SEXY SLIPPERS REQUIEM:

A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME

A tale of the crossworld of Xai

by Badgerman (badger@infinet.com)


AUTHOR'S NOTE: I joined the Sexy Slippers project to begin fleshing out my
own continuity, the world of Xai.  I had so much fun with a tangental
Sailor Moon crossover, I wondered how a direct one would go . . .





	Portal Aleph was not a pleasant place to arrive in Xai, it was just
merely the most common location for new travelers.  Imagine a man designing
a bus depot, an airport, a warehouse, and a mad scientists laboratory, then
combining them all at once, and you're as close to imagining Portal Aleph
without visiting it or using illegal substances.

	Machinery and people were everywhere.  Magnetic coils hummed, twisting
space-time for movements of shielded cargo.  People appeared and
disappeared into the quantum fluxes.  Sentinels kept a watch for trouble,
or the occasional poor soul dragged to Xai but the currents of space-time
and back luck.

	Alethia Jeans would have considered it all very impressive if she hadn't
worked for the Traveler's Guild for years.  You got used to things, though
she could definitely get used to the  latest person who'd come to her
processing booth.

	He was tall, he was dark-haired, he was handsome in a pretty way, he was
dressed like royalty, and he had pecs you could bounce Guilders off of.
Compared to the usual selection of people that passed by her monitoring
system, he was a work of art and a hot dream rolled into one.

	"Name?"

"En-King Endymion."  The handsome man passed a Traveler's Guild identity
card through a slot in Alethia's security booth.  She watched the data
scroll up on her monitor screen.

	Name.  Yes.  Representative.  Nexial-parallel Level 3 earth,
representative of . . .

	The Solar System.

	Alethia blinked.   The whole damn solar system.  She checked her data.
Crystal Tokyo.  Moon Kingdom.  The guy had one weird past and strange
resume.  And . . .

	"I'm noting you're a cross-chrononal.  You've been briefed, on . . ."

	"Yes."  The royal visitor said tiredly.  "I don't need any of the
Traveler's Guild free physicals either.  May I go?"

	Apparently Mr. Neo-King was in a bad mood.  Alethia gave it no more
thought.  He was processed and through.

"Welcome back to Xai King Endymion.  We have a train leaving for Metris,
if you wish."

	"No thanks, I'll fly."

	With a sweep of his cape, the King of Crystal Tokyo passed out of Portal
Aleph.  It was about five minutes until Alethia realized that he hadn't
asked about any available dirigible flights.

	She sighed.  Another weirdo.  She doubted anyone was having a day as
strange as hers.



	Jade found herself with a throbbing headache, hands tied, lying on the
floor in a dimly lit room.  Several thoughts passed through her head,
including that this was not going to be a good day.  She certainly couldn't
remember anything she'd done to get into this position, fun or not.

	"Awake, I see.  Sorry for the lump on your head."

	A woman walked out of the darkness, a tall Vulpine like Jade.  Black fur
with white hands and ears, like Jade, green eyes . . .

	Wait a moment.

	"This may sound stupid of me, " Jade managed to get out, "but you're me.
Have you noticed this?"

	"Yes.  I needed to appropriate your identity.  I need you here for the
duration.  Sorry, again." the faux-Jade looked over the prone original.
"You seem fine, I've got the slippers, in a few hours, I'll be able to
leave and free you."

	Jade blinked, and sat up, the world swimming out of focus.  She steeled
herself, got her recalcitrant mind and body out of control, and looked at
her doppleganger.

	"Slippers, what . . . oh, geez, those?"

	"Oh, yes, those enchanted wastes of thaumaturgy from Queen Serenity.
They're proving to be quite useful by now, I suspect she's already felt the
effects."

	Jade scowled.  The words held a nasty edge of pure malice. "Effects?  OK,
look, pretend I'm not Huan-Jen here and explain."

	The copycat Jade stepped back a few feet.  "Oh, don't worry.  The good
queen forgot that enchantment goes both ways.  A revolving door if you
will.  It won't affect Xai at all, in fact, it may be better for it in the
long run.  Now, you'll excuse me . . ."

