Title: The Rules: Part II
Rating: PG-13
Disc World/Good Omens Crossover
F/F content.
May contain spoilers.
Characters and places are not mine I am just borrowing.
Originally written for the Yuri Challenge on Live Journal

The landscape was barren except for a few brown stocks of corn that were jutting out from the ground and speckled with a worrying black substance. In the midst of the decaying landscape two figures sat on a large boulder and surveyed their work.

The younger looking of the two was looking up at the clear sky in disappointment. He seemed restless.

"Do you think they'll start to notice us soon, Mr. Black?"

"As we work on larger and larger scales they are bound to see a pattern, Mr. White." Mr. Black stroked his beard and then said, "This world is like the old days. There's surprising potential here that we could mold to our liking."

"Will she join us, do you think?" Mr. White bent down and picked up a clump of dirt that began to ooze in his grasp. He wiped the muck on his jacket and smiled.

Mr. Black raised an eyebrow and then said thoughtfully, "If she doesn't we may have some trouble."

"Indeed, Mr. Black."

The two stood up and began to walk towards the road they had deviated from earlier. When they reached it there was a small cart pulled off to the side. It was driven by a little man in spectacles who was dressed like a clerk. He smiled at them courteously.

"Hello, gentlemen," the little man said with a nod, "packages for you."

The little man handed Mr. Black and Mr. White a clip board each. The two men accepted them and signed their names on the paper. The names were not at all similar to how they had been addressing each other. They handed the clip boards back and then the little man reached over in his seat and handed each man his package.

"Thank you, gents." The little man said and then rode off.

Mr. White unwrapped his package and looked over the crown in his hands. "It's a lovely second chance Mr. Black."

"It was only a matter of time, Mr. White." Mr. Black said pocketing the small scales he had procured from his package. "I don't recommend wearing that now."

Mr. White took the crown off of his head and grimaced.

"All in due time Mr. White. We have at least a few more days until the moon completes its cycle, and then… we can begin."

Mr. Black grinned and began to walk forward. Mr. White followed close behind him.

*******

The sun rose casting slow moving light across the city of Anhk-Morpork. It trickled in through the window of Susan Sto Helit's room in a shower of red-orange light that played across Susan's features in shadowed ripples. Red watched from the vicinity of the mirror, orange eyes fixed in awe. She had never quite seen as beautiful a sunrise as the one she saw before her.

There were very few choices left for her to make. The sword had arrived and it meant something that was probably terrible. Susan had been extremely kind to take care of her the night before but she recalled their first meeting and felt there was only one thing she could really do now. It wouldn't make anything better, but she felt within herself a definite divide beginning. There were the parts that were War and the parts that were Red, and there shouldn't have been a difference, but there was. It was odd, but she felt she was leaning more towards the side that was Red (and the parts that were definitely Red just happened to have a lot of things in common with the parts that were War).

Red took a deep breath and faced the mirror. She stared at her reflection and then let her hair down. It cascaded down around her shoulders and swept about her waist, beautiful and luscious auburn locks. She concentrated and took a breath and then very carefully she stopped time (actually it wasn't really stopping time so much as greatly slowing it down so that everything looked stopped).

She snapped her fingers and she was now wearing a red leather bodice, red leather pants, and high heeled red leather boots that laced up to about her knees. There was a red cloak about her shoulders with a rather plain looking sword shaped clasp at the neck. She then turned from the mirror and walked over to the corner of the room to pick up the sword that had been delivered to her. It glowed with a deep red light around the blade's edge.

She was about to leave the room when out of the corner of her eye she realized she was being watched.

"I'm only mostly human," Susan chided from her chair and then stood up. "I keep going when time is stopped."

Red grinned half heartedly; this was exactly the type of thing she was trying to avoid. "I'd forgotten."

Susan looked her over and then crossed her arms over her chest. "Where exactly are you going?"

"I need to have a talk with someone about this," Red said and held the sword in her hand aloft.

"Right, I'm coming with you." Susan said.

"You most certainly are not. You shouldn't be involved with this."

A look crossed over Susan's features. She only gave it every so often and the look was combining with the slight glow of the birth mark on her cheek that only ever showed when she was very angry or blushing furiously. She was definitely not blushing.

"I'm making myself involved," Susan said angrily. "You think you can just sleep in my bed after having one too many drinks and just casually waltz out the next morning like nothing happened? Well you can't. I won't let you. I don't care if you are leaving this world soon. You don't just run out on people. It's rude."

Red's grin stretched itself across her lips in full force, and then she began to laugh, a million arrows rattling into the ground. She stifled it when Susan gave her another look. "I apologize, it's just that… It's just that…"

She trailed off and stepped over to Susan and looked into her eyes. The birthmark was blazing on Susan's face, the three lines where Death had struck her father. She moved in closer and just when she was sure she was too close, and was certain Susan was probably going to slap her across the face, she smiled and stepped back.

