Dear Lord! The Feels Man, The Feels! This chapter was good, with enough detail that if someone, who didn't know the bakground, could follow along and appreciate the story so far. However, the ending of the chapter with the first henshin of Venus, and then the regression back into Istar, was outstanding. I can't wait for the next chapter, and yet I know that the wait will only enhance to enjoyment as you spend the time to correctly build the confrontation with Lothos and we get to see the Summers women all kick ass as a family bonding moment.

Thank you, tammin

I'm watching Blue Exorcist these days, so you can have a guess about what I'm preparing for the battle with Lothos.

Yes! Probably the best Magical Girl transformation scene I've ever read. The way it switches midstream from Venus to Ishtar works really well.

Actually, the whole chapter is excellent.

Interesting that Dawn and Lisa-Buffy have Willow (I'm assuming that is still Willow) pegged as Mercury already.

Am I correct in that this is only the 5th Senshi named so far? Saturn, Chibi Moon, Pluto, Venus, and now Mercury. I suspect we've also met Mars.

Poor Merrick. He still dies. But nice to see he could see the bigger picture.

And like all good action scenes, I need more :-) More Lisa-Buffy as she rescues Dawn and Joyce. (well, rescue Joyce in the sense that hopefully she gets to Lothos first. I suspect Buffy is underestimating her mother.)

Stopping at that point is actually the perfect way to end a chapter but Argh! It was like crashing into a wall because I want to know what happens next.

And now, I think a reread of the whole story so far is in order to see what I missed.

Thank you, acs.

You are correct in your assumptions for the known Senshi, though Mercury remains to be officially confirmed. I won't confirm or deny anything about Mars at this point :-)

Sometimes, I muse about doing a 'Wish' episode exchanging the Joyce from this story with the canon one.

Another awsome chapter! Cannot wait for the next update! Though I hope it will be for TTC, if its not, and is for this story, I would not mind that at all. Update soon!

Thank you AlphaBeta,

The next update will be for this chapter as it wouldn't do to leave this arc hanging like this.

This was great, I really liked the Lisa/Kokoa scene. The switch from Charlie Baltimore to Jane Smith was a nice touch for the Kyrie comparison. Thanks for another great chapter and I really hope you have more for us soon.

EDIT: I know thats why you changed it and that is what makes you one of my favourite authors(your attention to the smaller details), too many others make all these grand sweeping changes and don't bother trying to factor in how much they will change events and peoples responses to events. For example one author has the halloween event in season 3 and still has Buffy dressing up for Angel despite the season 2 ending. Blegh.

Thanks tomfo.

On Charlie Baltimore: In the last version, I used Charlie Baltimore because 'A long kiss goodnight' was a recent movie in 1996. For this one, set up in 2012, Mr. and Mrs. Smith made more sense.

RE: EDIT: thank you. World-building is an essential phase of a crossover for me. Different forces in presence must have consequences. Not necessarily evident ones, but they should be here for the crossover universe to feel more real. Likewise, all those small details are for me an essential part of the picture, the thing that help you think "I can believe this". Of course, there is a downside to the attention to detail: if you're not lucky enough to know the subject well, you have to do research.

Which leads to my question... is there a Ranma show in this reality, or do Ranma and Akane exist? Or (knowing Nabiki), both at the same time?

Thanks for the review Vld.

I must say that your question leads me to temptation.

So I will say that the shows definitely exists in the story's timeline. How much it is based on reality remains to be seen.

Lorne's going to have the mother of all headaches once buffy hums a few tunes. If he ever meets Dawn his head will implode.

Good chapter

Thanks Panaka

Fun scene between Kokoa and Lisa, Joyce finally letting the truth out to her daughters. I hope we see a bit more of Gunn even if only in walk on roles; makes me wonder what happened to Fred, considering she's smart enough that Apex might have picked her up and sponsored her education. Lothos and Merrick making their respective moves; though I have this odd feeling that Merrick is going to die at Ishtar's hands after Lisa finally realizes who the Essence is. Either that or he's going to piss off Joyce enough for her to go Kyrie on him. Poor Kimberly, wrong place, wrong time, and now you don't get to be the Pink Ranger :-P

Interesting how Lisa's English is slipping into British, more influence from Minako or maybe all the English as a second language Slayers are taught by Watchers. Also telling that her own thoughts said goddess.

Poor Lorne, looking at Lisa might give him a headache, Dawn could quite possibly break his mind.

Thanks Aenea,

Gunn will probably make other appearances as he works for Joyce's favorite fixer.

I do not have definite plans for Fred at this point (or rather, I'm toying with several ideas) but you will see her at some point. One of the themes of this story is how different circumstances shape different people, so the main characters of Buffy and Angel will be cited.

As for Lorne... stay tuned.

It keeps getting better.

Granted, I'm not sure whether I like the reincarnation reveal better this way (gradual) or the other (sudden shock). There's definitely a different feel to this new reveal. The characters have a lot more depth to them, which I like.

I'll try to be patient waiting for the next installment but there's a drought of other good fics (as defined by me) here right now so *I* *KEEP* *HITTING* *REFRESH* in the hope you'll update more often. (Just kidding. Story Tracking's a wonderful invention.) :-)

Thanks, acs.

I must say that I didn't expect to have around 45k words and not even reaching the beginning of season 1 when I started to write this. Words just started flowing as I was building the world and the heroes took shape little by little.

I am pretty much enjoying the ride. While sparks would probably fly between Elizabeth and the canon Buffy (not even speaking about the shock of an encounter between the two Joyce), Elizabeth feels real to me, because I spent all of this time building her and explaining what in her life made her so different.

