Casablanca Revisited 
Initial draft
by Mark Latus & (whoever winds up pitching a bit in)


     It's a good crowd tonight, business is booming.  Over at the bar 
there's a flash of color as a patron's hair shifts from purple to 
bright yellow.  Seems our friendly Nemesian Liason Officer's dropped 
by again.  Why wouldn't she?  Her drinks are on the house and we 
shift  the tables in her favour when she gambles.  In exchange she 
looks theother way on occasion.  I don't do anything too major and it 
helps defuse some tensions among the humans.  Which makes her life a 
bit easier.  Besides she's got no great love for her own people after 
they dropped her in this hole in the wall of the occupied territories.
     Everything was going fine until I heard the song.  I'd have 
preferred live music but I couldn't get a pianist so I settled for a
Musiq (tm) Box.  It's supposed to be a triumph of computer generated
music technology.  Everything recorded in the past millenium is 
available, just punch in your selection.   The damn things last two
weeks max before they burn out.  Shoddy merchandise but they're cheap
and better than nothing.  When no one's input a choice I have it 
cycle through my favorite tunes.  "As Time Goes By" is top of the 
list.  It wasn't playing that now.  It was some light and frothy J-pop 
tune. Nothing exceeptional but I recognised this one.
     I like to think I handled the situation in a mature fashion.  
     I pulled the gun from my shoulder holster and put a slug through 
it.  The box exploded and I quickly slid my gun out of sight.  One 
thing I really like about leaving CT is there's nothing to stop me 
being armed anymore.  Commotion.  Most people didn't see my gun 
(I'm a very fast draw) but they heard the box expire noisily.
     "Sorry folks, minor equipment malfunction.  Next round's on the 
house."  The background noise returns into normal.  Maybe that wasn't
so mature,  that'll cut into the profits.  I could have just turned 
the damn thing off.  I shouldn't have overreacted like that.
     "Sam get a new box out of storage."  Sam nods and hurries off.  
Wonder if he's got any idea I hired him mainly for his name?  Back at 
 the bar Opal seems to be paying me no attention.  Just studying her 
drink and ignoring the collaborator trying to chat her up.  I'm not
fooled.  She may be young but she doesn't miss much.  She'll be 
wondering why I reacted so violently to a simple song.  Then she'll 
work out if there's any way to use it to her advantage.  She's quite 
prepared to betray anyone (with the possible exception of her 
brother) if it'll help her.  If her people lose I'm sure evidence will 
surface showing she was helping terrans all along.  Also she's made a 
few vague hints about my getting her asylum in Crystal Tokyo if 
necessary.  Nothing that could actually be considered treasonable you 
understand.  Easily deniable.  She's a real schemer.  She'd have made 
a great youma.
     Not that I have much pull in CT.  Read, none.  None of the 
Senshi owe me a thing.  With one possible exception.  From what I 
could reconstruct after the fact I did a job for Sailor Mercury once. 
It ended with me getting my memory scrambled and was connected 
somehow to Pyrite's sudden leave of absence.  I hadn't finished 
putting all the pieces together when the war started.  At which point 
I got the hell out of Dodge before the sun set.
     Sam's setting up the new box, I'll have to input the default 
program.  Funny someone randomly picking that particular song out 
of all the tunes in there.  What are the odds?
     Millions to one against.
     Which is when I really start thinking and wonder if it was more 
than just a coincidence.  Keeping my voice low I ask, "Sam, did you 
see who punched in that last song?"
     "Sure boss, it was that guy over there."
     He nods towards a couple at a table.  The woman's veiled but the 
man's features are plain.  He's nobody I know.  Just a coincidence
after all.  
     Until I notice his hat.  It's sitting on the table and doesn't 
match the clothes at all. Not surprising, you don't see many fedora's 
around these days.  That sonofabitch.  Oh yes I know who he is now.  
We lock gazes momentarily and he casually slides the hat off the 
table.  I continue surveying the room.  Both of us avoiding noticing 
or conspicuously not noticing the other.  If you know how to look 
there's a very faint shimmer around him.
     Disguise magic.  Well if he thinks I'm getting sucked into 
whatever suicidal mission brought him here ...
     The thought trails off.  That woman!  What if that's ...
     I'm glad I don't have a heart or it might stop.  I tell Sam 
quietly, "If either of those two wants to see me tell them to wait 
until Opal's gone."
     He acknowledges with a raised eyebrow and I head back to my 
office.  What the hell do I do now?  Of all the bars in all the cities 
in all the world she had to walk into this one.  Sort of inevitable 
really.  Must be my karma.