"Alright then, you can come along," Red said. "Just don't blame me if you end up saving the world. I told you could stay home."

Susan smirked. She snapped her fingers and her outfit changed. It was a black dress with a black leather corset and high heeled boots. A black cloak hung about her shoulders with an omega symbol clasp. Her hair quickly freed itself from the bun which was what it did when Susan was being Death's Granddaughter.

Red started time and began to walk forward, knowing that Susan was close behind her. Somewhere in the back of her mind Red thought she could hear the sound of sand beginning to pour through an hourglass.

************

The life timer on Death's desk glowed red, and became solid for a moment before shifting back to a slightly ethereal state. The sand within it (that was not really sand but seconds) began to pour through to the other side very, very slowly. The name on it seemed fairly permanent but there were moments when it would occasionally shift.

The Rules were odd things. They shifted as choices were made. Rules that had been applicable a second ago were now no longer valid, and new ones inched into place. And in the case of the life timer now on Death's desk The Rules were in constant motion. He had been watching the life timer with interest for quite some time. It was next to the other two life timers that had appeared but were solid (and the sands were already beginning to run low).

Choices and changes that's what it was all about.

He looked over at the now ethereal hour glass with the red glow about it. He noticed that when it shifted the amount of sand that had poured through changed. On one hand there was plenty to spare, though you could never quite tell with a life timer, and on the other hand it was running rather low.

It was going to come down to a choice. He felt it… in his bones.

********

Susan stopped walking because she noticed that Red had fallen several paces behind. She turned to see the young woman hunched over and leaning on her sword. She moved down a few steps but was stopped as Red held out a hand.

Red looked up at Susan. Her eyes were glowing, a dangerous blood red. She shook her head and quickly planted the sword as far into the ground as she could before stumbling back from it. She took a deep breath and stood up. She looked back over at Susan and to Susan's relief the young woman's eyes were once again a brilliant orange.

"What was that?" Susan asked trying to keep the concern out of her tone.

"That was function taking over form," Red replied. She stepped further back from the sword and leaned against a tree. "Something's wrong."

"Well obviously."

"No, I mean really and truly wrong. Not just the situation, but me." Red walked back over to the sword. She knelt and then grasped the handle. "If you see flames or I start to not look quite so human my suggestion is to run and find your grandfather as soon as possible."

"What-" Susan didn't have time to finish asking the question.

Red began glowing as she grasped the sword's handle, eyes shut. A rather unbecoming smile was beginning to snake its way across her face and just as the first flickers of flame began to spark around the sword's blade Red opened her eyes and let go of it. She sank back and lay on her back taking in sharp, deep breaths. She shut her eyes and then opened them again looking over at Susan who was watching with apparent calm (though not calmly because her heart was racing).

"We don't have time to go and see War." Red said softly. "My time is nearly up and the others are already starting to leave their mark on this world."

"Others? You mean like the other three Horsemen from your world?"

"Only two, and in a way it's not really them." Just as I am not really War, Red thought, not anymore, not completely.

"And you got all that information by touching the sword?"

Red shook her head. "No, I got all that information by asking the Disc."

"And the warning?"

"I'm…" She searched for the right words. "I don't quite trust my powers at the moment." She stood up, took the sword out of the ground and walked over to Susan. She looked into dark eyes, and she could read those eyes better than she wanted to admit, better than even Susan would want to admit. She brushed a lock of hair from Susan's face and said, "I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"Because I can't let you come with me." Red said and then vanished, needing to concentrate to move as fast as she possibly could.

Susan stood alone in the forest and steadfastly refused to be anything except angry. It was easier for her to be angry than it was for her to be sad, or worried, or afraid (never afraid, she'd die before she'd admit she was afraid). She huffed and found her direction. She walked forward a few paces and then she shook her head, put her fingers to her mouth and whistled loudly.

Nothing happened. She wasn't always sure if anything would happen.

She shut her eyes and concentrated.

Snow… Mountains... Wind blowing low, and two men walking towards the hub.

Susan opened her eyes and nodded. At least she knew where Red was going.

The beat of horse hooves trotted towards her from behind.

She turned around and fought the tiny smile, a sign of relief, which edged at the corner of her mouth.

CAN I OFFER YOU A RIDE?

******

Red had not wanted to leave Susan alone, but she did not have any other options. There was no doubt that Susan would be able to handle nearly any situation thrown at her, but that was not the point. The point was that Red did not want to have to say goodbye, and that was the best case scenario. The worst case scenario was that the parts of her that were firmly and resolutely War would break The Rules. Once those were broken there was very little doubt about how things would end. It was not something Red wanted to go through, and more importantly, not something she wanted Susan to witness.