	As her duplicate walked towards the only door in the bare room, Jade
tried to get a grip on her surroundings.  Yeah, one door, no furnishings, a
plastic bottle of what was probably water, and a fluorescent light in the
ceiling.  Not a friendly place.

	"Oh, and don't think abut escaping.  I've known all kinds of false
heroes, there's nothing to cut your ropes with, no shards of glass.
There's no air vents big enough to crawl through.  So, please just wait."

	The door shut.  There were the sounds of several locks being locked.

	Jade didn't know what was going on.  She vaguely knew someone who made
those strange slippers was in trouble.  She knew she didn't like being
knocked unconscious.  She also knew the person was stupid.

	Nothing to cut the ropes with?

	Jade looked down at her bound wrists and smiled a smile full of sharp,
white teeth.

Now, she could only hope that until she got herself free, Huan would
notice she was missing or wasn't herself.



	"No, the doorman said Jade left a few minutes ago.  No.  No. I . . . look
Slate, relax, I'll have her call you.  Bye.  Goodbye."

	Huan-Jen hung up the phone and lay back on the couch.  Jade's brother was
progressively more annoying, more protective, and less pleasant.  He had
certainly taken a turn for the worse lately, and the cleric suspected it
was soon to affect his relationship with Garnet.

	It was certainly affecting Jade.  He'd hoped she'd be here, but the
doorman had said she'd left awhile ago.  Probably to head out with Clairice
or someone, relax a bit.  Certainly the two of them had been working hard
as of late.

	Something stirred at the edge of the mystic's mind.  He slid off the
couch, suddenly seeming to blend in with the shadows of the room.  He'd
formerly been a dark-haired Chinese man in jeans and jacket - suddenly he
seemed just to be . . . not seeable.

	The patio door slid open, and a man entered the room.  Most people would
not expect a break-in on the tenth floor, but Huan-Jen had lead a rather
unusual life in an unusual city, Besides, he regularly used the patio
instead of the door.

	The unexpected visitor was a tall, dark-haired, dignified man in almost
Elizabethan (well, Nexial-Earth Elizabethan) clothes.  He looked around,
not noticing the man who was, in all reality, standing right in front of
him.

	"Excuse me."

	With a swirl of a cape, the invader turned around, looking for the source
of the voice.  it didn't seem to come from anywhere.  No one had been in
the apartment, he'd swore . . .

	"I'm sorry, I'm in a hurry.  You must be Huan-Jen."

	"I am."  Suddenly the oriental mystic was right beside him.  Endymion
started.  He hadn't seen or heard anything suggesting movement.  Serenity
had once said he was like a knife with no substance . . .

	"Why did you break in here."  Huan-Jen asked.  He was calm, but his voice
held a sincere and honest promise of violence.

	"I was in a hurry, I need the slippers.  It's an emergency.  My wife is .
. . struck down.  My name is Endymion.  My wife is Serenity, she'd crafted
them for you and their existence is creating an illness."

	The magician-priest's eyes appeared to search is features, but the king
felt he was looking much deeper.  It was like having someone suddenly
inside your head, looking out through your eyes, and you couldn't stop them
because somehow they belonged there.

	"I see."  Huan-Jen said suddenly.  "You could have handled this better.
Come."

Endymion followed the mystic into a hall, and there into a study filled
with bookshelves and cabinets.  He opened an older-looking one made of
lacquered wood, revealing an interior coated, to the King's surprise, in
plates of red Jade.  A variety of strange things lay within, but apparently
none were what Huan-Jen was looking for.

"Endymion, I'm afraid . . . they're not here."  Huan-Jen's cold attitude
turned apologetic.  "Jade certainly wouldn't have removed them.  Not
without telling me."

	"And let me guess, you haven't seen her as of late?"

	"No."  The magician-priest's voice was worried.  "That, I take it is
significant?"

	"I see."  The Neo-king pinched the bridge of his nose.  "I'm afraid,
Huan-Jen, you have Mirrormen."



	Jade gnawed away at her bonds.

	Whatever her duplicator had tied her hands with it was tough and tasted
terrible.  However, she was determined to get out, get free, and kick her
own ass as soon as possible.