[This picks up shortly after Magnesite's spotted Ferrite and Naru and 
 retreated to his office in "Rick's cafe Royaume Noire".  Maybe he's 
 just done an overly melodramatic solioquy]
 
     Well sitting here brooding isn't going to change anything.  
Besides I don't want to attract Opal's attention with public enemy 
number one out there.  Hopefully she just thinks I'm still twitchy 
after hearing "Moonlight Densetsu".  Gonna need a story for why I 
hate that song.  Hmmm ... Senshi were singing it when they nuked the 
Dark Kingdom?  Certainly sounds like their sort of music.  Just check 
my appearance in the mirror.  As always my jacket is spotless white.
I think momentarily of reshaping it into a trenchcoat for old times 
sake then squash the idea.  I'm getting way to sentimental.  Too much 
hanging around with humans is getting to me.
     Ferrite and Naru stick to the cafe section and don't budge 
from their table.  Meantime I do a wander through and check my 
patrons aren't breaking too many laws.  Just like Crystal Tokyo I'm 
walking a very thin line.  But this place is a lot more fun though a 
lot more dangerous.  Almost homelike.  No sign of Opal but her would-
be escort's still at the bar looking unhappy.
     I'm wandering the casino and checking the house when Opal taps 
me on the elbow.  "Join me for a drink Rick."  Yes, she's seen 
the movie.  Rick may not have drunk with his customers but I'm not 
going to refuse her.  Time to try and figure out what she knows or 
thinks she knows.   Our relationship's fairly ambiguous.  Depending 
how things turn out we'll either be best friends or deadly enemies.
     She steers me to the bar and orders two "Tahiti Sunrises" or 
something like that.  One of those things that's so full of fruit and 
plastic umbrellas you're hard pressed to find any liquid.  I sip it 
to be polite and make a mental note to drain my insides later.  Don't 
want it sloshing around in there for months.  Opal drops a pile of 
chips on the bar, looks like she's been lucky at roulette tonight.
She's lucky at roulette every night.  She nods towards Sasha (my 
bartender) who left the vicinity as soon as he could.
     "So how do your employees feel about working for a vampiric 
energy being?"
     "They don't particularly care for it.  But they usually say that 
it could be a lot worse.  They could be working for the Nemzies."
     Opal laughs.  "That's pretty good.  I like you Maggie."
     I don't like being called Maggie but I'll put up with it if I 
have to.  "Why shouldn't you?  I'm a very likeable guy."
     "Indeed you are.  Of course that affection won't stop me 
throwing you to the wolves without a second thought.  Should the need 
ever arise."
     "Perfectly understandable.  You'd have fit right into the Dark 
Kingdom."
     "I'll take that as a compliment.  Oh and speaking of vampirism I 
see your prime donor is here tonight."  I follow her glance and spot 
Yvonne over at the blackjack table.  Great, I don't need to deal with 
her right now on top of everything else.
     One thing that surprised me after leaving Crystal Tokyo was how 
easy it was to feed without problems.  There's a whole subculture of 
humans who like having their energy drained.  You know the type, 
dress entirely in black, wear thick white makeup, read a lot of dark 
poetry and fiction, talk a lot about death.  Vampire chic's always 
struck me as ridiculous but I'm not to proud to take advantange of 
someone's hangup.  Yvonne's the most hardcore of my local donors.  
During my feedings I have to manifest fangs and draw a litle blood to 
keep her happy but that's no problem.  It's sitting through her 
poetry readings that gets to me.
     Then Opal derails my train of thought.  "You've got a pair of 
celebrities in here tonight."
     "Oh?"  Pair? Uh oh!
     "Ferrite and Sailor Nemesis.  They're sitting next door."  I 
manage not to show any reaction beyond mild surprise.  She can see 
through disguise magic which means there's a goon squad on the way.
When Naru spots them it's goodbye to "Rick's"! 
     "Ferrite I've heard of but Sailor Nemesis?"
     "Shouldn't surprise you.  Every other world in the system has a 
Senshi."
     "There's no Sailor Earth."
