John took my little outburst about as well as could be. He humored me when I was gushing on him being a Green Lantern. He answered a few questions politely.
Then things got a little odd.
I asked about his ring. He was nice enough to let me see it, but not to touch it. I did grab his hand to look a little closer at it which he didn't seem to mind. Then, when I was telling him about the time when I saw an imitation of the rind made out of pure emerald, I got a weird feeling in my hand. It felt like it was falling asleep; complete with the feeling of pins and needles.
I tried it from a few different angles and with different body parts. Every time I did, I started getting that odd numbness feeling. The both of us found this very interesting. I decided to try out what would happen if I touched one of his constructs and when he made a construct of a baseball bat, I grabbed it to see what might happen. Interestingly enough, after a few seconds the construct started to flicker and shimmer. At seeing that, we both agreed that it was probably best to keep a good distance from each other.
That still didn't stop me from acting like a goofy idiot around him.
After about ten minutes of walking and taking the elevator, we got to the main bridge of the Watchtower. The place was big, but I was more interested in the fact that it was all kinds of cool. The ring of personnel stations, the teleport pad, the overseer nest about seventy-five feet above the main floor, the various superheroes hanging around the room, and the huge bay windows that let you see the Earth all drove me to actually squeeing by accident.
I heard a chuckle come from John.
"I take it you like it."
"This is, without a doubt, definitely the best day of my life to date," I replied with a tone of barely contained glee.
"Well, don't get too comfortable. I brought you here so we can get to work helping you with your search for your friend."
"Thank you so very much for doing that. The last several times I was teleported to a relatively close distance to the pony I had to save. This time something changed. Unless she's somewhere on the station and no one knows about it. I doubt that, though. I mean, the alarms went-"
That is where I stopped. I'm pretty sure John asked me why I stopped, but I'm only surmising that since I wasn't paying attention to him anymore. I was looking at a group of heroes laughing at one of the stations. One of them was Supergirl. She was pretty sexy, of course, but that wasn't the main reason I was looking at them.
It was the other two. There were only two people I knew who looked like that. Mousse and Shampoo from Ranma 1/2.
For a moment, I stared in confusion at the trio. There was no way they should be here. Then it hit me. There was one fanfiction I knew that involved these two elements. Dark Titans by Lathis.
"What are the odds of a second one? The first one was steep odds already, but a second one? The odds of this are astronomical. It just shouldn't be possible."
I felt a hand on my shoulder that brought me out of my ramblings.
"What's going on?"
"Those two," I said while keeping my eyes on them. "That's the connection. That is the combination of this universe. It also helps narrow things down somewhat."
"You mean those two with Supergirl?"
"Exactly. This universe is a merger with theirs. This development will definitely help me narrow down the places that I need to search."
"And where exactly would that narrow it down to?"
"If I'm right, then the possibilities are down to four locations: the Nerima Ward in Tokyo, the Amazon village in China, the city of Metropolis, or Jump City."
"And exactly how did you come up with those four locations?"
"First is the Nerima Ward and the Amazon village. Their universe has a hot spot in those two locations. A great deal of events occurs in those two locations. Next is Metropolis. Their association with Supergirl leads me to believe that they may have unknowingly directed Rainbow Dash to that location. However, I believe that is the least likely location. Lastly there is Jump City. In several situations like this, it is most likely that one or more of their associates is linked with the Teen Titans. The Titans main location is in Jump City which is a good location to bring up. Honestly, the most likely candidate for that problem is Ryouga Hibiki. That boy is a melting pot full of trouble."
"And just who is this Ryouga?"
At this point, I could tell that he was just listening because he had to. His very tone of voice and posture made it look like he wanted to do something else. I'm pretty sure that it was my fault for being a bit of a pest so I didn't hold it against him.
"If you want to know, then ask the Titans. I need to get moving on this."
I then teleported over to the station where the three of them were.
"Whatcha lookin' at?" I asked into them.
The three of them spun around with a look of a kid who had their hand caught in the cookie jar. That look quickly went away once they saw who was addressing them.
"Who is you? You no look like you belong here," said Shampoo.
"I haven't seen him around here before either," said Supergirl.
"I'm just here to ask you something. Do you think that you could get a message down to the Teen Titans for me? I don't exactly have a way to contact them myself."
"We're not supposed to let random individuals use the Watchtower's communications," said Mousse. "It's standard protocol."
"It's a communication to give them a missing person's report for their area. Also, it's to let them know that I'll be dropping in to do some reconnaissance in the area. Once I get planetside, I should be able to get a bearing on who I'm looking for."
"I suppose that we can do that," said Supergirl with a bit of trepidation.
Before they had time to react, as odd as that is considering that all three of them have superhuman reflexes, I managed to scoop all three of them in a hug.
