I've been drifting too far from Ranma in this fic so far,
I'll try to correct that here and in further chapters.
Previous chapters can be found at Sofaspud's Couch
(www.sofaspud.org).
Thanks go to Mark for pre-reading and putting up with my
crazy ideas (and giving me a few crazy ones).
Disclaimer: Your honor, I plead not guilty to the charges
of copyright infringement by reason of insanity. After all,
you don't have to be crazy to do fanfics, but it helps.
Chapter 7: Before the Storm, or "R & R, Yeah Right."
Many of the early morning shoppers in Psyscape's market were
treated with an unusual sight. A teenaged redhead was
chasing a dark skinned elf across the rooftops. The redhead
wasn't wearing much, just a tank-top and what appeared to be
a pair of boxer shorts, and the elf, though fully clothed,
didn't leave anything to the imagination. Chasing the girl
was a teenaged, bandana wearing boy, who was swinging a
large, silvery hammer.
"Get back here you two-timing prankster," the girl was
screaming. "I'm not finished with you yet."
"Ranma," the boy bellowed, "how dare you say that about
Pirotess."
"I can take care of myself, Ryoga," the elf called back.
"What's the matter, Ranma, can't you take a joke?"
Members of the local militia just stared. A few of the
higher ranking members chuckled as they realized Deedlit's
warning a week ago hadn't been exaggerating. Now they just
had to make sure there wasn't any property damage.
*******
<Nerima>
The Tendos were enjoying something that had been absent from
their lives up until several weeks ago, namely a quiet
dinner.
Ranma and Ryoga had disappeared, Kuno and Cologne had
followed a week later. Ukyo had become somewhat friendly
with the Tendo family, and was at the moment helping Kasumi
cook the evening meal. Kodachi, along with the other
amazons, had not been heard from in a while. Genma was a
panda full time now, sulking in the yard for no apparent
reason, often with a look of terror in his eyes.(1) Lastly,
Happosai had left on a quest to "find my darling Ranma,"
taking a set of very revealing women's sleepwear with him.
All in all, Nerima had become almost peaceful.
Of course, that wasn't destined to last. Kasumi had just
begun to place the plates of food on the table when the
exterior wall burst open, revealing the local purple-haired
Amazon.
Shampoo was screaming. "What pervert girl do with Ranma and
Great-grandmother?"
*******
<Rifts Earth, the magic zone>
Ashram was not a happy camper.
Well, he didn't know that term. However, if anyone
explained what a happy camper was, he would be pretty sure
that it didn't describe him.
Simply put, he was brooding. Things on this world were not
going as planned. Sure, he could rip apart a tank with his
bare hands, and with Soul Crusher he was able to perform
some acts of large-scale destruction. The problem was that
he had, until recently, been forced to share a body with a
hot-tempered youth that happened to be a rebirth of his
spirit. He shuddered to think what would have happened if
he had not managed to keep his consciousness separate from
the boy's. Now he had his own body, but the soul was split
between them. And to top it off, he had been forced to ally
himself with a demon that had more ego then sense. It was
amazing how Errtu couldn't figure out that the humans (and
elves) were not worth the effort to kill.
*Correction,* Ashram said to himself, *one of them is worth
the effort, the others are not.* Ashram adjusted the final
clasp of his new armor, a recreation of his old suit, with a
few enhancements. *At least Errtu has provided me with such
items. Though if he insists on pursuing that Do'Urden
character, he will quickly find himself without allies.*
"Talking to yourself again?" asked the rooms other
occupant. "I do not wish to switch alliances from an
arrogant fool to an insane fool."
Ashram turned to regard the demoness, who has identified
herself only as Lilith. (2) If one only looked at her face,
framed by pitch black hair, she could be mistaken for a
beautiful, human woman. However, the four extra arms
attached to her torso and the snake-like lower body revealed
her true origins.
"I take it you are enjoying my gift?"
"Oh, yes," she replied, a sparkle appearing in her red
eyes. "But it grows dull after a while. There is no
challenge, no combat."
Ashram chuckled, remembering the marilith's motivations.
"Soon you will have all the combat you wish. There is a
world awaiting conquest, and more beyond this one."
She gave him a sly smile as she moved out of his chambers.
She regarded the ruby attached to the necklace she wore. A
feral smile touched Lilith's lips as she contemplated what
kinds of anguish she would put the soul contained through.
