it whenever some innocent person gets hurt or killed whenever something stupid or silly happens! Hime has to help her sisters comfort Nii-sama every time that silly 'wife' of his tries something which ends up hurting someone who can't defend themselves! But Hime knows you can't fight this silly death cheater if you're falling asleep on your feet! Especially given what Hime read about him from all of you when you took f*ckushichō-san's flash drive and downloaded the information for people like Taylor-san and Colin-sensei and Tess-sensei and Rinrin-chan and everyone else to read! You need to SLEEP!"

Willow, Xander and Tara exchanged looks, the hesitation in their eyes all too apparent to the others in the room.

"Miss Rosenberg, it'll be a full military funeral for the Deputy Mayor."

Everyone turned to see the senior non-commissioned officer aboard Murphy standing near the doorway, having been called up from his office by the senior culinary specialist in the wardroom. "I arranged with the chief steward to leave all your kit here while you guys get some serious shut-eye," Command Master Chief Petty Officer (Seabee Combat Warfare Specialist/Fleet Marine Force Specialist) Joseph Nagashima said, waiving at the table which had been taken over by the Scooby Gang. Given the unique story of Jenn Murphy's namesake and the interest the Army Corps of Engineers had in supporting her, the senior rating aboard DD(S)-605 was set aside specifically for one who came up in the ranks of the famous "Seabees" who were the maritime warfare surface's mobile construction engineer experts. The former construction electrician from Richland in Washington's Yakima Valley had been set to become command master chief of Amphibious Construction Battalion 2 in Little Creek near Norfolk when the opportunity to become the senior rate on a starship came up, which Nagashima gladly took, Star Trek fan that he was. "Even if the non-pure sea trades aboard ship aren't expert in using her guns and missiles, we can still kick ass!"

Jenn herself laughed as Tess giggled and Colin covered his bearded mouth to hide his own grin. "We're outvoted," Xander breathed out before he nodded to the cakes. "Nice stuff to make us sleep deep, Shirayuki?"

"Hai desu no, Xander-san. Even has some of Chikage-chan's dreamless sleep potion mixed in for good measure."

The two natives of the city on a Hellmouth and the lover of one — the Tailor of Pure Chaos was a native of Birmingham in Alabama, she and her mother had moved to Sunnydale in the summer of 2010 after fleeing a rhabdophobic father who had to be obliviated of all knowledge of magic by a local team of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement — exchanged looks again, then Willow reluctantly nodded. "Okay, we'll go to bed," the reborn arch-mage breathed out.

The others in the room relaxed...

****

The bridge, minutes later...

"They're all turned in, Mister President," CMDCM(SCWS/FMF) Joseph Nagashima declared. "Commander Akiyama Tokina reported direct from Welcome House that Miss Osamu went right back to bed once she teleported herself back to Japan."

Hearing that from his current host, Josiah Bartlet took a deep breath. "Thank God," the former governor of New Hampshire breathed out before he gazed out onto the long forward weather deck of the ship now possessing the radio call-sign "Navy One" due to his presence aboard. Also with the president of the United States was his secretary of magic, several historians from the Magical Advanced Research Projects Agency based out of Mount Greylock in a hidden part of the grounds of the Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, plus the headmaster of the American school's sister institution in Britain; Bartlet trusted Albus Dumbledore FAR more than he did the current Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards in Geneva given how rapidly the famous veteran of the Wars of Liberation had been unseated by Cornelius Fudge months before.

"So what did those kids find out so far, Peter?" Samuel Quahog wondered from his place in the captain's chair; naturally, the Union's chief executive was given the right of primacy in a specially-placed admiral's chair in the aft centre of the bridge.

Professor Peter Candlewick took a deep breath. "Mister Wilkins was born in 1850 in Boston; state archives confirmed that at the time as his parents had yet at that time to properly register with the local DMLE. No invitation to any school when he came of age in 1861 just as the Civil War started, confirming his nimmib birth status. His parents both volunteered to serve as support staff for the 7th Cavalry Regiment USCT, active in support of General Sherman's campaign in the Western Theatre from the start of 1864 to the final surrender of General Johnston's forces a year later; they were both awarded the Magical Medal by President Lincoln for their work in clearing out a daywalker vampire nest near Atlanta at the start of the March to the Sea after the '84 elections." As the military people on the bridge nodded in appreciation, the man who had befriended a ton of people spanning from the famous British magizoologist Newt Scamander to New York native Isaac Thomas AKA the Wise Lone Sage, Raer'buo Erba ("Doctor Renaissance") — all three of them having recently teamed up to discover what was the truth behind the Grimm of the planet Remnant in April that year which ultimately saw the start of mass salvage and Giftings of America's large World War Two fleet of warships into shipgirls — took a deep breath. "Being a nimmib, Wilkins fell off the radar of the local DMLE in California around the mid-1890s, which corresponds to what the late Mister Filch discovered from town picture records."

"Sunnydale was founded in 1899, correct?" Leo McGarry asked, he standing beside his principal.

"That's correct, Colonel McGarry," Candlewick said as he tapped his PAA — a present from the hyper-genius polymath otaku who had opened the man's eyes to many incredible worlds of study — to draw up a holographic picture. "This is a picture of the 'original' Mayor Richard Wilkins at the dedication ceremony for the first version of Sunnydale's city hall. Date as you all can see here is the thirty-first of October in 1889, All Hallows' Eve. The picture's normal quality of the time period. Given we've known of the existence of the Hellmouth since the Spanish learned of the place when they began exploring the area, local DMLE officials in Sacramento avoided the whole area like the plague given the standing agreement with the Watchers Society when it came to dealing with 'demon-possessed'..." — here, he made finger-quotes; the Scooby Gang's discovery of the truth behind such beings had been enough for the founding members to be awarded the Magical Star of the United States, the nation's second highest magical-only award of gallantry/excellence, two years ago — "...vampires and other such beings, especially when it comes to dealing with locations of various Hellmouths. That agreement is obviously something Mister Wilkins knows of."

"His seeking empowerment from whichever entity he might have come into contact with once he came to the site of Sunnydale was possibly driven by his wanting magic," Dumbledore added. "That is often a common desire for nimmibs given how helpless they've been seen to feel when confronting the vagaries living in normal society forces on them. Despite the refusal of many magicals to expand their knowledge beyond the borders of the enclaves, it does possess a very stable social condition."

Bartlet nodded in understanding. "No doubt, Mister Wilkins confronted something which forced him to make a literal 'deal with the devil' to keep himself alive and well in such a place," he noted. "Professors, do any of you have any idea what he will do to himself given what the late Mister Filch revealed in his flash drive concerning what he's done so far?"

"It's clearly a drive to evolve himself into a different, higher state of being, sir," the head of MARPA, Professor Stacey Waterstone, then noted as she crossed her arms. "Mister Filch actually saw the man make use of a dedication ceremony. As written in the Books of Ascension which Commander Roberts here looked into..." — here, she waved to Brooke Roberts, who was standing post to the President's right side, the reborn fifth-fifth of her class of destroyer escort nodding in confirmation — "...using THAT particular empowerment is a necessary step to 'ascend' into a different state of being. As to what...?"

"An Old One," Candlewick cut in. "The only thing that makes real sense."

"Why that?" Josh Lyman asked; he was the only one beyond McGarry who had accompanied his principal aboard Murphy from the West Wing beyond the small troupe of Secret Service agents who always shadowed the chief executive.

"Right now, Mister Lyman, we have THE two strongest FISS-types ever to rise on Yiziba in Kanami and Faith, a lower-level FISS in April, an experienced empathic fighter in Buffy, two arch-mage sorceresses in Willow and Tara, a ki master in Xander and an actual VETERAN of the Second Great Banishment against the Goa'uld in Coya," James Newman explained. A freshly-graduated auror from the school co-located with the Seven Hills Wizarding Academy in the mountains of Virginia, he was a true rare breed among American wand-magicals: An actual NATIVE of Sunnydale! Having been in elementary school a few years ahead of Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris, James — "Jim" to friends — had been the young freshmen students' guide to Sunnydale Elementary before his parents moved to nearby Sweet Valley, where the nationwide sensors attuned to seek potential wizards and witches picked up on his accidental magic, thus seeing him invited to Ilvermorny in 2002.

Despite losing touch with his favourite "frosh", Jim found himself soon reuniting with Willow and Xander a few years after their "sempai" began his "special school"; while staying with his parents in the summer of his graduate year in 2007 — the equivalent of OWL year at Hogwarts — Jim was caught by a rogue demon when he was walking through the forests separating the two towns north of US Highway 101, but got saved by two pre-teen spitfires who hacked the idiot to bits with considerable élan. Naturally once assigned to the local DMLE office in Los Angeles, Jim volunteered to be that group's liaison to the Scooby Gang. "Now add Captain Zitzewitz — who's a known user of Dying Will Flames — and Commander Roberts — with strength that equals Faith's and Kanami's — into the situation," he added, waving to Brooke, then the reborn USS Gambier Bay, now looking over the Murphy's navigation station. "That would make any 'heel' feel VERY vulnerable. Since Wilkins likely made a deal with some monster to stay alive over a Hellmouth of all things, being the strongest person in the area makes a world of sense."

"Any guesses as to when he'll do this, anyone?" Bartlet asked.

"Hallowe'en is a very opportune time for magicals of any sort, Mister President," Dumbledore warned. "Given how unbelievably saturated Sunnydale's physical being has become over the years as reported by Willow and Tara in their quite revealing articles about life in that town they published in various magical magazines across the planet, there should be enough power to allow Mister Wilkins to actually bind himself body-and-soul to the dormant bodies of any of the Old Ones who were active in this part of America at the time of the End War, the ones not banished to the Deep Well or killed by the Great Old Ones, much less the Rittmeister. Since what few fully alive Old Ones have diligently kept themselves isolated from this dimension — as reported by the Department of Mysteries in Britain as well as MARPA here in America — whoever DOES merge with that man will have what remains of his soul subsumed to Mister Wilkins' conscious control. That would make him a VERY dangerous threat."

"Agreed," Quahog breathed out. "Josiah, I'll have First of the 75th Marine Regiment stand to until after Hallowe'en to assist with both civilian aide and news suppression duties. Colonel Murphy, can we use this starship as a field headquarters?"

"Done, Colonel," Jenn affirmed after she exchanged looks with her command master chief, the Washingtonian nodding in agreement. "As a matter of fact, Mister President, we could take the ship and set it into the oceans beyond Honda Point to make it easier for the colonel's friends to teleport themselves on and off the ship without disorientating them using the materializers."

The normal people gaped at such a suggestion while the magicals exchanged surprised looks at the adopted New Yorker's offer. "That might be a danger vis-à-vis Tomobiki, sir," McGarry instantly warned. "We're keeping these ships secret."

Lyman shook his head. "No real issue there, Leo. Any of Lum's friends always approach Tomobiki from straight up. That's on the other side of the Pacific from California, virtually out of sight. Letting the ship land on the ocean — as long as she stays clear of any major shipping lane — would make it easier to hide her than if she was in orbit, especially at geosync levels."

"Especially that high up," Bartlet added as he patted the hand of the retired air force colonel who had persuaded him to make his run for the White House years ago. "Fine, we'll do it that way. Colonel Murphy, prepare the ship for atmospheric and ocean entry, stay within a safe distance of the coast to ensure Professor Quahog's people can move to and from the decks without the need of portkeys. Do that very late tonight so people won't notice." He then gazed on Brooke. "Commander..."

The adopted San Franciscan snapped to attention. "Sir."

"I'll have an Executive Order — a magical one, of course — signed as soon as I'm back in the White House concerning Mister Wilkins and his friends to see both yourself and Captain Zitzewitz covered legally in case some idiot decides to protest two NON-state naval militia officers assisting law enforcement groups in a matter like this," the former Dartmouth economics professor advised, making Chloe gaze his way. "My order will be simple: Terminate Wilkins and all his allies in Sunnydale in case he goes through this ascension and turns himself into a credible threat against the safety of the United States."

His eyes then narrowed as the magicals stiffened on sensing the current chief executive call upon the spiritual strength of his very office to drive that order home. "With extreme prejudice, Brooke," he added before nodding at her friend. "Chloe."

Hearing that, both veterans of Taffy Three stiffened before then nodded, saluting him. "Aye-aye, sir!"

****

Aboard United States Starship Murphy, twelve hours later...

It was the very gentle rocking of the ship's hull under Xander Harris' bed that woke the Wild Scavenger of the Plains up.

Blinking in confusion at such an odd feeling — starships normally did not physically shake unless something had slammed into it (or its surrounding defence fields) with either considerable velocity or sheer mass — the raven-haired teen slipped out from under the covers, snatching his uniform belt buckle to put it over his navel, one finger tapping it to cover his body in his black-trimmed dark brown battlesuit with the beautifully-designed ki-channelling gloves given to him by Elizabeth Wakefield years before to help him manage his abilities. Such an act awoke his current bed companion, making her gaze curiously at it. "What is it, Xan?" Coya Gutierrez wondered before she blinked in confusion on sensing the ship — which massed 2,474,000 tons full load in Earth gravity — shifting slightly under her. She then perked as her own magical senses came alive with feelings she hadn't expected to experience while aboard a starship. "We're in the embrace of Mother Cochamama!" she hissed out.

"On the oceans?!" Xander demanded as the Volcanic Handmaiden of the Dark Gaol summoned her own belt buckle to dress herself; like the man who had saved her life and whom she enjoyed a very intimate friendship with it, the native of Cuzco had just been in panties since neither had been in much mood for a pillow scene. "What the hell...?" he then snapped.

Heading over to the windows — the Scooby Gang had been given guest quarters on the Murphy's sixth upper deck level near where the wardroom would be on the surface warship — he tapped a control to open the screens before blinking. "Okay...!"

Coya came over herself, now dressed in her khaki-white-and-red traditional jumpsuit which had Inca-like art designs on the arms and legs along with a flaming sword insignia over her heart; when she was Gifted the previous October, the young princess-turned-energy vampire — no thanks to exposure to a doctored version of the Draught of Living Death she had been made to consume by a Spanish wizard when she was put in a form of suspended animation way back in 1547 — had got her uniform modified with the help of one of Moroboshi Ataru's small legion of Shōzoki android lovers, Endō Hajime AKA the Haberdasher of the Great Show, Laehor'buomem ("Mercier"). "Those are the islands just south of our home, Xan!" she gasped.

"Yeah, that's Tuqan," he affirmed, calling the westernmost of the Channel Islands by its Ysleño name in lieu of the Spanish "San Miguel". "Wi'ma should be ahead of the bow," he added, pointing forward towards the island also known as Santa Rosa. "Why the hell are we on the ocean? Never mind most of the islands being a park, passing ships would spot this...!"

A knock echoed from the doorway. "Admiral Harris? Your Highness?"

"C'mon in, Brooke!" Xander called back.

