Story: Tainted Gestalt

A bit late, but better late than never right? Anyway, there is a very OOC moment in this, but it is so amusing that I have left it in and will probably attempt to justify it in a later update. Enjoy!


Lelouch woke up like a bag of snakes. Unhappy about his situation, confused about how he got there, mystified by how to get out of it but eager to try anything. He was also surrounded by a mess of his own making that required his immediate attention to clean up.

<i>“At least you did that in the privacy of your own bedroom,”</i> the pervert that was truly responsible grumbled. <i>“Shinobu’s never gonna speak to me again now!”</i>

A thought which adequately expressed yet another concern over this bizarre situation. Half of them were in situations that could be described simply as “romantic trifles”, which he had no real interest in handling. The other half were in potentially life-threatening situations which could potentially result in all eight of them being dead or brain damaged if they were not handled carefully. So. The pervert might well pardon the prince if he didn’t give all that much of a damn about his problems with his girlfriend.

<i>“Oh no, I can’t let Misato see me like this!”</i> the pilot whined, which seemed to Lelouch to be a natural internal tone for him to adopt. However. That much was understandable. He had his fate thrust upon him, while everything Lelouch intended to do himself was of his own making. In that sense, Shinji was being pushed into a situation where it was “kill or be killed” without being ready to die. In that sense, he had tremendous sympathy for the Ikari boy where he had none for Moroboshi. <I>“This is so… Embarassing!”</i>

<I>“Pretend you have a sore stomach and rush to the bathroom,”</i> Lelouch internally advised. The boy did just that. Good. Even if Misato didn’t actually believe him, she would likely pretend that she had. However. It wouldn’t do to mollycoddle him. Ikari needed a great deal more confidence in himself. Lelouch could sense that he was extremely guarded, more so than the others, perhaps more so than even himself. Traumatised? Possibly. Another problem to toss on the heap. He would work on it, given time…

<i>“Ugh! D-Damn, this mess!”

“Thank goodness I have my own dorm room. That would’ve been a pain to deal with!”

“Oops! I knocked Luna off the bed! Um… Pretend none of you saw that!”</i>

All variations on the same idea. So all of them had felt that simultaneously, it seemed. How utterly wonderful. Especially as they were all sharing a mind with a pervert, who would almost certainly -

<i>“Hey, don’t blame me! I was talking with Shinobu at the time!”</i>

One of the others, then? Not that it mattered too much for now, he didn’t particularly care to deal with them all cleaning up after themselves when he was going to be busy doing the same thing. As it was, Sayoko seemed to have the wrong idea about him already due to his apparent popularity at school. Speaking of which, he rubbed at his eyes and checked the clock to see exactly how many more hours he would be able to manage of sleep before he had to -

The clock began to beep, and it sounded so terribly cruel. Almost mocking him. His fist raised over the innocent clock, but he restrained himself and switched it off. Fine then. He could easily catch a little rest in class. Pretend everything was normal, nothing unusual going on. Get dressed, shower. Ignore the voices in his head, attempt to deliberately cut them off to prevent another incident like that and try to get on with his day.

<i>“Hey, come on! You can’t just leave me hanging!”</i> Ataru insisted. <i>“You’re the smart guy, right? There’s gotta be some way I can talk Shinobu around!”

“Not without using your Geass, and that would almost certainly have unintended consequences. Please, stop pestering me and try to handle your own -”</i>

“Good morning, big brother!”

And with four simple words, his life became just a little bit brighter. His posture shifted. His voice softened. A true and genuine smile crept onto his lips, instead of the careful mask he wore around others. “Good morning, Nunnally,” he said. “Did you have a good night’s sleep?”

“Did you?” Nunnally replied. The embodiment of innocence. The reason for his living. His little sister, blind and wheelchair bound likely for the rest of her life, but still the happiest and most carefree person you could ever find upon this Earth. “Try not to fall asleep in class again,” she admonished. “Shirley was complaining about it the other day. She said you were pretending to be awake while resting on your hand, like this.” She placed her fist on her cheek and leaned on it. Oh, dear. Shirley attempting to mould him into an upstanding student again? He didn’t really understand why she was so uptight about his behaviour, but bringing his sister into it was a little too far for his liking.

“I’ll try,” he said, fighting back another yawn. “But that’s as much as I can promise. My body might not agree with me, you know?”

“That’s alright,” Nunnally said. “But don’t you have a meeting this morning? You’d better hurry! Don’t worry, I’ll ask Sayako to make you something you can have before class.”