     "I think technically that's King Endymion.  But I doubt we'll 
ever see him in the uniform."
     "Just as well, he doesn't have the legs for it."  We chuckle 
over that image for a moment until Opal resumes.
     "Like the other Senshi Sailor Nemesis reincarnated on Earth.  
Unlike the others she didn't reappear until very recently."
     "I see.  So your boys are going to try and arrest a Senshi in 
here.  Do you have your new haunt lined up yet?  Because I think I'm 
about to go out of business!"     
     Opal gives me a theatrical puzzled look.  "Now why would I be 
trying to arrest her?"
     "Well even if you don't when they grab Ferrite ..."
     "What makes you think I'm after Ferrite?"
     What the hell is she playing at.  "He's a follower of Endymion, 
the guy you declared war on and a resistance leader.  What more 
reason do you need?"
     "That's military and around here that's the responsibility of 
Amefyst and the other Total Eclipse types.  My job's maintaining 
civic order.  Long as everything's quiet I'm happy."  Looks like we 
have interhouse rivalry again.  Along with Opal keeping her options 
open.  Except it's not quite enough.
     "You're been complaining all along about being stuck out here, 
'in the ass end of nowhere' was one of your more polite descriptions.
Bring in Ferrite, with or without N...Nemesis (almost said Naru!) and 
you're on your way to a better post."
     "True enough and I might take the chance.  But there's a 
problem.  Namely his travelling companion."
     "Senshi are tough but you've got a spaceship overhead with 
gigawatt lasers and gunners happy to fry anything crossing the 
borderlines from orbit.  Give them a location and you can muster 
enough firepower to take out a Senshi."  I'm not telling her anything
she doesn't already know.  Opal might not order that but Total 
Eclipse is made up of some real hard bastards.  Amefyst would have no 
qualms about torching the city to accomplish his goals.
     "That's not the problem.  The problem is who she represents."
     "Sailor Nemesis ... supposedly your own planet's Senshi!"
     "Got it in one.  Her status is a little ambiguous.  She's terran 
by birth but Nemesian by spirit.  Right now there's quite a lot of 
squabbling about what to do about her.  One sizeable body of opinion, 
which a lot of us in the Family support, is to avoid force and simply 
persuade her to return the fold.  Then there's the Red Stars who want 
to grab her and brainwash her.  There's some who say that we should 
just kill her and that'll restart the younger/elder Senshi cycle back 
on Nemesis.  On the other hand we've got those who think if she dies 
without returning to Nemesis the cycle will be shattered forever.  So 
there's quite a divergence of views."
     I managed not to twitch when she mentioned the assassination 
option.  Keeping my voice casual I ask, "So which view is Demand 
following?"
     "Right now?  Persuade her back.  The counsellor will be arriving 
in a few hours and start working on her."
     "Until she gets fed up and blasts him."
     "If she goes violent then Amefyst and Total Eclipse have carte 
blanche to neutralize her.  If she's going to stay our enemy then 
it's better she dies in Casablanca."
     "So what if she just leaves?"
     "Come now Magnesite.  We both know there's only one way out of 
Casablanca."
     I nod, "And you control it."  
     "And we control it.  Now long as she stays peaceful and 
cooperative we leave Ferrite alone.  Don't want to agitate her 
unnecessarily."
     "But if she turns on you or flees then they're both fair game?"
     "That's right.  So shall we wander over and have introduce 
ourselves?  I think someone should explain the facts of life to them." 
She finishes her drink and gestures a witress over to cash her 
chips.
     "I always like to have a word with my customers."  Wonder if 
Ferrite already knows he's exposed?  He could decide I've just sold 
him out at start shooting.  Definitely going to be one of those days.
As we wander over I ask her, "So Opal have you decided which side 
you're on yet?"
     "Of course."  She gives me a big smile.  "The winning side.  
What other rational answer is there?"