The door opened to reveal the Escort Who Fights Line Warriors, whose hand was now pressing against the small of her back. "Are you well, Brooke?" Coya asked as she came over, drawing up some energy to project into Brooke Roberts' spine.

"Yeah, the keel's still recovering from my hull breaking in half when I hit the bottom of the ocean after I got sunk," the adopted San Franciscan noted before she hissed out in relief as the Volcanic Handmaiden's energy poured into her. "Damn...!"

"What are we doing riding the waves, Brooke?" Xander asked. "Yeah, it's nighttime, but come daybreak..."

"The magical Marines put up notice-me-not screens — same type of kit that the Canadian magical battleships use — on the hull to keep her out of sight to anyone who's heading in or out of Los Angeles or Long Beach, sir," the reborn destroyer escort/frigate explained. "The Seventy-fifth will be aboard helping us keep the peace while we deal with Wilkins and his idiots."

That made the reborn hunter sigh. "Uncle Jed's already written up an assassination order?"

"Yeah! Colonel McGarry brought it aboard three hours ago," Brooke stated...

KK-KRANG!

...then the deck heaved slightly. "Oh, sh*t! Now what?!" Xander demanded.

****

On the forward weather deck, that moment...

"OI! WHICH ASSHOLE'S PUNCHING MY HULL LIKE THAT?!"

As Jenn Murphy stormed forward from one of the airlocks that allowed people to get onto the open main deck — the forecastle deck on the original Benson-class design, which wasn't built as a flush-deck ship to save weight under London Naval Treaty limitations — her starship-self seemed to slightly heave as something with CONSIDERABLE levels of strength tried to push her away from her current point of anchorage in deeper waters well clear of Sandy Point, the westernmost tip of Santa Rosa Island.

"GODDAMNED ALIEN BASTARDS!" bellowed from near the jack staff. "BUILT A SHIP LOOKING LIKE MURPHY AND YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE YOU'RE ACTUALLY AMERICANS?! NICE TRY!"

Now accompanying her host, Chloe Zitzewitz stopped, her jaw dropping. "Maki...?!"

Jenn halted herself, looking back. "Who...?!"

"Makassar Strait, Jenn," the adopted native of Xootsnoowú declared as she picked up her pace to race the final twenty or so frame lengths to the bow itself from the area of Turret One. "OI! MAKI! COOL IT OFF, YOU BLIND IDIOT!"

A burst of Sky Flames escaped the blonde reborn carrier, they leaping forward to create a burst of light well beyond the tip of the bow, that causing whoever was trying to physically lift the Murphy out of the Pacific to gasp before the rush of air passing a human body echoed over the slight nightly winds flowing around the Channel Islands. A second later, a woman appearing to be the same age as Chloe flew up to hover close to where the jack staff normally was; given that no starship of the Union had been formally commissioned into the United States Navy — such would happen when the ships would be publicly unveiled near the end of November — neither the stripes-with-snake First Navy Jack nor the fifty star-dotted Union Jack currently flew from the aerodynamically-shaped mast. Said newcomer had pail brown hair in a long side-tail tied off the right temple, blue eyes peeking out of a childish face, her canine teeth showing something of noticeable fangs. "Gamby...?" she then eeped, her eyes going quite wide as she noted the spiritual aura of her older and more famous sister around the blonde with the fluffy ponytails.

Chuckling, Chloe reached up to scratch the side of her head. "H-hi, Maki...!" She then caught herself. "Oh, sorry! Do you go by Kelley or Wynter? Those are the names Admiral Moroboshi gave you, right?!"

The woman who had been declared by the Conservator an hour before as Kelley Wynter Berner — unlike many Casablanca-class carriers, her human name was chosen in tribute to her first captain — blinked before she scratched her head. "Um...well...!"

"Oh, Kelley's cool for you!" a new voice cut in, making Chloe and Jenn look back as Buffy Summers came up.

That made the newly named Kelley blush before she sputtered, then caught herself before straightening to attention, saluting the other woman in the VERY cool-looking fighting uniform with all sorts of daggers and short knives strapped to her arms, legs and webbing. "Sorry, Admiral! Pleasure to meet you! Makassar Strait, Charlie-Victor-Echo-Niner-One, reporting for duty...!"

That made everyone on the deck then laugh or avert their eyes from the newcomer, making Kelley blink. "What's so funny...?" the adopted native of the Prince of Wales-Hyder census zone of Alaska's unorganized borough (she was originally meant to be named after Ulitka Bay in that particular part of the panhandle near the British Columbia border) and Vancouver in Washington (where all the Casablanca-class ships had been built) then asked, her eyebrow arching in confusion.

Chloe smirked as she pointed to her own pant legs, displaying her new hull number 173. Seeing that, her younger sister — who had been effectively wrecked, then used as a gunnery target for years off the coast of Haraasnga AKA San Nicholas Island about fifty miles to the southeast — blinked before she gazed down at her own pants to see 191 written there; unlike Chloe, Kelley wore a lighter blue pair of pants given that her namesake battle in 1942 north of Java had been fought under effective Dutch command. "Okay, what feather merchant in the Pentagon is screwing around with the hull numbers now?"

That made more of the people who had come close to the reborn thirty-seventh of the Casablanca-class ships keel over laughing...

****

Sunnydale City Hall, that moment...

"Golly!" the immortal mayor of the city on a Hellmouth breathed out. "That's...definitely not good, isn't it?"

The effective new chief of the local police force, Detective Inspector Carla Winslow, helplessly shrugged. "We don't know what happened to everyone last night, Mister Mayor," the dark-skinned officer who had woken up to find herself the senior-ranking officer who could be accounted for when morning roll call was made confessed. "Last report concerning the chief and the others who didn't call into work this morning was that they left home around nightfall, supposedly because of something the chief himself was privately investigating. As to the 'what', he never told anyone about it to my knowledge, sir."

Richard Wilkins sighed even if he was seething deep down. "What about the reports of gunshots on Market Street around nine last night? The city clerk told me this morning that residents in the area of Market and Third called in about some sort of fight there, not to mention a very blinding flash of light being seen through people's windows around that time."

The veteran inspector — who honestly wouldn't have lasted in a "real" police department, those who were in the know about the truth of Sunnydale would immediately conclude — then apologetically flustered. "No calls to us, sir."

"Could you go check into that, please, Inspector Winslow?" he then politely asked. No sense in bothering up people he knew he needed to help keep the peace and order of the town until he was ready to finally make history as the first mortal man to merge with one of the once-rulers of the planet over two dozen millennia ago. "Check with Reginald Snyder if you could as well. Something tells me the 'trouble brigade' — as he calls certain of his students — might know something about this."

That made her groan. "Well, I'll have to see Mister Giles first before I talk to Summers and her friends."

He perked. "Why's that?"

"Corpse found on the grounds of Sunnydale High just after dawn this morning, sir," Winslow explained. "A Mister Philip Henry; he's from Glasgow. When the coroner looked him over after he was brought in, he was found to have contact information for Mister Giles, both at his home and at the school. I was going to have him come in to examine the cadaver, but then people noted all the missing officers, so we had to get people to contact relatives of same to find out what's happened."

Wilkins considered that, then he hummed. "Well, I'm sure looking into the late Mister Henry can wait for a day or two. Keeping the streets safe is much more important, Inspector. Why don't you go home and rest up for the night? Good night of sleep can do you and the others good so we can look in on what happened to Bob and the others in the morning."

Relief flashed across her face. She suspected some things about what happened during the nights in this town, but didn't know enough to ask the right questions. "Of course, Mister Mayor. You have a good night, too. Excuse me, please."

With that, she immediately withdrew from the office; much to the admiration of many, Wilkins often displayed an incredible work ethic, gladly coming into City Hall over the weekends to look over some things. Of course, such was a convenient cover for the mayor's real work in keeping himself alive in time for the proper moment he could ascend and become an Old One.

And thanks to painstaking research, asking the right questions to the right people — sometimes forcefully — and with a lot of luck, he had chosen the right Old One to become when the time finally came, hopefully on Wednesday evening at the earliest.

Olvikan.

Also sometimes known as "Olukai", this serpentine creature had been one of the countless dozens of his kind to have fallen during the End War of the Great Banishment, the final stages of a massive conflict between the Old Ones and the truly first sentient beings to rise on Earth millions of years before, those collectively called the "Great Old Ones" or more precisely the "Great Beasts". From the vast overlord of the Arctic known as Napaaqtuqarunnanngittuq (or "Túndra" to borrow the Russian name) to the ancient shark-like creature living in the central Pacific nicknamed the "Lord of the Deep" and called Samiloluto to the Rainbow Serpent of Australia named Wonambi among other names to so many others — even several who were rumoured to live and now rest in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico — these effective elder gods became what they were thanks to the Power Jewel welded these days by one Deannette "Dean" Raeburn of Queenston in Ontario, that device having attracted tons upon tons of the Atom of True Life to scatter across Earth and spread its power wholesale over the biosphere of the world as it underwent its many recent Ice Ages. As old species died and new species arose, key representatives of such creatures became empowered and evolved into sentient beings before evolving even further into something truly omnipotent in a way that even the classic gods of antiquity could never truly equal...though as they were once mere animals before becoming something more, their sentience didn't drive them as human sentience would drive hom*o sapiens sapiens onward once the first modern man rose in the grassy savannas of central Africa around the time of the End War's quite shattering conclusion.

As to how the Old Ones came to try to dominate life on Earth, Wilkins never found out in his century and more of research; he had inherited his inquisitive nature from his late mother Bertha — the family had changed their family name from the German "Wilhelms" to the English "Wilkins" on shifting to the New World from the old in the late 1840s — which had helped him stay alive in the early days of his dominance over the Hellmouth when he wasn't as powerful as he was now. What he did know was that around a hundred thousand years ago, a terrific war happened over the virginal Earth, ripping holes into dozens of parallel dimensions to create gateways for creatures native to said dimensions to pour through and come live on the third world of Sol; one of those gateways would become the Sunnydale Hellmouth ironically. And while many such creatures eventually evolved themselves into human-like beings to live among the last of the pre-modern hominoid species, others found such a transformation quite revolting and moved to dominate all those who "betrayed their true blood" and "abased themselves to the naked apes". Those became the first generation of Old Ones, who moved to carve out private domains for themselves across all the known continents...but their eventual disruption of the natural order of things would soon roust the attention of the immortal nature spirits whose actions ages before had actually allowed such migrants to come to the planet in the first place!

Talk about no gratitude at all! Wilkins often bemusedly reflected to himself when he thought about the causes of the End War.

And while the End War had been quite a devastating affair, the effects of the last Ice Age which happened corresponding to same managed to effectively erase most of the physical traces of such a hideous conflict, either by the movement of glaciers or the rising of sea levels due to the melting of ice when the final cold periods faded to shape the continents as they were today. Still, such left its mark, especially in Sunnydale. And there had been MANY who had fallen in the area of the Hellmouth gateway, Olvikan being one of them. Beaten virtually into submission by Samiloluto along with local allies — whose identities Wilkins never learned — he was forced back into his dimension of birth, then the Lord of the Deep sealed that place's access through the Hellmouth to Earth...but not enough for a very willing Bavarian-American nimmib-turned-master sorcerer to locate and open.

Even better, the poor thing's conscious mind had been nearly wiped out in that fight; telepathic scans of the brain ever since Wilkins made his discovery around the time of the Second World War showed nothing but basic autonomic functions active.

Which was perfect for the man who knew he was under a deadline.

The events in Tomobiki across the Pacific — where poor Moroboshi Ataru had somehow summoned a DEMON named Velial of all things by accident even if the lad's weird luck saw to it that his own soul was saved from that creature — had prompted Wilkins to finally stop procrastinating and move to make himself as safe as possible from ALL comers.

As long as he didn't arouse Samiloluto or any of his friends, all should be well...

To Be Continued...

****

WRITER'S NOTES

This omake follows the previous one, leaving it twenty days before the start of Boy Meets Girl Meets Metahuman.

Translation list and source language: DD(S) — Space Destroyer (US Navy hull classification code); NOSC — Naval Operations Support Centre, a training unit of the United States Navy Reserve (English abbreviation); dataPADD — Data Personal Archival Display Device, inspired by the same device from Star Trek: The Next Generation (English abbreviation); f*ckushichō — Deputy city mayor (Japanese); NCA — National Command Authority, the military short hand for the President (English abbreviation); Rittmeister — Ride master, the cavalry rank title for a captain (German).

As an aside, the rate/rating code CMDCM(SCWS/FMF) (Command Master Chief Petty Officer [Seabee Combat Warfare Specialist/Fleet Marine Force Specialist]) for Joseph Nagashima indicates the following: He is rated an E-9 on the armed forces pay scale (the top non-officer/warrant officer rank), making him a master chief petty officer; as he is the senior NCO on USS Murphy, he is rated as the Command Master Chief Petty Officer, equal to a Royal Navy executive warrant officer or Royal Canadian Navy coxswain. Being declared specialists in Seabee Combat Warfare and the Fleet Marine Force indicate Chief Nagashima's enlisted warfare designations, which allows him to wear appropriate insignia (silver for NCOs) marking him as such over his medals and ribbons on his uniform. The FMF designation indicates a sailor has qualified to work in a support capacity to a Marine Corps unit, ranging from corps history and operational doctrine to field craft to specialist work with fighting elements of specific USMC units. The SCWS designation is awarded to those Seabees who acquired all necessary historical, operational and field knowledge required when assigned to a line unit of the Navy's construction engineer specialists. Also, Amphibious Construction Battalion 2 (short-form ACB 2) out of Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia Beach near Norfolk is one of two such units who combines the Seabees' legendary field construction engineering capabilities with small support craft elements which can be used during amphibious or littoral warfare operations.

Worm character notes: Tess Richter (Dragon) first appeared as a body-less AI in the sixth interlude of the series, following the story arc Tangle (story arc #6). Her father/creator Andrew Richter was first mentioned in the 10.5 interlude/eighth chapter of Parasite (arc #10); note that his affiliation with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment (R NFLD R) is my creation. Tess' would-be killers, the Dragonslayers, first appeared in the fifth chapter of Scarab (arc #25); their benefactor, Teacher (AKA Professor Benjamin Terrell), first appeared in the third interlude of Monarch (arc #16). Tess' boyfriend Colin Wallis (Armsmaster) first appeared in the sixth chapter of Gestation (arc #1). Of course, the "Taylor" mentioned by Osamu Shirayuki (Küchenchefin) is none other than Taylor Hebert AKA Skitter, the star and main character of Worm; how she came to be in the universe of TEOTC is revealed in the upcoming Of Gifts and Shards by Dr. Tempo.