	Why someone would want to duplicate her was a curiosity to her.  Huan's
may have occasionally had his brain in another dimension, but his strange
senses could spot someone not-being her right away.  That meant either the
person didn't know Huan, was stupid, or didn't care.

	Either way, she kept chewing.



Endymion looked over the patio's safety railing and into the afternoon sky.

	"They're . . .  I suppose you could say rebels.  The used fragments of
Daimon egg and other old weapons to make themselves into something else,
shapechangers, stealers of identities.  They must have the slippers - and
be reversing their energies.  The effect is . . . unpleasant.  From what
you tell me, they probably duplicated your lover.  They may have her."

	Huan-Jen nodded.  Endymion had yet to figure the man out.  He was
obviously angry and worried about Jade, but at the same time as placid as a
pond on a windless day.  The Neo-King wondered what lurked in those depths,
because being near the magician-priest felt like standing next to a
thunderstorm about to begin.

	"Their numbers are likely small, so we are probably dealing with one or
two.  They will likely keep the slippers in close proximity.  Do they need
a living template?"

	"I don't know."

	Huan-Jen looked out the window, lost in thought.

	"You . . . don't seem worried, Huan-Jen."

	"I am very worried, but I let it pass through me, else I won't be able to
help Jade or your wife.  Jade is capable of taking care of herself at any
rate."

	The Neo-King looked into a distance only he can see.  "You're quite
confident.  I can feel Serenity's suffering from here.  I cannot be so
confident."

"You lead a magiocratic monarchy, Endymion.  You will never be confident
or secure."  The words weren't cruel, they were sincere.

	"I know.  Well, sorcerer, any solutions?"

"You can fly, judging by how you got here, Endymion?"

	Endymion nodded.  It seemed fairly obvious, he hadn't arrived on Xai with
a ten-story ladder or appeared in Huan-Jen's apartment with
mountain-climbing gear.

	"Can you carry me?"

	Despite the fact the Neo-King was anxious to save his wife, he had a
momentary flash of what he'd look like flying around Metris with a large
Chinese man under his arm, and what people would think.  Sanity reasserted
itself quickly, but not to well.

	"I can manage. Why?"

	"When I . . . let go, become what I call 'Open' I can sense the patterns
of the world.  I can probably find the slippers if we have a reasonable
flight plan."

	"Really."  The Neo-King looked at the cleric in disbelief.  "Won't that
call attention to ourselves?"

	"You really aren't familiar with Xai or Metris, are you . . ."

	

	"I brought you . . ."

	The Mirrorman, still looking like Jade, found the roomed he'd locked her
in was empty.  He/she set down the tray of mealbars and water on the floor,
and stalked into the room.  A length of rope lay on the floor.  The faux
Jade picked it up - it wasn't a clean cut.  It appeared . . .

	Something leapt on him from above, slamming him into the floor.  He felt
his body crack, pain lancing through his skin.  It had to be her, and like
an idiot, he'd assumed she'd freed herself and somehow escaped.

	Jade sprung to her feet and kicked the Mirrorman in the stomach, his skin
becoming a mass of fractures.  He rolled away, screaming, Jade in pursuit.

	The Vulpine tried to deliver another kick, but her opponent grabbed her
foot and threw her back with surprising strength.  He climbed to his feet,
the shatter-marks on his false skin slowly closing.  Jade compounded the
injury by giving him the finger.

	"I don't know who you are, but, and I mean this, fuck you."

	The Mirrorman ran at Jade, enraged.  He'd come all the way here, had so
many plans, and then she messed everything up and then . . .

	'Fuck you' had been the final straw.

	Jade, however, calmly shifted aside and tripped the screaming rebel,
sending him headfirst into a wall.  As he recovered, she considered
attacking again, then thinking better of it, sprinted for the door.

	"Damn you!"  The Mirrorman rubbed his shin, flakes of himself falling
onto the floor.  It wasn't exactly a really impressive thing to say, but it
felt good to yell something.

	Jade laughed in the distance.  Subtlety had never been her strong point -
or any point for that matter.



