============
PART XII
FALLOUT
============
[December 3]
Gosunkugi walked along, minding his own business. Life was pretty okay
nowadays. He was no longer mugged or harrassed, which was great. He
started to get over Akane, which was good. He was finally getting some
sleep, which got rid of some of those dark ridges under his eyes, which
helped with his social life alot. The most drastic change was that he had
given up on magic. This pleased his parents very much.
He strode by the waterway, taking in the sights, and thought of the
mantra for the day (one of them, anyways, he had randomly selected from a
book).
"I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and people like me!" he said to
himself. He believed none of it.
Then he heard a sniffle. And then another one. He followed the sound
to a bridge under construction nearby and found a long haired girl with a
titanic spatula sitting by the waters and looking sad. Tears was
streaming down her face.
"H-hey, need this?" he said, holding out a tissue.
"Hm?"
"This," he said, holding it up again, "you've, er, got some tears."
Ukyou looked to the person who was talking to her and shrieked. {It's
him! It's Ryo! He's ... he's...}
"C-calm down, I'm not going to hurt you, y'know. Just offering a
hankerchief."
{No... wait... Ryo is dead. This guy... this guy... isn't he...}
"Say, you're Hikaru Gosunkugi, aren't you?"
"Um, yeah. Have we met?"
"No, not really," she said, taking the hankerchief, "it's just that
I've been told about you by my friends. Their description was kinda
right."
"Oh...," said Gosunkugi. He wasn't sure if that was a compliment or
an insult. What did the books say to do in a case like this? Oh yeah,
smile. "Who are you?" he asked.
"Ukyou Kuonji."
Gosunkugi was feeling pretty good. All those self-help books on the
art of conversation were working great so far!
"Say, you're a friend of Ranma Saotome's, right? I've seen you hang
around the Tendou place now and then."
"Oh? Funny, I've never seen you..."
"Well," he said, looking somewhat embarrased, "I used to spy on the
Tendou house alot. Well, I used to have a crush on Akane Tendou."
"Who didn't." muttered Ukyou bitterly, wiping her eyes.
"And so I used to hover around there alot, trying to ask her out. It
never worked out right."
"Yeah, tell me about it," muttered Ukyou.
"So how did you end up hanging around there?"
"I was Ranma's fiancee." Ukyou muttered.
"Oh. Sorry to bring it up."
"Don't worry about it. Water under the bridge, as they say. Life goes
on." Ukyou said, but didn't look too enthusiastic saying it. "Life
sucks." she added.
"So..." he asked, still not quite comfortable talking with girls,
"um... what's got you down?"
"Just... just thinking of a friend that left recently. Guess I kinda
feel lost without him." She smiled a bit through her tears and gave a
little laugh. "Hah. It was usually the other way around."
They stayed out there for a while, with her just staring out into the
waters and him standing next to her looking concerned.
"Um, it's cold out here. I'll buy you a coffee." He held out his
hand.
She turned, looked at it for a while, then took it and stood up.
---------
Somewhere else in town, three youths were speeding across town in a
brand new and incredibly expensive sports car. A short haird girl looking
melancholy, a young boy with long, messy bangs of hair, and a little girl
that was giggling (and safely strapped in) the back seat.
The car was going at somewhat hazzardous speeds, through intersections
at ridiculous speeds. The one in glasses nervously adressed the
short-haired girl.
"Say, Ryoko, since when did you learn how to drive?"
"I didn't, Megs."
"Ah."
Meanwhile, the kid in the backseat was having a blast. "Wai! Faster!
Faster! Faster!"
"Hey, is somethin'bugging you?" asked Megane. "You're way too
depressed, considering who died."
"I... I dunno. Shut up and lemme drive."
*ZOOM*
"WAI! Faster! Faster!"
"Redlightredlightredlightohshiiiiiiii-yeow.... close one."
"Relax, will you? I know what I'm doing."
"Say... we DID rent this on Ryo's card, right?"
"Of course!"
"Just makin'sure."
---------
[Days later]
Ranma and Akane walked along the river carrying bags filled with
Christmas shopping items they had just bought from the stores. They
enjoyed the sights and sounds of the Christmas holiday. The night lights
were sparkling, the crowds were all happy, and the stars were somewhat
visible, making this night almost perfect for the two.
"Ranma," Akane asked, holding onto his arm, "you're really sure?"
Ranma sighed. "Hey, I told you already. Yes, we are going to get
married, yes I want to do this, and yes," he stopped, and kissed her, "I
want to marry _you_." Ranma wondered what was bothering Akane so much.
Ever since a couple of weeks ago she was becoming nervous about their
relationship and was repeatedly asking if he really loved her.
"Hey," he said, "_you_ aren't having any second thoughts, are you?"
"Um.. no, of course not, don't be silly." She sighed and they resumed
their walk. "I guess I'm still having a hard time believing we're...
well..." She blushed.
What was on Akane's mind, still, was Mousse's words. She was still too
nervous to confront Mousse about it directly, but couldn't forget the
implications of what she had overheard.
But... it did feel right.
And she was, she had to admit happy.
With him.
On a whim, she gave him a peck on the cheek.
"What was that for?" he asked.
"Oh... nothing."
As they passed a bridge that was under repairs they both stopped and
looked solemly at the ragged red umbrella planted upright into the ground
in honor of their fallen comrade.
"Believe it or not," Ranma said, "I actually miss the guy."
"Yeah, me too." Akane wiped a tear from her eye. "C'mon, we're gonna
miss dinner."
"At least... at least he didn't go down without a fight. I think he
would've been proud about that."
-------
[Thursday]
It was poker night once more, and Akane, Ranma, Ukyou, Gosunkugi,
Nabiki, Mousse, Shampoo, and Kasumi were sitting around a table. Nearby,
a television was on.
For once, Nabiki had joined in on the games. She couldn't resist the
lure of easy money.
Kasumi had merely asked to join in. Nobody asked her why. She was
well-liked by everyone, so nobody objected.
Shampoo joined in because Mousse had persuaded her to go. She wasn't
pounding Mousse as much as she used to anymore, and they were actually
beginning to get along, at least once a week. She still looked longingly
at Ranma now and then, but did nothing more.
Gosunkugi was there accompanying Ukyou. They seemed to hang around
together more often nowadays. Ranma was clueless, but Akane had guessed
that it was probbably something like a "rebound affair", when one dates
just about anybody right after they break up or loose someone they loved.
Ranma thought that Ukyou couldn't be that stupid.
Ukyou shuffled the deck expertly and dealt them out. Everyone noticed
that she was still using one of Ryouga's headbands to tie her hair into a
ponytail.
Everyone looked at their cards.
Then Ukyou started crying. Ranma and Akane reached out to comfort her,
Gosunkugi offered a box of tissue to her, Kasumi offered some tea, and
Nabiki shook her head looking at the messy scene before her.
"I'm sorry, guys." she said, stopping her sniffles.
"Hey, it's alright." said Akane.
"We used to play poker every night, y'know? It was one of the few
things that cheered him up when he was down." She sighed and looked at
her cards. "Okay, I'm okay. Just lost it for a moment."
"Okay then," Nabiki said, hoping to get things back on track,
"everybody ready? Show what you've got!"
Gosunkugi had a three of a kind, Shampoo had a pair, Mousse had a
straight, Ranma had junk, Akane had a pair, Nabiki had a full house, and
Kasumi had a royal straight flush.
"Oh my. I won again!" Kasumi giggled. She dragged the pile of chips
to her already large stack of winnnings.
--------
"How much credit does that thing have left?" asked Megane, looking over
some interesting and highly expensive footwear.
"Hm... probbably two thousand more," guessed Ryoko, idly looking over a
few dresses a few feet away.
"How'd he manage to get a card like this anyways?" asked Megane.
"Who knows," said Ryoko, "he's always had connections in interesting
places."
"And on another note, you sure nothing's botherin'ya?" asked Megane.
"What? I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
"Dunno... y'just seem... I dunno... kinda moody, lately."
Kyoko raced towards Ryoko, holding on to a large, uber-kawaii panda
plushie. "Can I have this? Pleeeeease?"
Ryoko smiled, patting the smaller girl on the head. "Hey, no problem."
"YAAAY!"
"And after that," said she, "there's this penthouse suite I've always
wanted to try out." She smiled a little, and tucked the dead man's credit
card in her purse. "Hope the room service is cool."
--------
Somewhere, deep in a jungle area, a man wandered. He was badly
injured, sporting many bruises, cuts, and had one hell of a headache. He
had been wandering for so long looking for something that he couldn't
remember. He remembered a fight... an explosion... but nothing earlier
than that. With all his injuries his travel was painful but he felt that
he had to keep on wandering, as if it was a basic need, and he had to look
for... look for... look for what?
He would have loved some hotel service right about then.
--------
[Friday]
Ranma answered the knock at the door to reveal Mousse with a handy-cam.
"Er... hi?" Ranma said.
"Hello Ranma. I'm just here to take care of a minor technicality.
Where is your dojo?"
"Follow me," he said.
They entered the dojo and Mousse set up his equipment.
"What's all this for?" asked Ranma.
"Cologne's getting desperate. She's going to try and get you married
to Shampoo soon, despite your earlier threats."
"Oh? Is that so!" Ranma said angrily.
"No need to panic. We just need to clear one minor detail."
Mousse hit the record button.
"What's that?"
"Oh my! Akane put on some clothes!" Mousse yelled, pointing
dramatically behind Ranma with one hand while trying to cover his eyes
with the other.
"What the? AKANE!" Ranma yelled, turning around quickly.
*WHAM* Mousse flattened Ranma with the Mallet of Justice.
"Well now," Mousse said, slapping his hands together, "that's that!"
"GET THIS THING OFF ME!"
Mousse went over to the camera and turned it off while Ranma slowly
pushed the Mallet of Justice off of himself.
"Wha'd you do that for?" Ranma yelled, angrily stomping towards Mousse.
"Somebody called?" Akane asked, entering the dojo.
"You're no longer engaged to Shampoo by Amazon law." Mousse said,
smiling brightly.
"Oh?" Ranma said, frozen in mid-step.
"So we don't have to worry about Cologne any more?" Akane said,
smiling.
"That's right!" Mousse said. Ranma smiled and shook his hand.
"Congrats!" Ranma said, and then slammed him against the wall, upside
down.
"What... did... you do ... that for?" Mousse weakly muttered.
"That was for the mallet." said Ranma as he went back to the house.
*
At a rather relaxed and modern tea house, Gosunkugi and Ukyou sat and
relaxed, enjoying moderately pricey drinks and a good view of the city.
"I used to go to your restaurant every now and then. Best okonomiyaki
in town, really."
"Really? Thanks." Ukyou said, smiling while examining her cup of tea.
"So why'd you shut the place down?"
She sighed. "I don't know. I just... I just don't feel much like
going to work. I don't think I'm ready, really."
"Because of Ryouga?"
Ukyou frowned.
"You know," said Gosunkugi, "you just can't hide in there forever."
Ukyou looked like she was thinking of something for a moment.
"Yeah," she said, "Ryouga told me something like that once."
"So... what are you going to do?"
"Well," said Ukyou, "y'know, I've got alot of savings from running the
restaurant. Lots. And I know Nabiki Tendou has this knack for handling
money, so... I was thinking of jumping into the market, the stock market,
y'know?"