As a spaceship, it is logical for USS Murphy (DD[S]-605) to be given the "Navy One" call-sign whenever the President is aboard; this radio designation is reserved whenever the chief executive is aboard an aircraft of the United States Navy. In real life, the last time an aircraft was declared "Navy One" was when George W. Bush piloted a Lockheed S-3 Viking from Sea Control Squadron 35 (the Blue Wolves) aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) in his "mission accomplished" statement aboard said ship on 1 May 2003 in the wake of the "end" of major combat operations in Iraq launched a month before.

Professor Peter Candlewick is a character who appeared in the original version of The End of the Circus in Part 15; that was also where his top Professor Stacey Waterstone was also first mentioned in this series. Candlewick would also appear in Of Gifts and Semblances. The Magical Advanced Research Projects Agency (MARPA) first appeared in Regina Magia's Magic in Miami omake The Sunshine Troupe Assembles. It was in OGAS that Candlewick teamed with Newt Scamander (the author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, namesake of the movies produced to cover his adventures after the Great War) and Isaac Thomas (Doctor Renaissance) to explore the history of the Grimm of Remnant as they appear in RWBY. And Auror Special Agent James Newman first appeared in The Lighthouse Beacon of Freedom sequel to Phoenix From the Ashes.

The American equivalents of the British Order of Merlin medals for magical merit and bravery:

MO1 — The Magical Cross of the United States of America
MO2 — The Magical Star of the United States of America
MO3 — The Magical Medal of the United States of America

In the overall order of precedence of the United States, the Magical Cross ranks below the Distinguished Service Cross, which comes after the Medal of Honour. The Magical Star falls in below the Silver Star Medal. And the Magical Medal falls in below the Bronze Star Medal. Note that I use the post-nominal letters "MO" for the Order of Merlin as the post-nominal letters "OM" means the Order of Merit, the highest non-bravery decoration of the various Commonwealth realms.

As one can guess, Cochamama is the Inca goddess of the oceans.

Endō Hajime (Mercier) is based on a dōjinshi character created by YK for his two-part Made in Male series from 2015.

The one shipgirl introduced here:

Captain Kelley Wynter Berner USN (United States Ship Makassar Strait [CVE-191, formerly CVE-91, then CVU-91])

Kelley Berner (USS Makassar Strait) takes after the Warship Girls version of her sister Chloe Zitzewitz (USS Gambier Bay); such can be seen on Danbooru at post #4801658. Note that she was originally to be named USS Ulitka Bay (following the style set for the entire class to be named after bays in Alaska); she was renamed in 1943 in honour of the Battle of Makassar Strait on 4 February 1942. Note that during her time in mothballs, Makassar Strait was re-designated as a utility aircraft carrier (hull code CVU) in 1955. After being stricken from Navy rolls in 1958, she was used as a target ship for surface-to-surface missiles; it was during this time that she found herself wrecked off the coast of San Nicholas Island (AKA Haraasnga) southeast of Los Angeles, where she would be used as a static target thanks to her hull having been snapped in two by the grounding.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer notes: Detective Inspector Carla Winslow (first name my invention) first appeared in "The Dark Age" (second season, episode eight); this was also when Rupert Giles' friend Philip Henry appeared. Of course, Richard Wilkins' would-be alter ego Olvikan made his appearance in the second part of "Graduation Day" (third season, episode 22).

Chapter 7: Taffy Three Returns: Demons Run When Shipgirls Go To War!

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: Concurrent with fair dealing clauses of the Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42) of Canada and fair use clauses in copyright legislation in other nations, this is a work that was created solely for entertainment purposes. Furthermore, it is posted freely on the Internet without expectation or requirement of remuneration.

****

The End of the Circus: A Tale of the Yizibajohei
Shipgirl Short Stories: Taffy Three Returns: Demons Run When Shipgirls Go To War!
By Fred Herriot

Based on characters and situations from Katekyō Hitman Reborn, created by Amano Akira; Azumanga Daiō, created by Azuma Kiyohiko; Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, created by Seth Grahame-Smith; Kantai Collection, created by Kadokawa Games; Rome, created by John Milius, William J. MacDonald and Bruno Heller; RWBY, created by Monty Oum; Sweet Valley High, created by Francine Pascal; Harry Potter, created by Joanna K. Rowling; Azur Lane, created by Shanghai Manjuu and Xiamen Yongshi; The West Wing, created by Allan Sorkin; Urusei Yatsura and Ranma 1/2, created by Takahashi Rumiko; normalman, created by Jim Valentino; Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon; and Stargate SG-1, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner.

Also including characters and situations from Urusei Yatsura — The Senior Year, created by Mike Smith and Fred Herriot.

****

Sunnydale General Hospital, the last Sunday of October in 2012, two hours after breakfast (Tōkyō time: The last Monday in October, two hours after midnight)...

"Did you know him well?"

Hearing that question from Detective Inspector Carla Winslow — who hadn't introduced herself to him as "acting chief", no doubt to not raise any alarm among the innocents in town concerning what the Vindice did late on Friday evening — Rupert Giles took a deep breath as he slipped off his glasses to wipe them down. He had seen the tattoo on his friend's cadaver which told him things over the Hellmouth could soon get even MORE complicated. "We were close some years ago, shortly after I left university," the native of Camden in London reported, shaking his head. He had seen the bleeding mark — resembling a mixture of a twisted sword with a horn and a treble clef musical mark attached to either side of the crossguard — that told him a certain Etruscan-age possessing demon had come to town. "Have no idea why he'd come see me now of all times..."

"No contact at all?" Winslow asked.

"Not for the last few years," Giles affirmed. Much that he was grateful for the woman beside him for telling him what just happened to Philip Henry, he also knew that the inspector wasn't clued into many things that happened in Sunnydale, thus wouldn't understand the ugly significance of his friend's death. "We were a bunch of idiots back when we were in university. Philip, myself and a tonne of other friends. Doing things we shouldn't have, played with drugs and the like." As Winslow nodded, Giles replaced his glasses before reaching over to gently draw the blanket over his friend's corpse. "One of our friends — Randall Murray — overdosed on something whose actual name I never learned. Too much of a damned shock to us..."

She nodded. "Thought you were all invincible, huh?"

"Don't we all when we're that age?" he wondered in turn.

Both people morbidly laughed before a knock echoed from the door leading into the city morgue. "Excuse me, Inspector, Mister Giles," Anthony Kessler, one of the town's small but often very busy crowd of morticians, called in. "There's a Commodore Young here to see you, sir," the man then said as he gave the Englishman a knowing look.

"'Commodore' Young?" Giles asked before he perked. "As in Commodore Velma Young, Anthony?"

"Same repair ship, sir."

Another chuckle escaped the man once known as "Ripper" as Winslow looked his way. "You know shipgirls?!" she demanded.

"Known them for quite some time, Inspector. Practically since after Captain Haight-Ashbury returned to duty."

That made her start as Kessler tried not to grin too much; having dealt with corpses that had got away from him over the last few years, the man was quite aware of the issues concerning Sunnydale's "nightlife". "Why would Mama Cass of all people want to know of you?" she sternly demanded. "Or is it because of Summers or Lehane or Hayashi? What's going on?"

"That, Inspector, is a FEDERAL affair now."

Both turned as a grumpy-looking yet still-strikingly beautiful woman appearing to be in her early thirties walked in. Possessing silvery salt-and-pepper hair in a stylish ponytail over her right shoulder, she had fair skin blotted in several places by dark stains; seeing that, Giles then recalled that the reborn USS Vestal had been a collier before she was converted to a repair ship just before the start of the Great War. An adopted native of Erie in Pennsylvania (which she had been planned to be named after in her days as a coal-hauling ship) and Brooklyn in New York (where she was built), Velma Young was the first support ship of the United States Navy to become a shipgirl, that having been done at Yvonne Swanson's request in late April within Elizabeth Wakefield's private dimensionally-displaced laboratory accessible through her house in Sweet Valley; the whole of the Scooby Gang had known about her since the return of a warship spirit THAT OLD made things VERY quiet over the Hellmouth for a couple of weeks before vampire hunger for blood got the nightlife back out on the streets. These days, Velma was in charge of all health issues for shipgirls as well as keeping watch over the Navy's expanding starship fleet; her starship-self had been built right away by the Avalonians at that impossibly vast spacedock of theirs on Mars' orbit opposite the Sun from the red planet, said starship now in geosynchronous orbit at the meridian of her old namesake city on the shores of the shallowest of the Great Lakes.

"Admiral," she said with a casual salute after pulling out the sailor's pipe from her mouth; like other metahumans who were smokers — Dean Raeburn being the classic example of same — the adopted Pennsylvanian projected a barely visible energy field around her head to ensure people weren't bothered by the smell of nicotine around her. "Ma'am. What happened here?"

"Strangulation case, Commodore," Kessler explained. Given that he himself had a relative who had been turned a year before — said person having been rescued by the Scooby Gang and reverted back to true humanity with the injection of mesonium-heavy blood — he was fully in on the many secrets behind people like Buffy Summers. "He was found early yesterday morning on the steps of Sunnydale High School. He's a friend of Mister Giles, though they haven't seen each other for quite a while."

"Oh! My condolences, Admiral," Velma said with honesty as she came over, gently pulling back the blanket over Henry's corpse to see the discoloration around the neck indicative of how he had been killed. "Ouch! Nasty way to go..."

"It's a murder investigation, Commodore," Winslow explained; she had seen the four stripes of a captain on the lower cuffs of the newcomer's traditional uniform — such was a white affair with splotched grey all over the surface with black belt and boots, large splotches on the leg allowing her hull number 4 with the auxiliary letter code R in superscript off to the viewer's left to be seen quite visibly — and knew through social media that several full captains among America's shipgirls had been accorded the honorary formation commander title for specific purposes. "Mister Giles was called in as Mister Henry here had his contact address and most likely was at the school to see him when he was attacked and murdered. As to the why..."

"I personally can't say," Giles noted with a straight face.

"Yeah," Velma breathed out as she reached over to gently squeeze the man's shoulder before slipping the blanket over Henry's face. "Sad to see. Again my condolences, Admiral. Anything you need here before we get out of your way, Tony?"

"No, ma'am. Just need to fill out the damned paperwork now," Kessler confessed.

That made the repair ship wince. "Ouch! The bane of all administration. C'mon, Admiral, let's go for a walk."

"Certainly, Commodore," Giles affirmed as he offered his arm, which she took.

Shocked by such an act, Winslow was frozen in place. "Er...!"

Velma gazed at her. "We know about your missing co-workers, Inspector Winslow. A couple subgirls noted what happened, so the FBI will be called into it as soon as possible. It's a federal investigation now, so you can relax."

That made the poor woman blink in surprise as the repair ship guided the Watcher out of the morgue...

****

On Broadway approaching Sunnydale Cemetery, minutes later...

"So who's in town now, Rupert?"

"Most likely Eyghon, Velma."

That made Velma Young blink. "Possessing demon, right? He killed your pal Randall some years back, right?"

"Yes," Rupert Giles breathed out as he pulled off his glasses to wipe them again, the two walking calmly down the street. As the reborn Vestal shook her head in amusem*nt at the Englishman's actions — his spectacles were practically admiral's white glove inspection worthy with the way he went at them whenever something stupid happened — he added, "I thought that I was done with the whole thing after I had the tattoo — you would have seen it on Philip's arm — taken off with a laser sometime after Randall died and my friends and I went our separate ways. Wonder if it was something Ethan did that provoked that thing."

Velma hummed. "Relax, Rip." As he smirked on hearing her nickname for him — being as old as she was spiritually, the adopted Pennsylvanian was the only one who could call him that without him getting angry in return — she added, "Soon as we found out about your 'friend' Rayne, we put a subgirl watch on him, never mind Naomi also keeping an eye on the guy. He's nowhere near town, so I doubt it was him wanting to carry on with what he did last Hallowe'en." As Giles nodded in gratitude — given their abilities to sneak into and out of places totally unseen, the submarine girls of the USN were the prefect spies to keep an eye on anyone of interest — she took in a draw from her pipe. "How powerful is this jerk, anyway? Nothing like what Wilkins wants to become if what the folks on the other side of the Hudson think is going to happen on Wednesday, I hope."

He chuckled on hearing that common metronym for the headquarters of the Department of Magic in downtown Manhattan. "Quite powerful, but as stealthy as someone like Dyan Morton, I believe. As to the 'why' he'd want to go after people now, I can't say. He didn't care for what happened when we had to kill poor Randall to get rid of the damned monster..."

"How many folks have that tattoo that you know of?"

"A few of us." Here, Giles pulled up his own PAA — a Gift to him from Willow Rosenberg — to tap the control button, allowing a small list of names to appear which would transmit right away into the former collier's device for her own perusal. "Of course, if we didn't have the issue with the Mayor to deal with, we have another old demon in town: Balthazar."

"Yeah, saw the interrogation reports from the El Eliminati," she noted before snorting. "God! Don't you just LOVE the way that people like to butcher Latin all the time? Wonder what President Lincoln's friend would say to that."

Giles laughed; learning of what REALLY had befallen Gaius Julius Caesar after his murder in 44 BCE had been quite the eye-opener. "Where is that man, by the way? I know Isaac's still busy on Remnant dealing with that Salem woman..."

"He's with the President aboard old 'Frisco Maru right now," Velma answered, referring to the starship version of the heavy cruiser USS San Francisco — now Michiko Norton, the adopted daughter of the city's most famous eccentric, "Emperor" Joshua Norton, whose ghost haunted the grounds of the Presidio at the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge — which now held station over the City by the Bay in low orbit to prevent people coming in from the various worlds of the Galactic Federation of Planet-States from spotting her or others like her. "Don't tell Michi's dad that I called that ship that. He hates that."

"Well, good for His Majesty for trying to teach you colonials about proper English," he snidely declared with a knowing smirk.

Both people — quite experienced in their own way — shared a wry chuckle as they continued towards the apartment block where Giles currently resided, which was close to the town catacombs, the oldest of the several cemeteries in the city. "Needed to get off the ship for a bit?" he then wondered. "Rare for a support ship to literally walk into a potential battle zone."

"Oi, this old hull here tore apart ha'tak with style back when the second Healer made it to deal with the lar'beke," Velma added as she flexed an arm. "Just because I'm a healer now doesn't mean I can't rip off demon's heads if I have to...huh?"

The screech of an eagle made both people looked up and to the north. "Mister Grim?" he noted on recognizing the beautiful bald eagle now flying in the late morning sky in an orbit in the space between Revello Drive and C Street. "Oh, bloody hell!" he then declared as his face paled, then remembering they had just walked across the intersection of Union Street, which intersected Revello Drive right beside Buffy Summers' home. "Something must be happening with Joyce!"

Velma grunted as she grabbed him from behind, then boosted them into the air, making the few passers-by look at them for a moment before carrying on; they had seen the battlesuit the shipgirl had been wearing, but paid it no mind, Sunnydale Syndrome being what it was. With a mortar shot-like leap, the former collier was able to drop down on the lawn of 1638 Revello Drive...