The mountain she was treading across was covered in snow. She was low on the base and the wind was beginning to howl across it. It was a stagnant scene. It was an image that brought to mind decay, the inability to move on and change because of the past. It was an image Red used to leave behind her in war torn countries. It was something she used to love, but her love was elsewhere now. It curled around her, wrapped her up, consumed her thoughts, and she could hardly deny it any longer.

In the distance Red heard a muffled conversation. As she moved closer the voices became clearer and recognizable. The sword in her hands would occasionally send off a violent burst of red flame and of course the closer she got the more she felt her eyes going wrong, glowing with a deep red light.

"Why do you think they aren't coming out to face us, Mr. Black?" A voice Red recognized as Pollution's asked.

"Possibly, they are afraid to face their better selves, Mr. White." The reply came from Famine.

She paused for a moment before rounding the hill and making herself visible to them. She took a deep breath and really had to concentrate to keep the bits of her that were firmly War from bursting out all around her, but it was hard because she was angry.

Normally such boldness from her fellow Horsemen would be expected, but this was not their world and Red was not quite herself any longer. She was angry that they were breaking The Rules. She was angry that they were pretenders themselves, not quite the real things but trying to be just that. She was angry that they wanted to get their hands on that world. She liked the Disc too much to have them ruin and change it. But mostly she was angry that because of them she had to spend her last moments on the Discworld standing in the snow on the side of a miserably cold mountain, trying to stop them from destroying it, instead of being back in the city having a drink, talking to Susan, and looking into those beautifully dark eyes.

The glow about her died away and she stepped forward, now in plain sight. Pollution looked pleased to see her. Famine did not reveal his feelings one way or another.

"Lovely outfit, Miss Red," said Pollution, and it struck Red as odd that she should be addressed in that way by him.

She looked the two men over and thought about what she had over heard them saying. They addressed each other as Mr. White and Mr. Black. She grinned at their folly, though it was one she herself had made.

"Pollution, Famine," she said as she stepped closer. "What brings you here?"

"Funny," Famine said softly. "I was just going to ask that of you. We had thought you were displaced, like us, but then we realized that you weren't with us at all."

"I made a choice," she said looking into the black depths of his eyes. His eyes were cold, but they always had been.

"And we made a choice as well, War." Famine said. "We choose to escape and find our fortunes elsewhere."

"A great coincidence that you should choose to land here," Red replied. She looked over at Pollution who seemed slightly nervous. She held out her sword. "Look what was delivered to me."

Pollution relaxed slightly and smiled. "I got mine too." He held out his crown. "It's a lovely second chance, don't you think?"

"Second chance?" Red questioned and looked back at Famine who had taken the scales out of his pockets.

"Yes, I figured we could all ride in and have a chance to finish what was started back on our world. You know a little show to mark the new era. Of course we'd need to take care of our doubles on this world." Famine replied matter-of-factly.

She nodded.

Why not?

It would make sense that that would be what they wanted, except that they didn't fit into this world's structure at all. The War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death of the Disc were all very traditional. Granted she had only met Death and War, but she was certain the others fell into the same line of thinking. The world was traditional but perched on the edge of change, and Susan was a testament to that change. The change Famine and Pollution had in mind would be too much too soon. It would tip the balance and destroy everything.

Red gritted her teeth and tried to keep a lid on her anger, but it was getting impossible to do. At her very core Red knew that in the beginning the essence of war was red hot rage. It was violence upon others. It was anger uncontrolled. Her anger was taking a hold of her. That anger was making her all function and function had just about had enough.

Flames burst violently from her sword, her eyes went red, and she glowed with a primal red light as she brought the sword up and moved swiftly forward.

*******

Susan couldn't shut her eyes as she sat behind her grandfather on his horse, Binky. Every time she shut her eyes she would see things in vivid detail that she did not wish to see. It was memory, except it hadn't happened yet, and she didn't want to know. Binky touched the ground and Susan immediately leapt off. Death followed and his granddaguhter stared him down.

"You have business here I take it?" Susan asked.

YES.

She nodded. "Right then, just don't expect me to want to see you for a long time if this ends like I think it will."

Susan didn't even wait for a response. She rushed forward towards the sound of metal clashing against metal. She stopped in her tracks as she saw Red bringing her sword down to meet with a defensively held crown. For a moment Susan thought her heart had stopped. She hated that she had remembered the future correctly.

The young man Red was fighting, who Susan realized probably wasn't a young man at all, was pretty strong and he was doing a fair job of pushing Red back. There was just one problem with his defense and that was the metal of his crown was not nearly as good in quality as Red's sword, and it was rusting. The crown began to crack and eventually it broke in half. When it did the young man fell limply into the snow. He was probably dead but Red swung the sword around and stabbed it through his chest anyway. Black ooze pooled in the snow under his body.