     Ferrite's disguise covers his real expression but it's a safe 
bet he's not happy to see me with Opal.  His cover face looks up at 
us with a quizzical frown.  Naru's still wearing that veil, it's 
impossible to tell how she feels.  I'd like to think she's happy to 
see me.  It's equally possible she thinks I've just sold her out and 
is about to go berserk.
     "Well Magnesite?  Aren't you going to introduce me?"  Opal seems 
relaxed, her hair's just shifted to a soothing shade of blue.  I 
wonder if she has any idea how unstable Naru was?  Was?  Why am I 
assuming Ferrite made her any saner?  He wanted her for a weapon.  
Crazy's probably handy for that.
     "Uhh yes ... (I'm blowing my always collected image!  Stop 
stumbling damnit!)  This is Lady Opal of the House of the Black Moon
Family.  She is head of the Occupied Territories Civic Control 
Administration for Morocco.  Personally responsible for maintaining 
order in Casablanca."
     "In short I'm a glorified Police Chief.  Which is strangely 
appropriate don't you think?"  She doesn't wait for an answer before 
addressing Naru.  "It's a pleasure to meet you Sailor Nemesis."  Her 
gaze flicks sideways.  "I can't say it's a pleasure to meet you 
Ferrite but I have to admire your tenacity.  That's a nice uniform by 
the way and a very immpressive pistol.  But I think the sword's a bit 
much."
     "The feeling's mutual.  I'm not happy to meet you either."  I'm 
sure Ferrite's searching the room for a trap and getting agitated 
when he can't spot it.  He tries to stall for time.  "I wasn't aware 
my disguise magic was that easy to penetrate."
     Opal chuckles.  "That particular spell is ancient and was 
replaced by better versions a long time ago.  Which paradoxically 
gave you an advantage as we weren't looking for such an obsolete 
magic.  But we got a good scan of you during the Madrid 
unpleasantness and updated our 'see through' spells."
     "I see."  He's probably wondering how long they've had him under
observation.  And why they didn't take him out while he was off guard.
     "I thought you would.  Perhaps you'd care to remove the spell as 
it's a little annoying having to keep squinting past it.  And stop 
looking so apprehensive!  I just explained to Magnesite that I didn't 
want a firefight in my favorite cafe.  I'd really hate it if you made 
a liar out of me."  Naru's hands twitch and she's looking jumpy but 
she calms down when his hand over hers.  I feel myself a little more 
hopeful that this isn't going to end with a satellite blasting 
through the roof.  Ferrite's guise melts away and he's sitting there 
in that blue naval uniform.  "Mind if we join you?"
     Ferrite gestures at the empty chairs.  "I can't say no to the 
owner and Casablanca's police chief."  We sit down and Naru takes her
hat and veil off, dropping them onto the table.  She's got a big grin 
and looks as cute as she did back in CT.  I notice her figure's 
improved in the intervening years.  Must be eating a lot better these 
days.  
     "Magnesite!  Ferrite said we'd be meeting you tonight but I was 
afraid you wouldn't recognise us with the disguises."  I hide my wince
and smile back.
     "Here's looking at you kid."  Well what else was I going to say?
     Opal looks amused at our exchange.  "Funny Maggie, you acted 
like you'd never heard of Sailor Nemesis.  But it's looking like you 
used to date."  Naru nods, remembering the ice cream shop.
     "We met during my private eye days."
     Opal nods as a piece falls into place.  "If I were you I'd avoid 
mentioning that around the Red Stars.  They're still kind of unhappy 