Right. A meeting with the student council. He gave a quick thanks, patted her on the head and dashed off towards class. So many things to keep track of, if it were anyone else they’d be completely lost. What he really needed to do was think about what to do with the information he had, reclaim some measure of control over the situation. He needed knowledge. About Usagi’s enemies. About the Angels. About the monsters Tsukune was attending school with, and how their society operated. About Ranma’s curse. About his own Geass ability…

<i>“You know, your sister was kinda cute.”

“If that thought goes anywhere near where I think it will, mister show-me-your-boobs, then I <b>will</b> make your life a living hell in ways I have only just begun to dream up.”

“Ah! No! I meant, uh, cute like a puppy or a teddy bear! Note cute like that alien chick or that babe Shinji’s living with!”</i>

He didn’t have time for this. Lelouch decided that for the time being the best thing for him to do was ignore everything that came through to him that wasn’t an emergency, until he was more awake. This was probably the most sensible course of action for him to take. It felt like he wasn’t going to go anywhere else, therefore…

“Well, well. Decided to join us today?” Milly Ashford observed, interrupted his thoughts just as effectively as she ever could. “Not planning on skipping out for another bit of gambling, are we?”

“Gambling, me?” Lelouch said. “Perish the thought.”

“That’s for the best!” Nina said, slapping down a rather large pile of paperwork that felt as though it was looming like a tower. “We have to get the budget sorted out. Today.”

“And the two of you skipping school the other day didn’t exactly make it easy for us!” Shirley said, especially giving Rivalz the evil eye.

“Hey, don’t blame me!” Rivalz complained. “He’s the one that had to go all white knight for that crashed truck. We’d have been back to school if it hadn’t been for that!”

“Really, Rivalz? Trying to shift the blame?” Lelouch stretched out his arms and took his seat at the table. This was more like it. This was stable. No more leaping around into other universes, no more interruptions. It seemed as each of them was too preoccupied with their own affairs - or trying to get some sleep - to disturb him. “And here I was thinking we were friends.”

“Hey, sometimes a guy buckles under pressure. I mean, look at those two. Can you blame me for being a little afraid?” The two boys shared a bit of a laugh at that, and Milly certainly seemed amused as well. Nina was her usual quiet self, though Shirley seemed to be fuming a little bit. Probably still annoyed he hung up on her twice yesterday, though that was hardly his fault. The first time she’d almost gotten him killed and would never even know it. “Hey, you get any sleep last night? You look dead tired!”

“I’m fine,” Lelouch said, though a badly timed yawn betrayed how he was really feeling. “It’s like I said. Things got a little hectic after we split up. I’m glad things are going to be a bit more relaxed today.”

“In that case,” Milly said from behind him, “it sounds to me like you need a little bit of a wakeup call. It wouldn’t do if you weren’t at your best, right, Lulu?”

Lelouch felt something cold and wet trickle down his forehead, but compared to the change coming over his body that was barely anything of note at all. Ah, how wonderful. As if his life hadn’t taken a turn for the complicated already.
<hr>
The orgasm hit across the Gestalt like a freight train. The one and only girl of the group felt her entire body light up with pleasure, desire, feelings that she’d never even dreamed she could feel and that said something given her absolutely hopeless imagination. Under these conditions her limbs went wild, lashing around as she whirled face down to stifle the moans she could feel building up in her body and threatening to make her explode! Well, something exploded alright, or at least it felt like it. All Usagi wanted to do was lie in bed and -

“Yow!” that something screeched, prompting a still sweating and panting Usagi to peer over the side of her bed in time to see a black mass of fur leap onto her lap and give her the evil eye. “Watch your feet!” Luna hissed. “Honestly. Why is Sailor Moon such a clumsy girl?”

“So sorry!” Usagi apologised to the talking cat and how weird was it that this was far from the weirdest thing she had seen lately? “I was just having a good dream.”

“Yes, I expect you were,” Luna said, stepping away from Usagi’s lap with a slightly nervous twitch. “Now, this is probably very embarrassing for a young woman, but there really isn’t anything to be ashamed of.”

It took her a moment to realise what Luna meant: Namely, the mess she had made of herself and her sheets. The sticky, incriminating mess which betrayed exactly what sort of dream she must have been having. At which point, Usagi blushed from head to toe in defiance of basic biology.

“Clean it up!” Shinji and Ranma both whispered in her mind. They were right, and to her annoyance she could sort of feel them tugging at her limbs, dragging her out of bed almost against her will. Well. Isn’t this great? No, ditch the sarcasm a moment. This had potential! Now she could leave chores to the others while letting her mind literally wander to other worlds! Huzzah! Luna followed while Usagi crept down the dark corridors of her own house.