Red did not look at all like herself, and Susan realized that this was what she had been warned about, this Red, who was really War and not human at all but merely function. The function was all violence and blind rage.

There were a set of scales in the snow and the sight of them made Susan take a very deep breath, though it was not enough to stop the tears that were beginning to stream down her face.

Damn, damn, damn, she thought, I don't want it to end this way. She can't do this to me, not now.

Red was engulfed in her function and Susan did not have any weapons to face her. Her grandfather, she noticed was not anywhere nearby. That was worrying.

Red turned and looked at Susan. She grinned, and moved forward.

"I like this world, Susan." Red said. "It likes me too. I could do so well here. This world would open right up for me. It could for you too. I think, in the end, a changing of the guard wouldn't be a bad idea." She looked back and the body of Pollution and shrugged. "Oh well, just the two of us isn't a bad start."

Susan stepped back and then stopped and stepped forward. "I'm only mostly human."

"You don't have to be. You only choose to be. I know you; you can feel it at the back of your neck every day. The power inherited and if you wanted it you could have it all."

"I don't want it." Susan stated firmly. "And neither do you."

Red wavered, flickered, and for a second her eyes were normal again. Then she changed back suddenly, turning in the opposite direction and bringing her sword around with her. It clashed with another of lesser make, held by a gaunt man in black.

"I know what you hunger for," he sneered and kicked out with one of his legs.

Red stumbled back and planted the sword in the ground for a moment. She bowed her head and said, "Desperate times."

The man in black rush forward with his sword and slid to grasp at the broken scales in the snow. He picked them up and grasped them tightly in his free hand. Then he rushed towards Red.

She looked up and readied the sword. He was no match for her. She took a moment, a bare second, and looked over at Susan. She saw the tears streaming down her face. Memory raced towards her and she recalled the vision Susan had relayed to her the very first evening they had met. She took a breath and realization hit her. It showed in her brilliant orange eyes.

She looked back at the man, Famine, who was rushing towards her and drew the sword up to block the on coming attack. He pushed into her and the flames and red glow about the sword died away.

"I know what you hunger for," Famine hissed. "You can almost taste it, can't you? Almost at your lips all you could want."

Red looked him in the eyes and grinned. She used her weight to send him stumbling back a few paces and then swung the sword around clipping the hand he was using to hold the broken scales. They dropped into the snow and fell to pieces. Famine then collapsed, lifeless.

With great effort Red swung the sword out and then drove it into the snow. She stepped away from it and it rapidly began to rust, becoming useless. She stumbled a bit and then looked up. Standing before her was Death, and in the distance the sound of Susan calling out. Death held something out in his hand and Red smiled with sad and knowing relief.

Something went swish.

Red looked up at Death and then sank to her knees.

Susan, watching in horror, rushed forward barely catching Red before she fell forward into the snow. She held her close and cried. Her grandfather was suddenly standing a few feet away. She couldn't even look at him.

THE THING ABOUT THE RULES, SUSAN, Death began, IS THAT, DEPENDING ON YOUR CHOICES, THEY CAN ALWAYS BE CHANGED.

He stepped away and mounted his horse.

Susan shut her eyes, took a deep breath, and was suddenly very startled by the movement from the woman in her arms. Brilliant orange eyes opened, very slowly, and a subtle grin formed on once still lips. The sun was beginning to set in the distance and the light played across Red's features.

"You were dead." Susan said, barely a whisper. Trying to act as if she hadn't been crying like a fool.

"Only mostly," Red replied.

"But I saw him cut something away."

"Yes, he cut away War…mostly." Red had never felt so tired in her life.

"Mostly?" Susan didn't know if she wanted to laugh, cry, or scream at Red for not having a better explanation, for nearly leaving her all alone.

"Well, yes, mostly." She shut her eyes and concentrated. She could feel the remnants of power lingering about her. If she thought about it hard enough she was sure there were some things she could still do. "I mean I was never human, and so now I'm only just mostly. Did your granddad just leave us here to freeze in the snow?"

Susan was about to say something but then she looked up and saw Binky standing alone a few yards off. She shook her head unable to speak. She probably owed her grandfather an apology, but she had a feeling that he might have understood why she would have been upset with him.

"So what powers are you mostly left with?" Susan finally asked, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Oh causing bar brawls," Red said finding a bit more strength. "I'm certain I can pick up any weapon and know how to use it without taking a lesson. I'm irrationally talented at history. I think that may be the most of it." She sat up and looked into Susan's dark eyes. She grimaced and then noticed the horse and laughed, a million arrows rattling into the ground. She looked back at Susan. "I'm sorry," she said.

"For what?"

Red leaned forward and kissed Susan on the lips, softly. She was about to pull away but was stopped. Susan had grabbed a hold of her and pulled her back.

"Don't be foolish." Susan said quickly before kissing Red as deeply as she could, all the while thinking, Damn.

End.