about blowing the extraction despite avoiding all the Senshi."  Well 
she's got something else on me now.  She turns her attention back to
Naru.  "Senshi Nemesis I'm instructed to ask you to come home."
     "Home?  Home's a thousand years away."  Naru certainly sounds a 
lot more together.  And kind of heartrending ... yes I've definitely 
been hanging around humans too long.  
     "I'm referring to your spiritual home.  Nemesis!  It's the source 
of your power and the place your original incarnation was born.  Lady 
you have been away far too long and there is nothing for you here.  
Don't you feel the call of our world?"  Naru looks into space with a
thoughtful expression and Ferrite looks a bit edgy.  After a few 
moments she shakes her head.  
     "Wherever I started out this is my world now.  And I don't like 
what you're doing to it."
     Opal doesn't seem discouraged.  "As you like Lady Nemesis.  
There will be a counsellor arriving to see if you'll change your mind 
but otherwise there are no limits on you.  Enjoy our fair city."
     Ferrite's looking very skeptical.  "That's it?  You're going to 
leave her at large?"
     "And you.  As long as you travel with the Senshi you are under 
her protection.  My job is maintaining order and long as you don't 
cause any trouble I'm happy.  However I should mention that if you 
attempt any sabotage, attack Nemesian personel or attempt to leave 
Casablanca then the military administration takes over your case.
I should mention that garrison commander Amefyst got this post 
because he failed to put down an uprising you engineered.  He will 
quite happily destroy this city and everyone in it to get to you.  
All he's waiting for is for you to give him an excuse to do it.  And 
on that thought I will bid you goodnight."  Opal rises and gives Naru 
a respectful bow and a brief wave to the rest of us.  Then heads for 
the door, probably to meet with some goodlooking guy who's looking 
for an exit visa.
     Naru's about to say something but subsides when Ferrite pulls 
out a pile of detector equipment.  It takes him a minute to decide 
everything's all clear.  Soon as he's done that he whispers, "What's 
her game?"
     "Opal's looking to be able to be on whichever side wins.  She 
got stuck out here because her brother fell for one of the Senshi."
     "Sailor Polaris?  I'd heard she married a Nemesian."
     "Right.  Well that put the whole family under suspicion.  Since 
they're related to Demand they didn't get purged.  Instead they just 
dumped them in meaningless posts with fancy titles.  Opal was kind of 
unhappy to be deadended at her age and impressed by Crystal Tokyo's 
power.  So in case we ... you win she wants to be able to shift sides.
Given a brother married to a Senshi and not actively opposing you she 
might pull it off.  She's cozied up to me on the offchance I might be 
able to do her some good.  It's also her way of playing a minature 
version of the game of houses.  Deception as an artform."
      I realize I'm ignoring Naru but she seems content to wait.  
"One more thing.  How'd you find me?"
     "Who else is going to own a place called Rick's Dark Kingdom 
Cafe?  By the way your menu's distinctly terrestrial."
     "It's just a name.  Besides the only source of DK food is 
Crystal Tokyo and that's under siege.  Like a drink?"
     "Scotch."
     I signal Carla.  "One scotch, the good stuff not the junk we 
give the Nemzies ... and two chocolate parfaits."  Carla looks puzzled
but nods while Naru looks delighted.  
     "You remembered!"
     "How could I forget?"
     
