Magnesite's Office

"Down these clean streets a man must walk ..."

- Magnesite, Crystal Tokyo's only youma Private Eye

Any comments? Then email mark.latus@msvu.ca

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Or keep reading to meet Magnesite and experience his wit and wisdom

Come on in if you don't mind the mess. This place is still pretty cluttered from moving in. The boss isn't helping much. First he thinks it's too bare so he sticks pictures everywhere. Now he's busy wondering if he's overdone it and should take 'em down again. If that's not enough he keeps coming in to make all these fussy little renovations and gets on my nerves. He makes me miss Beryl. She was a homicidal maniac but it was homicidal mania you could rely on. Not like this guy. Anyway what can I do for you? I don't work with children or animals and after recent experiences working with sailor senshi costs extra
Oh, you're not here to hire me, this is for that webpage I got stuck hosting. Not my idea of a good time but when you're fictional you get stuck doing whatever your creator wants.
Yeah, I said fictional. Okay a little background. If you're familiar with the anime series Sailor Moon you'll have some idea where I hail from. Right, The Dark Kingdom. That domain of evil where all the heavy hitters had mineral based names. If you only know the North American version it's that dump they called the Negaverse. Ugh, what a goofy name. Worse than Trenchcoat Mask
Private joke. Anyway Mark Latus, my creator, was an aspiring writer of fanfiction and set his sights on Sailor Moon. One day he had this brainstorm, "What if there was a fifth General of the Dark Kingdom?" Really original right? Adding extra Generals is about the most common SM fanfic gimmick around. Except for maybe creating Sailor Earth and/or Sailor Sun or bringing Jadeite back. Come to think of it he also used one of those. Anyway a fifth General wasn't a new idea but here's the hook. "This new General looks just like Humphrey Bogart!!!"
Well, it made sense to him.
Anyway when the story was written I wound up a General Wannabe instead of the real thing. I was supposed to be your basic cardboard badguy who gets trashed by the heroes and is never seen again. That's what should have happened but another writer by the name of Andy Combs had the idea that he could create a shared world with Mark. Mark agreed and they set about integrating their stories. Somehow this gave Mark another brainstorm, "What if Magnesite were revived in Crystal Tokyo and had to make his living as a PI?"
Weird as it sounds the idea caught on. Other people joined the shared world and liked the concept of a cynic in utopia. If you're wondering what happened next here's the stories. Mark wrote the first while Frank Barr did the second. The third is by Ron Inn the newest member of SME. He cheated a little on the contest page by not using either the dialogue or the situation and doing everything his way. I liked his attitude and promoted him to the main page so that mades three official continuity stories. Mark's just done and Xmas story and when he realised it had been over a year since the last entry to the Magnesite story contest he finally declared Craig Reed the winner. Which gave me five stories all my own. It's great being a star. Now if he'd only finish "Casablanca Revisited" I'd have number six.

The Babe Wore Blue - Mark Latus
Case of the Missing Senshi - Frank Barr
A Decent Dive - Ron Inn
The Kringle Sanction - Mark Latus
The Case of the Mangled Millionare - Craig Reed

As for the Sailor Moon shared world fanfictions I mentioned you can check it out here.

Okay enough about me, what's on the page? Right now it's mainly Mark's fanfics. He's moved the stuff about his involvement with anime fandom to a different page to conserve space. Fine by me as it's already cramped enough in here. Now if only he'll give up on finding a bigger senshi picture to replace those mini ones. Last thing I want is them staring at me from the walls all day. You can show yourself around. I'm going to stay here, drink cheap whiskey and hope a leggy woman walks into my office looking to hire CT's only PI. Don't laugh, that does happen occasionally. Even in Crystal Tokyo.
Almost forgot, that picture of me on top of the page is by Rachael Herndon. You can find it and her other Sailor Moon Expanded art at the SME Art Gallery Page Thanks doll, here's looking at you kid.
As for you, keep going down and next thing you'll hit is the fanfic section. Or you can jump to Mark's anime fandom page and find out how he got himself obsessed with this stuff. Cartoons! How can any guy get obsessed with kid's stuff like that? I could respect a Bogie obsession but that's just plain nuts. Makes my head hurt just thinking about it. I need a drink. You can show yourself out.