“Actually, this is a chance to ask a few questions,” Luna said. “No more dodging the issue. How did you make that horde obey you? That isn’t an ability any Sailor Scout has ever had.”

“Oh?” Usagi’s voice said, though she didn't remember thinking what she was about to say. In addition, her tone became a little more regal, more stuck up than she usually thought of herself. “You mean there were other Sailor Scouts? What sort of abilities did they have? While we’re at it, what about that monster from before? What do they want? What are their end goals? What sort of abilities do <i>they</i> have?”

All of a sudden Usagi felt quite out of breath. It was weird. Sort of like someone else had been talking just now, and she had been copying them. Completely exhausting! Though it did give her the benefit of seeing Luna stare at her, slack jawed and dead impressed!

“You're taking this quite seriously after all,” Luna said. “We are searching for four allies at present. Sailors Mercury, Mars, Venus and Jupiter. Together it is your responsibility to find the reincarnation of the Moon Kingdom Princess and keep her safe from enemy hands. As for their abilities, they are based on water, fire, love, and thunder, respectively.”

“By thunder, I assume you mean lightning,” Usagi absently said. Right. Common mistake. Thunder was the noise, lightning was the electrical discharge caused by - oh gosh, she felt a bit dizzy. Where was that information coming from? Oh, yeah. Right. Gestalt mind thing! Maybe the intelligence from one of the others was leaking through into her? Gosh! Or… Since her arm was rubbing her forehead against her own will, maybe it was one of the others doing it while she wasn’t noticing!

<i>“My apologies,”</i> the prince said. <i>“How rude of me. I shall depart immediately.”</i>

“Since I’ve answered your question, I’d like an answer in turn,” Luna leaped up onto a counter to peer Usagi right in the eye. “What was that power you used before? I have never seen anything like it, at least not from a Sailor Scout. Please, Usagi, this could be important.”

“W-Well,” Usagi stammered. Oh, gosh! That was so weird! She hadn’t really been in control over her own body until just now, and once full control was reasserted it was like she’d lost all control over her motor functions and needed a moment to get it all back! “Um, you see… I found this freaky cube thing and there were these seven boys from parallel universes that also found one, and… Uh… By the way, what does ‘gestalt’ mean? They keep using that word, and I keep forgetting what it means.”

There was a long enough silence from the cat that it seemed to Usagi as though she might well have imagined that she could speak at all and that this entire situation was driving her completely crazy. Thing about silence, though, is that when it gets awkward it behaves sort of like a vacuum: People start feeling compelled to fill it.

“Anyway, one of them was this prince with a freaky mind control power called Geass and it looks like we can all use it now so I used it to save the day just like a hero should! Go us?”

“… If I weren’t a talking cat,” Luna very carefully said, “I would think you were completely insane. As I am a talking cat, I believe you are only marginally insane.”

“Is that good?”

“Not especially. Do any of these other boys have abilities that I should know about?”

“Well, one of them can sorta change into a girl when he’s splashed by cold water…” Usagi began, and trailed off. Huh. The others had that freaky curse too, right? So… Maybe she as well? Usagi dashed off to the bathroom, ditched her pyjamas in record-beating time - and that says something for a girl as frequently late for school as herself. A splash of cold water to the face later, and then -
<hr>
Well, wasn’t this a great way to start the day? At least he had been a guy when… Whatever that was happened; wasn’t worth thinking about what it would’ve been like as a girl. From what he could tell the others were in a similar state of mind, and were all going about cleaning up after themselves. Ugh. Whatever. Checking the clock informed him it was still pretty early morning, so sorting this mess wouldn’t be too much of a problem. Nobody else should be awake yet, right? Right! Time for him to sneak off, down the darkened corridor of his stupid panda pop’s old friend’s place, get to the bathroom and -

“Ranma? You’re awake early.”

Of course. He nervously turned around to look his unwanted fiancee dead in the eyes. He could feel the excuses die on his lips, but his position did not exactly look good. Why should it? He was sneaking around with his boxers in hand in the dead of night. That couldn’t possibly look good no matter who you were!

“It - It’s not what it looks like!” he stammered, humiliation flooding over him so quickly and coldly it was a wonder he didn’t change on the spot. Weird thing was, Akane just sort of stood there in her pyjamas, rubbing the sleep from her eyes… And nodded in agreement.

“Of course not,” Akane said in a peculiarly monotone voice. “You are not a pervert, and this is not what it looks like.” Ranma quickly covered himself with his damp boxers, then sighed in realisation. Right. Of course. He’d accidentally used that Geass thing on her earlier on. Did that mean she wouldn’t think he was a pervert no matter what? Good thing he wasn’t the sort to take advantage of something like that, otherwise - “Oh, dear,” Akane said in a rather mocking tone. “Did you make a mess in your sleep?”