[Things to add - Casablanca covered by teleport interdiction field 
(policy for conquered terretories).  Only teleport points are the
heavy duty military model in the garrison for moving troops & 
munitions (security too high to access) and the much smaller Civic 
Administration model.  Under Opal's control but she's not about to 
give them a passcard.  Of course if you can find one somewhere you 
can get to it.  Physical escape is out.  City is ringed by a very 
good sensor system anything crossing it will be tracked and if it 
evades ground forces destroyed by orbital laser strike.
Getting into Casablanca's a lot easier than getting out]               
	   
[Middle goes here]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
So why is Ferrite in Casablanca anyway.  Answer, he's picking
up some info he needs.  Here's Frank's explanation

Now, on Casablanca Revisited, and the related story Trench Warfare,

How do you have Casablanca ending?  It can go either way, but let's
have the movie end the way we all wanted it to.  The Inga stays with
Rick and Laslow goes on to his great destiny.  This would be in line
with Ferrite's character being left alone again.  Perhaps a closeness
has grown between him and Naru and we break the man of Iron's heart
again.  (Hmm, that phrase makes me want to break out the ol Doc Savage
books.)  Anyhoo, 

The information that Ferrite gets from Pyrite is info on Nemesian
shield technology.  Ferrite will use this info in Trench Warfare to
teleport a group of soldiers inside one of the Nemesian garrison sites
to knock out their global sensor arrays.  When the net is down, the
rail launch facuilty in Peru,  (see "Space..." post) which has been
secretly repaired will launch a salvo of orbital shells on the
garrison sites scattered around the globe.  The shells are equipped
with shield penetrating devices built using Pyrite's info.  Needless
to say, when those shells hit, it's going to leave a lot of Nemesians
either pissed off, dead or both.  This is timed to coincide with the
BMF's last attack on CT so the SME continuity is not affected much.
(i.e. the BMF goes down in flames only the flames are a lot hotter
than depicted in SMS.)  The carnage and number of killed Nemesians can
be tuned to all the SME author's tastes by having a portion of the
shells miss or be intercepted.  Of course, I'll have a battlefield
romance between Ferrite and some woman who gets killed just for
tragedy's sake but otherwise the story will be as above.  (Candidates
for the poor mortal female anyone?)


---------------------------------------------------------------------
Ending proposal by Mark Latus

Magnesite figures he's caught in a predestined path and helps Ferrite 
set up his escape with a certain sense of resignation.  Ferrite does 
something nasty to the Total Eclipse boys watching them and Magnesite
grabs Opal (she's seen Casablanca so she doesn't fall for the setup)

Opal figures maybe she can still get out of this mess and come up 
smelling like a rose.  She's observed Naru and Magnesite and thinks 
maybe she can hang onto Sailor Nemesis.  For some reason (which I'm
still working on) Opal can only provide two teleport passes (hell, 
maybe she just lies about that).  Magnesite figures that means Ferrite
and Naru.  Visibility's poor around the civic teleport station as 
Opal's created a fog (Andy's suggestion).  Magnesite gives the big 
farewell speech and waits for Naru to leave with Ferrite.  She gives 
him a kiss matching (or exceeding) the one in COTMS.  While he's 
trying to get his brain working again she says something along these
line.  "Magnesite, you're an idiot.  But I'm crazy so I guess that's 
okay.  There's nothing between me and Ferrite and if you think I'm 
leaving you're crazy.  I'm tired of being alone and they'll torch the
city if I go so you're stuck with me."  Ferrite can't argue with the
massacre prevention so he winds up being the one to go on alone.  If 
he lets on how much this hurts him is up in the air.  Perhaps he 
tries to laugh it off on the surface as being something he should be 
used to by now.  Maybe a few comments on destiny being a pain in the 
butt.      

Ferrite goes on alone and vanishes.  Due to Opal's manipulations 
Amefyst shows up alone looking to kill Ferrite personally.  Before 
Naru can react (maybe Opal's fog is keeping her from locating him)
Magnesite becomes Ferrite and shoot him.  Then drops the gun (which
now has Ferrite's fingerprints) and fades into the fog as though going 
for the teleporter.  He reappears at Naru's side as himself and 
quietly suggests to Opal that she edit the surveillance tapes.  Opal 
agrees, Sailor Nemesis (her priority) is still in town so she's 
alright.  Ferrite got away but that was due to Amefyst's incompetence 
in surveillance and in arriving alone without backup.  Total Eclipse 
will bear the brunt of this disaster.  Opal can ride this out as 
Ferrite should never have been able to get close enough her to force 
her to give him a pass.  So she's still all right in her own position,
Magnesite owes her and he's got Sailor Nemesis.  His influence may be
worthless in CT but Naru's should be worth a great deal. Naru and Mag 
go back to Ricks' and Opal is left musing that first her brother 
and now Magnesite have thrown away security for true love.  These 
people are destroying her faith in cynicism.

Needs a little work (not to mention a middle) and I might have Mag 
being Ferrite for much of it.  For example when abducting Opal.
Perhaps in the shootout with Amefyst he's already become Ferrite at
Opal's insistance. Her fog keeps the cameras from seeing his depleted 
uranium bullets punch right through "Ferrite".

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ending proposal by Andy Combs

Remember what I said about Opal's powers?  Weather control.  I still
think that having her quietly whip up a fog to allow Ferrite & co.
to escape being perfect.  That lets them finish in a fog shrouded
scene just like the original did.  The other aspect of her powers
is that she tends to be undectable to smell and sound when she
wants to be.  She just tends to move through the world without
disturbing it.

I've been thinking about how it could end, and how to get away with
Maggie and Naru ending up together.  There are only two options for
that to happen, Naru stays, or Maggie goes.