Fanfiction by Mark Latus

The Bubblegum Crisis fanfics follow this list
Jump to Mark's Ranma 1/2 fanfics
Jump to Mark's Sailor Moon fanfics
Jump to Mark's Sailor Moon Expanded fanfics
Jump to Mark's Sorcerer Hunters fanfic
Jump to Mark's works in progress
Jump to Mark's variant non-fanfic version of the Sorcerer Hunters story
If you want to comment on any of the stories then email: mark.latus@msvu.ca

Bubblegum Crisis

For those of you unfamiliar with the series here's a brief summary of what it's all about.
Bubblegum Crisis (BGC) is an anime OAV series from 1987. It's an excellent cyberpunk/superheroine series that's still fondly remembered 10 years after its debut despite there being only 11 episodes in the entire series. 8 episodes of Bubblegum Crisis and 3 Bubblegum Crash episodes. Here's the basic premise behind both.
In 2025 AD the second Kanto Quake destroyed most of Tokyo. Hundreds of thousands died and millions more were rendered homeless. The multinational GENOM corporation, best known for their biomechanical androids called Boomers stepped in to rebuild it. Now in 2033 the city has been revitalized, rebuilt and renamed MegaTokyo. GENOM owns most of the city and has made it their corporate headquarters. As Tokyo was restored GENOM has risen to become the greatest commercial power of all time. That is not enough. Behind their benevolent facade the corporation works towards achieving global economic and political domination. A key to this are their various illegal experiments which secretly use the citizens of MegaTokyo as guinea pigs for GENOM's ends. The AD(Advanced)Police, formed to combat high tech crime have become obsolete. Morale is low and casualties high.
Enter the Knight Sabers. Apparently a mercenary group composed of four women with the most advanced powered combat suits on the planet. The truth is they are a force dedicated to keeping GENOM from its goals any way they can. While they try to thwart GENOM's schemes any way they can they are best known by the public for destroying rampaging Boomers that the ADPolice can't touch. Sometimes these are genuine berserkers, sometimes GENOM conducting firepower tests using live targets. While the Sabers hate GENOM their leader knows they cannot destroy it as that would destabilize a world that is becoming increasingly reliant on it. The best they can hope for is to try and maintain a balance. But that balance is very fragile and could shatter easily. As easily as a bubblegum bubble pops.

Bubblegum Crisis : Tokyo Babylon
This story is set shortly after the eighth and final Bubblegum Crisis episode, "Scoop Chase" as Sylia and Mackie Stingray have to face both their father's final legacy and the other inheritors of his gift.

This was my third fanfic and the first not concerning Ranma 1/2. I had the idea for a trilogy of Bubblegum Crisis stories picking up on events after the original series, integrating Bubblegum Crash (regarded as non-canon by many fans) and bringing the series to a conclusion. At the time the idea that Dr. Stingray wasn't the saint everyone always assumed hadn't been done a thousand times before. The first story served to introduce Daniel Dumas, my first original character, who was intended to fill the void left by Brian Mason without being a cardboard, rotten to the core villain like his predecessor. I wanted to create someone more complex than that. Most of those who commented on him think I succeeded. Read it and decide for yourself.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Bubblegum Crash : Knights' End
Two years have passed since the conclusion of "Tokyo Babylon" and apart from the recent events of "Bubblegum Crash" the Knight Sabers haven't had much to do lately. That is all about to change in the aftermath of the events of "Meltdown"

This was one of my most popular stories, supassed only by my SM story, Refugees. It has also evidentally caused one well known fanfic author to declare war on me. Can't please everyone. Considering the subject matter I was surprised by the overwhelmingly positive response this story received on initial release and still continues to enjoy.
1. Berlin Knightlife
2. Homecoming
3. MegaTokyo Burning
4. Crash and Burn
5. Scorched Earth
6. Four Funerals and a Wedding
7. Soul Survivors
8. Afterlives
9. Merry Christmas Mr. Dumas

Bubblegum Chaos : Libel
In the wake of the events of "Knights' End" our heroines reputations have become tarnished and a media feeding frenzy ensues.

A short piece that was originally going to be the prologue to Hurricane Season. But I decided it would be a distraction from the main story and reworked it into a sidestory about a few events between "Knights' End" & "Hurricane Season".
Bubblegum Chaos : Libel

Bubblegum Chaos : Hurricane Season
The conclusion of my Knight Saber story arc as everything builds to an explosive conclusion. My current work in progress this section will be updated as new material is written..

A year after releasing "Libel" and announcing this story was coming soon, almost two years after "Knights End" was released the end is nigh. The number of people still anxious to see the end after all this time is amazing.

Prologue
1. Storm Warnings
2. White Squall - In Progress
3. Voice of the Whirlwind - To be added
4. Eye of the Storm - To be added
5. Hurricane - To be added
6. Reap the Whirlwind - To be added
7. Wake of the Storm - To be added