	The Warehouse District of Metris was such in name only.  Like most of the
city, it was a mixture of businesses, homes, stores, and apartments - only
in this case it just happened to have more warehouses.  Thus, for those
dedicated to bad crime novels, it was not a rampant place of criminal
activity, at least above and beyond what any part of Metris usually
encountered when the Gendarmes weren't about.

It was thus that a rather surprised Huan-Jen and a rather tired Endymion
descended on the district, the mystic held in the arms of the Neo-King in
what would have been a suggestive manner if either of them had anything to
suggest.

	"Hmmm."  Huan-Jen stepped out of Endymion's reluctant embrace and onto
the rooftop of a warehouse.  "This is unusual.  This is usually such a
quiet place.  Anyone here for awhile would arouse suspicions."

	"Perhaps the Mirrorman is here temporarily."

	"True.  I can get a feel for the slippers, they're definitely here.
Actually, something far more is here.  The . . . sense is stronger than I
expected."

Endymion shook his head sadly.  "This just gets worse."

	There was a clanging sound as a rooftop access door was slammed open.
Jade charged out, apparently in a hurry and very angry.  She glared at the
mystic and the Neo-King.  Endymion allowed himself a smile - with Jade
here, they were likely near the Mirrorman.

	"I see your lover . . ."

	"Duck."  Huan-Jen said simply, before appearing to flow behind a
ventilation shaft.

A thin, sparkling shard flew by Endymion's neck.  His cape swirling
defensively, as if of a life of its own, he flew back, joining the
magician-priest.

	"Mirrorman?"

Endymion nodded.  "How'd you guess?"

	"It doesn't have Jade's soul."  Huan-Jen stated flatly.  "It's also
coming this way.  How adept are you at dealing with these creatures?"

	"I haven't directly, but I am willing to try.  I'd figure you the kind to
avoid conflict."

	"I am.  However I get the impression that leaving such a creature
unsubdued will hinder our search.  Let me see what I can do, stand
prepared."

	"Understood."  The Neo-King turned towards the Mirrorman's last location
and listened.  He could hear it approaching, cautiously.  That was good -
the Mirrormen we subtle creatures, only prone to charge into battle if they
were sure they could win.

	"Excuse me?"  It was Huan-Jen's voice.  Endymion peered out from behind
the hiding spot to see the doppleganger of Jade, it's form distorting
towards a more mannish shape, turn to face the cleric.  It seemed quite
surprised to see him there, surprise he took advantage of.

	Huan-Jen's body moved like quicksilver, delivering small kicks and
punches to strategic areas of the Mirrorman's body - or what would have
been strategic locations had he faced a human.  As he was unfortunate to
have less choice in selecting his species of opponent, his attacks
unsteadied the Mirrorman, his attacks left strange, cracked dents in its
body, but his attacks also only annoyed it.  The kidnapper responded by
casting razor-sharp fragments of its body at him, only to discover Huan-Jen
was never quite where he expected him to be.

	Stalemate, Endymion thought, though he had the nasty suspicion Huan-Jen
was pulling his attacks.  Time for him to get involved.

	"Mirrorman?"

	The creature looked over at the Neo-King.  It was barely recognizable as
a copy of Jade, more resembling a statue with her features painted on it.
The Mirrorman glared at him with unrestrained contempt.

	"Enymd . . ." it began.

	There was a shout from Endymion that Huan-Jen couldn't make out, largely
because he was sliding behind a collection of empty metal crates sitting on
the roof.  There was a tremendous rush of air and a sound almost like hail.
The Mirrorman howled inhumanly.

	The Neo-King flopped besides Huan-Jen while the sorcerer tried to get a
glance at their staggering opponent.  Huan-Jen blinked, looked, and blinked
again.  Finally he turned to Endymion.

	"Roses?" The magician-priest asked credulously.

	"Yes?"

	"Um.  Can you create a more damaging form of plant life?  An evergreen or
a baobob perhaps?"

	Endymion looked at his companion, detecting no hint of sarcasm.  He shook
his head.  "The roses are . . . well, they did stun him."

	"I noticed.  Perhaps I was too restrained."

	"You were."

	"I know, Jade, but . . ."