“Forget you saw anything!” Ranma immediately ordered, relying on memory to activate the power once again. Like hell he was letting anyone think he wet the bed!

“Forget this?” Akane coyly replied. She opened up a nearby closet and tossed him a towel to cover himself with, and it quickly went around his waist. “Not a chance, buster. Don’t worry, unlike some people I’m not the sort to humiliate someone or hold this over their heads. But maybe I’ll forget this if you don’t insult my figure in future?”

Guh! She had him by the balls and there was nothing he could do about it. Why didn’t it work? Why didn’t she completely forget about all of this like he commanded? Maybe this Geass thing didn’t work the way they thought it did… Next time he had psychic contact with that douchebag prince he should raise the point. It was his power. Maybe he knew something… And if not, maybe he oughta know before he does something that really screws them all over. Though these were more fleeting thoughts in the background while the majority of his brain was dealing with the abject frustration of his current situation which was making him look seriously uncool, even if it was only in front of the uncute tomboy he’d been engaged to against his will.

“Sh-Shut up!” he lamely replied. “Really, it’s not what you’re thinking! I just -”

“Of course,” Akane patronised him, even reaching over to pat him on the head. “Come on, let’s get that ‘juice’ cleaned off before it stains.”

Hmph. Not like he needed the help. Especially from her. Still, what else could he do but follow her off towards the kitchen in the most blatantly sulky manner he could manage. Without that power he couldn’t change her mind, hell, he’d probably have preferred it if she had realised the truth at this point. Ugh! This whole stupid situation was tying him up in knots!

“All done!” Akane said while Ranma was too busy stewing in his own juices to notice, and man that seemed like a really lame metaphor to use right now. “We just need to wait for them to dry, then you’ll be all good and nobody needs to know about it.”

Sure enough, he could see his boxers hanging and dripping just outside the kitchen. Blowing gently in the midnight breeze. He considered pointing out that they’d never get dry like that without a little heat on them, but… Screw it, whatever made her go away quicker would be all the better for him at this point. As for her…

“Uh, you seem to have spilled some water on yourself,” he said, and so she had. All down her pyjama top, and even on her trousers. Honestly, how can anyone be that messy with something as simple as washing up a single pair of boxers? Throw clumsy onto the pile alongside violent and uncute. Really now, Pop, this was the girl he was supposed to marry?

“So I have,” Akane blinked. “Oh well. Better let these dry off as well.” Which is when she started taking off her pyjamas right in front of him. Like he wasn’t even there, and she was getting ready to greet the new day. Ranma spun around immediately in abject disbelief. What? Why was she - Why was she getting undressed when he was right there?!

“What’s wrong now?” Akane said, stepping into his field of vision naked as the day she was born. She yawned and stretched out, thrusting her chest almost right into his face.

“You’re naked!” Ranma hissed, trying desperately not to wake anyone else up in the house with a declaration that would probably end his life as he knew it.

“Yep!” Akane nodded. “Doesn’t really matter though. Since you’re not a pervert or anything, there shouldn’t be a problem.”

There was definitely a problem! A big problem! Ranma might not consider himself a pervert, but that didn’t mean he was unaffected by a naked girl being right in front of him! Even if that girl wasn’t particularly sexy compared to -

“You know, since I’m awake I think I’ll do some stretches,” Akane said, and all of a sudden Ranma completely lost his train of thought when Akane stuck her hands on her hips and began to lean from side to side. Stretching out her naked body right in front of him. Stop staring, he thought to himself. Look away from the uncute tomboy. His body did not listen. In fact, it began to defy him in a very particular way. He couldn't help it. Sure. Akane pretty much had no figure to speak of when compared to his own girl form, but that was only in comparison. She had a figure, at least. Her breasts were modest and bouncing around in time with her stretches. When she turned to the side to touch her toes, he could see the distinctive outline of a healthy, fit, trim young woman. No mistaking it. Seeing this was different from seeing his own girl form nude. This was another girl altogether! Of course it would turn him on. Of course his dick was growing hard.