"Good idea."
"Yeah, it would be nice not to work so hard anymore..."
"Well, take your time anyways." said Gosunkugi.
Gosunkugi paused, unsure of what to say next.
"I guess it would be rough to have your boyfriend pass away like that."
he said.
"Boyfriend?" said Ukyou. "Well... no. He wasn't really that. I guess
he became my best friend, really. Kept me company during the rough times
when Ranma broke off our engagement."
"Oh. I see." Gosunkugi had mixed feelings. Ukyou was available,
which was good. She was sweet, kind, and easy to talk to. But she
_seemed_ to be in love with a dead man. He knew what she said, but that
didn't change what he observed. She loved that Ryouga alot, or so he
thought, and as strange as it may sound, it was hard to compete with a
dead man. After all, the dead are captured in perfect memory. They are
flawless, made that way by the mind of the one that remembers them. Live
people make mistakes, break hearts, fumble for the right words but use the
wrong ones, have streaks of stupidity, do all the wrong things.
Like Gosunkugi.
"Hey," said Ukyou, "thanks for picking up the bill. That was sweet of
you."
"A-anytime." said Gosunkugi. He smiled to himself.
Hope springs eternal, no?
--------
[Saturday]
"Shampoo still not sure about this."
"Please? Just one date?"
Mousse was begging Shampoo one more time. This, he felt, was the final
hurdle. After the apparent death of Ryouga, Mousse was the sole candidate
for Shampoo's hand. The Amazon Legal council couldn't argue at all, and
so the obstinate roadblock known as Cologne was finally rendered
ineffective. Since there was nothing keeping them there except for the
business, Cologne had decided that she would leave for China at the end of
the month.
Only Shampoo's heart stood in the way.
"Shampoo, we're going to get married anyways. I don't want you to hate
me. Please? Come on, we'll go anywhere you want to go."
Shampoo sighed. She knew there was no way out now. Her
great-grandmother could do nothing. The law was on Mousse's side. Ryouga
was no longer there to prevent Mousse from marrying her (although she
didn't like Ryouga that much either) and Mousse had _legally_ taken Ranma
out of consideration as well. Cologne and Shampoo strongly believed their
fight was staged, but technically it counted. Might as well try to find
something good about the blind idiot. Anyways, after the clear rejection
she had recieved from Ranma, she was finally feeling a certain kind of
inner numbness. The fire within her that drove her to recklessly pursue
Ranma was gone, replaced by emptiness and a certain I-don't-care
mentality.
"Fine. We go later. Now leave Shampoo alone."
"YEEESSS!!!"
"If Mousse does not shut up, Shampoo change her mind!"
"Sorry!"
---------
Shutaro Mendou, heir to the largest fortune in Japan, decendent of
noble blood, stood outside of his house, umbrella overhead to keep out the
sleet and snow, and surveyed the neighborhood. He did this every now and
then to unwind from all the stresses that living in Tomobiki came with,
like that pervert Ataru and those idiotic Lum Stormtroopers. The
beautiful sight of this town during night time was something he enjoyed
looking at.
Suddenly, his senses warned him of danger. He readied his sword.
Two red eyes appeared in the shadows.
"SHOW YOURSELF!" he yelled
*BWEE*
<Bwee?> he wondered, just before getting pounded violently into the
pavement.
--------
"Hey! Hey! Over here!" the reporters yelled as a man in a suit,
flanked by lawyers and police was escorted to a police car. "C'mon,
Answer some questions!" They yelled.
The man stopped, faced the cameras, and began a short speech on the
unfairness of the U.S. govornment and the sureness of his innocence.
Unfortunately, someone wandered right into the heart of the crowd, past
all the security, reporters, and poilce. The photographers got restless
when this happened. Finally, one of the cameramen yelled.
"HEY! You! Yeah, you with the bandana! Get outta the way kid!,
you're ruining our shots!"
--------
[Sunday Morning]
Ukyou sat in her room, slowly waking up. It was time for the weekend
cleanup, which she hated doing.
"Ryouga!" She yelled. There was no way she was going to handle this
mess alone. After all, wasn't that why she let him stay here?
"Ryouga!" She called again. Then she remembered. Ryouga wouldn't be
helping her anymore. She was alone in the restaurant. All alone.
She sighed, got up, and went to the kitchen to eat breakfast. She
opened the door, picked up the morning paper, and set it on the table.
Ukyou cooked okonomyaki, set it on a plate, turned on the television, and
sat down.
While chewing on some okonomyaki she unfolded the newspaper. She spat
out her food. The headline read "VIOLENT PIG ATTACKS AGAIN: MILLIONARE
MENDOU STRUCK DOWN!" She read the story. {Standing in the rain... felt
danger... beady little eyes... fast blur... pig noises... It can't be.
It CAN'T BE.}
She put the paper away and resumed eating. And then she spat out
again. The all-news network was on. The newsman was broadcasting live
from America about some story that she didn't care about.
Ukyou ran up to the television to get a better look.
In the background, a ragged figure limped. He had many scratches and
cuts, as if he had been in a fight. Most importantly, he was wearing a
yellow and black bandana.
-------------
[Sunday night]
The night was late, the stars were out, and Akane and Ranma were
walking home from one of the more trendy dance clubs.
They were both muttering all the way down the street and didn't look
like a happy couple at all. Akane was walking angrily, looking away from
Ranma, while he was hobbling slightly and looking not too happy himself.
"Stupid clumsy tomboy... uncute brute... foot masher..." Ranma
muttered.
"I said I'm sorry already!" She yelled back.
"Whatever." He muttered.
Then Akane stopped walking.
Ranma hobbled a step or two ahead before noticing that she had stopped.
Then he hobbled back a few steps. She turned her back to him and
sniffled.
"Aw, come on! Don't start crying!" he yelled. She seemed so quick to
sob lately, alot like her father. "I'M sorry, okay? I should have let it
go by now, and now I am, okay?" He reached out and she took a step back.
"Akane, please." he said. He hobbled towards her again but this time she
didn't move. Then she put her head on his shoulder. {Hey} he wondered,
{why am I always the one apologizing in the end anyways?}
Akane was wondering if this was the way things between Ranma and her
would always be. Naturally. Without any spice helping things out.
"Y'know," she said, between sniffles, "I hoped we'd stop fighting like
this."
"Yeah, I know, me too. Maybe I overreacted. Maybe you overreacted."
Akane was about to argue when Ranma interrupted her, "but that doesn't
mean we should just fall apart or nothin' like that. I still wanna marry
you, even if you are a clumsy tomboy." He smiled.
"You know, I still want to marry you too, you jerk." she said, smiling
a bit, and put her arms around him.
What Ranma didn't know, still, was the 'passion spice factor', as Akane
thought of it. She'd tried to put it out of her mind and just accept
things as they were, but it was always on the edge of her mind whenever
she was with Ranma.
As the couple walked on, they sensed something odd. A presence. They
looked around and saw a figure hobbling in the far distance, a bandanna on
his head.
"It can't..." Ranma muttered.
"Ryouga!" Akane yelled.
The man turned a corner into a busy street. Akane and Ranma looked at
each other as if to see if each was thinking the same thing, then they
chased after the mysterious figure, but the crowds on the street were too
many.
"Hey, Akane, it couldn't have been... could it?"
-------------
[Monday]
Jeanette Smith was sent off to another news story to cover for the
Seattle Post. It wasn't your typical 3-bodies-found-and-no-suspects kind
of story that's so common nowadays, so she was curious. Especially
because it happened in one of the more popular nightclubs, and she'd been
stuck getting assigned to covering the kind of stories that get buried
waaaay in the back of the paper. This time, she sensed, this story would
get attention. It was strange.
She entered a nightclub. It was your typical "generation-x" type of
dive, with an industrial look and dark lighting. She waded past the
police officers at the scene and looked at the damage. It looked like
there was a bomb detonated right in the middle of the dance floor because
there was a considerably big crater occupying that space. Something was
wrong, though. No burn marks, no scorches, no smoke. There should have
been something like that if a bomb had gone off.
She grabbed a passing officer. "Hey," she asked, "any injuries?"
"About a dozen people. Got hit by flying debris."
"That's it? Nobody killed?"
"Nobody even burned. Strange, isn't it?" the officer said, and walked
off.
She went looking for a witness. She found Eno Donnovan, lead singer of
the 'Screaching Monkeys' who was playing on stage during the incident.
"Hey!" she said, grabbing his shoulder, "I'm Jeanette Smith from the
Post, what happened here?"
"Well, um, we were doing our music thing and stuff y'know when suddenly
there's this Japanese dude, been working as a waiter or janitor or
somethin' like that, well he was getting really pissed off when he got
stuck in the middle of the mosh pit. Guess he didn't know that's how they
usually dance *huh* anyways they were bumpin' him and he was bumpin' back
an then I guess he was packin' a bomb or somethin 'cause this gigantic
explosion happens BOOM!. Cement flyin' everywhere! Me an' the band duck,
and when I look up, there's this huuuuge crater in the middle of the dance
floor and the Japanese dude is gone!"
-------------
Kodachi was ready.
She had spent endless hours in the lab trying to recreate the formula
which was lost in her first run-in with Ryouga Hibiki. She knew that the
original batch was effective because she was living proof of it (She
didn't mind being under the spell of the formula, though, 'cause it felt
goooood) and now was hoping to spread her happiness around a bit.
There was a problem. The chemicals weren't reacting like the original
mix was. There was something she did the first time... something
different that made all the difference, and it frustrated her greatly.
There was one outcome that she wanted, the everlasting love effect.
Unfortunately it wasn't, according to her research, the most likely
effect with this new batch of the formula. There were, however, two
effects that were most likely to occur.
One was that the subject would become overwhelmed with passion for a
_brief_ moment, being unbelievably overwhelmed with desire.
The other was a mild skin rash.
She held up a vial filled with clear liquid. This was the closest that
she'd been able to get to the original creation. This was it. She didn't
know if it would work properly, but there was only one way to find out,
right?
Kodachi quickly put on her Ranma-chan disguise and bounded out to her
only surviving beloved.
She sighed sadly for a moment, thinking of the other one. {Alas, my
beloved Ryouga, I miss you much, but life goes on!}
***
Ranma sat in the park, feeling the breeze under the shade of a large
tree, looking doubtfully at the curry dish before him. He and Akane were
having a picnic in the park because she felt they weren't having enough
"quality time" lately. She seemed overly-worried about their
relationship. He didn't see any emergency coming up, but if it made her
happy, he figured it shouldn't hurt too much.
He forgot about the part of a picnic that involved lunch.
"Um, Akane..." he hesitatingly said.
"Hm?" said she, turning to him with a hopefull look.
{Aw heck, can't argue with a girl when they use the Cute Stare} he
grudgingly thought. "Akane, I need a spoon."
"Oh! Here you go!"
High above them Kodachi lurked. She had spotted them enter the park
and hurriedly followed them. She would have gotten out of her disguise
but in the thrill of the pursuit she had entirely forgotten that she was
wearing it.
After observing the layout of the area, she had her plan all figured
out. In one smooth motion, she would descend from the tree, pour the
potion into the curry (it seemed like curry anyways but Kodachi knew that
with Akane's cooking one never could be sure of anything) with her left
hand, hammer Akane with a mallet using her right hand, kick the bowl into
Ranma's face with the left foot (assuming his mouth would be gaping in
surprise at her arrival as it usually seemed to be) and landing neatly in
front of him just in time for the potion to take effect and *presto* love
slave for eternity!