I don't think the first can be worked, with things set up as they are.
Naru staying in Casablanca would complicate things too much.  There's
just no way that the Nemesites would leave her alone there.

So that leaves Maggie going.

Maybe the fic goes something like this:


[Maggie procures passes, but is only able to come up with two.  In typical
Boggie fashion, he insists that Ferrite and Naru take them.  Maybe some
argument, but they finally agree.]


[Travel to the teleporter in the wee hours of the morning, so as to not
face public crowds.  A thick fog covers the city.  Ferrite sets the
destination on the teleporter.  Maggie says bye to Naru, and she and
Ferrite leave.  Maggie is to "spin the dial" after they leave, so they
cannot be followed.]


    And thus, with a shimmer, she was gone from my life once again.
Bogie would be proud.  I lit a cigarette briefly, but quickly tossed it
down and stomped it out.  For some reason it tasted bitter in my
mouth.  Not that I'm supposed to be able to taste in the first place.

    Sigh.  Time to get the job done and close the curtain on yet another
rousing episode in my miserable life.  I looked over towards the control
panel.  Ferrite had said to turn a few dials at random, securing that
noone could follow them.  Easily done.

    "Don't do it, Magnesite." came a voice from behind me.  Opal.  I
hated that way she had of sneaking up on you.  Not knowing what else to
do, I turned to face her.  She was holding one of those Nemesian
disrupter pistols on me.  Nasty things, they could even hurt me.  A hit
from that thing could vaporize enough of my mass that I would be hard
pressed to reform on my current reserves.

    My options were very limited.  Opal had caught me red handed,
helping Ferrite and Naru escape.  Who knows how long she had been
watching?  And then there were the teleport settings.  If I didn't reset
them, Ferrite was in for a nasty surprise when Nemesian troops started
porting out right on his heels.  Not that I cared what happened to
Ferrie, but I couldn't... I mean, Bogie would never let that happen to a
female lead like Naru.  I contimplated making a dive for the panel.
Could I get there and do the job well enough before Opal managed to
destroy enough of me?  Probably not.

    And then Opal does the last thing I would have expected from her.
She uses her free hand to reach into a shirt pocket, and pull out
something I can't quite see until she hold it up.  A third pass!

    "Go" she says.  "I'll take care of the dial."

    And all of a sudden a couple of other things fell into place.  The
fog!  The increadably convinient fog that had gotten the three of us
here.  Too convinient, I should have realized.  And the tail Ferrite
and I had thought was out there, but neither of us could spot.  Opal
couldn't become invisible like her brother, but she had a way of moving
through the air without disturbing it that made it difficult to notice
her when she didn't want to be noticed.  She had been helping us all
along.

    But then my Youma instincts return.  Nothing is ever free.

    "How much?"  I asked.

    "Simply remember this, when the time comes." was her response.

    And from her, I could beleive it.  If she helps Ferrite, the
infamous resistance fighter escape, and doesn't get caught at it, it'll
be great karma on her side if the resistance wins out in the end.

    I stare at the pass, a bit in horror at what it represents.  Bogie
isn't supposed to get the happy endings.  He gets the bitter-sweet ones,
continuing on alone, while the girl exits his life.  And the annoying
thing was, I couldn't ask myself "What would Bogie do?", because he
would never have been offered the final chance at happiness.  It simply
didn't happen to him that way.

    To Metallia with it.  I'm *not* Bogie, and I can get a happy ending
if I want it.  And besides, this town's getting a bit boring.  Nowhere
near as boring as Crystal Bleeping Tokyo, but not particularly
interesting either.  Living with Ferrite might be aggravating as the
abyss, but I doubted it would ever be boring.  Ferrite is as close
to a youma as I've ever met in a human.  Ruthless, violent, all the fun
stuff.



[He accepts the pass, bids Opal farewell, and heads through.]

[Maybe as a final gag, Ferrite blows him to bits as he comes through.
but as Ferrite was expecting Nemesites, not Maggie, he wasn't using the
iron bullets, and so does Maggie no lasting harm.]