<i>“Oh, wow!”</i> he heard a deep booming voice say inside his own head. <i>“I am a bronzed god!”</i> An image flashed through Ranma’s mind, a tall muscular blond man staring at himself in the mirror, gingerly running fingertips down his incrediblly masculine form which didn’t make Ranma feel the slightest bit inadequate, no sir. He didn’t recognise this person at first, until he noticed the hairstyle. Twin buns on either side of his head? Yeah, that sort of stood out, not the sort of thing you typically see on a man. <i>“Check me out!” </i>Usagi said. <i>“I’m a complete stud! You could grate cheese on these!”</i>

Ranma swallowed and found himself staring at Akane, who was now doing deep, deep lunges right in front of him. If asked later on, he would not be able to tell what caused him to do what he was about to do. Was it the fact that Usagi was becoming turned on by “her” own male form and was taking the opportunity to feel “her” new penis? Was it because Akane was putting on a bit of a show for him without seeming to really notice or care? Or perhaps it was both of these things at once? Whichever the truth may be, what matters is that Ranma let the towel around his waist drop to the floor, and he began to helplessly masturbate.

“Just for the record,” Akane sniffed, leaning down to look him dead in the eyes, not noticing the way her breasts were hanging down right in his line of vision. “We’re not getting married. Got it? That’s just a stupid idea our fathers had.”

<i>“Oh! Oh wow! This is what it’s like for men? No wonder you’re such pervs! Ah!”</i>

The sympathetic orgasm hit Ranma full force, or maybe it was the other way around but who cared? Ranma felt a much-needed release as he once again came, but this time his white seed splattered all over Akane’s chest as she was bending over to scold him. For a traitorous moment it seemed like the most erotic sight he’d ever beheld, until he shook his head in dismay and reminded himself who this was he was being turned on by.

“Stop it,” he mumbled to himself. “She’s not sexy at all! Stop that!”

“Oh, is that how it is?” Akane fumed, rubbing the semen from her chest with a paper towel as though she’d spilled a little bit of juice on herself. “If you’re just going to insult my figure again, you can take care of this mess yourself! Good night, dumb non-pervert jerk!”

WIthout another word, she grabbed her still damp pyjamas and strode out of the room. “Uncute!” Ranma hissed, though his eyes betrayed him by lingering on her naked swaying butt as she strolled out of the room. “So uncute!” Akane stopped, stuck her fists on her hips, turned just her head and stuck out her tongue at him. “Ridiculously uncute!” he declared, barely keeping his voice restrained enough that nobody else would wake up. And then he was left alone, half naked and breathless. Good! He’d had enough of her being around anyway!

Though a traitorous part of him did wonder. If she was so uncute and sexless, why did his mind keep throwing images in front of his imagination, pondering what it would be like if they’d actually had sex? Couldn’t be that he actually liked that girl, because that was completely impossible. Right?

<i>“Ugh… You’re an idiot!”</i> Usagi moaned, and all of a sudden Ranma felt like he had just been called ugly by a tengu. Whatever. He just wanted to get back to sleep and try to put all this behind him. Tomorrow could hardly be worse than today. Right?
<hr>
She felt like a complete goofball losing all control like that. But man, that felt amazing! Usagi wiped a bead of sweat from her, rather <b>his</b> forehead and resumed checking out <b>his</b> amazing cursed form. A few words came to mind. Tall. Handsome. Fit. Muscles at the point where they looked amazing rather than too big and gross. Give a little flex of that arm. Yeah! That’s the stuff! Usagi gave herself a little cutesy smirk and giggled, which looked completely weird in the reflection but she just couldn’t help it.

Anyway!

She opened the door to the bathroom and saw Luna sitting just outside, staring up with a curious expression on her face. Usagi did her best approximation of a bodybuilder pose.

“Well,” Luna said. “Isn’t that something?”

“… Aren’t you going to ask me about this?”

“I was going to ask you to change back,” Luna said. “You can change back, can’t you?”

Usagi returned to the bathroom, got some hot water and splashed her face with it. Back to her usual cute self. She looked over at Luna, who had followed her into the bathroom and gave her a great big smile and a girlish twirl.

“In that case,” Luna said. “We absolutely need to find Sailor Mercury. This is a major complication, and she’s always been the brains of the team. If anyone can figure this out then she can. In the meantime… Try to avoid cold water. Something like this can only draw attention.”

“Can do!” Usagi gave a cute salute. Well! That went better than she thought it would. She kind of expected Luna to freak out, sort of like they had when the whole thing first happened. Not much else for it but to try to get some sleep. The mess was all cleaned up, the gestalt thingy was explained… Not much else for it, really, at this point.

Except… The very moment Usagi’s head hit the pillow Luna was staring at her through very narrow eyes. “This isn’t right,” the cat said once Usagi started to snore. “I need to report this immediately!”

1. Tsukune wakes up, tries to work out what to do about the nurse.
2. Shinji deals with Misato.
3. Ataru tries to figure out a way to placate Shinobu without using Geass.
4. As they fall back asleep, another dream occurs.
5. Something else