She leapt from the tree.
"AKANE TENDO PREPARE TO DIE!!!!"
Yes, Kodachi Kuno does indeed suffer the same inability to quietly
surprise her opponents as her brother. She had shown more control over
it, but in about 80% of her attacks she would not resist the urge to yell
out.
Ranma and Akane both looked up. They were both surprised to see
Kodachi in a really bad Ranma-chan disguise.
"What the?" Ranma muttered, too surprised by Kodachi's appearance to
notice the splash of liquid diving into his curry.
Akane was pissed. She cocked her fists in a ready position and as
Kodachi swung her mallet, Akane caught it with one hand and slugged her
out of the park with the other, hitting her so hard that her wig came off.
Akane noticed the wig. She looked to where Kodachi was flying off.
Ranma shrugged and absentmindedly had some curry. His face turned
green. He discretely turned away and washed off the taste with some
megavolt cola.
Akane suddenly figured it all out. {Of course! It was Kodachi that
kissed Ryouga, not Ranma! Hm... too bad he never lived to find out the
truth.} Suddenly, Akane's hand was grabbed and she was yanked down to the
grass next to Ranma.
"Ranma! What-" She was cut off, mainly because he was giving her one
of the most passionate kisses that they ever had. For both of them, bells
were ringing, violins were striking up a romatic and dramatic number,
doves were flying everywhere, the sky was a romantic shade of pink, all
the clouds were shaped like clouds, and roses were blooming all around
them.
It was that kind of a kiss.
Then it stopped.
Ranma sat up, slightly dazed. "Wow. Wonder what brought that on."
Akane grabbed him by the ear, yanked him back down, and the violins
resumed.
;^)
-------------
[Tuesday]
"But Gosunkugi, I'm telling you he's alive! He's out there, lost,
beaten up, but alive!"
"Ukyou," Gosunkugi said, "i-it was just your imagination. Please, calm
down."
"I'M TELLING YOU HE'S ALIVE!" She yelled.
He looked sadly at Ukyou. {That's it} he thought, {she's snapped}.
She called him on the phone, sounding so panic-stricken, and said it was
an emergency. He ran over immediately only to find her ranting like a
madwoman about Ryouga being alive. "Listen, Ukyou, you're been stressed
out, depressed, and maybe you should go see somebody..."
"You think I'm crazy?" Ukyou glared at Gosunkugi.
"Ukyou, let's go on a date!" Tsubasa cheerily said as he revealed
himself to be a potted plant in the room.
"Tsubaaasaaaa!" Ukyou growled. She whipped out not one, but two
titanic killer spatulas and proceeded to thrash Tsubasa far more violently
than she had ever done before. Finally, she hammered him from both sides
with the spatulas, tossed him up, and hit him like a baseball, right
through the roof.
She was beginning to look a bit psychotic to Gosunkugi.
"Well, you're looking a bit stressed out." Gosunkugi timidly said.
Ukyou calmed down.
Gosunkugi observed the conditions of Ucchan's. It was very much
unkept, and dust was beginning to build up. Ukyou's personal quarters
were a bit messy too, with lots of wet tissue paper and othe items lying
around on the floor. He noticed that the attic was locked up.
"Ukyou, when's the last time you cleaned up this place?"
"Not... not in a while."
"C'mon, I'll help you clean up."
Reluctantly, she accepted his help and they went about the business of
restoring the resaurant.
----------
The young man was extremely confused. He was wandering around some
damn swamp area, full of mosquitos, and suddenly he found himself in some
small metal compartment, and to add insult to injury he was locked in.
"Hey!" he yelled, banging on the door, "Let me out!"
Meanwhile, outside, something was happening.
"TEN... NINE... EIGHT... SEVEN....HOLD COUNTDOWN... REPEAT HOLD THE
COUNTDOWN... INTERNAL SENSORS INDICATE A PROBLEM, DO YOU READ?"
*
Somewhere, deep within a mountain, a man in a red military outfit was
looking at several monitoring screens. A scrawny scientist stood next to
him.
"As you can see, sir," the scientist began, "the readings on this one
are quite high. We think that maybe you should consider recruiting him."
"If you think so, go ahead. I have higher matters to concentrate on."
"Um.. we'll be needing some tracking equipment and some transport. Our
target seems to be wandering around alot lately and at amazing distances."
"Very well. Go and find him."
"Er..." the scientist said.
"What is it?" the dark man rumbled.
"I am sorry my lord, but I have lost track of things. Is your title
curretly Bison or Vega?"
*FWOOSH*
---------
[Sunday]
From the balcony view, the city was sprawled out below, a sight of
jewels in the night for them to view. It was a perfect night, many would
say, for blossoming love.
Manami Hinako looked at the young man sitting next to her. She
wondered if he felt the same way that she felt. Tonight... tonight she
would find out.
It was several days ago when this mysterious man came into her life.
Being an Asian in San Francisco wasn't bad, but she had just recently
moved there with her family from Japan. Her father had been promoted to
overseeing their foreign branch in California. She was feeling sad,
missing the few friends she had back in Okinawa.
Her current residence was a rather nice apartment, the fourth floor of
a renovated and very beautiful apartment, complete with balcony, on the
top of one of San Francisco's many hills. As she overlooked San Francisco
at sunset from her balcony, she sighed, wishing that she wasn't so shy.
Meanwhile, down below, a young person of Japanese origin was
staggering, slowly, to the top of the hill. He was exhausted, more so
than he'd been in a while. On top of that, he hadn't had a proper meal
for days.
He was still a man without an identity.
And he still couldn't get to where he wanted to go... which his hazed
memory told him was Japan, for some reason.
And there was this primal fear of cold water that he'd had... for some
reason it just terrified him.
It wasn't fair, he thought. What did he do to deserve being in this
situation? He felt a wave of angst hit and angrily smashed his fist into
a nearby building.
"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?!"
Far above, Manami was sitting on the railing, enjoying the breeze. Her
parents had often told her it wasn't a safe thing to do, but to her there
was no better way to enjoy the view and the breeze.
Then the building shuddered, catching her entirely by surprise. She
wanted to scream, feeling panic rush through her as she felt herself slip
off of the railing, and tumble through the air. She screamed, panic
taking over her mind...
The boy blinked. Seemed that there was something loud approaching.
Sounded kind of like... a scream? He raised his weary head and his eyes
grew wide in surprise as he saw somebody falling right towards him.
Suddenly, Manami's downward fall halted in a non-painful way. Was
death that sudden? How odd. She stopped screaming and opened her eyes
slowly... and found herself in the arms of a hansome (although slightly
ragged, and very surprised looking) Japanese boy.
"Ah..." was all she could bring herself to say.
"Um... hello," he said, unsure of what else to say. He seemed to try
to think of the appropriate thing, and carefully, too. Finally, he looked
into her eyes.
"Excuse me," he said, "can you tell me where I am?"
"You... don't know where you are?" asked she.
"Ah... no. I'm not in Hong Kong anymore, am I?"
"Well... no." She blushed as she realized exactly what kind of
position she was in.
He noticed her blush, and asked, "Um, is something wrong?"
"You... can put me down now," said she.
His eyes went wide with shock, finally realizing that he'd been holding
her close and in his arms for a while now, and gently set her down, then
laughed nervously while scratching his head. His look of slight confusion
and embarrasment seemed genuine, and somewhat cute. His being from Japan
as well certainly appealed to her, and although they were both laughing
nervously at the start, somehow she found the courage to ask him to come
in, as a show of gratitude for saving her.
And so, from there, they talked, and talked, and talked more. She
found out he was indeed a native of Japan, but for some reason, had no
memory until a few weeks ago. Anything beyond that was a collection of
unclear images, names, and thoughts.
A mystery man, wandering the world trying to find his identity. The
whole concept, she thought, was almost too romantic. And he was cute too,
especially with those little fangs of his. When she found out he had
nowhere to go, she couldn't allow him to fend for himself on the streets.
She insisted that he stay at her house for as long as he needed to. For
once she was very much glad that the work that her parents do often keep
them away from home for stretches of days, sometimes weeks.
With the help of her credit card (actually, owned by her parents), she
proceeded to take him out for the next several days, fixing or (if they
couldn't be fixed) replacing his ragged clothes, taking him out to eat,
and having fun in general. She found herself able to talk to him easily,
although he still seemed nervous about things. She even cooked for him,
which was the first time she cooked for any man. Maybe pancakes were too
easy to be proud of, but he still enjoyed them, and that made her feel
good.
Days passed, and he still couldn't remember his name.
And so it came to this time, with them alone on a romantic night,
sitting there so close to each other. She decided to go for it. She
brushed her long hair to one side and faced him. Touching his chin to
turn his face to her, she moved in close for the kiss. Their eyes locked
unto each other's,
Then he stuttered a name, but not hers.
She stopped, shocked. "W-what? Who?" she asked.
He looked dazed. "I... I'm sorry. I've got to go. I think... I think
I remember somewhere I need to be."
---------
[Monday]
"Ranma, did you invite Ukyou to dinner yet?" Akane asked. The couple
was worried about her since she had kept her store closed for several days
now and hadn't talked much to either of them at all. Akane was hoping to
tell her about her run-in with Kodachi in disguise.
"Yeah," he answered, "but Gosunkugi said she was busy."
"Gosunkugi was there?"
"Yup. Said she was busy cleaning up the place."
"Oh."
Ranma looked disturbed.
"What else did he say?" Akane asked.
"Oh? Um, well, he said Ukyou thought she saw Ryouga on television and
she was getting hysterical about it."
"I guess she really loved him." Akane replied. She went over and
hugged Ranma. "Don't you ever dissapear on me, you got that?"
"Hey," he said, smiling, "of course not."
Akane tensed up for a moment and then let go.
"Something wrong?" wondered Ranma.
"Oh, no." While hugging Ranma, Akane was facing the television. They
were doing a story on the Great Wall of China. She thought she saw
someone familiar in the background. Could that have been him? No,
impossible. "Um, nothing's wrong. Nevermind."
Inside, Ranma was having lingering doubts about Ryouga's demise
himself. No, they never did find Ryouga's body. But he was in pig form
then, and Ranma saw the bridge destroyed in the massive explosion
afterwards. If the shishi houkou-dan didn't kill Ryouga, the concrete
certainly would have. And then there was the river, which was high that
night and flowing very fast. Ryouga was either incinerated, crushed, or
drowned.
{But they never found the body} He thought. That fact tugged at his
brain for the rest of the night.
---------
On an outside market in China, a ragged figure wobbled through the
streets. He still couldn't remember his name. All he knew was that he
had traveled a long way and had to keep traveling.
He was still angry about that insanely long wall that somebody put in
there. He walked left. He walked right. The damn thing seemed endless.
This infuriated him, and so he started punching it, which made a crack but
nothing more. Then, seized by memory, he pointed a finger and yelled
"bakusaitenketsu!" while poking the wall. It cracked, then exploded,
leaving a nice open walkway inbetween.
At a marketplace he stopped. Something caught his eye. He reached
down and picked up a traditional Chinese umbrella that was for sale. It
had a straight wooden shaft and red cloth. It seemed very heavy.