Huan-Jen and Endymion looked beside them.  Jade stood next to the Neo-King
looking innocent, an amazing feat for her.  Before they could say anything,
a series of metallic shards burst against the crate.

"Endymion!"  the Mirrorman's voice was an inhuman howl, "You had to
follow, out of your own ego, didn't you?"

"Red Malachi"  Endymion spat, recognizing the voice.

"Endymion, I sense he's coming . . ." Huan-Jen began, his placid voice
turning authoritative.  "Back, by the shaft.  Jade?"

	"No problem.  Cape-boy, meet us there."

	Another shard-blast shook the crate, flecks of the strange material
ricocheting off of the roof.  Huan-Jen moved, vanishing.  Jade took a
running leap, shards dogging her footsteps.

Endymion realized he'd be the best draw, and took flight.

	Red Malachi was no longer remotely human looking - or even Jade-looking.
He was now a vaguely human mass of reflective metal and sharp surfaces.  A
simple look at the soaring Neo-King sent parts of his body lancing outward,
only to return boomerang-like when he had missed.  Endymion led him on a
quick chase, trying to draw him away from Huan-Jen and Jade's hiding place.

	"How much time, Neo-king?  How much longer can she endure?  Your poor
wife, wasting her time up there with games, games played with lives, like
always."

	Endymion steeled himself.  He vaguely knew of Red Malachi, and definitely
knew he was trying to annoy him.  He debated what to do, and decided he
knew little enough.  At least he had allies, and doing something foolish
like charging him and hoping the Earth Blade was enough was not a smart
strategy.

	Though it would have been damn satisfying.

	The Neo-King soared low, off of the roof, then alighted behind the
ventilation shaft, next to the mystic and the Vulpine.  He heard the
Mirrorman scream in frustration, which he did admit he enjoyed.

	"So why are you avoiding this guy?" Jade asked.

"They're deadly"  Endymion spat, straining his ears to hear for his enemy.
"Hard to defeat.  Most of the enemies we dealt with were of similar stock,
most had a flaw to their being, but the Mirrormen . . ."

	"A flaw . . ." Huan-Jen was thoughtful, still calm.

	"Flaw?"  Jade looked incredulous, "Look, Huan, the guy went to pieces
when I hit him.  I mean, this is me . . ."

	There was silence.  Only the sound of the occasional poorly-aimed
mirrorshard burst split the quiet.

	"Morphogenic resonance."  Huan-Jen waved a finger didactically.  "Makes
the multi-mopric part of his biostructure vulnerable."

	Jade nodded, then looked at the Neo-King.

Endymion raised an eyebrow.  "When we dealt with youma I distracted them
until my wife-to-be-blasted them for a the most part.  Sorry."

	"What a fascinating relationship you two must have." Jade replied cynically.

	"We can't talk, dear," Huan-Jen raised a hand.  "Now let me say those
dreaded words - 'I have a plan. . .'"



	Red Malachi waited.

	It was a matter of time, of course.  People like Endymion always broke
eventually and had to take action.  They couldn't wait.  Of course, he also
was quite frazzled over his wife being made ill by a stupid expenditure of
her power.  Feh.  Slippers.  Magic sex footware.  She hadn't put the proper
precautions into creating them . . .

	 . . . and he and the Mirrormen found a way to turn the simple sorcery
against her.  Intelligence was not the strong point of the Neo-Queen in
their opinion.  Queens and Kings, the human race was supposed to be beyond
them . . .

	Red Malachi looked up.  Endymion hovered in the air, hand resting on the
Earth sword.  The Mirrorman's silvery lips pulled into a grin.  They always
came out eventually.

	His reverie was interrupted by a rain of kicks to his back.  He casually
threw a cloud of shards at the Neo-king and turned to face Huan-Jen, who
stood behind him in a combat stance.  More troublemakers, who . . .

	Red Malachi's side exploded in sheer pain.  He staggered backward, seeing
Jade in his agony-fogged eyes.  She leapt, kicking him in the stomach.  His
metal skin buckled and cracked.

	"Figured it out" Jade yelled.  "You need me not for the shape, but
because once you took mine . . ."