Ranma 1/2

It's probably a waste of time doing a summary of Ranma 1/2 but here's one anyway. The picture above is of the two faces of Ranma Saotome. A young man with an unusual problem. During his martial arts training he became a victim of the Jusenkyo curse after stumbling into one of the cursed springs. Now contact with cold water changes him into his cursed form, a busty young woman. Hot water returns him to normal but there's a lot of cold water around. He's not the only one with this problem, since he arrived in Nerima the town has become a gathering place for the victims of Jusenkyo though most cursed forms are animal based.
Simply being cursed would be more than most of us could deal with but that's only one of Ranma's problems. Thanks to his father's bungling he has two fiancees and a mother honour bound to kill him should she learn his curse. Thanks to his own bungling he has a chinese amazon and a demented gymnast who are also determined to marry him. Then there are the wannabe boyfriends of all these girls who have murderous intentions toward Ranma. Along with two very dangerous senior citizens who have their own designs on Ranma Top it all off with the fact that everyone is an expert in some form of martial artists and indifferent to causing property damage and you don't have a town anymore, what you have is a madhouse and the lunatics running the asylum.
My fanfics focus on Ryoga Hibiki, the perpetual runner up of the series. Cursed to change into a small black piglet he (rightly or wrongly) blames Ranma for his condition. It's debateable if he's a better fighter or nicer guy than the star of the series and it has been debated quite hotly by fans. On the positive side he's hounourable, chivalrous and well meaning. On the negative side he's quick to anger and believe the worst of Ranma. Add in the world's worst sense of direction, the strength of an ox, extreme shyness and gullibility and a crush on Akane Tendou, one of Ranma's fiancees, and you have a character who keeps winding up the underdog. I like to stick up for the underdog.

The Shampoo Variation
This was the first fanfic I wrote and (apart from an aborted piece in our local APA) the first piece of fiction I had written since High School. At the time I didn't own a computer so I was using the machines at work. Which limited me to writing on lunch hours and after work. Our internet hookups were pretty limited so I wound up typing the story online and sending it off as soon as I was done. Despite having all these strikes against it I think it holds pretty well. Have a look and judge for yourself.

Crossover
This was my second story though the concept behind it was my initial inspiration when I decided to try writing a fanfic. But at the time I thought that it would be a long story to write and I had no idea if I could write anything people would want to read. I needed to do a shorter piece to test the waters and that's how I came up with "The Shampoo Variation". I included a framing story around it to lead into Crossover should I write it and sent it off. Enough people liked it that I was encouraged to keep going and wrote Crossover. It's not without flaws but I'm still proud of it.
Prologue
1. Ryoga 1/2
2. Two's Company, Three's a Crowd
3. I am he and he is me and they are we and we are all together, though I think we're starting to strain the Tendo's hospitality.
4. Three's A Crowd, Four's A Nightmare.
5. My dinner with Ryoga
6. The Magnificent 7?
7. For Whom The Bell Tolls, or A Farewell To Arms
8. Terminator Blues
9. Departures and Consequences

Worlds in Collision
Mighty oaks from little acorns grow ... or however the quote goes. This whole story originated when I got the bright idea of expanding the role of an alternate Ryoga who made a brief appearance in part 8 of "Crossover". Perhaps mixing SF gorefest "The Guyver" and "Ranma 1/2" was a weird concept but this sequel to "Crossover" worked surprising well. Guyver Ryoga makes a cameo appearance in Part 2 of RpM's Converging Series

Prologue - Mistaken Identity
Part 1 - Parallel Lines
Part 2 - Entangled Lines
Part 3 - States of Confusion
Part 4 - Let's Do The Time Warp Again!
Part 5 - Invincible Defender P-chan
Part 6 - Back From The Future

Timelines
As all my previous Ryoga fics had a darkish taint (particularly "Worlds in Collision") I decided it was time to have a bit of fun with the concept. So I brought back two of the alternate Ryogas, threw in Belldandy, a love potion and a cosmic trickster and came up with this story. I had fun writing it and hopefully you'll have fun reading it.

Prologue
1."Now here's my plan ..."
2."Everything is under control"
3."Trust me, I know what I'm doing"
4."Don't worry, we can handle this."
5."This is all your fault!"

Sailor Moon

You probably already know the story. Long ago there was a golden era called the Silver Millenium and all the worlds of the solar system were inhabited. Each world had its own magically empowered warrior who defended Silver Millenium. Collectively known as the Sailor Senshi they bore the individual names of their worlds.
This era was brought to an abrupt end by the Sorceress Beryl and the Demon Queen Metallia. They destroyed the Silver Millennium but it was a pyrrhic victory as they were sealed into another dimension. Before she died, Serenity the Moon Queen sent the souls of those who had fallen to rebirth in the future. Both so they would have another chance for the lives Beryl had cheated them of and so the Senshi be there to oppose Beryl when she returned to conquer the Earth.
Beryl and the Dark Kingdom were defeated but that turned out to be just the start of the enemies who would plague the Sailor Senshi. But they have never wavered in their commitment to protecting the Earth so that love and justice can flourish

Legends of the Fall
This was my first SM fanfiction piece. While it is a self contained story I was intending it to be the start of a series about life after the fall of Silver Millennium. The concept never really came together so I kept the useful ideas from the planned series and incorporated them into Refugees my first DKR fanfic.