He held it in one hand, examining it carefully. He twirled it. He
swung it. He opened it up and flung it into the sky, where it zoomed
high.
"Hey!" the shopkeeper yelled. "What the hell are you doing?"
The umbrella did a figure-8 in the sky and returned to ragged figure's
hand. He grinned.
The shopkeeper was speechless.
-------
[Friday]
Ukyou and Gosunkugi were playing poker late one night. He was happy
about this, since Ukyou was the first girl to actually be his friend. She
had invited him over for poker several nights in a row now. With a little
bit more effort, maybe she'd be more than a friend?
Ukyou was looking at the hand she had to work with. A two, a three, a
jack, an ace, and a six. Junk. She looked up for a moment to think and
so looked briefly at the television which was left on.
She gasped.
"Ukyo? What's wrong?" Gosunkugi asked.
She shook her head as if to clear it. "Nothing, nothing."
On the television, a newsman was doing a report on the economic summit
in Korea. The reporter was speaking live from outside a rather important
looking building.
Behind him, a rather confused looking figure was holding a map, upside
down.
---------
[Days later]
In a park somewhere, a young couple was testing the waters of romance.
They were in a park, high up atop a flight of many stairs on top of a
hill, where they first met. They were both looking nervous. The boy was
determined to tell the girl how he felt once and for all, without annoying
distractions like pervert friends, annoying siblings, or the girl who
_thought_ she was his girlfriend.
None of that.
Just the two of them.
"Ayukawa, I..." the young man stuttered, and then suddenly held his
head, as if getting a headache.
"What's wrong? You look so sad all of the sudden." the girl said,
looking genuinely concerned. She took hold of his hand.
"The world..." the young man muttered, suddenly looking very glum, "is
a cold and lonely place."
"What?"
Meanwhile, a bandana-clad figure walked away down some nearby stairs,
idly counting "94... 95... 96... 97...98..."
---------
[More days pass]
Deep in a forest area, a bandana-clad young man strode through,
searching for something but not quite not knowing what. He had traveled
endlessly, and his endurance had finally run out. He collapsed.
"Young man, are you alright?" an old voice asked.
He looked up. "Help... me..."
The old man dragged him into his house, where two others were in
training. "Ken! Straighten your leg on that form! That's better." the
old man snapped. "Just because you win a couple of American tournaments
does not mean you become lax in your technique."
"Yes, sensei!" the blond young man yelled. {Jeez} he thought {just
came in for a friendly visit and the old man turns it into boot camp!}
"Ryu, help me bring this young man in!"
"Yes sensei!" the other man said.
--------
The sun set in Tokyo, with stormclouds rolling over the city quickly.
The sign said, in big letters, "ABSOLUTELY NO WOMEN ALLOWED."
Hitomi wasn't amused.
She'd just returned from her vacation from work only to find this
absurd and sexist little signboard blocking the way to the rest of the
sublevel. She was in charge of this sublevel, it was her duty to check on
the whole area, supplies, patients, and any other things that need
attention. She would have asked someone why on earth such a stupid sign
was put up, but today there were very few people on duty and she just
didn't have the patience to listen to an explanation.
She tore the sign down and walked in.
--------
"Tell me, have you found this young man that you had targeted yet?"
"Yes, my lord." the scientist nervously said. "He was in Seoul, Korea
a week ago. We're sending in a retrieval team to investigate now."
"No."
"No, master?"
"I'll find him myself. We've just lost our agent in Japan, and I wish
him to be our replacement. It's become more important to obtain him now."
"Yes master."
The large figure of the commander glided out the door, his form glowing
with red, blue, and purple swirls of ki-power.
---------
It was a Dark and Stormy Night...
As it was standard practice in any Dark and Stormy Night, this one had
some trouble brewing.
Lightning flared and snaked it's way down to earth. Of all the places
it could have struck, this surge of energy struck one particular spot
and...
Deep in an underground chamber, something stirred. Monitor equipment,
warning systems, and other security devices long dormant sprung to life.
Red lights and loud horns activated, indicating an incident of the utmost
emergency. Staff scrambled everywhere in their white medical coats
manning their stations.
The head administrator, Shiro Fujimoto, stormed into the control room.
He looked at all the monitors. "Give me a status report!" he yelled.
"Sir! We lost power temporarily but the backup generators will be on
line in two minutes!"
"That's good." the administrator relaxed. Then one of his staff
yelled in panic.
"Sir! Subject H has somehow escaped from his bonds and the
ki-dampeners have been overloaded! He's still in his room but we don't
know how much longer we can hold him back!"
"What? Dammit!" Shiro didn't want to deal with Subject H. It was a
worst case scenario. The kind of situation that ruins careers. "How?
How did he get out? We took all precautions! What's going on in there?"
"Sorry sir, but he knocked out all surveilence cameras in the room."
"Damn! Are the priests on their way?"
"Yes sir! But they're stuck in traffic!"
"Damn it all! Why now?!"
"Sir! He's broken out of his room! Our forces are trying to hold him
in the corridor!"
"Shit! Close all the ventilation shafts! Have guards posted around
the elevator shaft at all floors! Secure the stairwells!"
"Sir! He's breached the corridor and is heading for the elevator!"
Shiro paled. "GET ALL THE WOMEN OUT OF THE BUILDING! NOW!!!"
In the distance the sound of exploding bombs sang alongside the
thunder, and the laughter of lechery echoed eerily into the night.
---------
[days later]
The old man looked upon his newest student with a bit of worry.
"Ryu, tell me, what do you think of this new one?" he asked.
The young asian man next to him answered, "He had been in a tremendous
battle. That much is obvious, since it would explain why he bears such
scars and has even lost memory of his past."
"Indeed."
"Fighting seems to come natural to him, as he executes basic attacks
with ease, and has surprised me by already learning the Shoryuken even
though he has been here only for a few days."
"Go on."
"He is abnormally depressed and contains much anger as well..."
"You noticed this too, eh?"
"I took him to the waterfall to train, but he seems to have a great
fear of water, especially cold water."
"Oh? I did not know this." The old man wrinked his brow.
"He says he does not know why."
"Hm."
"And furthermore, he has no sense of direction."
"Yes, I noticed that too. Must be brain damage from a past battle."
Meanwhile, nearby, the topic of the conversation continued to practice
his martial arts, trying to sort things out in his mind.
***
The Shoryuken, the rising dragon punch, was easy for him to master. He
still spun out of control a little bit on the ascent, but it was still
effective as a weapon in combat.
{Heh, a new technique to use against Ranma!} he thought. Then he
stopped. {Who's Ranma?} he wondered. He got conflicting memories. An
image of a young man with a pigtail stealing bread came to mind. Then the
image of a redhead with a torn shirt sprung up. Then the memory of the
girl giving him a deep kiss unveiled itself and he shivered in disgust for
some reason. {Must be an old girlfriend I hated or something like that.}
he thought.
He couldn't seem to master the other special techniques of this school,
such as the whirlwind kick or the Hadouken. He did surprise everyone when
on a particularly trying day he concentrated and yelled "Full Shishi
Houkou-dan!", blowing up major parts of the forest in the process.
The sensei seemed saddened at the fact that he displayed such power.
The blond student asked him, "why do you seem upset? It seems to be a
strong technique."
The old man replied, "to master the Shishi houkou-dan, one must be
dark, empty, or shattered in spirit. For a young man of his age to
already master it would mean that his life is tragic indeed. He must be
getting parts of his memory back, and they must not be very good ones at
all."
***
The young man stopped in his exercises once more. He stared at a pond
nearby, mesmerized by the ripples on it's surface.
Something was nagging at him.
Something just on the tip of his tongue...
June...
Junk...
Junko...
"JUSENKYO!"
The two observers looked at him oddly.
"I must go to Jusenkyo!" He yelled. He ran up to the old man.
"Sensei! Do you know where Jusenkyo is?"
"The cursed training grounds? I do not think that this is wise!" The
old man realised that this may explain his great aversion to water.
"I must go there! My past is there!"
"Hm. No wonder your ki is tainted with tragedy. That place is never a
good place to visit. If you feel you must go.... it is 200 miles east of
here. I strongly suggest that you take a bus."
"Thank you sensei!" he yelled. The young man ran off.
"He left," the young man said. He seemed surprised.
"You are surprised?"
"You knew he would leave?" the young man asked.
"I suspect he is linked to another student that used to attend here.
Do you remember Dan Hibiki?"
"Yes. Come to think of it, they are much alike. I wonder if they are
related in some way."
The old man and his student stood there, watching the sun set.
"Nah." both said, and went off to attend to other business.
-------
[Another week goes by...]
Someone knocked at the door of Ucchan's. Ukyou went to the front door
to answer, and opened the door to what appeared to be a large bush.
"Tsubasaaa!" She growled, grabbing her spatula.
"FTD delivery m'am!" The bush said in a panic.
Ukyou took another look. It wasn't exactly a bush. It was a bouquet.
A rather big one. Nice looking too. "Oh, sorry." She said.
The overwhelmed delivery man brought the flowers in.
"Put it by the window please?" Ukyou asked. "Um... who's it from?"
"There's a card that came with it, m'am." The man said, setting the
floral arrangement down.
After the delivery man left, Ukyou looked at the card that came with
the jumbo-FTD arrangement.
***
Dear Ukyou,
How's things at the restaurant? I wonder if you've finally
opened it to the public again, since you do make the best
okonomiyaki in town. Anyways, I'm just writing because I'm already
out of town and will be stuck in California visiting relatives
for the holidays. I'll be back at the start of next month,
hopefully. I guess I was just worried since you always seemed so
depressed. Cheer up, okay? Here's your Christmas gift!
- Hikaru Gosunkugi
***
"Well," she said, smiling a bit, "that was sweet."
She looked at the flowers some more, and then moved them next to the
front door. Then she flipped a sign on the door.
Ucchan's was back in business.
-------
A tired figure scrambled through the bush. "Where is it... where is
it... *whack* stupid grass... *whack* stupid trees... I could swear it
was around heeeeAAAAAAAAAARGH!!"
***
The Jusenkyo guide looked up from his recliner chair and put down his
magazine. He reached over and turned off his CD player. He looked
around.
"Someone there? Hello? Anyone? Nihao?"
He could have sworn he heard something. He resumed his reclined
position looking over several of the glimmering acursed pools, looked
sadly at the remaining devastation, and resumed reading his magazine.
-------
A figure sat on the roof of the Tendo home, staring absently at the
night sky. This was usual, normally.
However, on this night, it wasn't Ranma. Tonight, it was Akane's turn
to use the Tendo roof for contemplation. The current topic on her mind
was her relationship with Ranma. And finally, she could smile about it.
Things, she thought, were finally looking up.
Until recently, a very disturbing thought kept on nagging at her. That
thought was that her relationship with Ranma was just a product of passion
spice and Mousse's schemes. From the moment she overheard him until now,
she'd pushed the doubts to the back of her mind, trying to forget what
she'd overheard from Mousse. But when she'd heard Mousse was leaving, it
was a now or never situation. If she didn't ask now, then she would never
know the truth.
She'd managed to catch them at the pier, just before they left.
Cologne and Shampoo were already on board, but Mousse had, fortunately for
Akane, lingered for a while longer, wishing to view Tokyo one last time
before leaving.