*******
<Psyscape>
Pirotess landed with a giggle at the edge of the house's
garden. She dashed into the house an instant before Ranma
landed in the same spot and charged after her. Of Ryoga,
there was no sign.
*******
"Excuse me?"
Pavel Loganov turned to regard the voice behind him. The
lad had spoken in a language he did not recognize. "What
did you say?" he asked in his mother tongue.
"Sorry to disturb you, sir," the boy continued in thickly
accented Russian, "I was wondering if you could tell me
where Psyscape is?"
"I do not know that name," Pavel replied.
"I see, thank you for your time." The youth wandered off.
*Odd boy,* Pavel though, *I should report this to Warlord
Romanov.*
*******
<Nerima>
Akane and Ukyo shook their heads at Shampoo's statement.
"How would we know, you bimbo," Akane snapped.
"Pervert girl tell, or die," Shampoo pulled out her maces.
Kasumi chose that moment to walk in. "Oh, my.(3) Hello,
Shampoo, how are you today."
Shampoo put her weapons away, a little embarrassed. "Nihao
Kasumi, Shampoo fine. Where Ranma?"
Kasumi looked thoughtful for a moment. "Let's see. Ranma
and Ryoga haven't been seen in almost a month. Your
great-grandmother left a week later to search for them, and
I believe that Kuno boy went with her."
"No know where Ranma is?"
"No, I'm sorry, though you might check the dojo, none of us
have wanted to risk disturbing Cologne's work."
"Where Pervert Girl and Faucet Man practice?"
"In the yard," Akane said, "you have a problem with that?"
"Calm down Akane," Ukyo pulled Akane away from the Amazon
girl. "How about we check the dojo together."
Both nodded. "The jerk is probably waiting there," Akane
spat, "laughing at us."
*******
<Rifts Earth, Psyscape>
Cologne rose from her meditations and walked out into the
garden. The companions had gathered there for their midday
meal, and watched her come out. Ranma couldn't believe the
woman standing before him was the same old crone that had
harassed him for close to a year. Cologne stood almost as
tall as Ranma, and carried her staff instead of perching on
top of it. Her long, brown hair framed a face that didn't
look older than twenty. Her build was slim, but every
warrior in the group (which meant everybody) could see the
strength in her muscles.
"I must leave now," she explained. "The others back home
must be worried."
"What are you going to tell them?" Ranma asked.
"The truth. I will not lie to your friends and family about
such matters."
Ranma nodded. "What about Kuno?"
Deedlit shook her head. "He's dead. There are ways to
restore a soul to the body, but in this case I doubt that
they would work. All we can do for his soul and Wulfgar's
is to set them free."
"What about your body?' Drizzt asked. "Your youth was
restored by the energies of this world, wouldn't you lose it
again if you traveled back?"
Cologne considered the question. "I would not be surprised
if I appeared to age a few years. The reason for my
original aged state is a drain on my body's energy
reserves. With the depleted levels of magic back home, I
was unable to recover them. Here I was able to recover
them, which is why I've waited this long to go back."
"That, and those spells we've been teaching each other,"
Pirotess commented.
"True. As I was saying, if they do leak out, and that
causes more unnatural aging, then," she gave a sly smile, "I
have plenty of reason to return here. After all, Ranma
could always use more training."
Ranma paled at her statement.
"That was a joke Ranma," she laughed, and the others joined
in.
Cologne stood at the edge of the garden and concentrated.
Words flowed from her lips as she focused the power for a
dimensional portal. As the vortex formed, she walked over
to Ranma. Ignoring Deedlit's scowl, Cologne took Ranma's
chin in her hands and kissed him.
"I hope we meet again someday," she said, and jumped through
the portal. Since she was gone, she missed Deedlit's growl,
Ranma's blush, and everyone else's snickers.
*******
<Nerima>
Akane, Shampoo, and Ukyo entered the dojo to a scene that
looked like a chemistry lab, a church, and a museum had been
thrown in a blender. Several valuable looking gems were
scattered around, and a large circle was drawn on the floor
in some glittering substance. Writing that would not have
looked out of place on a stone tablet in an ancient
prophet's hand surrounded the circle.
Of course, they only had a few seconds to take this in
before a swirling blue disc formed in the center of the
circle. Out of the vortex popped a woman who resembled a
cross between Shampoo and Kasumi.(4)
"Who you?" Shampoo asked, once again pulling out her
weapons. "What you do to great-grandmother?"