The second part of this episode should come relatively quickly. I decided to split 'The Calling' when I realized it was probably going to end as a 20k+ words episode.

Another great chapter. This one is starting to hoke me more and more. I guess it don't matter now witch story you update now, as long as one gets updated now. Still, I hope to see another update for your other story in the near future.

Thanks, AlphaBeta

Very good!

You were, perhaps, a little heavy handed in the scene revealing Celia as a miko.

Will Dawn and Willow know each other like in the previous version? Have Xiang-Ying and Akua met in their former professionally roles? What, if any, will Joyce's and Ageha Kurono's relationship be? And what kind of relationship will Joyce develop with the rest of the Saeba family? Will Artemis speak first in front of Joyce?

Ooh. This chapter opened up for so many interesting questions, both completely new and how things will be different compared to the old version.

The future is exciting!

Thanks, fanofdrows,

On Xiang-Ying and Akua: they know each other by reputation, each of them being the former top assassin of a major Chinese or Taiwanese Triad. They didn't meet face to face until that day, though.

Some of your questions on the future will find their answer in the next chapter.

Let's see... aside from the obvious ones you already added in the disclaimer, am i right in thinking you're also adding "Tsukihime" in the mix? Or is Ageha from another game/manga/anime? Blue hair... since i think Willow is either the new Mars or the new Mercury, i'm not sure if Kurumu is related to the Senshis, though she has the hair for it.

And i'm really looking forward to what other crossovers you have planned.

So far, we have Dawn as Pluto, Buffy as Venus, Willow as... either Mars or Mercury. I'm guessing Celia is possibly Moon, but only 50% sure of it. Keeping with the BTVS theme for the Senshis, i'm thinking Cordelia as Neptune, possibly Gwen (the lightning girl from "Angel") as Jupiter or Uranus, but i've got no idea who could suit anyone else. I'm going to read the other chapters now.

Thanks Vld,

Ageha Kurono is actually from Rosario+Vampire. She is Kurumu's mother and a succubus. In this story, she is working for Apex Industries as a negotiator. Though it was not yet stated in this version, I can say without spoiling too much that Succubae are Venusians.

http://rosariovampire.wikia.com/wiki/Ageha_Kurono

Because of the Genetic Expression Syndrome, around one baby out of 100'000 born in 1997 (and the proportion has been rising since then) has hair and eye color totally unrelated to her/his parents, including colors normally not possible to humans. While some people are seeing those babies with a racial prejudice, the (silent) majority doesn't care. Why the GES happens is unknown, but it makes things easier for some demons to fit in.

Nice chapter, the little bits of Ishtar's outlook slowly leaking through into Elizabeth. And Pluto similarly leaking into Dawn's, that Garnet and Black outfit is telling. Will you be going with the LA Slayerness or skipping to SunnyD? I'm guessing Usagi (either one) dropped off Artemis?

"I therefore came up with what happened in the last chapter. I 'redirected' Kokoa's affections toward another objective called Elizabeth." earlier review

I think Usagi and Hotaru and going to be laughing their butt's off at this. Kokoa thinks, 'hey this girl is fun' and won't realize til later that 'nope not a human girl, she's the Succubi's Queen'.

Merrick and the Slayer make their appearance and the forging of Elizabeth into a hero begins. Also a potential 'oh crap' moment for the Council if their background checks of the Slayer's family turns up anything related to Kyrie. And if they don't, well it's an moment for down the road once nirrti moves on. Having a woman, whose still a legend 15 years after leaving that world, on your case and pissed might just help break the Council.

Thanks Aenea,

Dropping those clues is always a pleasure for me, the whole game being to decide on how evident I will make them.

Regarding Hemery and Lothos: I intend to write about it. Too many elements are different from the situation in canon for me not to do so.

More clues and bits about Joyce's past as Kyrie will be revealed in further chapters. What I will say for now is that her level of skill is similar to the one of the Bride, though her choice of weaponry tends to be different.

Good update.

The piece of trash known as Hank Summers has been kicked to the curb and Joyce jnows at least some about the supernatural. Good, that way we can skip the whole mental institution thing. Possible support is available from that end, with Joyce reconnecting with old friends and her old contacts. That just leaves the question if Hank stil did the mind magic like in the original.
Buffy's relationship with the vampiress is going to help her a lot in the future. Possible help and resources, but above all a friend from that world that she can talk to. Will help counteract the Council propaganda. Especially in the time between Buffy and Dawn being able to raid Merricks personal library.
Niriti has shown up and Merick is in for a suprise.
Artemis has been found. That leaves Luna.
All in all a good solid update, that was very welcome.

Small note about the previous chapter:
I liked Giles meeting Hotaru. Something that can be used once Sunnydale is up and running, to get him away from the council eventually. May even save his life when she finds out what happened to Niriti.

Keep writing, I'll keep reading.

Thanks Panaka

The mind magic is a thing I actually dropped in this version. While it had its uses as a plot device, it was an unneeded layer of complexity for a character I didn't really intend to use anymore. In this version, Joyce married him because she wanted someone boringly normal at this point in her life.

Another great read. Hope your muse returns to TTC soon!

Thanks AlphaBeta

Surprised you didn´t include anything from the meeting ( after such a complete setup ), especially with Kurumu likely being one of those Kokoa knows(and her also possibly/probably knowing who Ryo is)... Or maybe that comes later in flashback format? ^_^

Anyway, looking forward to the next update.

Thanks Spica,

Yes, there will be some flashbacks. I preferred to do it like this to keep the chapter centered on the divorce issue.

For now, knowing that the Journalism Club met Ryo Saeba, Elizabeth, Dawn and Joyce is sufficient.