It was while he was turning around to take his last glance at the city
that his view was obscured by Enraged Akane Tendo. He was no fool. He'd
seen enough of Ranma being abused to know he was in trouble.
"Ah... Akane! What a surprise!"
"C'mere, you," she growled in reply, grabbing him by the shirt, and
dragged him off to the side of a building, where things were more private.
Mousse's mind was in a panic. What could have happened? Why was she THIS
mad? She couldn't have found out... that was impossible.
"What have you DONE to me!" she hissed.
"What... ah... what are you talking about, Akane Tendo?"
"Thanks to you, my life is a LIE!" she barked.
"What have I done to-"
"The spice."
Mousse turned pale, then looked around anxiously. "Shh!"
"Don't you shh me!"
"You don't want the old ghoul to hear this!" he hissed. "If she does,
we're all in trouble again! Do you want Shampoo chasing Saotome again?"
That bit of logic sobered Akane up quickly. She calmed down, but still
had a death-inducing look in her eyes. "Why did you do this? WHY?"
"Didn't everything work out for the best?" argued Mousse. "The old
monkey and Shampoo are leaving, I got Shampoo, you got Ranma..."
"But he doesn't love me! I don't love him! This is all just because
of the passion spice!"
Mousse looked straight into her eyes. "So... you never loved him
before?"
"I... I..." Akane's anger weakened even more under Mousse's calm gaze.
Did she love him before? Akane wondered about that.
"Can you honestly tell me you did not have feelings for Saotome in the
past?" said Mousse.
"I... I think I did..."
"And do you think he did not care about you before?"
"N-no... he never treated me like...""
"How many times did he come to your rescue? How many times has he
risked his life, just for you?" All traces of anger melted away from
Akane's face, replaced by a strange expression of bittersweet emotions.
"Remember Tougenkyou Island? He destroyed our cure, just for you. I
don't think he would do that for someone he hates."
"But... what about the spice..."
Mousse smiled. "The spice? It's been a long while since you ate the
spice. It wore off already. Do you deny that you still love Saotome?"
"Well... no."
"Then all I did," said Mousse, "was make you and Ranma be honest."
Mousse smiled. Akane couldn't help but smile as well. The sound of the
ship horn blowing reminded Mousse of pressing matters. "Well, Akane
Tendo," said Mousse with a smile, "I must go now. It was... an
interesting time here, but now I must go home. I wish you and your
fiancee the best."
"Thanks, and good luck with Shampoo," replied Akane.
"Thank you. And I think it's for the best if you don't tell anyone
about this conversation," he said with a wink. Mousse walked away from
Akane, into the ship, and dissapeared into the crowd, leaving the Tendo
girl alone with her thoughts...
-------
At the penthouse of the Tokyo Hilton, three people were throwing a
small celebration of sorts. Megane, Kyoko, and Ryoko, recent visitors of
Nerima. The celebration had been going on for a few weeks now, which was
how long the credit card they found in the rubble beloning to Ryo Muhoshin
was lasting. This was the climax of several weeks of reckless spending by
the trio. Anyone else would call this cold hearted. Had they known more
about who these three were, and whose death they were celebrating, people
would reconsider the 'cold-hearted' judgement.
The three of them were, at the moment, coming down from a sugar high
resulting from downing several cases of soda and an incredibly heavy
dinner. Megane was feeling happy, and Kyoko was her usual bubbly self,
but Ryoko couldnt' shake that mellow feeling that was haunting her. She
knew why.
She lingered out to the balcony, champagne glass (filled with the best
cola Ryo's credit could buy) and looked out across the night. Ryo's death
was earlier than expected... much earlier... but still, it wasn't an
extreme surprise. Especially given the amount of people he'd made enemies
of in his life. But Ryouga...
"I didn't even get a chance to say hello again," she whispered sadly.
She wondered. Did he remember her? How would he have reacted? It was
too late for that now. All far too late.
A falling star streaked across the night sky. She saw it and made a
wish. "I wish... I wish Ryouga was alive." As the falling star winked
out of existence, she added absently, "oh yeah, Ryo too."
-------
Cologne was busy packing away things on the ship cabin they had
obtained as part of their return to China. She looked a bit tired, and
felt older than she was. Shampoo, helping her with the luggage, noticed
something was wrong.
"Great-grandmother, what wrong?"
"I just feel like I need a vacation. Being stuck with Mousse as a
son-in-law is trying on the nerves and I do not wish to deal with any more
strangeness. Not for a while anyways. I guess it is good that we are
returning home at last."
Shampoo looked sadly at her great-grandmother. "We really give up on
Ranma, great-grandmother?"
"No choice anymore. I don't believe Mousse outschemed me. Even though
we are returning home with a husband for you, I still feel dishonored. If
he's to be my son-in-law, I'll make life hell for him."
Shampoo nodded, then left the cabin.
On the deck, Mousse looked out over the waters to the slowly
dissapearing sight of Tokyo. "Goodbye, my friends," he murmered. As to
the matter of Akane Tendo, Ranma Saotome, and the passion spice, he was
relieved that his plan worked so very well. As for the truth of the
matter on the lingering effects of the passion spice, he had no idea.
Small dosages of passion spice create temporary feelings of love. That
much is known. Mousse used quite a lot of it, and there was no telling
what effect it would have. He certainly wasn't going to tell that to an
enraged Akane, and was proud of the way in which he talked himself out of
that mess. Was Saotome's relationship a lie? Was it artificial happiness
that they felt?
As long as they were happy, thought Mousse, it doesn't matter. It
didn't matter to him, anyways. Just as long as he had a better chance
with Shampoo now. Granted, she was still pounding him into the ground on
a regular basis, but she wasn't chasing after anyone either.
"Mousse? You here?" Shampoo called.
"Shampoo?" Mousse was surprised. She was _looking_ for him? "What
are you doing up here?"
<I just wanted to see the view> she said, in Chinese. She stared out
into the city lights. <It will be good to see China again, but I think
I'll miss this place.>
<Oh.> he said. He turned back to look at the city as well.
<You remember when we were playing by the beach when we were kids?>
asked Shampoo.
<Yeah> said Mousse. <Those were nice days.>
<Yes, they were.> she said quietly.
<Even though you always kept shoving me into the water...> said Mousse.
<You always talked to the driftwood, or the crabs, or the fish, or a
passing dog. And you called them Shampoo! You were always so stupid,
Mousse.>
Mousse frowned and look at Shampoo. To his surpise, there was a slight
hint of a smile on her face.
<Always so stupid...> she said quietly, looking out into the horizon.
<It will be nice to go back home.>
-------
The young man angrily stomped through the thick foliage of the jungle,
limping and looking very much on the edge of madness. Damn this green...
green... stuff! He swore he'd join the "Pave the Earth" foundation if he
ever got out of there. And if he'd ever get his memory straight. He was
getting hurt, alot, because of some of the hazzards that the plants
sometimes covered up. He almost fell off of a cliff once.
Then there were the unexpected nuisances. He was stomping around
minding his own business when a group of gaijin lunatics pop out of the
bush and start yelling at him about getting in the way of their cameras
and the pandas. A film about pandas! How mundane! He muttered a silent
curse against all gaijins as he stomped through the wilderness.
He swatted some tall grass with the red umbrellla (he picked it up in
China) angrily and stomped onward. Suddenly, he felt a chill and turned
around.
A large figure, clad in a black military outfit and matching cape stood
there.
No, that wasn't quite right.
The dark figure _hovered_ there. He also was surrounded by a fiery
energy that pulsed blue, purple, and deep red.
"You," the dark man rumbled, "have great potential. I extend to you an
invitation to join my ranks."
"Why should I?"
"Join me, and I will give you wealth, prestige, and show you true
power. The dark powers of the soul. Psycho power."
"Psycho Power?" the young man sneered, "It's nothing I've heard of."
"Oh?" The dark man began to flare. He grinned evily. "But then, in
your current state, you've heard of very little. Isn't that true?"
He had to admit, that was true.
The Shadoloo Lord considered the boy before him carefully. "Perhaps I
am being too generous... but I shall aid you. I sense a kindrid spirit in
you. It pleases me to see such a thing."
"What... kinda of aid do you offer?"
"Come closer, and I will show you." The Shadoloo Lord's armored hands
began to glow with an unnatural purple, red, and black flame. The boy
felt compelled to step forward, despite the fear he felt.
The military man reached forward quick as lightining and grabbed him by
the skull. Dark flames flared around them.
Two voices were heard in the deep of the jungle.
One was laughing
The other was screaming.
- end part 12 -
=====================================
PART XIII
A Sort of Homecoming
=====================================
[New Year's Day, 2:00am]
Time was supposed to heal all wounds. It was working, but not as fast
as she hoped it would. However, it was the holiday season, and Ukyou had
made the best of it.
She was walking home, escorted by Ranma and Akane, from the New Year's
party held at the Tendou hall. It was as grand as the last one, with
guests throughout the neighborhood invited.
"Hey guys, thanks for walking me home." said Ukyou.
"No problem. I mean, it's late already and you're carrying all this
stuff," Ranma said, referring to the ridiculous amount of prizes Ukyou had
won in the poker tournament, "and with you carrying all this stuff alone,
somebody might try to rob ya."
"After all," said Akane, "what are friends for?"
***
Somewhere in town, a figure walked, wearing a dark overcoat to shield
himself from the cold weather. He held an umbrella up to shelter himself
from the snow that was flowing in flurries. He would have been like the
many others who were traveling through the streets at this time, except
for two outstanding characteristics.
First of all, he was at the very top of a skyscraper.
Second, his eyes were glowing a fiery purple.
He seemed to look for something, searching through the city with
narrowed eyes, then locked on to a sight far below.
Then he faded into nothingness.
***
As the trio of Ukyou, Akane, and Ranma approached Ukyou's restaurant,
they noticed someone hiding in the shadows, waiting in front of Ukyou's
door.
"Hey," Ranma whispered, "get behind me. Someone's there."
The trio approached the restaurant slowly, getting a better look at the
figure in the shadows. Finally, they were standing next to him.
The person was leaning on the door, in a reclined position, and had an
umbrella covering the upper half of the body from view and a dark overcoat
covering the rest of the clothing.
"I think he's asleep." Ranma whispered.
"Oh, why's that?" Akane whispered back.
A loud buzzsaw snore erupted from under the umbrella.
They blinked.
"Wait a minute..." Ukyou said, "that umbrella..." It seemed to be a
simple bamboo umbrella with red cloth. It also seemed to be very
familiar. "No way," she said, "it can't be." She rushed forward.
"Ukyou! Wait!" Ranma said, trying to stop her.
Ukyou pushed the umbrella aside, and the there of them gasped in shock.
"RYOUGA!"
He woke up startled. "WHAT? WHAT?" He yelled. Then with tired eyes,
he looked at the stunned trio. "Oh. Akane, Ukyou, er.. Ranma. Hey,
guys, how've you been? Sorry I missed the Christmas party." He staggered
up to his feet.
"Ryouga you numskull, where've you been!" Ukyou yelled, and then
wrapped him in a tight embrace, knocking him over.. "You jerk! We
thought you were dead!"
Ryouga wasn't quite sure what to do in this situation. It certainly
wasn't an unpleasant sensation, being wrapped up... er, embraced
tightly... on the ground... by Ukyou like this.