The woman shook her head. "Put the weapons down, child. I
don't think the council would agree with you challenging an
elder."
They knew that voice. Granted, this voice was much
stronger, with none of the reedy quality associated with
age, but it was still the same voice.
"Great-grandmother? Is you?"
The woman, Cologne, nodded. "Yes, child, it is I. The
world Ranma is on is rather rejuvenating. Of course, it is
also filled with hostile creatures."
"Ranma through there?" Shampoo pointed at the portal.
"Yes," Cologne replied, "but you don't want to-" She cut off
as Shampoo jumped through. "-Go there. Such an impatient
child."
*******
"Nihao, Ranma!"
"Ack! Shampoo!"
SHINK! <That, dear readers, is the sound of two scimitars
being drawn rather quickly>
"Get off of him!"
*******
Shampoo's maces flew back out of the vortex, becoming
impaled in the wall by two silver arrows. They were then
followed by a slightly charred Shampoo, holding a sword that
had been cut in half and melted into a stump.
Shampoo stood, coughed a bit of smoke, then turned to
Cologne.
"Great-grandmother," she asked, "what laws say about warrior
who beaten by two men?"
"Hmmm. It has happened before. In that case, she would
marry both, whichever male gave her a daughter first would
be dominant."
"Okay. Shampoo be back soon, must give kisses of death and
get both husbands." She made a running jump back toward the
portal, only to have it disappear before she could enter
it. She spun back toward Cologne, and fell flat on her
rump. Tears were in her eyes as she looked up at the
matriarch. "Why great-grandmother hurt Shampoo's honor?"
Cologne shook her head. "Honor was never at stake here.
Judgement was. Over the past year you have been beaten by
almost every opponent you faced, unwelcome suitors pursued
you, you picked up a curse, and you have been an unwelcome
suitor. Have you learned nothing?"
"But Shampoo only trying to fulfil kiss of death, then kiss
of marriage."
"Are you such a ditz that you didn't realize the two
canceled each other?" Cologne began leading Shampoo out.
"We have much to discuss on the way home."
Akane and Ukyo exchanged shrugs. "So what happened?" Ukyo
asked.
Cologne stopped. "Oh, yes. I owe you an explanation of
what happened, don't I? Come, we shall discuss it over some
tea." She paused. "No, better make it sake, you'll need it."
*******
<Somewhere on Rifts Earth>
"Excuse me, do you know how I could get to..."
Ryoga trailed off as he saw the figure he was addressing.
It was big, lanky, extra pair of arms, and it's hide
resembled a rhino's. The spiked tail and third eye
complemented the twelve-foot image.
"Nevermind. I don't think you'd know." Ryoga ran before the
conservator could figure out what the encounter was all
about.
*******
<Psyscape>
He found her napping in the garden. She lay on a sun-warmed
stone, surrounded by roses of every color. Her elaborate
armor was gone, leaving only a sleeveless green tunic that
almost reached her knees. The distinctive ears of an elf
poked out of her long, blond hair.
Ranma was awestruck by her beauty. He felt like he could
just stare at her for hours on end. Some of it, he knew,
came from the part of his mind that was Parn, but not all of
it. At first he was wary of the elf. He agreed, as did
Ryoga, to Deedlit's idea because, as Ranma had put it, "it
can't be worse than the past year." Over the past month,
though, he had found himself falling in love with the elf.
Here was a woman who didn't think him perverted because of
his curse. Here was someone who listened before making
conclusions about what was happening.
Without opening her eyes, Deedlit smiled and beckoned him
over. "Hello, Ranma. Is everything alright?"
"Better than alright," Ranma couldn't figure out how she
knew where he was. The strange thing was, when he
concentrated on it, he knew where she was and what she was
feeling. He vaguely remembered something about a bond
between them, but had not given it much thought. "Though
that's not what I came to talk about."
"You want something," she said, opening her eyes and looking
into his, "but you're too proud, or stubborn, to ask. Spit
it out."
"I've seen the stuff you can do with your magic. I was
wondering if you could teach me."