...to see a silver-haired woman wearing a modern red jumpsuit with black trim and the hull number 5 on her upper thighs sitting calmly on the front steps as a clearly amused Joyce Summers came out with a tray of lemonade. "Oh! Captain Livingston!" Giles greeted the reborn USS Yorktown, who was one of several shipgirls now based out of Fort San Antonio whom the beautiful avian now moving to come down to join them got along with easily; said eagle — who was magical, the Watcher knew — was named in honour of the "Grim Reapers", the nickname of Fighting Squadron 10 who flew off USS Enterprise from just after her sister was sunk at the Battle of Midway to until near the end of World War Two. "Odd to see you...eh?"

He stopped before a snarl escaped him on seeing the expertly hogtied man on the ground at Eleanor's feet. "Travers...!"

****

In a hotel just outside Sunnydale...

You DARE defy me...!

"Oh, shut up, you wanker...!" the chuckling woman with the purple-tinted black hair said as she staggered around the small room she had rented — or had been MADE to rent, Diedre Page then wryly mused — while the screeching being inside her tried to wrestle control over her body once more. "You didn't think that after those nice folk from Yiziba got involved with Ripper's friends that I wouldn't take precautions against you. Nice of dear old Ethan to tell me about this...!"

Here, the native of Cambridge looked down at her exposed left arm, which had the mark of Eyghon on it...even if said mark was now glazed over by glowing bits of ruby crystals whose power prevented the ancient demon from totally taking control of her. Impertinence! the ancient being now screeched inside her mind. You summoned me! You BELONG to me...!

"Batae Erba...!"

DO NOT SAY THAT NAME!

"Why not?!" Diedre — whether she was dead or alive, she really didn't know — then coyly asked. "Were you in on your friends' attempts at trying to possess the Forge of the Seekers of all things?! Did you get your ARSE whipped by HIM when the old Conservator decided he wasn't going to put up to your sh*te and threw you back to where you belong...!"

YOU ARE MINE!

"Batae Erba...!"

DO NOT SAY THAT NAME!

"Batae Erba...!"

SILENCE!

"Batae Erba...!"

YOU WILL BE...!

"Oh, do be quiet, you coward!"

Diedre gasped before she turned around...

...then she squawked as something literally was punched right through her breastbone into her heart!

Tene lomher'buo, Diedre Wendy Page...!

As the screeching demon inside her found itself forcefully EJECTED from her body, the Cantabrigian laughed...

"Taeim letam...!"

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...!

Nesu...f*ckROTI YUODATO!

As Eyghon felt himself literally ejected out of the reborn corpse — the demon had actually possessed some other idiot who had put his mark on his body, allowing him to catch up to the would-be musical composer; like most of the others who had been part of Rupert Giles' gang before the turn of the millennium, Diedre was fully knowledgeable about magic since her parents were also part of the Watcher Society — her body glowed as bright as the Sun itself as the power of She Who Destroys the Unnecessary, f*ckroti Yuodato ("Punk Rock"), flooded her from head to toe. Naturally, her clothes were burned away by the surge of energy that went into the Gifting, allowing her to be draped in a uniform common to "radical" natives of Yiziba like Takino Tomo of Itabashi in Tōkyō and Molly Hecht of nearby Sweet Valley; the former was the Wild Warrior of Passion, Rimbo'o ("Warwind"), while the latter was the Mistress of Pain and Pleasure, Kanae Matotukhebae (the "Dominatrix"): A VERY racy one-piece swimsuit-like affair in onyx black studded in silver chain-like insignia with bicep-length gloves and thigh-high boots, also in black with the same type of trimming. Fortunately for Diedre's sense of pride, she still had the body to show off so much skin to anyone who might take interest in her in an "intimate" sort of way; as she was quick to note on seeing the mark of the demon whose avarice had seen her old boyfriend Randall Murray killed burned away to leave healthy tissue behind, the Gifting gladly rejuvenating her to make her look like she had been back when she ran with people like Rupert Giles and Ethan Rayne.

And the power...!

Growling with a mixture of lust and delight, the reborn heavy metal musician — such types of music had barely begun to appear in the more liberal nations of Yiziba such as Nesetimtuto in the decade prior to the start of the Dawn of Power — began to sway as a storm of thunderous sounds echoed through her mind. "Oh, yeah...!" she cooed while the last wisps of energy that heralded her effective REBIRTH as a metahuman, forever free of demonic influence, vanished into the ether...

...then she perked on sensing someone behind her, making Diedre turn...

...before she relaxed on recognizing the middle-aged man in the purple traditional jumpsuit standing there gazing in fond amusem*nt at her. "Many thanks for doing this for me, Reverend," she said with a polite curtsy.

Leno Lu'umlo nodded in return. "My sincerest pleasure, my dear," the Mad Prophet of the Future, Rimmim ("Millennium"), returned. "May the fight scene go your way. Oh, you'll want to know that Warwind and the Dominatrix have returned as well."

That made her dark eyes light up with delight. "Oh, how wonderful...!"

****

United States Starship Murphy (in anchorage west of Santa Rosa Island), an hour later...

"The prisoner's secured in the brig, Admiral. The vampire he had brought with him..." Here, the just-reborn thirty-seventh of the Casablanca-class escort carriers now known as the Spicy Hare of the Straits, Makassar Taedyuo ("Makassar Strait"), stopped on seeing the uneasy look on the face of the Mighty Maid of the Mountains. "Um...are you okay, ma'am?"

Buffy Summers perked before she gazed over her shoulder at Kelley Berner before she gave the adopted Alaskan a reassuring smile. "Felt someone get Gifted sometime ago nearby here," she said before gazing to the northeast towards the small passage of waters that separated Santa Rosa from nearby San Miguel Island; both the leader of the Scooby Gang and the latest shipgirl to rejoin the United States Navy were on the quarterdeck of the starship replica of the sixteenth of the Benson-class fleet destroyers, such fortunately hidden from the view of passing ships heading in and out of the port of Los Angeles thanks to magical masking screens similar to what had been fitted on eighteen incredible battleships built over the previous century in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. "Just outside Sunnydale if my empathic 'radar' is right on, but no updates over the Great Show networks."

Kelley nodded in understanding. Being a shipgirl effectively "raised" in a military environment, the rather ultra-free nature of Yizibajohei communications unnerved her a lot. It had taken Jenn McLeod Murphy — who was STILL pissed at the reborn aircraft carrier for attacking her starship-self the previous evening shortly after her salvage and Gifting; such had been put aright quite easily even if the reborn destroyer sent her resentful looks from time to time — and Brenda Laffey some time to explain the communications of the World of the Forge was quite secure, both by its physical nature (being transmitted via hyperwarp-capable mesonium transmitter crystals) and because of outsider fear of "they who must never be named" not making even the most curious of the neighbouring powers probe too deep into what was happening with people like themselves. That someone could learn all sorts of personal — even intimate! — details about another person just with a touch of the finger on the control crystal of one's PAA stunned the heck out of the adopted Alaskan; searching for THOSE sorts of things were quite verboten back in her day as an active warship on the high seas. Sure, that whole Dawn of Power revolution really went far in eliminating all the fascist nonsense that had become quite the vogue on that planet two millennia before, but there had to be SOME standards...!

"If you're picking whoever that is up all the way from here, doesn't that make this one really powerful?" she asked.

"Possibly," Buffy affirmed with a nod. "I've gotten used to the mixed messages my empathy gives me ever since I moved into Sunnydale two years ago. Sometimes it works wonders. Sometimes, it doesn't work at all. Luck of the fight scene in the end." At the other woman's curious look, the Angelino senior student added, "sh*t happens." Getting an understanding nod from the shipgirl, the elder Slayer took a deep breath. "I take it the vampire 'recruited' by Travers for my 'test' didn't make it."

A shake of the head responded. "No, ma'am. Instant Admiral Rosenberg and Admiral Maclay moved to revive the guy, he recognized them off the bat, then threw himself out of the hotel room that limey bastard 'rented' for him right into the sun."

That earned her a wince of sympathy. "Ouch! Ugly way to die..." she breathed out.

"What are you going to do with that limey, anyway?" Kelley asked. "Laffey made noise about the President getting involved."

Buffy snorted. "Uncle Jed takes his responsibilities in the ISWT pretty seriously." As Kelley nodded — even if she had been in mothballs at the time the International Specialized Warfare Treaty had been signed in 1957, her caretaker crew at the Pacific Reserve Fleet's storage yards in Tacoma all knew of the passage of said treaty given that it was the only living non-American to be awarded the Medal of Honour who WROTE said treaty — the younger woman added, "If some idiot tweed decides to protest our stopping Travis from doing that Cruciamentum thing with either Faith or me, he can send Margo Black over there to teach them something called 'common courtesy' or else he can contact the Queen and she can come down on them if she has to."

"No Brit shipgirls are back, ma'am. If these idiots don't want to bend the knee to her — from what I've heard the Marines on the ship say about them, they're even MORE stuffier than the idiots that were running things on the other side of the Hudson before the Übermenschen cleared that bunch of fools out in '42 — she'll need some major horsepower to back her up."

Buffy nodded. "Oh, trust me on this one, Kelley, the Queen's got LOADS of help there..."

Her cell phone then rang. "Summers! What's the what?" she called out after drawing it out of her utility pouch. "Huh? Tony? What...?!" She then gaped. "WHAT?! You were attacked?! You okay?!" As Kelley tensed, the empathic adopted native of Nesetimtuto nodded. "One of the corpses is MISSING?! Which one?!" She then shook her head. "No, never heard of him. One of Giles' friends?" She then nodded after Anthony Kessler explained what happened earlier that morning. "Right! Right! I'll tell him! Stay safe, okay?! I'll get one of the subgirls over there to stay on your butt until we figure this out! Right! 'Bye!" Cutting the link with the only mortician the Scooby Gang had on their side, she looked forward. "OI! JENN! I NEED YOU!"

A flash of PAA teleportation energy soon produced the Amphibious Engineer of the Lënapehòkink. Much to the amusem*nt of the Mighty Maid of the Mountains and the Spicy Hare of the Straits, Jenn McLeod Murphy had an escort from the First Battalion of the 75th Marine Regiment (Magical), a fresh-faced private first class from nearby Santa Barbara who just graduated from basic infantryman training at Camp Pendleton a year before before reporting to his new regiment for magical infantryman advanced training. "Hey, you okay, Paul?" Buffy asked as she came over to help PFC Paul Jones to his feet.

"Pretty okay, Mistress Summers," the fresh-faced leatherneck said with a blush as the adopted Army engineer colonel patted his shoulder. "Tried to match my apparation to the colonel's PAA portkey coming aft! Didn't get it exactly right."

As Buffy blushed — given her being a Slayer, she automatically was accorded the highest levels of respect by most American magicals, even the conservatives who wanted Rappaport's Law reimposed on the Union to the ugly extent it had been from the Panic of 1914 to the first Battle of New York twenty-eight years later when the Übermenschen Gruppe wrecked the Magical Congress of the United States of America during the early part of the Wars of Liberation — Jenn nodded. "You'll get the hang of it sooner or later, Marine," she said with an approving look; even if she was an Army girl administratively, she was like any American shipgirl who always doted over the devil dogs in their sister service. "So what's the problem, Admiral?"

"Can I get a subgirl to watch over Tony Kessler at the morgue, Jenn?" Buffy asked. "A corpse ran away."

That made Jones hiss as Jenn blinked. "Don't they normally do that at nighttime, ma'am?"

"Unless it's a demon possessing that corpse, ma'am," her current "batman" — a British tradition that the Magical Wing of the United States Marine Corps had borrowed from their Canadian brothers in the Royal Regiment of Canadian Foresters when the magicals of the Union mobilized to fight against Gellert Grindelwald and Yomigawa Tsukiko — noted.

"Buffy!"

Buffy turned, then breathed out. "Friend of yours ran away from the morgue, Giles!" she playfully scolded.

"Philip Henry?" Rupert Giles asked, he accompanied by Joyce Summers, who had relocated herself aboard the Murphy in the wake of an attempted kidnapping by Quentin Travers which was stopped by the reborn USS Yorktown.

"Same guy! Heard he was a friend of yours. Watcher?"

A tired sigh escaped the older man. "No, from my 'Ripper' days, Buffy. I told you this after Ethan came to town last fall. He was there when we tried to summon Eyghon. Fell out of contact when I went on the straight and narrow..."

"Went back to the 'tweed', you mean?" she playfully asked.

A tired nod answered. "Yes, that as well..."

Everyone then jerked as a heavy wave slammed into the star destroyer's stern from the west, making the deck heave under people's feet. While some of those on the quarterdeck stumbled about, the more experienced people remained erect. "What the hell?!" Jenn snapped as she looked around for the source of such a huge tidal surge. "If there was a quake...!"

"LOOK!" Joyce shrieked, pointing to the northwest.

Heads turned...

...then jaws dropped on seeing the HUGE shark fin surging through the water towards the mainland. "Oh, sh*t...!" Buffy moaned.

Seeing that made PFC Jones turn as white as a sheet. "Samiloluto...!"

****

A certain warehouse in Sunnydale, minutes later...

"It has been a while, Balthazar!"

Hearing that echoing voice, the obese demon turned in his large pool to look...

...before a delighted smile crossed his chubby face. "Eyghon! Come in, my friend! Come in!" he bade on sensing the echo of the golden-scaled and horned humanoid beast around the somewhat cold corpse of a normal human in business wear. "What are you doing here?! Why are you forced to possess a corpse? Don't you have a living human to make use of?"

"I did...until someone from the accursed Forge World went and had the ungrateful girl GIFTED of all things! Just like HE became when he chased us all off that accursed planet after we discovered what the Master of Entropy had done in the Battle of Toghmoghbiki!" the Sleepwalker answered through the lips of Philip Henry as he walked over to grasp the other demon's hand; even if both beings saw themselves as far SUPERIOR to the normal filth that inhabited the world they and those like them once tried to claim as their own, certain human mannerisms had bled through over the ages since the End War. And while they both were grateful to the Undying Lord for his show of mercy at the end of that conflict, they didn't care for humans at all, seeing them as mere sources of the necessary "faith" energy to sustain them; much that both Eyghon and Balthazar were quite powerful, they still paled in comparison to the REAL Old Ones the man born Tash Ri in a fishing village on the isle of Rügen during the last Ice Age gladly slaughtered and banished wholesale. "It is a matter than needs resolution since she and her friends — including the one whose body I'm using now — decided to DEFY me after they tried to entreaty with me!"

An understanding snort answered him. "Rude, aren't they?" Balthazar wondered. "No different than the accursed human who actually STOLE an amulet of mine some years ago! He's the 'mayor' of the city here; he's the one who actually established it over the Gateway over a century ago!" At the surprised look from the other demon, the portly creature added, "From what those of my spies in town have reported to me, he now seeks to merge himself with one of the Old Ones who fell here."