Hm... no, definitely not unpleasant. But he was still feeling a bit
strange inside. It didn't help that Akane was there looking at the two of
them.
"Er... um..." he said with all his dignity.
"Heeey," Ranma said, "check out the hot couple."
"Don't embarrass them!" Akane said, elbowing Ranma slightly.
Ukyou froze. {Hey! What the hell am I doing?} She quickly rolled off
of Ryouga. "Er..." she said eloquently.
Ukyou and Ryouga immediately got up and started brushing the snow off.
"Um, er, well, hey, friend, buddy, amigo!" Ryouga said, glancing nervously
at Akane and patting Ukyou on the back in a way that said (Yes, we are
merely friends! Very good friends, but still only friends!)
"Er, hey, good friend, humble sidekick, pal'o'mine, er, hey!" Ukyou
said, glancing nervously at Ranma and patting Ryouga in the back in a way
that said (Certainly! Merely a platonic relationship here!)
Ranma turned his eyes up in a way that said (Whatever.)
"C'mon, let's get inside and celebrate!" Akane said, in a tone of voice
that said (C'mon, let's get inside and celebrate!)
*
[3:00am]
The celebration, while a happy one, only lasted a few minutes. This
was mainly because everyone was already extremely tired to begin with.
The main topic of the night was what on earth Ryouga had been doing for
the past month. He was willing to say that he had amnesia for quite a
while and wandered around alot of strange places doing odd jobs. However,
since they were all tired, everyone agreed that Ryouga would go into
greater detail tomorrow, over dinner at the Tendou's.
Ukyo shut all the windows and locked all the doors, with a tired but
happy Ryouga sitting peacefully at a table drinking some hot tea. He was
glad to be back, after wandering around so long. How much time passed?
A month? Well, now he was back, and he was glad to be back.
"Well, get some rest Ryouga. You look a little tired," said Ukyo.
Ryouga smiled, got up, and then realized something.
"Um, Ukyo, where's my room?" He grinned, somewhat embarrased, and
scratched the back of his head.
Ukyo sighed, but smiled. He was cute when he's embarrased, she
thought. "C'mon, stupid, it's this way." She took him by the hand, which
set off a deep crimson blush from Ryouga (which Ukyo somehow failed to
notice, as she failed to notice all the other times before), and led him
to the attic door.
"Well, here's your room."
"Ah... thanks."
Before Ryouga could reach for the doorknob, Ukyo wrapped him in a hug.
"Welcome back," she said quietly, then departed for her own room.
Ryouga stood there, totally at a loss for words.
His mind, such as it was, became blank.
The nighttime sky over Nerima was peaceful and quiet. Akane and Ranma
looked out to the skyline, in each other's arms. It was a beautiful end
to a beutiful day. As the snow fell all around them, they turned to each
other and kissed.
They didn't notice the flares of purple light coming from the warehouse
district.
[4:00 am]
He shook his head, trying to clear out the haze that seemed to be
clouding it.
It was dark.
It was windy.
It was cold.
Those were the first three things that entered his mind.
The fourth thing was that, obviously, he was lost.
Something was wrong. How did he get there? What was going on? He
touched a hand to his head. He absentmindedly wondered when he put on
gloves.
As his fingers touched his face, they felt slick, wet, sticky...
He raised his hand up to the pale moonlight and could barely see what
it was, but the smell was unmistakable.
"Blood..." he mumbled in shock. "Blood?"
He looked at his other hand. It was also covered in blood.
What the hell happened?
He got up fast, looking around. He was at a warehouse. In front of it,
actually. He unsteadily took a few steps forward and peeked into the
warehouse.
Blood was everywhere. The floor, the walls, the windows. The stench
of it was everywhere. Then there were the bodies. For the most part,
they were stabbed and bludgeoned.
Who, he wondered, did this? Me? He looked down to his gloved and bloody
hands. Then something caught his attention.
It was an umbrella, a bamboo one, and it was drenched in blood.
He took a few steps back, stunned. "I... I don't remember..."
But looking around, there was only one thing to assume.
He did it.
He was a killer. In his mind he could remember every little detail.
And why? Oh, of course, it was the favor that the Lord of the Shadoloo
asked of him. Naturally, he'd get compensated richly. He was just hoping
to rest a while longer before he went to work. After all, he had just
come back to town and was just getting ready to sleep, when suddenly...
this happened.
But why didn't he remember?
Thousands of miles away, the Lord of the Shadoloo stood in his chamber.
He grinned. It was a job well done indeed, and nothing could tie him to
the crime. What a useful little puppet, that umbrella-weilding boy. He
didn't even suspect what really happened...
*
[January 2: Morning News]
"This is network 23 reporting to you live at a crime scene where
several yakuza members were found dead this morning at a warehouse by the
docks. The only clue police have at the moment is a bloody umbrella..."
---------
[Afternoon]
"So, what inspired this?" Ukyou asked.
"I, ah... managed to get a little money from my travels. Just wanna
splurge a bit. So, what movie do you wanna see?" Ryouga said.
The two of them stood outside a movie theater, examining the choices.
"Um... if you don't mind... I did want to see that new romantic comedy
that just came out." Ukyou asked.
{Damn. I guess the new Jacky Chan can wait} thought Ryouga.
"So, basically, you had no memory and wandered all over the world for a
month?"
"Yeah. You learn the strangest things that way. Did you know they
serve beer at movie theaters in Amsterdam?" Ukyou narrowed her eyes and
looked at Ryouga. He was looking at the list of movies, so he
unfortunately didn't notice. "And they don't just dump it in paper cups.
They actually give you a big glass mug. Surprised me."
"Hey, I told you that you shouldn't drink!" said Ukyou, elbowing him.
"Er... um..." stammered the surprised Ryouga, "yeah, but I had
amnesia."
"That's no excuse," Ukyou said, pouting.
Ryouga shifted topics, noticing that this wasn't going quite right.
"Um... you know what they call a quarter pounder with cheese in
France?"
"Le quarter pounder?" Ukyou flatly replied.
"Royale with cheese."
"Ha ha, very funny."
"I'm not kidding!"
***
As Ukyou was watching the movie and having a sip of megajolt cola, she
suddenly started to cough violently.
"Hey, you okay?" Ryouga asked. He noticed her primarily because he
wasn't looking at the screen. At the moment there were things going
on that might cause severe blood loss on his part. Already, he was
blushing a bit badly.
Ukyou pointed a finger at the screen.
"Well, yeah, it's a bit shocking they'd do a love scene right there
next to the river in broad daylight. I mean, they're totally nak-"
Ukyou cleared her throat and lightly punched him on the arm. "Not
THAT, stupid! Look behind them!"
"Eh?" He cautiously looked up and tried to ignore the passionate
couple on the screen. "Oh. So THAT'S what all those people were doing
there."
In the background, behind two rather passionate people, was a
bandanna-clad black piglet, dragging itself out of the river and trudging
across the background of the scene.
---------
[Sunset]
Tatewaki Kunou was on patrol once more, strolling down the streets with
his bokken by his side. It had been a long time indeed since he had seen
his pig-tailed girl, and he suspected the demise of the dread sorcerer
Hibiki to be linked to this somehow.
Kunou thought it should have worked the other way, actually. With
Hibiki dead, would the pig-tailed girl not be free once more and race into
his arms? Alas, that was not the case. In fact, during the only times
he'd seen his beloved pig tailed girl she had reacted very violently to
his appearance.
Without realizing it, Kunou began soliloquizing. "What holds back the
love of my pig tailed goddess? What dark forces are cast upon her heart?"
He closed his eyes, concentrating. Then he opened them and raised his
voice in anger. "The scoundrel Hibiki must have placed some enchantment
upon her before his demise! Yes, that could be the source of her
reluctance! Or... or perhaps... perhaps he did not perish as my good
servant Sasuke had reported? If he is a mage equal to that rogue Saotome,
then surely an exploding bridge would be nothing but an inconvenience."
He seemed satisfied with that answer for a moment. Then his face
darkened once more. "But wait! There indeed lies one more possibility.
Yes, one other dark scenario. Perhaps the original dark mage of Furinkan,
Saotome, has reclaimed the pig-tailed girl as his mistress? I would not
put such vile behavior beneath him."
Then Kunou stopped. He noticed something standing by the edge of the
waterway. Actually, it was floating.
"Alas, what manner of creature is this?" Kunou murmured.
It was a person. It was perhaps one foot above the ground with it's
back turned away from him. It was wearing an overcoat and had an umbrella
in one of it's hands. It was glowing with fiery swirls of purple, blue,
and red around it's figure like a cyclone.
"A Demon!" Kunou gasped. He readied his bokken to vanquish this dark
visitor from stygian depths. After all, was the banishment of evil not
part of his duty?
"RETURN FROM WHENCE YOU CAME, DEMON!" Kunou yelled, charging madly at
the figure.
It turned around too late. It seemed as if it was too tired to dodge
even a full Tatewaki Kunou attack complete with pre-strike warning yell.
The skill of Tatewaki Kunou did not fail him this night, for his bokken
had found it's mark and struck the mysterious demon in the very center of
it's chest. Suddenly, Kunou was surrounded by the dark mysterious flames
as well. He felt a surge of energy taking over his body and then he
stumbled back. His foe also stumbled back, and dropped clumsily to the
ground.
For the first time, Kuno got a good look at the face of his enemy. He
stared in disbelief. "You? It cannot be!"
The glowing man got up to his feet, stared angrily at Kunou, purple
fire flaring from his eyes. Then he leaned forward and fell on his face.
"What? I... cannot fly! I can't fly anymore? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING
ON?" Then he looked at Kunou.
Kunou was surrounded by a light glow of dark purple and red. It
swirled around his body and even around his bokken.
"YOU!" the man yelled. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"
"Silence, you demon! I now know you for what you really are! It was
most clever to disguise yourself as a mere mage for so long. You must
have abducted my pig-tailed goddess! WHERE IS SHE! I DEMAND AN ANSWER,
VILE WIZARD!"
As quick as lightning, the man grabbed Kunou by his neck before he
could dodge and concentrated, trying to regain what he had lost. "Give me
back my power!" he yelled. The aura around Kunou flickered for a moment
but did not disappear. The man raised Kunou high and threw him high
across the skies of Tokyo.
"DAMN YOU!" the figure yelled. His aura flared violently for a moment,
then he dissapeared from sight.
---------
"Ryouga! Hey, you ready yet? Where are you?" Ukyou yelled. It seemed
like Ryouga was lost again, _inside_ the restaurant. She sighed and
turned around, bumping straight into Ryouga. She gasped and stepped back
a bit. "Don't scare me like that!" She yelled. "C'mon, you ready to go?
We're gonna be late. Where'd you disappear to anyways?"
"Tried to find the front door. Didn't make it." Ryouga said
nervously.
"Well, Ranma and Akane are waiting for us." Ukyou said impatiently.
"Oh. Uh oh. Wait." Ryouga said, frowning.
"What is it _now_?" asked Ukyou.
"Er... did you ever find out why... um.... Ranma-chan.... um..."
"Oh! Er... um. After you dissapeared, I didn't see much point in
asking."
"Hm. Maybe we should just use the phone to talk to them?" asked
Ryouga.
"You can't run away from him every time he gets near you, y'know." said
Ukyo.