The Dark, Twisted, Grotesque, Violent and Generally Perverse Adventures of the Sailor Scouts
I wrote this one after wading through one too many dark fics. I'm not a big fan of dark SM fiction as it's a cheap way of generating a story by suddenly introducing tragedy into the happy go lucky world of SM. Remember folks, SM isn't the real world, that's why the monsters always wait for the speech to finish before attacking. So stop taking it so damn serious. The serious moments are the exception not the rule and IMHO that should be reflected by the stories.

The Sailor Moon Expanded Stories
For space reasons these have been moved to their own page. Click here to see them.

Sorcerer Hunters

Also known as Bakuretsu Hunters this series follows a group of five young men & women who, as the name suggests, hunt down Sorcerers who abuse their powers. On Spooner Continent where the Sorcerers are the nobility and society is feudal there's no shortage of wrongs to right. The group consists of two brothers; Carrot and Marron Glaces, two sisters, Chocolate and Tira Misu and the unrelated Gato (Gateau). Like DBZ there's a lot of food derived names. While apparently normal each of the five is the avatar of a god though unaware this is the source of their powers. Carrot, the group's most inept and lecherous member (who naturally both Tira and Chocolate are in love with and the only girls he won't chase) is the most powerful when he invokes his avatar. Unfortunately as he is the avatar of the Destroyer, God of Destruction letting it loose is a two edged sword. Perhaps fortunately he is the only one of the five who cannot access his powers at will. Without being hit by hostile magic he cannot transform into the giant rampaging monster called the Zoanthrope.

Sorceror Hunters : Inherit the Wind
Carrot, Marron, Gato, Tira and Chocolate have taken out a lot of evil sorcerors in the few years since they started operating. But they aren't the only ones stalking the sorcerors of Spooner Continent. Who is Kane and what is the secret of his crusade against the sorcerors?

Original Fiction

Using the same basic premise as my Sorcerer Hunter fanfic "Inherit the Wind" I reworked it into this fantasy story for Aparition Halifax's local APA. Unlike the fanfic version this version will have a sequel. Part 1 is pretty close to the fanfic, things start to take a new turn in part 2 and part 3 bears no resemblence to "Inherit the Wind"'s wrapup.
In a feudal world where the sorcerers rule two childhood friends are about to be reunited. A reunion that will shape both their own fates and the destiny of their world.

The Mark of Kain 1
The Mark of Kain 2
The Mark of Kain 3

Bits & Pieces

Here you'll find incomplete stories that are awaiting completion whenever I have time. Feel free to have a look. At present everything in here is intended for the Sailor Moon Expanded page eventually.

Paved With Good Intentions- How far should you go to protect Serenity?

Cat's Eye - An interview with Margrave

Reviewing the Troops - Following the events of Crystal Renegades Calcite & the crew start working on getting ready for the war with Nemesis

Zero Hour- The morning after "The Night Before"

Life During Wartime - Life in besieged Crystal Tokyo and the secret of the Nemesians' history.

Casablanca Revisited - Magnesite meets Ferrite and Naru again in the followup "Case of the Missing Senshi" set during the Black Moon War

News From The Front - A meeting of Demand's military staff set during the second year of the Black Moon War

Approaching Cataclysm - Rudra, the mooncat of Nemesis ponders the society he created and the choices he made long ago that have put his people on the road to disaster.

Aftermath - The Black Moon War is over, time to pick up the pieces and face the consequences

"Cat-pain's Log (working title) - A cat's eye view of the voyage to initiate the Golden Millennium

Blue Destiny - In "Crystal Renegades" Azurite was discovered to be the "Blue Haired One" Haruka and Michiru had sought for 200 years. They are all about to discover just why she is so crucial to the founding of the Golden Millennium.

Zeon Genesis Bogosity - In the wake of the Black Moon War a depressed Sailor Polaris is looking for distraction from her troubles and jumps at the chance to begin a new series of Bogus Journeys. Unaware she is about to play havoc with one of the most revered anime series of the 20th century.

Version 2.1 - Don't worry Sailor Scouts, Neo Sailor Moon is here to save the day! Don't worry. Be afraid, be very afraid!

My Other Webpages

Jeremiah : The Comic - A page dedicated to the european comic series that spawned the HBO TV series

Pages dedicated to the Galaxy's Greatest comic

The Banned Judge Dredd homepage

The Walter Shrine

Sign My Guestbook

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View the old guestbook

Most of the material on this page is based on various copyrighted works. Here goes:
Bubblegum Crisis �AIC & Youmex
Ranma 1/2 �Rumiko Takahashi and Kitty Films
Sailor Moon �Naoko Takeuchi.
Bakeretsu Hunters/Sorcerer Hunters �Akahori Satoru.
Judge Dredd & related characters �Rebellion Inc.
� 2004 mark.latus@msvu.ca

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