That earned him a horrified look. "A human dares to become THAT?!"

"Yes! I'm hoping to stop him but...!"

A tsking sound echoed from nearby. "Golly, Balthazar! You actually think you can stop me from saving my own LIFE?"

Both jolted before turning...

...then they gaped on seeing the dapper man in the business suit standing nearby. "WILKINS?!" Balthazar shrieked.

Richard Wilkins lightly smiled, such an action not touching his eyes...

****

Outside...

The blue-skinned man with the scales and the beautiful tattoos reminiscent of those worn by the Māori and the Sāmoa ignored the bystanders as he marched down Sixteenth Avenue from the direction of the city's bus station; the Lord of the Deep managed to get as close as he could to shoreline before shifting from his native Carcharocles megalodon form to a more convenient shape to operate on land. While some of the more adventurous humans who were quick to suspect "metahuman" on seeing such a person walk among them — especially young females who were instantly attracted to the sheer ACRES of muscled skin he displayed since he was dressed in just a scaled lavalava that went below his knees — none got in his way as he approached a large, empty building that was recessed into the forest surrounding Sunnydale near the intersection with F Street...

****

Inside said warehouse...

"My amulet, Richard! I want it back!"

The would-be Old One tsked. "You should learn some manners, Balthazar!" he teasingly chided as he allowed a beautiful dark crystal amulet to drop down from under his jacket sleeves to hang from his hand. "You didn't say 'please'."

"Impertinence!" Eyghon screamed, sending a blast of energy right at Richard Wilkins' head.

Said bolt of power literally cleaved the man's skull in twain vertically...

...though the body didn't collapse from such a mortal strike. As both demons gaped in shock, the mayor's arms came around to gently shove his head back together, the skin and underlying flesh instantly resealing as if there had been no injury in the first place. Ignoring Balthazar's and Eyghon's horrified gasps on realizing this human had undergone a ceremony to render himself effectively invulnerable to all forms of harm — one of the major steps before making a proper Ascension — the Bavarian-descent native of Boston shook his head as the last of his skin resealed. "Just like my wife was at times...!" he lamented...

...before the whole front of the warehouse was literally RIPPED OPEN by a dark-skinned humanoid whose spiritual aura made both demons shriek in terror and Wilkins gape in shock. "Oh, fudge...!" he moaned, dropping the amulet he had retrieved from the crypt of an old "friend" from the early days of Sunnydale, Douglas Gleaves; the wealthy landowner who helped finance the town's development in the years leading to the Great War had been buried in the Catacombs at the western end of the city.

As both Balthazar and Eyghon fired bolts of energy at the oncoming Lord of the Deep, a black shadow zipped past Wilkins unseen, a hand snaring the amulet before said blur merged anew with the shadows. Realizing WHAT had just stormed into his city like that and knowing that he was nowhere NEAR as powerful enough to lock horns with a creature who had lived for THREE MILLION YEARS, the mayor teleported himself clear of the warehouse, confident enough that if these two idiot demons had been stupid enough to earn the attention of Samiloluto of all beings, they'd be soon VERY dead! At the same time, the whistles of air whipping past human bodies made the demons look up before they gargled on seeing who was coming down on their literal heads. "SLAYER!" the Sleepwalker shrieked in outrage on recognizing the Belle of the Wilderness...

...before two black-and-silver blurs surged past Faith Lehane to smash right down on Balthazar's head!

Sensing help was at hand, the Lord of the Deep stopped himself, crossing his arms in amusem*nt as Faith — accompanied by Hayashi Kanami and April Mears — landed on the ground nearby, all three gaping on seeing who else had joined in on the fun.

"Oi, Molly...!"

"Yeah, Tomo?"

"You EVER seen a guy as fat as this character?!"

"Not in all my lifetimes!"

As Balthazar moaned from nearly being made a pancake after having both the Wild Warrior of Passion and the Mistress of Pain and Pleasure drop down like meteors on his head, the quite-awake native of Itabashi — who should be asleep in preparation for school in the next few hours, the Americans mused — snared him by one arm. "Let's DANCE, Fatty!" Takino Tomo laughed.

She then virtually PULLED the screaming demon out of his bath to slam him HARD on quite unyielding concrete nearby! As Molly Hecht lunged over to help her friend/rival out with Balthazar, PAA flashes went off all around to allow the rest of the Scooby Gang and their new shipgirl friends to quickly join in. "Impertinence!" a bellowing Eyghon bellowed...

...before he was nearly burned alive by a solid wall of screeching noise. "HOW'S THIS FOR IMPERTINENCE, WANKER!"

Jaws dropped as She Who Destroys the Unnecessary landed nearby, then lunged in to snare her possessed and dead friend by the neck before pitching him through the air into a nearby wall, causing the Sleepwalker to screech as he felt his hold over Philip Henry's corpse vanish. "YOU WILL NEVER ESCAPE ME, GIRL!" Eyghon bellowed as he spun around to face her...

...before he gargled as a blue, scaly hand snared him by the neck!

People turned to look...

...then everyone in the warehouse collectively winced as Samiloluto transformed right before their eyes into his birth form, a mouth that was big enough to take a whole man standing up opening wide...!

GULP!

And in a flash of energy, the Lord of the Deep vanished from Sunnydale!

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

Then...

"Hope that doesn't give him cramps," Buffy Summers noted, lowering her swords as the others in the room relaxed themselves.

"Must have done something to piss off the Big Fish personally," Xander Harris concluded as he allowed his ki claws to fade. "Oi! Tomo! Molly! New girl! You guys need some help with Fats Domino over there?!"

By then, Balthazar was a moaning heap of flesh on the floor, many of his bones snapped and greenish ichor escaping many of the wounds delivered to him by two of Yiziba's strongest warriors. "Nah, he's down, Xan-man!" Molly assured the Wild Scavenger as she cracked her knuckles. "You'd figure that for a demon, he'd be a lot tougher than this! This is SAD!"

"Yeah! I was hoping for a good workout before classes!" Tomo added as she straightened herself before looking over as Diedre Page came over to join them. "Oi, Punky! Nice to see you back! Who got you Gifted anyway?!"

"A very nice preacher man did that for me, Tomo," the native of Cambridge noted as she jovially waved.

Jaws dropped. "Millennium was here?!" Willow Rosenberg demanded.

"Yeah...and bloody good it did me when he came, too!"

Buffy blinked before she perked. "Wait! You're one of Giles' friends?"

"Yeah!" Here, the rejuvenated forty-something looked around. "Oi! Where is old Ripper anyway?"

"Back on our base ship, ma'am," Jenn McLeod Murphy said as she came over along with Brooke Roberts, Chloe Zitzewitz and Kelley Berner. "So what do we do with Blotto here?" the adopted New Yorker then asked, jutting her jaw at the demon.

Everyone gazed at the two Slayers in their midst — metahumans or not, both Buffy and Faith had been well trained by their watchers to deal with all sorts of things that went "bump" in the night, especially when it came to those creatures who didn't instantly turn into dust when they were killed — then the Belle of the Wilderness smirked. "Oi, Scrappy!"

The Escort Who Fights Line Warriors perked. "Yes, ma'am?!"

"Get your PAA! I'm gonna teach you something neat about tossing out garbage like this!"

Knowing smirks crossed the faces of the other non-shipgirls present...

****

City Hall, that moment...

"Oh, fudge!"

Richard Wilkins was now staring at his EMPTY hand...!

To Be Continued...

****

WRITER'S NOTES

This omake continues the Taffy 3 storyline from the previous stories, now putting things nineteen days prior to the start of Boy Meets Girl Meets Metahuman.

The list of shipgirls introduced here...

Captain Anna Eleanor Livingston USN (United States Ship Yorktown [CV-5])
Captain Michiko Francine Norton USN (United States Ship San Francisco [CA-38])
Captain Velma Young USN (United States Ship Vestal [AR-4, formerly AC-1])
Lieutenant Commander Dyan Wanda Morton USN (United States Ship Wahoo [SS-238])

Eleanor Livingston (USS Yorktown) takes after her Azur Lane self. Michiko Norton (USS San Francisco) takes after the interpretation of her in the KanColle fan art series Pacific; such can be seen on Danbooru at post #2798408. She is ethnically Japanese in respect to the version of her which appeared in the JMPer's wonderful fanfic Belated Battleships, which can be read on Space Battles and Sufficient Velocity. Speaking of BelBat, that's where the interpretation of Velma Young (USS Vestal) hails; based on fan art done by PJMoyer, such can be seen on Space Battles at post #28331549. While no version of Dyan Morton (USS Wahoo) has appeared in any of the shipgirl games such as KanColle, I see her as having hair and eyes the same shade as her namesake fish, the wahoo AKA the ono (Acanthocybium solandri); this gives her black-fringed silver hair and pale blue eyes.

As an aside, the term Commodore in the United States Navy used to be a rank title equivalent now to the rank of Rear Admiral Lower Half (short-formed RMDL). Such came into effect in 1862 during the Civil War, being removed from active rank lists in 1899; the rank was restored in 1943 only to be removed again in 1983 to be replaced on the official pay scales by RMDL at pay level O-7. Traditionally in the USN, the position of commodore was assigned to senior captains in charge of a small formation of units. With shipgirls, those appointed as commodores such as Velma Young (USS Vestal) are placed in charge of certain areas of responsibility (such as medical services) with one "senior commodore" in charge of all shipgirls in the person of Yvonne Swanson (USS Enterprise); as noted above, all have the honorary rank of Captain (short-form CAPT) at pay level O-6.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer notes: Randall Murray (family name my invention), Anthony Kessler (first name my invention), Eyghon the Sleepwalker and Diedre Page (Punk Rock) all appeared in "The Dark Age" (second season, episode eight). Of course, Ethan Rayne first appeared in the famous episode "Hallowe'en" (second season, episode six). And Douglas Gleaves (first name my invention) was mentioned in "Bad Girls" (third season, episode 14).

The version of Gaius Julius Caesar who appears in the universe of these stories is based on the version of him from HBO's series Rome, appearing in 2005-2007. Think of the "Immortal Warrior Consul" (as he is nicknamed by those in the know of the last of the Triumvirate to impact the history of the Roman Republic/Empire) as what was played by Irish actor Ciarán Hinds, though de-aged to be a man appearing in his twenties in lieu of the fifty-six year-old warrior who was killed on the Ides of March in 44 BCE. He would first appear in Part 31 of BmGmM and will have an impact on events in the side story Out Of The Past.

Yes, Michiko Norton (USS San Francisco) is the effective adopted daughter of the City by the Bay's most famous eccentric, the "Emperor of the United States and the Protector of Mexico" himself Joshua Abraham Norton (1818-1880). A rice merchant born in England who lived in South Africa for a time, Norton arrived in San Francisco in 1849 to become one of the city's richest residents...only to lose said fortune because a famine in China caused the price of rice to wildly fluctuate. He styled himself as "Emperor Norton I" in 1859, attracting torrents of affection from fellow San Franciscans for his prophetic proclamations meant to improve life in the city; he would suggest the construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (built in 1933-1936), lobbied against inherent racism and — as noted by Rupert Giles above — "forbade" people from referring to their city by the diminutive 'Frisco. Of course, his "daughter" gets around that because one of her nicknames as a warship was 'Frisco Maru.

In the TEOTC stories, I rarely reference other shipgirl video games such as Azur Lane in the creative credits. I do it this time due to the presence of Mister Grim, the fan-given nickname for Enterprise's beautiful bald eagle in the series. He gets his name, as noted above, from the nickname bestowed to Fighting Squadron 10 (VF-10), the Grim Reapers; said squadron was active from mid-1942 to just after the end of World War Two and has yet to be perpetuated by a current USN operational squadron.

Leno Lu'umlo (Millennium) first appeared in Regina Magia's omake A "Quiet" Time in Delaware. Takino Tomo (Warwind) is one of the stars of Azumanga Daiō. Molly Hecht (the Dominatrix) is a minor character from the Sweet Valley High novel series, first appearing in On the Edge (novel #40) and prominently starring in Outcast (novel #41).

The 75th Marine Regiment (Magical) is one of five such regiments composing the fighting elements of the Seventh Marine Division (Magical), the operational formation of the Magical Wing of the United States Marine Corps. Formed in 1942 as the first of two magical military fighting divisions (the other being the Seventh Cavalry Division [Magical], the fighting element of the Magical Corps of the United States Army), this formation was inspired by its Canadian counterparts as noted above, the Royal Regiment of Canadian Foresters; the history of that regiment is covered in Magic and Canada. During the Wars of Liberation (the magical side of World War Two), the magical Marines were involved in dealing with magical Japanese forces under the command of the "Dark Lady of the Orient" Yomigawa Tsukiko AKA Tsukuyomi; she was first mentioned in the Icemaidens series and appeared for the first time in the second Wizards and Avalonians side story to Phoenix From the Ashes.

Samiloluto is based on Polynesian legends of the Lord of the Deep, which is rumoured to be a still-living megalodon shark (Carcharocles megalodon) who survived that species' effective extinction around 2.5 million years ago in the Pliocene Epoch; this would be around the time the first of the Great Old Ones became immortal and sentient in the universe of my stories. He was introduced to me by Harry Leferts in his Harry and the Shipgirls story collection on Space Battles; said being appeared at post #24907046 to EAT an Abyssal princess! This is of course where I get the idea of allowing Samiloluto to actually EAT Eyghon here...much less eat the Marvel universe demon N'astirh in Part Eight of Extreme Shipgirls.

Chapter 8: Taffy Three Returns: Sammy's Happy Time!

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: Concurrent with fair dealing clauses of the Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42) of Canada and fair use clauses in copyright legislation in other nations, this is a work that was created solely for entertainment purposes. Furthermore, it is posted freely on the Internet without expectation or requirement of remuneration.

****

The End of the Circus: A Tale of the Yizibajohei
Shipgirl Short Stories: Taffy Three Returns: Sammy's Happy Time!
By Fred Herriot

I Hit The Whale (1944), by RADM Robert W. Copeland USNR

Based on characters and situations from The Seventh Carrier, created by Peter Albano; Katekyō Hitman Reborn, created by Amano Akira; Due South, created by Paul Haggis; Kantai Collection, created by Kadokawa Games; Sister Princess, created by Kimino Sakurako with Tenhiro Naoto; Sweet Valley High, created by Francine Pascal; Harry Potter, created by Joanna K. Rowling; The West Wing, created by Allan Sorkin; War of the Worlds, created by Greg Strangis (based on The War of the Worlds, created by H.G. Wells); Urusei Yatsura and Ranma 1/2, created by Takahashi Rumiko; normalman, created by Jim Valentino; Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon; and Stargate SG-1, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner.

Also including characters and situations from Urusei Yatsura — The Senior Year, created by Mike Smith and Fred Herriot.