That remark stunned Ryouga. {I'm RUNNING AWAY from _Ranma_? I? Me?
Run Away? NEVER! Well he did kiss me and... NO! I do NOT run away from
my enemies!}
Ryouga suddenly looked confident. "Guess we'll confront him about it
today."
----------
Tatewaki stood at his practice hall with his bokken at his side.
He was smiling.
"The Gods themselves have imparted upon me the means which will allow
me to forever vanquish all dark forces in all of Japan! I am unstoppable!
Unbeatable! Foes shall tremble at my feet! Shadows shall shrink at my
approach! The very heavens shall cheer on as I, Tatewaki Kunou, the
Blue..."
Kunou paused, uncertain.
"No. Somehow that seems to be no longer appropriate."
Kunou examined himself and the strange aura that now surrounded him.
"Purple Thunder? There is certainly plenty of that color swirling around
me. Plenty of crimson and blue as well. Many a dark color indeed."
He concentrated for a moment.
"Hm... ah! Just the thing. I am now... the Dark Thunder of Furinkan
High!" yelled Kunou, and as if on cue, thunder rumbled in the distance.
His thoughts turned to other matters, like his enemies. "Ah, Saotome,
you fiend! And your dark ally Hibiki as well! Tremble, thou wretches,
that hast within thee undivulged crimes, unwhipp'd of justice!"
The training hall was a wreck. Practice dummies were mutilated and
shattered everywhere. There were gashes on the walls and floors. It
would take Sasuke a month to repair, at least.
----------
"Hey! What? Tell me what's going on!" Ranma demanded. He had walked
into the main room just in time to see both girls glance at him and giggle
a bit. Ukyou, Akane, and Ryouga were kneeling down at the table.
"I guess that explains everything." Ukyou said, smiling.
Ryouga was grinning stupidly and rubbing the back of his head. "They,
ah, explained something to me."
"Akane? Wha'd I miss?" Ranma asked. He hated missing a good joke.
They told him about it.
"You idiot! You had 'em thinking I kissed you!" Ranma yelled, grabbing
Ryouga by the shirt.
"I said I was sorry, didn't I?" Ryouga shot back.
"I ought*ACK*" Ranma's tirade was interrupted by an elbow from Akane.
"Stop. That. Now." She said.
After they calmed down, Ryouga started asking some questions.
"So, where's my tombstone?"
"You don't have one," Ranma flatly said, "you've got an umbrella."
"An umbrella?"
"Yeah, next to the bridge you destroyed." he answered.
"Oh."
"Hey, P-Chan," Ranma said.
"Who's P-Chan?" Ryouga flatly replied. He smiled briefly and then
grabbed Ranma by the shirt collar. "You wanna settle this outside?"
"Fine by me, ya pig." Ranma said. They both grinned. It was too long
since they fought each other.
***
"Come on you two! Ryouga just got back yesterday and now you're
fighting again?" Akane yelled.
Ryouga and Ranma were poised on opposite sides of the pond, waiting for
the other to make the first move.
Ranma was deeply concerned about the situation. "Ryouga, are you
_sure_ you want to fight _here_?" he asked, nervously glancing at Akane,
then at the fish pond.
"As if you can beat me." Ryouga snorted.
"Your funeral," Ranma said, leaping across and aiming a foot at
Ryouga's head.
"Maybe ours," Ryouga said, as he took the impact of the foot in the
stomach and then grabbed Ranma in a bear hug. Then he jumped off the rock
(using the patented Martial Arts Super Jump (TM)) with Ranma still in his
grip.
"Are you insane?!" Ranma yelled, pounding at Ryouga's head with his
free arm. "We're gonna land in the water!"
They started descending towards the water.
"Ryouga, what are you doing?!" Ukyou yelled.
"She'll kill us!" Ranma yelled, glancing again at Akane.
"I don't care anymore." Ryouga flatly replied.
"Noooo!" *SPLASH*
They landed in the pond with a big splash. Akane went to the water's
edge. Ukyou was waiting for the moment when Akane would go balistic when
she found out her pet pig that she had brought to bed so many times was,
in fact, Ryouga. More specifically, she was getting ready to grab Ryouga
before Akane could kill him and run as fast as she could.
Akane saw Ranma-chan's head surface, partially out of the water
somewhat like an aligator's. "Hey, Ranma, where's...." She stopped. She
noticed that Ranma-chan was wearing a bandana. Her hair was a darker
shade of red too, almost black. Come to think of it, that girl didn't
even look like Ranma. The headband... the facial features... and then
those fangs...
"R-Ryouga?" Akane asked.
Ryouga-chan emerged from the pool, dragging a very wet Ranma-chan with
her.
"Ryouga? What happened to you?" Akane asked.
"Don't kill me!" Ranma said, and covered her head with her hands.
"What are you talking about?" asked Akane.
Ranma finally looked up to see _who_ exactly had dragged him out of the
pool. Her jaw dropped. "Ryouga?"
***
After the boys-turned-girls dried off, they all went inside the Tendou
home and sat around the table.
Kasumi entered and brought in some snacks.
"I thought you four might be a little hungry." She said. Kasumi
glanced at the four girls. Internal stabalizers kicked in. "Oh, Ryouga!
Nice to see that you're not dead. Welcome back." she said sweetly, and
went to the kitchen.
The four looked on as she walked away.
"How'd she...?" said Ukyou.
Ryouga checked herself. Yup, still a girl. How did Kasumi know...?
He shrugged and wrote it off as uncanny intelligence and went back to
the business at hand.
"Well," Ryouga began, glancing at Akane, "I was ... just wandering
around for a while when suddenly..."
***
Ryouga scrambled through the bush. "Where is it... where is it...
*whack* stupid grass... *whack* stupid trees... I could swear it was
around heeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEeAAAAAAAAAARGH!!"
The Jyusenkyou guide looked up from his recliner chair and put down his
magazine. He reached over and turned off his CD player. He looked
around.
"Someone there? Hello? Anyone? Nihao?"
He could have sworn he heard something. He resumed his reclined
position looking over several of the glimmering acursed pools, looked
sadly at the remaining devastation, and resumed reading his magazine.
If he'd turned around, he would have seen a young, bandanna-clad person
falling off a cliff and directly into a spring. But alas, such is fate,
and it wouldn't have made a difference anyways.
Someone tapped the Jyusenkyou guide's shoulder. He woke up. "Oh sirs!
Greetings and welcome to Jyusen... en..."
The reason for his sudden stop was because he finally saw what it was
that had just woken him up.
"Ook!" It said.
***
"You fell into the spring of drownd orangutan? HAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Ranma
turned on his side, laughing.
"Cut it out, Ranma!" Ryouga yelled. "Anyways, that's when I got my
memory back in full. The shock of turning into an orangutan brought
everything back to me."
Ryouga paused. He knew Ranma might get annoying again for this last
part of the story. Besides, that's where the bad news was.
"Go on..." said Akane.
"Well..."
***
"Oh sir! Let me boil hot water, yes?" the guide anxiously said.
"Ook." Ryouga said.
Ryouga-orangutan and the guide sat by a fire, watching the kettle boil.
"What you come here for? Is very dangerous place!" The guide said.
"Ook...ook ook...EEK!" Ryouga said, getting frustrated at his limited
vocal capabilities.
"Here?" the guide said, offering a sign and some markers.
"OOK!" Ryouga said, nodding his head.
<<I've been here already>> Ryouga wrote.
"Oh?"
<<You almost cooked me>>
"Oh. So sorry! But I no remember cooking ape."
<<Never mind.>>
"What you come here for? Is very very dangerous!"
<<I'm here for the spring of drowned boy>>
"Oh no. I am sorry sir. Great mixup in China bureaucracy. Very
tragic story." He pointed out to the field of springs and Ryouga noticed
a few of them seemed to be filled in and a few more slightly paved over.
"EEEEEK!"
***
"You mean... you mean... it's gone?" Ranma said.
"Yeah. It's gone." Ryouga said.
Both of them were looking down at the floor.
"How about... how about the spring of the virtuous man?" Ranma asked.
"Gone."
"Drowned warrior?"
"Gone."
"Drowned pervert?"
"When he gets wet, he'll be himself," Akane whispered to Ukyou.
"Gone."
"Drowned lawyer?"
"Boy, he's desperate," Ukyou whispered to Akane.
"Gone."
"Is there ANY spring of ANY drowned MALE left???"
***
"Oh sir, terrible government accident. Take out every pool that drown
man, chicken, or dog. Very strange accident in Chinese bureaucracy, yes."
"EEK! EEK! EEK!" Ryouga said, walking (sort of) in circles and
slapping his head. This was bad. Definitely bad. Being stuck as an
orangutan for the rest of his life!
"Hm. Maybe sir does not like being orangutan?"
<<DAMN RIGHT I DON'T!>>
"Maybe you like try another pool?"
"Ook?" he replied. "OOK!" Ryouga said, slapping his head. He
realized that he certainly didn't have to stay as an orangutan when when
forever. After all, he had a whole selection of pools!
The pair ventured in and walked around the pools. Ryouga jumped in to
several of them, with the guide giving an explanation.
*SPLASH* "squeak"
"Oh sirs, that spring of drowned skunk! tragic story of skunk that..."
{No way!}
*SPLASH* "sssssss"
"...spring of drowned snake...."
*SPLASH* "meow"
"...drowned cat....."
{Might be fun around Ranma.... nah.}
*SPLASH* "rowrf?"
"...panda that drown many year ago..."
Ryouga thougth about it for a moment. Mr. Saotome seemed to do pretty
well in panda form. It wasn't bad. If there was nothing to eat, he could
chew on a tree for a while. Maybe... hm... nah.
*SPLASH* "bzzz"
"...drowned mosquito..."
*SPLASH* "glub..glub..glub.."
"...drowned fish..."
{How did a fish get drowned in the water?} Ryouga thought.
*SPLASH* "Ark ark ark!"
"...drowned seal..."
*SPLASH* "HONK?"
"Oh!" Said the guide with great emotion, his face a mask of sorrow.
"That is Nissanniichuan! Spring of drowned Nissan Pathfinder. Very tragic
story of Pathfinder I just buy two weeks ago and crash into pond. Very
tragic story!" The guide wiped a tear from his eye and felt all the bad
memories coming back.
***
"Oh come on! Now you're joking!" Ranma accused.
"Hey, it happened." Ryouga said.
"A guy turnin' into a car... sounds like a bad cartoon plot!"
"Actually, I think it might be fun," said Ukyou. "We coulda called you
'Turbo Teen', eh Ryouga?"
"Not really," he said. "I'd just get lost faster.
"Pathfinder, huh?" said Ranma. "Too bad it won't help with your
sense of direction."
"Shut up Ranma," muttered Ryouga.
"Well, what happened next?" asked Ukyou.
"After that, I tried all the other springs left and..."
"How about the spring of drowned twins?" Ranma asked. He thought that
becoming two seperate boys wouldn't be as bad as turning into a girl.
"The guide said that it had weird effects on people already cursed."
"Damn," Ranma calmly said. Akane was wondering why Ranma was taking
the news so well. Denial, maybe? She'd think the news of his cure being
destroyed would have devastated him more.
"Anyways, I figured that I might as well stay human no matter what and
went with the spring of drowned girl."
"Heh, just don't let Kunou see ya," Ukyou said.