One side effect of this would be that Maggie would be around for Trench
Warfare, which I assume happens after this.  (Don't know for sure on the
timing, though.)  Not sure what Ferrite would think of having Maggie "on
the payroll".


Andy Combs

---------------------------------------------------------------------
So what happens afterwards if we use the ML ending?  Here's one 
possibility

> Date sent:      Wed, 8 Jan 1997 17:24:26 -0600
> To:             sme@planetx.planetx.org
> From:           android@texas.net (Andy Combs)
> Subject:        Re: Case, Casa, Trench - Questions and Answers

> Details of Mark's idea for Casa2 deleted...
> 
> Sounds neat, but I still have problems with the whole concept
> of Naru staying behind.  I just can't imagine the Nemesites
> leaving her alone.  She'll be hounded constantly, and there's
> that "envoy" from Demand on the way to persuade her.  No,
> I think she's got to go.
> 
> (Plus Magnesite trying to work with Ferrite as a so-called
> freedom fighter just brings up sooooo many possabilities
> in my mind.  :)
> 
Perhaps.  But if Opal's lost both Ferrite and Naru she's going to be 
in a lot of trouble with her own people.  We're nearing the end of 
the war and Nemesis looks like the winner.  However Opal's studied 
the Senshi's history and knows they've got a pretty consistant record 
of victory in the face of apparently overwhelming force.  So she can 
still see it going either way and isn't ready to commit to any side.
There's also the question of if having Mag. and Naru around would 
complicate events in "Trench Warfare".  We also have "Settling 
Accounts" which still has them living in Casablanca (possibly Rick's 
now hosts an icecream shop, PI office and a jewelry store).

So here's an alternate suggestion.  Just because Naru stays in 
Casablanca doesn't mean she's out of action.  What happens after 
"Casablanca Revisited" ends you ask?  For this to work we'll need 
either an aside in "Trench Warfare" or a fourth Magnesite story.
Or rather a Sailor Nemesis/Magnesite story as she'll be the lead.
<Cranks up plot generator>.  Naru's believed under control because if
worse comes to worse they can blast her from orbit.  Now this bit ties 
in with "Trench Warfare" which is happening within a few weeks/months. 
There's a Nemesis garrison near Casablanca but it's too close to the 
city for Ferrite to risk dropping a shell onto.  However the spaceship
in geosynchronos orbit is another matter.  Say at the end of 
"Casablanca Revisited" Ferrite gives Naru some cryptic advice before 
departing.  "If a star blooms over Casablanca then you're free to 
act."  At the climax of "Trench Warfare" one of the shells goes right 
into the ship over Morrocco (stationary target).  Boom!  Naru sees the 
light overhead and puts it together (or Magnesite puts it together for 
her).  She knows she's not in danger of death from above anymore and 
there's a Nemesis garrison nearby.  There's nothing to stop her 
cutting loose.  Sailor Nemesis gets to show her full power at last!    

During this Opal and her staff kick out the terran auxiliaries, put a 
shield around their headquarters and keep quiet.  Hearing the carnage 
outside one of her aides will suggest they assist the Total Eclipse
troops.

     Opal looked thoughtful for a moment.  "Hmmm.  Go out there and 
fight an enraged Senshi who is currently chewing up our armed forces.
Well this is clearly a matter of conscience and therefore a matter 
individual choice.  So I won't order anyone to stay here.  Let's vote.
All in favour of going out there and dying on behalf of our beloved 
homeland raise your hands."  Nobody moved.  "Well that settles that.  
Who's deal is it?"    

The surviving TE troops surrender, Opal turns out to have been 
backing CT all along (yeah, right) and manages to relocate there as 
the rest of the world is kind of hostile to Nemesians.  Luckily Sailor
Nemesis puts in a good word for her.  Naru returns temporarily to CT 
for a reunion with Serenity (who's very surprised to find she's 
still alive.  And almost as surprised to find Naru's living with 
Magnesite).  Possibly Magnesite comes along to wave his new hero 
status in Rei's face.  Then it's back to Casablanca.  "Nothing 
personal Usagi, but this place is kinda dull." 

So we've got two possible endings to choose from.  Well we've got a 
while as I've got other things to write first.

Now back to my day job

Mark