"Why?" Deedlit asked, surprised. "Why do you want to
learn?" *If he says "so I can beat Drizzt in a fight," I'll
borrow Ryoga's hammer when he gets back.*
"Because..." Ranma paused. The next words were going to be
the hardest he ever had to say. "Because there is no way I
can ever be as skilled a fighter as Drizzt." A trace of
anger entered his voice. "All my life, my father trained me
to be the greatest warrior of my generation, and now I find
someone who can beat me without even trying. I've been
thinking about that last fight for a while now, ever since
we arrived in the city, and I've realized that the is no way
in hell I can beat him. I've had to sacrifice most of my
schooling for the Art, along with almost all my friends. I
want to have something else in my life." He broke off, and
Deedlit could see him straining to get the words out.
"Something else I can study, so my life isn't empty. Maybe
learning a different art is the way to go."
Deedlit smiled, and traced the line of his jaw with a
finger. "Well, we'll see what we can do. Keep in mind
magic usually takes years of study to learn."
Ranma smirked. "I'm a fast learner."
*******
Pirotess feigned window-shopping until she found the store.
It appeared to be a small tailor's shop, and was, to an
extent. An old-fashioned bell suspended above the door
announced her arrival.
The man that emerged from the rear of the store could have
blended into any crowd of humans. He was a few inches under
six feet tall, with brown hair and eyes. His clothes were
dark, mostly blues and grays. His eyes were slightly dull,
like someone cursed to be good at a boring task.
"Oh, Pirotess," his voice was just a touch nasal, "I had
heard you were back in town. I couldn't believe those
rumors, of course, but they seem to be true. What can I do
for you today?"
"I'm here on business, Ethan."
"Oh," the man, Ethan, suddenly straitened up, his eyes lost
their dullness and his voice cleared. "I suppose that means
you're caught up in some kind of trouble." He began leading
her to the back room.
"You could say that," Pirotess smiled, "we found them."
Ethan shared her smile, "I guess that is good news. So
what's the bad?"
"Well," Pirotess made sure that there weren't any unwanted
listeners, "some trouble got dragged along. We need help
locating something in the Magic Zone."
"Um, I'm afraid I don't have very many contacts there."
"Yes, I know. And no new recruits, with the Federations
policies. All we need is the general location of a new
power."
Ethan nodded. "What kind of power? There are so many. I
mean, you have the Federation, the Coalition, Tolkien, a
great many small kingdoms, not to mention the soul
harvesters are coming back."
She shuddered. "Not to mention them, Ethan. This one
should be easy to find. We're looking for a new demon lord
in town."
If the situation wasn't so bad, she would have laughed at
the horror on Ethan's face. "I see," he whispered. "That
shouldn't be too hard to find. I'll get in touch with my
contacts. If it is a demon lord, then we should know in a
matter of days, weeks at the latest."
"Good, I also need you to get in touch with the Black
Market. For now we need three sets of Crusader armor, a
sniper rifle, and two Triax armored overcoats."
"I can have then in two weeks, standard fees, of course."
"Of course. Always a pleasure Mr. Gherald."(5) Pirotess and
Ethan shook hands before she left the shop. She then
continued her browsing of the stores in the mall.
End Chapter 7.
Notes:
1: As Shade put it in PB #10
"Boygonegonnadieboygonegonnadieboygonegonnadieboygonegonnadie!!!"
(great line, BTW)
2: In the various Palladium worlds, there are at least 2
(possibly 3 or more, I can't recall at the moment) powerful,
evil beings named Lilith. I figured one more can't hurt.
3: Had to do it, sorry
4: No relation, never has been and never will be (not in my
fics anyway).
5: Care to guess where this character is derived from?
Oh, yeah. With her body regenerated, Cologne could now wipe
the floor with Ranma, Happi, and maybe Drizzt. She had
adapted her style to her (relatively) weaker and slower
state, and now that she stronger and faster, do the math.
Ranma the mage? Not quite. He's not going to be as strong
as she is in the story "Permanent," (only with Ranma does
that statement make sense) but he will have some tricks,
mostly combat related.
I want to develop Ranma more, and I'm trying to. But first
I had to tone his ego down ("Most egomaniacs are somewhat
more humble."-thanks for the line, Robert). I already
rearanged the cannon Ryoga with the story of posession in
earlier chapters, now it's Ranma's turn to change. Trust
me, I know what I'm doing ("BOOOOOOOMMM!!" anyone remember
that?), but any suggestions will be welcome. If you really
don't like what's going on, please tell me what you would do
in this situation, not just "I don't like it."
Next Time: Ranma learns magic. Ryoga finds his way (yeah,
right). Cologne breaks the news. The search for Errtu and
Ashram continues.