****

At the third Sol-Mars libration point (opposite the Sun from Mars itself), the final Monday of October in 2012, two hours before supper UTC (Washington time: Noon; Sunnydale time: An hour after breakfast; Tōkyō time: The final Tuesday, an hour after midnight)...

"Ach! So YOU'RE the one our Japanische Kameraden speak of with such admiration...!"

Hearing that voice with its prim Prussian tones, Brooke Roberts — who was busy admiring herself in her service dress blues in front of a vanity mirror, her spray of four campaign medals and three unit ribbons on her chest — awked before she turned...

...then she gaped in awe on seeing the living personification of the world's most famous warship standing there, she in her dark dress blue formal uniform with a small salad bowl of medals and decorations over her heart. "Captain von Bismarck!"

Luisa von Bismarck-Schönhausen smiled as she returned the reborn American frigate's salute with her own. "Guten tag, Frau Korvettenkapitän Roberts," the adopted native of her namesake's hometown in modern day Saxony-Anhalt affirmed with a polite nod of her head before she gave her current companions an amused look. All of them had the auras of Great War combat ships as Brooke could see it through her special "shipgirl sight" empathic power; one of the two obvious capital ships accompanying the reborn KMS Bismarck was a Deutschland-class pre-dreadnought while another was a Derfflinger-class battlecruiser...or "fast battleship" as they were politely referred to these days. "As I told you all, Tante Anna, Tante Anastasia, give the Americans time to prepare themselves and their production capacity will simply overwhelm anyone who dares face them down."

"Which our Japanische Kameraden grossly underestimated," the reborn battlecruiser said with a chuckle as she came over to warmly grip the hand of the Escort Who Fights Line Warriors. "Guten tag, Frau Korvettenkapitän. I was Seiner Majestät Schiff Lützow, second of my class as you can no doubt 'see'. Alexandra Anastasia von Lützow at your service; I go by Stasi."

"Ah...er...wouldn't be really proper, Captain," the adopted San Franciscan admitted as the others who had accompanied Luisa to this private meeting room aboard the megaopolis-sized space construction yard built by their hosts' ancestral race on the planet Sagussa many millennia before came up to shake her hand and introduce themselves. "You went down at Jutland, right?!" she then asked before perking. "Oh, damn! Sorry about that! Forgot you folks call that fight a different name!"

"Ja, we did," the reborn SMS Pommern — now Clara Anna von Greifen; as her namesake territory was mostly in Poland now, she also had a local name (Klarysa Anna z Gryfici) and was one of the several former warships of the Kaiserliche Marine to publicly consider switching service to the Marynarka Wojenna, partially out of flat-out disgust by words and actions of the government in Berlin concerning the Fatherland's reborn schiffsmädchen — said as she shook the younger-looking woman's hand. "Heard you were one of those whose crew were saved by one of the Drachentöter our Kanadische friends built."

"Chennalton," Brooke nearly gushed the name. "Her sister Argo was there for Captain von Bismarck's crew."

"That was the model our Australische und Neuseeländische Kameraden built their later-generation warships on, Tante," Luisa added. "The 'Ocean-class' as they call them there. Seven for the Commonwealth and three for the Realm."

The veterans of the great slug fest of battleships in the late spring of 1916 off the coast of Denmark nodded in approval. "Decent design even if she didn't have the sheer armour our generation of dragon killers possessed," the former flagship of the First Scouting Group under then-Vice Admiral Franz von Hipper mused; as she was named after a living person, Anastasia wasn't named in tribute to either her admiral or her then-captain. "Is it true that Raumschiffe versions of them are being built?"

"I hope so!" Brooke protested. "It's horrible that they had to sail all alone like that all the time! No escorts at all...!"

The other Jutland veterans nodded. "Ja, that's true...but given those sea monsters they hunted..." Here, the reborn cruiser SMS Frauenlob now known as Pernille Hoffmann winced as she recalled the horrors her crew had faced that day BEYOND the guns of the Grand Fleet. "I doubt even someone with YOUR endurance could withstand something like that, young Brooke!"

"Have you gone to where Frau Freiin Chennalton is based to see her?" Rebekka Feldmann, the reborn SMS Rostock, asked.

Before Brooke could answer, an intercom whistled. "Thoughtmistress-prime Brooke Roberts, please report to Reception Hall 71 for commencement ceremonies. Thoughtmistress-prime Brooke Roberts, please report to Reception Hall 71..."

That made the shipgirls in the small lounge set aside for the fifty-fifth of the John C. Butler-class destroyer escorts/frigates perk. "Ach! It's time, young Brooke!" Luisa said as she offered her arm to the younger-looking girl. "Your fans await."

The azure-haired American blinked even if she slipped her arm around that of the battleship's. "I've got FANS...?!"

****

Minutes later...

"Wow...!"

"She looks beautiful, Brooke," Josiah Bartlet declared as the assembled mass of onlookers cheered.

"Wow...!"

"Little Scrapper's still taking it in, Uncle Jed," Faith Lehane noted from nearby; the Scooby Gang had all gladly ditched school to come up to the Main Dockyard to see the launch of FF(S)-413, United States Starship Samuel B. Roberts.

"Wow...!"

"Oi, Yoiko! You think your sister would accept Brooke as a battleship now?!" Yvonne Swanson asked with a smile.

"Wow...!"

"If my sister has ANY decent sense of honour in her, she would do that under ALL circ*mstances, Yvonne-san," Itō Yoiko — whose dark blue dress uniform seemed simply prosaic in comparison to the other former Japanese shipgirls by the simple LACK of service medals and decorations over her heart; the seventh carrier of Operation Z only had the Great East Asia War Medal given she was technically an active warship of the Imperial Navy at the time that conflict happened — coolly replied.

"Wow...!"

"Oi! Brooke! C'mon! Get your mind back in gear, huh?" Xander Harris then called out. Like the other metahuman Yizibajohei present, he was in the traditional sleeved form of battledress which the "new" generation adopted as more formal wear. As she already wore the sleeved model as her standard battlesuit, Coya Gutierrez had a beautiful hooded cape over her shoulders which flowed to her knees, such in the colours of the Inca Empire; capes were the mark of royalty among nobles of that world.

Yelping — thus earning her a chorus of amused laughter from the crowd — the adopted San Franciscan then shook her head before she chuckled, scratching her temple; being in her dress blues, she was allowed modified grooming standards and let her azure locks flow loose past her collars to mid-back. "S-s-sorry about that, everyone..." she then apologized.

Applause then filled the crowd before a woman in a grey-lined white jumpsuit called out, "Poem!"

At Tariko Katabarbe's prompting — all her siblings were present...including Hirosaki Chikage since it was past the end of classes at Hogwarts now — many of the people seated near the Trickster of the Great Show of Life, Tuyuki ("Coyote"), began chanting that same word. While some of those present blinked in confusion, Brooke looked their way before she perked as she realized what the reality warper who had launched the second Metahuman Age was aiming for. Clearing her throat, she then stepped up to the lectern, making people fall quiet as the microphone there slightly echoed her moves. A deep breath later, Brooke gazed on her commander-in-chief, who nodded in encouragement before she faced the small crowd seated ahead of the forcefield-blocked portal opening into one of the impossibly vast construction chambers within this fifty-kilometre wide and ten kilometre thick structure, where the just-completed FF(S)-413 now floated perpendicularly to the chamber's side bulkhead.

"At the request of Admiral Katabarbe, a simple poem to start this off," she began...

I hit the whale, that much is true
But I pray, my Lord, what could I do?
My ship was on a mission bound
When the royal whale did choose to sound.

My ship, it never had a chance;
Your whale came rushing like a lance,
Straight up at us from depths below,
We were attacked by an unseen foe.

The whale we hit, death was his fate;
But not in malice, rage or hate.
No other course was left to me
So self defence is now my plea.

As people gaped in awe at such simple yet beautiful verse, the Escort Who Fights Line Warriors chuckled. "When I crossed the Equator for the first time back in '44, my crew did as many of our crews from the Western nations have always done and paid tribute to King Neptune for crossing into his domain. Most of my guys were reservists, never having gone to sea before. That made them 'pollywogs' who've never crossed that particular line of latitude in their service at sea. My captain was one of those 'pollywogs'. And while it wasn't seen as mandatory to do something like that, Captain Copeland went through it as way of showing he belonged among the 'shellbacks' — the experienced sailors who HAD crossed the line before — and wrote that poem in defence of what happened when I hit that poor whale after I was formally commissioned earlier that year."

She then gazed at Tariko. "Is that what you were aiming for, Admiral?"

The boy-turned-girl's eyes twinkled in amusem*nt as her other-self/twin brother Moroboshi Ataru — who wore a formal kimono as he was not properly Gifted — patted her shoulder. "So since we've all got things to do and I'm sure Snyder the Troll is going to be his jerk self once my admirals get back on Earth to go back to school, let's get this done," Brooke said.

Turning around, she grasped the bottle of peach brandy — a Sagussan drink which was dry and quite harsh to the tongue, she knew, having not tried it yet — hanging from a rope tied to the deckhead a couple metres above. "In the name of the people of the United States of America, I hereby christen thee United States Starship Samuel B. Roberts," she formally declared, putting a little power into her voice so everyone could hear. "May all the gods of Creation bless thee and all who sail within thee!"

The bottle was swung out through the forcefield to smash into the bow of the ten-to-one scale modified replica of the fifty-fifth of the John C. Butler-class destroyer escorts, the proud numbers 413 pained in larger peacetime standard just back from the forward edge of the ship on either flank. As that happened, drapes fell from the sides of the stubby funnel/particle intake vent amidships to display the badge of said ship, replicating Brooke's badge on her battlesuit given to her after her salvage/Gifting days before; such was being projected on screens to either side of the great starship's bow for the crowd to see. Even more, a drape over the rounded stern was pulled up to reveal her name in black peacetime lettering bracketed between the smaller hull numbers under the aft flanks of the quarterdeck which now served as her flying platform for two large shuttlecraft known in the American military as the CV-94 Star Flare, such available for personnel transport as well as scouting and light attack missions whenever required. Much to Brooke's personal relief as well — given she lost nearly HALF of her crew that day in late 1944 off Samar — the original design's small boats were replaced with enclosed bays on the sides of the superstructure housing a dozen shuttlecraft designated the UV-96 Space Dhow, which could be used for crew evacuation as well as ship's maintenance duties; there were also nearly a hundred two-man "worker bee" craft similar to what was seen in the first Star Trek film for detailed maintenance work.

As tractor arrays moved to swing the just-christened Roberts around to allow her port side to nudge against the bulkhead of the construction and let people come aboard via a physical gangway, people cheered...

****

Aboard the Roberts, an hour later...

"Roberts, this is Laffey. Accepting switch of call-sign of 'Navy One'. I relieve you, Commander."

"Laffey, this is Roberts. Acknowledge switch of call-sign to 'Navy One'. I stand relieved, Commander."

"Safe maiden flight, Brooke."

"Thanks, Brenda!"

As the starship version of the seventh of the Benson-class fleet destroyers peeled away to starboard from the newly-launched star frigate, the template of said starship sighed as she sat back in her chair, having switched back to her white-and-blue fighting battlesuit...which still had her rank of lieutenant commander visible on its collars; as she wasn't named after a member of the armed services which only used the pin-on insignia, the black fields were crossed with gold stripes in lieu of a simple gold oak leaf. "So how soon will we get Gamby's new ship out of the docks so we can do joint manoeuvres, Chief?"

The Avalonian-American chief engineer — known among her kind by the term "dockmistress-prime" — who had been in charge of Roberts' construction (as well as in charge of the whole project to build all the members of her class, including the two hundred-and-ten ships who had been cancelled mostly before they were even laid down; said vessels would be distributed to TWENTY-ONE other nations to help flesh out their own "fleets" of shipgirls) gazed on her dataPADD. "According to the Dockmistress-prime in charge of Casablanca-class construction, USS Gambier Bay — as well as the others of your old task unit, plus the Makassar Strait now — will be ready by mid-month, Shipmistress," she answered, addressing the reborn destroyer escort by the traditional Sagussan title for the commander of a starship. "However, given the scarcity of potential opponents who make use of small fighter and attack aircraft from dedicated aerospace mother ships — only the Urusians and the Goa'uld do something like that due to the distance between solar systems and the impractical nature of such combat in deep space unless you're close to a planetary body — the Pentagon has ordered that efforts are more concentrated to other types of warships."

"Lar'beke...!"

That was a giddy Chloe Zitzewitz; Brooke's old task unit mate was currently at the helm controls learning how to fly such a vessel in three dimensions as scant few American shipgirls had crews who had served on the dirigibles and blimps of the United States Navy, that having been quite the service specialty during World War Two. She was being guided in how to manipulate the two wheels — one for horizontal movements left-and-right, the other handling vertical movements up-and-down — while keeping a watch on the control board before her revealing the ship's orientation vis-à-vis surrounding space. While the others of the Scooby Gang were on the bridge save Rupert Giles — more studious ones like Willow Rosenberg and Tara Maclay taking the time to catch up on homework while their friends were busying themselves learning about all the stations located on the ninety foot-wide pilotage platform; fortunately, special acoustic transmitters were inserted all over to allow a person's voice to carry to the other side of such a huge space easily — the remainder of Roberts' "plank owners" were Avalonian-American civilians; not a single reservist from the Naval Operations Support Centres in Sacramento, Alameda or San Jose (selected as all were close to Brooke's adopted hometown of San Francisco) had yet to report aboard. Still, most of those who were putting FF(S)-413 through her paces were veterans of the "Army of Lum", the defence forces of the Union of Phentax Two which had been wiped out to a ship months before in the Mother of All Fight Scenes against the Oni warlord's daughter's so-called "most faithful" when the Avalonians as a race had been liberated from slavery, so there were no worries about "space cadets" screwing things up.

Thanking the Fates that she had been made to binge-watch all the Star Wars and Star Trek movies during the nights when she wasn't busy on the streets helping her admirals keep the spiritual peace over Sunnydale, Brooke sighed. "Okay, any of my own sisters — even the ones adopted out to all our allies — on their starships so we can do some joint manoeuvres?"

The older woman tapped controls. "Quite the few, in fact, Shipmistress," she noted.

"Shipmistress!" the bioroid manning the main communications station called out. "Incoming signal!"

"Who?!" Brooke asked.

"USCGC Douglas A. Munro."

That made the adopted San Franciscan perk. "Munro?! Oh, sweet! She was in...!"

Silence.

More silence.

Still more silence.

Then...

"'United States COAST GUARD CUTTER'?!" both Brooke and Chloe exclaimed, wide-eyed...

****

An hour later, near Mars...

"Damn...! I bet when the Commandant of the Guard learned you were back...!"