	A knee followed to the Mirrorman's groin.

	" . . . I can hurt you!"

	The Mirrorman tried to get his bearings.  Endymion hovering, Huan-Jen
circling, and Jade . . .

Jade was readying a right cross that quickly shattered half his metallic
face.  He was falling, and he heard the words . . .

	"Earth Sword Execution."

	"Death to all tyrants . . ." Red Malachi whispered.

	Everything went black.



	Red Malachi's body lay atop the warehouse, slowly turning to dust.  Jade
looked at it, impressed.

"Damn." the Vulpine glanced over at Endymion, who was slowly, deliberately
walking towards the rooftop door.  More powerful than he'd looked, which in
her eyes was like a badly dressed member of the cast of "Hamlet."

	"This is going to be something to explain to the Gendarmes," Huan-Jen put
his hands on his hips.

	"Yeah.  Er, Huan, what is it with all these roses?"

	"Shhh!"  The mystic raised a finger to his lips.  "He seems very
sensitive about that."

	Endymion shut the door behind him, and walked into the darkness.  Moments
later, it opened, and Huan-Jen descended after him.  Silently, they walked
onward together, eventually, the magician-priest took the Neo-King by his
elbow, and guided him gently.

	The cleric could hear the Mirrorman's last words echoing in the
Neo-king's ears.

	They found the slippers ten minutes later, in an unused office.  They
hovered in the center of a strange-looking device of glowing crystal and
tubes of liquid.  It was a strangely surreal moment - footwear turned
against its creator.  Endymion looked at the contraption, curious.

	Huan-Jen touched the sites here and here . . . and there was a strange
cracking noise, the glows fading.

	"It's just a matter of vision."  he said simply.

Endymion nodded, looked at the machine, and drew his sword, the blade
glowing in the dimness.  He methodically began slashing the device and its
contents to pieces.  He could feel her, feel her worlds away, already
better, but he kept cutting, leaving no chance, no possibility, no remnant
. . .



Endymion awoke with a start and sat up.  He was in an unfamiliar bed, and
judging by the scent a woman's.  Jade's.

	It swam back to him.  He'd been incredibly exhausted after the travel,
the fight.  Jade - Jade of all people - had insisted he needed sleep,
virtually forced him into her bed, and tucked him in.  He'd drifted off
remembering the shower running, and hearing giggling and a lot of thumping.

	As if they'd NEEDED the damn slippers.

	"Awake?"

Endymion looked up.  Jade stood in the doorway, wearing a white robe that
contrasted strangely with her dark fur.  He nodded.

	Jade sat next to him.  She smelled a bit of damp fur, but not unpleasant.
She smiled encouragingly.

	"You can tell she's OK?  Huan said you somehow knew."

	"She is.  I can tell.  That's the only reason I let myself sleep."

	Jade smirked.  "You were exhausted, you were gonna sleep anyway."

Endymion nodded.  Arguing with Jade, he felt, was like trying to punch the sun.

	Jade prepared to leave, then turned to the Neo-King.  "Um . . . Endymion?"

	"Yes?"

	"What is it with the roses?"

	There was a moment of black silence.  The Neo-King looked at his
questioner - not a hint of guile or sarcasm was Ȯ her green eyes.
Finally, he relented, and whispered in her ear.

	Jade blinked.  "Really?"

	"Yes."

	"I'll be damned."  Jade stood up, and shrugged.  "I won't tell Huan-Jen."

	"Thanks."

Endymion watched her go, and lay back on the bed.  His stomach growled -
he hadn't eaten in hours.  He was sweaty and needed a bath.  Normal
concerns closed in on him like a comforting blanket.

	"Hey, Huan, what's for dinner?  Got any of that weird stuff?"

	OK, not that normal.  Normal for him was a crystal city dimensions away . . .

	. . . his friends . . .

	. . . and her . . .

	Endymion fell into a deep sleep, and dreamed.



Xai, Metris, Jade, Huan-Jen all related Characters and Concepts Copyright
(c) 1999 by Steven Savage

All Sailor Moon characters and concepts.  (c) 1999 by Toei Animation