"Thanks a lot you guys!" I said in a chirpy voice.
I was also wise enough to put Mousse in the middle of that hug. I can tell you right now from experience that if you ever hug a random person, hand placement is a major factor. Keeping your hands on the guy in the middle is a helpful way to alleviate that problem.
Despite all of that, I still received a punch in the face from Shampoo. It was pretty strong, but I managed to keep my grip.
"You let go Shampoo right now!"
I released the three of them and held my hand to my face. As it turned out, my enhanced durability was not transferred to the glasses I was wearing. As I took my glasses off, I noticed that the frame was warped and both lenses were now cracked, but at least they hadn't shattered.
"You know, I may have hugged the three of you, but still that was uncalled for. I didn't even have my hands on either of you. I had my hands on Mousse the whole time."
She was a little surprised from hearing me say Mousse's actual name. I could tell. It didn't last long.
"How you know Mousse's real name?" she asked in a low tone that was dripping with suspicion.
"Alternate dimensions, though I'm not sure you know what I mean by that. Think of it like you had a bunch of twin sisters all living the same life in different places. All of them have the same name. All of them had the same family. All of them chasing after Ranma to get him to marry her. There are many dimensions out there and many versions of you. That's how I know of you, Shampoo."
No one else spoke for a moment. They were probably all taking that in. I decided to fuel that fire a little for my own amusement.
"Some of those Shampoo's even succeeded in marrying Ranma."
"I is married to Ranma?"
"You know you can speak in Chinese to me if you want. I have a nifty little translator on my shirt here," I said and pointed to the little gift the TARDIS gave me. I love that big blue box.
"You're telling me that I'm actually married to Ranma just like I've always dreamed?"
Yowsa! What a difference a language makes. It sounds like she's still speaking English to me. However, that broken dialect of her's that is so well known is completely gone.
"Just like you've dreamed about. Of course, there a few times where you've instead married Mousse."
I swear I could see some green tint in her face as she sputtered from that revelation.
"There is no way that I would ever marry that stupid, blind duck!" she yelled at me while pointing to Mousse.
"A bit harsh of a reaction don't you think? Besides, all things are possible in the universe, or in this case the multiverse. You can marry Ranma just as easily as you might marry Mousse, or even a third party that came to the village and defeated you in combat before Ranma came along."
I examined my glasses once more. I then snapped my fingers and they were restored to perfect condition. That did make me think of something.
"Hey Mousse."
He looked away from Shampoo and towards me once again. I bet he was staring off into his own mind thinking about what I said about him marrying Shampoo.
"Present time!" I said and snapped my fingers at him.
There was a flash and then a gasp from Mousse. He took off his super thick glasses and looked at me. Now, I want everyone to know that I'm not gay, but his eyes actually looked, for lack of a better term, dreamy. He honestly had the most daring green eyes that I had ever seen on a human being. The fact that they starting tearing up really didn't help at all.
"I... I can see. I can see!"
"Don't go crazy on me now! It's only temporary. As soon as I leave this universe your eyes will go back to the way they were before."
I didn't have a chance to say anything else as he pulled me into a hug on his own accord.
"This is the greatest gift anyone has ever given me! Thank you so much!"
I patted him on the back as he kept up his emotional outburst. I didn't really mind any, but it was drawing stares from the people in the room. That was getting a little awkward.
"Yeah, just so you know, I get a bit uncomfortable when people are staring at me. Could you maybe tone it down a little?"
He broke off his embrace immediately. He then looked over to Shampoo and started full-on weeping at that point.
"I'm so happy that I can look upon you with my own eyes Shampoo. I never thought that I would be able to do so in my entire life."
He then leaped forward to give her a hug. It looked as though she was about to give him a knee to the face for his troubles, but I managed to push her forward before she got her knee up high enough and he managed to get his arms around her. She looked like she was about to break it off when I interrupted her.
"Just give him this one time. I mean, when will he ever get the chance to actually see you like he is now? Besides, like I said it's only temporary. Once I head back to the universe I just came from with Rainbow Dash, his eyes will return to normal. Let him enjoy it for now."
She definitely didn't look happy about it, but she didn't make a move to push him away either. I then looked over to Supergirl who hadn't made much of a fuss over this at all. In fact, all I saw was her with a lighthearted smile on her face.
"You know what? I'll just go ahead and teleport down there and hoof it. At least I'll have a bearing then."
I then charged up my magic, thought about where I wanted to go, and teleported away. I opened my eyes to see if I had gotten it right.
Only, I looked right into the face of Mousse.
"Mousse? What the hell man?"
"This is the greatest gift I have ever received. I feel that I am honor-bound to repay you in some fashion for your generosity."