"He was seen doing an actual happy dance in the E-Ring," Alanna Munro finished for her older sister; the only ship named after the Coast Guard's singular Medal of Honour winner was the sixty-fourth of their overall class. "Especially since my starship-self's armament doesn't contain 'hot' items like missiles that can be fitted with antimatter warheads; no way were CNO or the commander of the SGC going to budge on that one." As Brooke Roberts nodded — being briefed on the people who were taking the fight to the Goa'uld in a way the "children of the gods" did not expect from the descendants of their former slaves, she couldn't wait for a chance to participate in off-world missions — the tomboyish brunette adopted of Vancouver in British Columbia (birthplace of her namesake SM1 Douglas Munro), Cle Elum in the middle of Washington (where he lived after migrating from Canada) and Houston in Texas (where she was built) added, "Of course, pure Coastie shipgirls have been coming back — E set that up at Cape May about a month after Admiral Wakefield brought her back to duty — and there's talk that the old four-pipers who got assigned to state naval militias might get a chance to go active in the Guard if the governors let them go." As both shipgirls shared a knowing smirk — no way in HELL would a governor of one of the several states or commonwealths of the Union want to let THAT type of asset out of their administrative hands! — Alanna sipped some of the "black gang" coffee her host's engineers provided for her when USS Samuel B. Roberts made her rendezvous with USCGC Douglas A. Munro over the red planet. Thinking on the starship prefix assigned to Munro, Brooke tried not to laugh, patting her shoulder at getting a fleet update for the Navy and Coast Guard as soon as she met Yvonne Swanson. Despite there being a surface ship with the same general name (without the middle initial) — a Hamilton-class high endurance cutter with hull number WHEC-724 based at Coast Guard Base Kodiak on the island of the same name off the Alaskan coast — the Commandant hadn't ordained a switch of ship prefix for Coast Guard starships, preferring the traditional "cutter" name for active vessels of the service. Atop that, since she was due to decommission soon — Sri Lanka wanted to put in a bid for her purchase — the confusion wouldn't be SO bad.

"One of our Canadian sisters should be here in a bit," Alanna noted, getting her mind back to the here-and-now, she gazing in the general direction of Earth. Both shipgirls were on the exposed port wing of the bridge; to allow them to talk normally, a protective atmosphere had been placed over the weather decks, which allowed members of the Scooby Gang and those crew off duty to get "fresh" air outside and view both the red planet and the white-red-blue starship now hovering off Roberts' port side at a distance of five miles, Munro's hull number at the bow with her service name just under the bridge, both in big black print.

"You've been briefed on the roenor'beke, haven't you?" the adopted Washingtonian/British Columbian then asked.

"Yeah! Can't believe that whole War of the Worlds thing H.G. Wells wrote all those years ago turned out to be REAL in the '50s; they had to get Major — excuse me, General — Raeburn and her pals together to put a stop to it," the adopted San Franciscan breathed out. "Why? Don't tell me there's a colony of the damned things living here on Mars? I thought they lived out in the Crab Nebula!" Here, she indicated that particular dead solar remnant in the constellation of Taurus, which was visible quite well to the naked eye from their position as they were orbiting well below the equator of Earth's nearest interplanetary neighbour.

"Matter of fact, there is, in underground cities and defence bases," Alanna warned, making Brooke's eyes widen. "Turns out that the Mor-Tax — that's what those things call themselves — came into the system just as the lar'beke were settling down on Earth." As her host snorted, the tomboyish frigate pointed towards the massif of Olympus Mons well above the starships' plane of orbit. "They couldn't tolerate Earth's atmosphere and didn't have Anquietas tech backing them up, so they moved here instead, building underground since average surface temperature is too cold for them to take. So there they stayed and lived until they noted that Earth's technology was on a rocket climb to the atmosphere back in the '40s thanks to the war before making their move."

"And they got their asses kicked."

"And they got their asses kicked..."

A flash of energy made both girls look aft to see another starship appear, it decelerating from warp speed quite smartly with the use of manoeuvring thrusters put into the bow. Another Butler-class as apparent by the two twin 50 inch/38 calibre Mark 12S naval rifles in Mark 38S mounts whose surface ship equivalents first appeared in the wartime Allen M. Sumner-class destroyers then slid in to position herself to the port quarter of Munro, her pearl grey-over-blue hull with the red maple leaf on the funnel marking her as one of the twenty-two cancelled ships of their class adopted by America's northern neighbour. "Kingston," Alanna warned on seeing the black 453 written under the bridge structure in the European style also adopted by Canada.

"Came back because the folks at that naval reserve unit in that town tried to get the one Flower-class girl who was kinda-sorta named after that town to come back and join the SWR...and she wound up coming extra," Brooke affirmed with a nod.

«Permission to come aboard?» then echoed in both shipgirls' heads.

"C'mon over, Phoebe!" Alanna called back verbally.

The flash of a PAA going off produced a woman their age in a red jumpsuit with gold belt and silver boots; her hull number on her upper thighs was actually in silver in lieu of the typical black for Canadian shipgirls to provide a better contrast to the dark crimson of her pant legs. Possessing long pony-tailed grey hair and pale amethyst eyes, she only had the one thick stripe of an acting sub-lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Navy; since she had not been built, the unnamed DE-427 now seen on the World of the Forge as the Watchful Fortress Maiden of the Lake, Tener'besu ("Kingston"), was directly commissioned into the service at the lowest level for one to bear the Queen's Commission while she apprenticed under both officer and senior non-commissioned members of her "host" naval reserve division HMCS Cataraqui, located near the Royal Military College of Canada on the east side of the river of the same name from the downtown section of Phoebe Alger-Howland's namesake city.

"Hey, Phoebe!" Alanna said as she and Brooke returned the newcomer's salute. "Out taking the cadets for a space cruise?"

The adopted Ontarian/Texan — who would have been built where Brooke had been at the Consolidated Steel shipyards in Orange on the Sabine River which formed part of the border with Louisiana — chuckled. "Isn't that simple," she said with a warning.

Her hosts both blinked in confusion...

****

The wardroom of HMCS Kingston, minutes later...

"So the roenor'beke actually tried to infiltrate the freshman class at RMC, Commissioner?" Chloe Zitzewitz demanded.

"We lost two, Captain," the man known to North Americans as a whole by the quite unnerving sobriquet Hunter of the Mi'kmaq breathed out as he sat back in the chair used by the frigate's executive officer while the members of the Scooby Gang looked over pictures and dataPADDs which had been brought to this meeting by a scowling team of both Specialized Warfare Regiment and Royal Canadian Mounted Police "P" Division — the latter was a new formation established in 2003 which absorbed the Force's non-magical metahumans under one field commander with national responsibilities — personnel, all of whom now looked ready to do some serious rape and pillaging in the eyes of the Hellmouth veterans. "Of course, our friends in 'W' Division..."

"Whom your personally trained, Commissioner," his division staff-sergeant major reminded him.

"Yes, Benton, whom I personally trained," Martin Larsden breathed out as he gazed with fond amusem*nt at SSM Benton Fraser, who returned that with a nonplussed look. "Well, they were happy to remove the evidence of alien involvement from being released willy-nilly to the press plus welcome the relatives into the 'Fidelius club' after I told them what happened..."

"All because of the umale around us, you mean?" Buffy Summers noted.

"Indeed so, Miss Summers," the native of Miramichi on the eastern shore of New Brunswick who was the Force's representative in the War Hawks — then ranked a staff sergeant in the Canadian Army's in-house military police corps — affirmed with an annoyed sigh. "Much that it seems our 'neighbours' in the Galactic Federation planet-states have become stupidly dependent on Niphentaxian social observations of our society to get choice intelligence on the goings-on across Earth — which they should have noticed by NOW has been cut off since early June our time! — trying to prevent too much of an alarm concerning the Mor-Tax of all the potential troublemakers who could cause issues with normal people is still the order of the day."

"Why would the roenor'beke try to raise issues now, Commissioner?" Willow Rosenberg asked.

"Sadly, the normal multi-department task group assigned to investigate these things couldn't find the nest where those two particular specimens came from, Miss Rosenberg," the man who had been literally blessed by the Great Old One known to Mi'kmaq myth as their own creator god Glooscap to be the ultimate hunter of both animals and men explained. "They're now teaming with auxiliary civilian investigators attached to 'P' Division — Avalonian-Canadians who have access to their former masters' scanning equipment — to scour everything within an eighty kilometre radius of the College itself."

"Recruiting in military forces from nations who have or had a coastline in the past is increasing quite exponentially because of the Liberation freeing many more of our bioroid friends to put on a uniform to protect Earth," Tara Maclay mused, nodding in understanding. "Since knowledge of these starships is getting out even while still censored from the general public, many normal Terrans who could be guaranteed to keep their mouths shut from the trash media are joining up to serve."

Here, the Tailor of Pure Chaos looked around to see several uniformed sailors aboard Kingston she sensed weren't Avalonians — all reservists from Cataraqui and her newly-formed sister naval reserve divisions located in Trenton, Cornwall and Peterborough in southeastern Ontario, HMC Ships Deseronto, Loyalist and Otonabee respectively — sporting the new Starship Flight Crew badges on their naval combat dress jackets. As many of them nodded or smiled to acknowledge they had actually overheard the arch-mage sorceress' comment, Tara sighed. "If only Labour Thanksgiving could come a little sooner...!"

"Makes the fight scene more enjoyable when A-man finally shuts that mess in Tomobiki down, Tara," Faith Lehane noted.

"Yeah, true...!" the Alabamian noted.

"So what's the plan here, sir?" Brooke Roberts asked; she was seated to Phoebe Alger-Howland's right at the other end of the table, with Alanna Munro to the adopted Canadian shipgirl's left. "Are these things still controlled from Mars?"

"That's long been suspected, Commander," Larsden declared as he reached into his tactical jacket to draw out a folded sheet of paper which he handed to Fraser. As the former deputy liaison officer based at the consulate in Chicago in the wake of his father's tragic murder in 1994 handed said note to Brooke — due to his exposure of corrupt members of the service when the truth behind what befell his late father Robert Fraser (who was one of Larsden's last trainees from the early 1950s before he retired from full-time work), the Northwest Territorian wouldn't get his corporal stripes until his father's teacher reviewed the man's service record after his return to work full time in 2001 — the New Brunswicker added, "That's the mission my group here is going to investigate. Since our Niphentaxian 'friends' were so nice to scout out potential base locations on Mars when they began full-time observations of Terrans before the Great War, we'll strike at one to get into computer records, seize what we can, then destroy the base while letting Kingston's crew get the chance to exercise their weapons." As the navy personnel grinned in anticipation, he waved to the letter he brought up after meeting Major General George Hammond at Colorado Springs Air Force Station. "That, Commander Roberts, is yours and Commander Munro's authorization from General Hammond to bring your ships into the shore bombardment mission to trial your weapons. Of course, Miss Summers, if you and yours care to join us?"

"Hunting roenor'beke?" the Mighty Maid of the Mountains hummed. "Never did that before. Guys?"

The others shrugged. "New one to me," Xander Harris noted as he allowed one hand's full of ki claws to jut from his fingertips. "Well, since it appears to be a public fight scene, no sense being rude and refuse."

"Let's go party!" the Belle of the Wilderness whooped...

****

On Mars within the Valles Marineris, an hour later...

The ringing of materializer beams made the people within the large chamber — not just humans whose bodies had been taken over by the natives of Mor-Tax but actual natives of that planet who refused to "debase" themselves by taking a "skin" for themselves despite the dexterity having a human shell offered — spin about before a storm of energy fire ripped through them without mercy from the platoon's worth of dark-suited warriors armed with weapons far more advanced than any of the natives of the Crab Nebula could recognize. "INVADERS! KILL THEM!" one human-possessing alien screeched...

...before a dark-haired man in a brown skin-tight uniform showing off considerable muscles landed before him. "No...!"

"Oh, yeah!" the Wild Scavenger of the Plains teased back as ki exploded from his fingertips to produce a pair of energy shanks.

With three sweeps of both his arms, Xander Harris gutted the leech-like creature within said body before decapitating and dismembering same, then he ducked away as someone who was a little faster on the trigger tried to to shoot him in the head. Said idiot was snared by the Untameable One before she sent the fool flying at supersonic speeds into the rock ceiling of this place, the being literally being crushed into paste by Hayashi Kanami's throw. Meanwhile, Buffy Summers was sweeping through both human-form and natural-form aliens ahead of a section of "P" Division warriors in bodysuits, their C25 pulse-particle weapons thundering at full automatic to render their targets nothing more than showering mists of red-and-gold gore.

Lunging ahead of her sister Slayer with the Escort Who Fights Line Warriors acting as wingman, the Belle of the Wilderness flung herself into the legs of the platoon's worth of tripod walkers whose actions on Earth still gave people who experienced such events nightmares even now, decades after the original "war of the worlds" befell humanity as a whole. While Faith Lehane used her arms to rip away the lumbering devices legs and render them useless, Brooke Roberts sent energy blasts into the mushroom cap-shaped co*ckpits, killing the pilots who had been trying to activate such machines' weapons systems so they could help in repulsing this attack on their base. Meanwhile, Willow Rosenberg, Tara Maclay and Coya Gutierrez were using their magic to transfigure the atmosphere into something that would choke the enemy forces; all non-FISS fighters who came from the Kingston had, atop standard body-shielding forcefield generators attached to their belts, air-tight portable rebreathers on their faces to allow them to operate while their targets were suffocating on a noxious mixture of diluted sulphuric acid mixed with a nasty version of Orthocoronavirinae virus particles proven over previous years to be ESPECIALLY deadly to the would-be conquerors of Earth.

"LARSDEN!" one voice screeched in outrage. "YOU DARE THINK WE WOULD FORGIVE...?!"

A pistol shot from the Hunter of the Mi'kmaq silenced the blonde woman in the dark uniform once a fair-sized hole appeared in her upper chest, right where her real body's head would be. "'Friend' of yours, Commissioner?" April Mears — who had volunteered herself to be Martin Larsden's personal bodyguard when they came down here — calmly asked...

...before the transformed gynoid blinked as a three-fingered alien hand tried to punch out her eyes!

The native of Miramichi didn't even blink as he snap-drew a pistol and blew said attacker's head apart — that one was moving to burst free of its human shell after getting close enough to the Wild Beast of the Mountains so it could try to possess her — before April's well-aimed foot down THERE sent the rest of the creature flying into a handy stalactite, it splattering its remains over a just-activated tripod's co*ckpit. Before the pilots could see the danger in time, April then leapt into the air to throw herself right into the body of said walker, crumpling it with the ease a normal person could crush an empty can of soda. Also, the impact of said collision sent the machine falling perfectly to punch through a set of double doors leading into a side cavern.