I looked over to the left, and then up at the giant T looming over me. It looked as though my teleportation spell had worked. I then looked back to Mousse.
"I guess that's fine. It's not as if you'll slow me down or anything. In fact, you are much faster than I am. I am, however, more durable and stronger than you are thanks to magic. Though, I'm not actually sure which of us has more endurance. Oh well, I'm just rambling now. Let's see which way we need to head, first of all."
I grabbed the coin around my neck and held it out to check my direction. It pointed out into the city.
"Into the city it is."
"What is that coin you have?"
"Oh this? Right, you weren't there when I told Batman about it. This coin acts as a beacon to help me find who I'm looking for. It acts as a few other things including keeping my magic stable, I think anyway. At least, that's what I inferred from the creature who gave it to me."
"Who are you looking for anyway? You said her name was Rainbow Dash if I remember correctly."
"That's right," I said as I started walking towards the city. "She's a four-foot, cyan pegasus pony with a rainbow colored mane and tail."
"A pony?" he asked with a tone of disbelief.
"An intelligent pony from a world filled with almost nothing but good folks. They are the primary sentient life form of their planet. They are also very nice and friendly when you get to know them. I only met them a couple of weeks ago and I'm hopping around the multiverse to get them back."
"It sounds kind of girly if you ask me."
"Way to ruin the moment dude," I stated in a high voice.
"And what moment were you two trying to have in front of our tower?" said someone behind us.
I stopped and turned around to see who addressed us.
It was all the Teen Titans; Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy, Raven, Terra, and, in this universe, Ryouga Hibiki.
"I believe it was the moment where the two of us go track down a missing being and bring her home," I said to no one in particular.
"Why would a member of the Justice League be necessary if it's a missing person?" asked Robin.
"Firstly it's because I accidentally teleported into the Watchtower so they are keeping an eye on me. The other reason is that it isn't a missing person, it's a missing pegasus from another universe."
"A pegasus? What exactly is a pegasus?" asked Starfire.
I facepalmed at the fact that I kept having to repeat myself to every person that came along.
"I came here to rescue a four-foot tall, cyan colored, rainbow-maned pony with wings named Rainbow Dash and I have spent the last several hours explaining this to you, him, and the Justice League. Can I please go get her now? I still have to go and retrieve a purple unicorn after I'm done!"
The looks on everyone's faces were priceless. Of course, it was quickly broken by the sound of Beast Boy laughing his green butt off.
"Oh man! That's the nuttiest thing I've ever heard!"
"Oh screw you dude!" I yelled at him and spun back around.
I started walking towards the city again. However, I didn't get very far before a wall of ebon darkness blocked my path. I simply grabbed onto Mousse and teleported around it. I then continued on my way for a few more steps before both Mousse and I were encased in a sphere of the same substance.
"Raven, will you cut that out?" I asked.
"We want some answers first," she replied.
"I just gave you guys some answers."
I tried to teleport again, but this time I couldn't seem to do so. It seemed that her little sphere was able to block my teleportation spell. I didn't want to try forcing my way out with Mousse in there with me. I guess it was up to random luck to work it's way out of this. I placed my left hand on the sphere and channeled magic into both of my hands. I then snapped my fingers and the sphere turned into a sphere of water that promptly splashed down on the both of us.
"That's impossible!" I heard Raven cry.
"That's Tuesday!" I replied as I placed my hand on Mousse's shoulder.
"By the way, congrats on getting out of the stone prison Terra."
I noticed everyone's eyes widen as I teleported over the bay and onto the nearby shore where I was headed. I saw them spot me and start heading heading towards the two of us.
"Well Mousse, it looks as though the chase is on. Let's head towards the signal origin in that direction," I said and pointed towards the same direction as earlier.
"Is this really necessary?" he asked.
"You don't want to lose to Ryouga now do you?" I goaded him.
I saw him smirk as if he read my intentions, but didn't really care.
"You're right. This is what we came here to do anyway. Let us make haste."
"You go as fast as you can. I can teleport behind you and keep them at bay if necessary."
After a moment of thinking, he nodded and started running in the direction I had pointed in. I turned back to check on the Titans. They were three-quarters of the way over from their tower. Also, Cyborg had somehow taken the time to go grab the T-Car and was driving over the bridge with his head sticking out of the window.
I let out a smirk. Sure, they were the good guys and just talking with them would probably have been the right thing to do in the situation. Too bad I had grown a bit impatient from all the waiting around I had to do. I also had found that strange since I was usually a pretty darn patient person.
That really didn't matter to me now. I had seven superheroes about to do their utmost to catch me for some reason that I couldn't really understand. Although, it may have been a mere issue of pride. Again, it didn't matter.
I was playing tag with the Titans and they were it.
"Game on," I whispered.