Landing atop the destroyed tripod, April looked into said cavern to see a company's worth of Mor-Tax youth, many screeching in understandable fright on seeing the obvious metahuman now there. Before the human-form guardian could draw his own weapon and shoot back, Chloe Zitzewitz and Alanna Munro landed to either side of the former gynoid, their arms glowing brightly. April deftly ducked out of the way as the two shipgirls turned the cavern into a virtual crematorium with their energy blasts — augmented by the Skittish Jackrabbit's own Dying Will Flames, which could burn as easily as they could render any target calm — eliciting a symphony of agonized shrieks from the aliens as they were instantly incinerated.

"Damn!" the adopted Washingtonian known now on Yiziba as the Herald of the Revenue Service, Douglas A. Munro, declared with a visible wince on her face as her nostrils took in the heady stench of burning alien flesh. "Heard that some of the Japanese shipgirls actually LIKE eating jellyfish! How could they stand the stench of something like that?!"

"They're fishermen, Munro!" the reborn aircraft carrier noted before her special empathy — which registered to her as if she had put up all the aircraft from Composite Squadron 10, her on-board group of Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo planes and General Motors FM-2 Wildcat fighters, before getting into this place — warned her of attacks from behind.

Spinning around, the adopted Alaskan produced a sheer WALL of flame at the half-dozen natural-form Mor-Tax lunging at her. "MURDERERS!" one of them screeched as all three of its arms tried to snare the blonde woman's face.

Said creature was instantly vaporized — as were all its fellows — by the soul flame-empowered aircraft carrier. A voice then barked out from one computer station nestled against the wall of the main chamber, "All data retrieved, Commissioner!"

Hearing that from SSM Benton Fraser — who had been tasked to break into the aliens' computer networks using a specially-prepared mesonium crystal to draw out all the data which was stored there or could be linked from that station from elsewhere — Larsden relaxed himself as he slung his M1C Garand rifle. "NOW, LIEUTENANT!"

«Energizing, Commissioner!»

In showers of energy, the attacking force of Terrans, Avalonians and adopted Yizibajohei were pulled off the planet...

****

Aboard HMCS Kingston...

"Fire all weapons, Chief!"

"Aye-aye, ma'am!"

Instantly, the starboard side of the starship replica of the fifty-eighth of the John C. Butler-class destroyer escorts lit up as four 50 inch/38 calibre space naval rifles spat out twenty-five tonne shells towards the target over a hundred kilometres away, the weapons in both "A" and "Y" turrets warming up to the design limit of fifteen rounds per minute within seconds. At the same time, the primary weapons of both USS Samuel B. Roberts and USCGC Douglas A. Munro — both of whom had been floating close to the Canadian frigate while they waited for the away party from Kingston to get off the planet — also fired, the effectively civilian crew of the Navy starship quickly matching their more experienced Coast Guard counterparts in gusto as the square-kilometre patch of ground housing the target was turned into an effective charnel house of wrecked machinery and vehicles intermixed with and obliterated bodies which would immediately freeze in Mars' sub-zero autumn weather...

...hadn't one Mark 50S ADCAP missile fired from Roberts — whose launch had been authorized by Josiah Bartlet before the attack began — smashed down on the wrecked site, its antimatter warhead instantly going off to turn everything within a hundred kilometres of the impact point into a very LARGE and DEEP "bay" within the dry extent of the Valles Marineris...

To Be Continued...

****

WRITER'S NOTES

Carrying on the Taffy Three stories, this short occurs seventeen days prior to Boy Meets Girl Meets Metahuman.

Translation list (all German except when noted): Japanische Kameraden — Japanese comrades; Korvettenkapitän — Corvette Captain, equal to a lieutenant commander in English-speaking navies; Tante — Aunt; Marynarka Wojenna — War Navy (Polish); Schiffsmädchen — Ship maidens/shipgirls; Drachentöter — Dragon Slayers; Kanadische — Canadian; Australische und Neuseeländische Kameraden — Australian and New Zelander comrades; Raumschiffe — Starships; FF(S) — Space frigate (United States Navy hull classification code); CV — Cargo V/STOL aircraft (United States tri-service aircraft designation); UV — Utility V/STOL aircraft (United States tri-service aircraft designation); CNO — Chief of Naval Operations, senior officer of the United States Navy (English abbreviation); SM1 — Signalman First Class (United States Navy/Coast Guard enlisted rate/rating code); WHEC — Coast Guard High Endurance Cutter (United States Coast Guard hull classification code); Roenor'beke — Jellyfish leech (Yizibajohei); RMC — Royal Military College of Canada, the Canadian Forces' tri-service basic officer university (English abbreviation); ADCAP — Advanced Capability (English abbreviation).

Brooke Roberts (USS Samuel B. Roberts) is entitled to wear the following medals/decorations on her uniform:

RIGHT SIDE
The Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive), award for being in direct combat on surface warships or part of ground forces against the enemy; this is the Navy's version of the Army's Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) and similar badges awarded to soldiers who fought in active ground combat missions;
The Presidential Unit Citation, shared award for Taffy Three warships/crews present at the Battle off Samar; and
The Philippines Presidential Unit Citation, shared award for all United States Navy ships/crews who helped in the liberation of the islands from 17 October 1944 to 4 July 1945.
LEFT SIDE
The American Campaign Medal, awarded for service in American home waters;
The Asian-Pacific Campaign Medal with one battle star, awarded for service in the Asian-Pacific theatre of operations (the battle star marking her service in the Battle of Leyte Gulf);
The World War Two Victory Medal, awarded for general service in the Second World War; and
The Philippine Liberation Medal, co-awarded with the republic's PUC for the same reasons as noted above.

As an aside, the medals awarded to Luisa von Bismarck-Schönhausen (KMS Bismarck) will be explained in a future omake.

Shipgirls introduced here, starting with Germany...

Kapitän zur See Alexandra Anastasia, Freiin von Lützow DKM (Seiner Majestät Schiff/Deutsches Marineschiff Lützow [pennant 47])
KptzS Gurdun Pernille Hoffmann DKM (Seiner Majestät Schiff/Deutsches Marineschiff Frauenlob [pennant K26])
KptzS Isabelle Rebekka Feldmann DKM (Seiner Majestät Schiff/Deutsches Marineschiff Rostock [pennant K58])

From Germany, soon to be adopted by Poland...

Kapitän zur See Clara Anna, Fürstin von Greifen DKM (also known as Komandor Klarysa Anna z Gryfici MW) (Seiner Majestät Schiff Pommern [pennant 22], later Okręt Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej Pomorze [pennant 01])

This story foreshadows Clara von Greifen/Klarysa z Gryfici (SMS Pommern/ORP Pomorze) joining the Polish Navy (short-formed MW for Marynarka Wojenna ["War Navy"] of course) after the events of this story. All Polish warships get the ship prefix Okręt Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej ("Warship of the Republic of Poland", short-formed ORP) naturally; since she is still a capital ship despite her being a pre-dreadnought, Clara/Klarysa's pennant number does not receive a pennant superior letter.

From the magical side of Canada...

Captain (Navy) Dorothy Joan Holland RCN(M) (His/Her Majesty's Canadian Ship Argo [BB-08, formerly pennant 08])
Capt(N) Patricia Beatrice Chennalton RCN(M) (His/Her Majesty's Canadian Ship Chennalton [BB-49, formerly pennant 49])

The backstory of these and their Australian/New Zealander sisters will be explained in a future chapter of Magic and Canada. Specific notes concerning Patricia Chennalton (HMCS Chennalton) can be read in the writer's notes of Part 44 of BmGmM.

...and now the Dominion's normal side...

Acting Sub-Lieutenant Phoebe Renée Alger-Howland RCN (His/Her Majesty's Canadian Ship Kingston [FFE-453])

Phoebe takes after the Blue Oath version of Brooke Roberts (USS Samuel B. Roberts); such can be seen on Danbooru at entry #4159289. She was one of two hundred-and-ten ships of the John C. Butler-class never completed for the United States Navy; like many of them, the would-be DE-427 never got even a name before the contract for her construction was cancelled in 1944. Because of her lack of service, Phoebe was given the basic entry commissioned officer's rank Acting Sub-Lieutenant (short-form ASLt), equal to a United States Navy ensign. Her hull code FFE means Escort Frigate.

As for the ship "named" after the Limestone City of Ontario:

Lieutenant (Navy) Moira Callander Bull RCN (His/Her Majesty's Canadian Ship Frontenac [PC-591, formerly pennant K335])

As there was an active ship named Kingston in the Royal Navy at the time, it was decided to use the name for the county which the Canadian city was a part of for the corvette "named" in her honour. Like all Canadian escort ships, Moira Bull (HMCS Frontenac) received pennant superior letter K during her time in commission; the peacetime hull code assigned to corvette shipgirls in the Royal Canadian Navy is PC (Patrol Corvette), numbered in order of launching from 500-699, marking Frontenac as the ninety-second such vessel launched for Canada. Her rank is Lieutenant (Navy) (short-formed Lt[N]), called such to differentiate from the Army rank of the same name, which is one step down pay-wise from the Navy rank.

And now the United States...

Commander Doreen Alanna Munro USCG (also Commander USN) (United States Coast Guard Cutter Douglas A. Munro [WMSM-422], formerly United States Ship Douglas A. Munro [DE-422])

She takes after Brooke's Warship Girls interpretation, which can be seen on Danbooru at entry #2563574. Being of the United States Coast Guard (USCG), she is given the service's universal ship prefix of United States Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC). Her hull code WMSM indicates she is a Medium Security Cutter; years ago, she would have got WDE (Coast Guard Destroyer Escort) but given the greater law enforcement emphasis of the Coast Guard, the former hull code fits her more.

The poem Brooke Roberts (USS Samuel B. Roberts) recites here when she moves to launch her starship-self — and the incident surrounding it — actually did happen; the poem was written by her only commanding officer, then-Lieutenant Commander Robert W. Copeland (1910-1973). The events of the ship's passing over the equator can be read about in the third chapter of James D. Hornfischer's 2004 seminal work The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors.

Concerning the seaborne USCGC Douglas Munro (hull number WHEC-724), she would be decommissioned in real life in 2021, being sold to Sri Lanka; her new name has yet to be determined at the time this story was written.

HMCS Cataraqui is one of the twenty-four real-life naval reserve divisions (NRD) within the Royal Canadian Navy; like NOSCs of the United States Navy, these are shore-based facilities where part-time sailors gather to train and prepare for service in the active maritime fleet. Cataraqui is located in the city of Kingston itself at the northeastern corner of Lake Ontario, across the river of the same name (also the southern terminus of the Rideau Canal) from the downtown section of said city as noted above. Her "sisterships" introduced in the fifth scene are my creation. HMCS Deseronto, headquartered at Canadian Forces Base Trenton next to the city of the same name on the shores of Lake Ontario, is named in honour of Mohawk warrior Captain John Deseronto AKA Odeserundiye (born in the 1740s, died in 1811); he led his people across the late after the Revolutionary War to settle in a reserve east of modern-day Trenton. HMCS Loyalist, headquartered in Cornwall on the Saint Lawrence River near the Québec border, is named after the United Empire Loyalists; these are people formerly of the then-future United States who remained loyal to the British Crown during the Revolutionary War. And HMCS Otonabee, headquartered in Peterborough on the Trent-Severn Waterway connecting Lakes Ontario and Huron, is named after the Otonabee River where the city itself was first founded in 1819 as Scott's Plains; the town would be incorporated under its proper name in 1850.

The events depicted in the 1988-1990 television series The War of the Worlds, created by Greg Strangis, which forms part of the background lore of this story is based on a re-interpretation of the 1953 film of the same name produced by George Pal and directed by Byron Haskin. The television series' main difference from the movie (and the original novel) was the alien invaders did not come from Mars; at the time Mr. Strangis moved to create the series, the possibility of life on Mars had been totally discounted. In the universe of this story, I have the Mor-Tax (the name of the aliens' home planet as well as their species names; sometimes, the demonym is rendered as "Mor-Taxian") hail from the Crab Nebula, a destroyed star in the constellation of Taurus between 4900-8100 light years from Earth; the nova which destroyed said star was first observed in China in 1054 CE.

Constable (now Staff Sergeant Major) Benton Fraser is the star of the 1994-1998 television crime comedy/drama series Due South, produced by Paul Haggis and starring Paul Gross as Fraser, a somewhat naïve member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who went to work for the Canadian consulate in Chicago in the wake of the murder of his father Sergeant Robert Fraser (played by Gordon Pinsent). Of course, due to corruption in the Force as discovered by Fraser in the pilot episode of the series, he is effectively exiled to the Windy City, later working alongside several local police officers such as Detective Ray Vecchio (played by David Marciano) and his effective stand-in, Detective Stanley Raymond Kowalski (played by Callum Keith Rennie) when Vecchio goes undercover. Once the issues that made Fraser travel south were fully resolved by series' end, he returned to Canada, though the effective "stain" of his exposing of corrupt superiors prevented his being promoted above Constable (short-formed Const) for some time as noted above. As an aside, the rank of Staff Sergeant-Major (SSM) is a unique administrative appointment given most often to a staff-sergeant (S/Sgt; such is roughly equal in rank to a Canadian Forces warrant officer/petty officer first class) appointed as the senior non-commissioned member of a field division of the Force.

Note that neither "P" Division nor "W" Division of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) exist in real life. In my stories, "W" Division is the magical-only part of the Force; such was first introduced in Part Nine of Magic and Canada.

The Starship Flight Crew (SFC) badge would incorporate the central crest of a Canadian Forces astronaut (the image of a silver globe with a maple leaf flying on red streaks into a field of stars, the whole framed by red wreaths of laurel) topped by the Royal Crown, silver wings rising up to frame the wreaths (not stretched out to the viewer's left or right as actual astronaut or pilots would be given). Navy personnel would wear the badge with a gold anchor embossed over the centre of the badge. Army personnel assigned to starships wear crossed gold crusader swords over the badge, Air Force personnel wear the plain badge and Special Operations Forces personnel would have tan brown wings, crossed black V-42 stiletto daggers over the centre of the badge. Qualifying for the SFC marks people who have learned the basics of operating all general systems on such a vessel; the personnel from Cataraqui and her sister NRDs seen here all either qualified directly on Kingston or on other starships.

A composite squadron (United States Navy short-code VC) is a mixed-mission unit that controlled the aircraft compliment of an escort aircraft carrier. Composite Squadron 10 (VC-10) was first formed in 1943 to serve as USS Gambier Bay's aircraft unit, flying the Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber and the General Motors-produced version of the Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter (known as the FM-1). After Gambier Bay was sunk, VC-10 returned stateside to prepare for a new deployment overseas when the war ended and the squadron was disbanded. VC-10 would stand up again when the then-existing Utility Squadron 16 (VJ-16) was re-numbered/re-designated VU-10 in 1945; VJ-16 was formed in 1943 in Puerto Rico. The second incarnation of this unit — nicknamed the "Challengers"; the original squadron didn't have an official nickname — would switch back to the VC-10 designation in 1965; said unit was disestablished in 1993 during post-Cold War reductions of naval aviation forces.