"Oh? Why's that?" wondered Ranma. "He's ugly in either form. Now, me
on the other hand..."
"Oh, you saying I'm not good looking?"
"Unsexy, definitely."
"Hmph. Sexier than YOU, definitely," said Ryouga-chan.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"I don't think so!"
The two naturally inclined girls looked on. "Idiots, both of 'em."
Ukyou said, rolling her eyes up.
"Definitely." said Akane, nodding solemnly.
"AKANE! PIG-TAILED GIRL!"
The four looked outside as they saw Kunou running quickly to them.
Ukyou, Ryouga-chan, and Akane looked annoyed. Ranma-chan readied herself
for the solid puch to the face that she always inevitably gives Kuno when
this sort of encounter happens.
"Oh, but who is this?" Kunou said, stopping in front of Ryouga.
"Get lost, Kunou." Ryouga-chan said.
"Ah, another beauty graces the Tendou home? And she even knows of my
name? No doubt my legendary reputation has indeed traveled far and wide!
Allow me to introduce myself..."
Ryouga realized he was still in she-mode. "Too late."
"I am indeed Tatewaki Kunou, mightiest of all Kendo practitioners, Dark
Thunder of Furinkan High."
Ryouga took a step back.
Kunou grabbed her hand and kissed it. Ryouga jerked her hand away from
his lips, grabbed him by the neck, and slammed him face-first into the
pavement.
"And your name is?" Kunou asked, his face _still_ in the pavement.
"You jerk, I'm Ryouga H-" Ryouga was suddenly stopped by Ranma
covering her mouth. Ryouga pushed Ranma's hand off of her mouth. "What
are you doing?"
"You idiot, he's gonna-" Ranma said, before being cut off by Kunou.
Kunou stood up quickly. "WHAT? YOU ARE CLAIMED BY THAT SORCERER
HIBIKI? HOW DARE HE!" Kunou's newly aquired aura flared around him,
surprising everyone else. "I knew he might not be dead, and this tragedy
solidifies my belief! I shall hunt him down and smite his darkness from
this world!" he said dramatically, and whipped his bokken dramatically. A
string of dark aura flew from the bokken and impacted with a nearby tree.
It was sliced in half. "I shall return victorious!" Kunou yelled, and
bounded away.
"Damn." Ryouga said.
"Shoot." said Ranma. She was looking particularly agitated.
"What's wrong with you?" Akane asked.
"I forgot to ask him who looks better." she answered, then started
laughing hysterically.
Ukyou, Akane, and Ryouga-chan booted her into the pond.
***
Ranma-chan was still in the pond, soaking in the realization that the
spring of drowned boy was _gone_. Not just that, but the spring of _any_
drowned male person had been destroyed in an incredible mistake in Chinese
bureaocracy. She was still laughing hysterically.
"Ranma, get out of there! You'll catch a cold," Akane said, standing
at the doorway.
"Leave'em alone, Akane," Ryouga said, "it took me a while to get over
the horror too. He'll get over it."
"Hey, one thing's still bothering me," Ukyou said quietly, "when we
last saw you, it was raining. Do you understand?" She looked at Akane
who was fortunately still standing away looking at the soaking Ranma.
"I was... er... inconvenienced... for a couple of days... until I had
some good luck. I wandered into a public bath, fell in, and managed to
steal some clothes. Still didn't remember anything at that point, but I
knew by instinct that, er," he made sure Akane was still away, "a cold
rain would be disasterous for me, y'know?"
"And then?" asked Ukyou.
"Well, I wandered around again until...."
***
A small bush snuck sprouted a head and limbs and snuck off.
{He's still alive!} Tsubasa angrily thought, {HE is STILL alive!}
Tsubasa was already laying out blueprints for the next disguise-mech in
his head.
***
Some hours later, Ukyou had gotten a map and they had tracked down
Ryouga's travels. To everyone's surprise, he'd managed to walk through
Tokyo once before, and within 100 miles several other times. The only
problem was that once he got near Tokyo he didn't stop and proceeded to
badly overshoot past the city and turn back only after a _long_ distance.
Basically, Ryouga was traveling in figure 8 loops, with Tokyo as the
center of the 8.
"Wow, I really did some walking," Ryouga said, as he examined the map.
"So that _was_ you we saw before," Akane said.
"You saw me?" asked Ryouga.
"Me and Ranma," Akane said, pointing a thumb at Ranma (who was now
doing a full Soun Tendo Wail (TM) in the pond), "were out one night when
we saw a guy with a bandana hobbling around a corner. We thougth it might
have been you."
"What's the first thing you remembered anyways?" Ukyou asked, "I mean,
next to avoiding cold water, that is."
Ryouga blushed. "Well, um..." he nervously fingered the compass
necklace hanging around his neck. "I was reminded of somebody when I was
in America. I met her-"
"Her?" Ukyou said, raising her eyebrow.
"Er.. yeah, anyways, met her in the park just when some guys were
mugging her. I rescued her and then she took care of me for a while,"
said Ryouga.
"And the point is?" said Ukyou, impatiently.
"Well, I guess it was because of her long hair, or maybe because she
cooked pancakes for me at one time, but..."
"You remembered Ukyou first? How sweet!" said Akane.
"Er... well..." Ryouga poked his fingers together and laughed
nervously.
"Me?" said a surprised Ukyou. "Is this true?"
"Well, um, she did look kinda like you... that's why," said Ryouga.
"You understand, right?"
"Oh, yeah, perfectly." said Ukyou, who was smiling a bit.
- end part 13 -
================================
PART XIV
Clowns to the left of me
Jokers to the right
Here I am
Stuck in the middle with you
================================
The grill was sizzling, the sauce was steaming, and the okonomiyaki was
flying through the air with marksmanlike precision.
It was a surprisingly busy night at Ucchan's.
Ukyou was barely able to keep up with the orders, despite the hectic
action. People zoomed in and zoomed out, faces were a blur, but at least
they were paying. It would have been easier on her if Ryouga had been
there, but he'd somehow gotten lost again and she didn't have the time to
look for him.
Finally, after several long and frantic hours, things settled down,
leaving only three people in the restaraunt. One was a boy with somewhat
long hair and round-rimmed eyeglasses, dressed in loose jeans, a t-shirt,
and with a guitar case next to him. The second was a young girl, maybe 12
years old, with long, flowing brown hair and a bubbly, happy sort of
persona radiating from her. The third was a girl at about Ukyou's age,
with short, tomboyish hair, wearing overalls, and idly twirling a yo-yo
while waiting for the other two to finish eating. This one looked
slightly nervous. The three didn't look familiar to Ukyou at all.
"Go on, ask'er," said the boy in glasses. The little girl nodded in
agreement, urging the elder one on.
"Excuse me... Miss?" said the girl, waving at Ukyou.
"Yes, is there anything you need?" replied Ukyou, walking over.
"Refill on the drinks? Something else to order?"
"Actually... ah... I was wondering... did you know a person named...
Ryouga Hibiki?"
"Ryouga?" Ukyou blinked. What did this girl want with him? "Yeah, I
do. Why?"
"Well... before he died..."
"Died? He's not dead."
The girl's expression turned from nervousness to hope. "He's not?
But... we watched the fight..."
"He just fell into the river and got lost for a while," said Ukyou.
"He's okay! He's alive! That's GREAT!" The girl stopd up and hugged
Ukyou happily, then realized that might've been an awkward thing to do.
"Oh! I'm sorry... I'm just happy to hear the news."
"Who are you?" asked Ukyou. "Friend of his?"
"Well... sort of... although it's been a while since we met. I haven't
introduced myself yet, have I? Sorry. I'm Ryoko, this is my brother
younger brother Megane and sister Kyoko." The boy grunted a reply,
otherwise ignoring the scene and munching on his okonomiyaki. The little
girl cheerfully waved hello.
"How do you know Ryouga?" wondered Ukyou. There was a nagging feeling
that she had that she refused to identify as jealousy.
"Well... it was a few years back..."
***
Unorthodox Weaponry School of Martial Arts, the past.
Ryoko walked idly through the various dojos and other buildings that
was the UWSMA, having nothing to do for the day and she certainly didn't
want to be near her older brother, and her other siblings were out on some
sort of training trip with their sensei.
"Um... excuse me..."
Ryoko turned around to see a rather cute looking boy, clad in a
bandanna, looking very lost.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Could you tell me where I could find..." he took out a piece of paper,
"Sensei Miyaji?"
Sensei Miyaji? She looked at him more carefully. The bandanna, the
fangs, that certain lost look...
"You're Ryouga Hibiki, aren't you?" she guessed.
Ryouga blinked. "Yes... have we met?" he said, sounding a bit
confused.
Ryoko smiled. She was beginning to like this boy already. "You're the
one that beat Ryo, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I guess," he said, shrugging.
"You're kinda famous around here, y'know," she said. "Among the
students, Ryo was unbeatable until you came along. You're kinda like a
hero now."
"I-I am? I didn't do much, really."
"Modest too. I like that in a guy," she said, winking at him.
Amazingly, he missed seeing it. She sighed and took him by the arm.
"Come on, I'll show you the way..."
***
"... and after a while, I became his... what's the word... navigator,
showing him around whenever he'd get lost," said Ryoko with a sentimental
smile. "I hadn't seen him in a while, and was back in town to visit."
"So you came all this way to visit him?" asked Ukyou. "That's...
nice."
"Well... that... and... er..." Ryoko fidgeted nervously. "Well...
it's like this..."
* * *
Ryoko, clad in a gi, sat in the dojo with an elderly man in robes,
with a flowing white beard accenting his face.
"... and so I've come to you to ask what you can do, sensei," said she.
The elder man sighed and stroked his beard. "I did not approve of this
in the first place, Ryo's assignment to defeat Hibiki. But some of the
more pride-driven sensei insisted on it. I cannot call Ryo back."
Ryoko sighed, frowning. "Then I guess I'll just have to hope Ryouga's
stayed in fighting form."
"Well..." said the old man, "if you could somehow bring Ryouga back
into the fold, it would appease the others."
"Bring him back... how?"
"Oh... I don't know," he said, shrugging. "Ask him nicely, beg him,
get him to marry you perhaps?" He gave a tired laugh, then sighed.
Ryoko, on the other hand, had a sharp, calculating look. "Did you
say... marry?"
"Hrm? Oh, yes, yes, just a joke..."
"But it would get him out of trouble, right?" asked Ryoko.
"Well, yes, but..."
"Thank you Sensei!" she said, springing to her feet. "I won't let you
down!"
"Ah.. wait a minute, wait! That's not what I..."
* * *
"... and so my sensei sent me off, hoping to end the conflict
peacefully," said Ryoko proudly.
"And marry Ryouga?" asked Ukyou, looking a little puzzled.
"Well," she replied, blushing with a smile, "that too."
Meanwhie, a pale, somewhat gaunt figure slipped into Ucchan's silently.
Ryoko seemed startled by his entrance while Ukyou smiled.
"Hey, Gosunkugi, welcome back!" she said.
"Gosunkugi?" asked Ryoko as she stared at the voodoo practicioner.
"Oh... I thought he was someone else..."
"So," said Ukyou, "how was vacation?"
"It was nice," he said shyly. This, he felt, was the important moment.
He was going to ask Ukyou for a date. It wasn't that he was particularly
obsessed with her, not as much as he was with Akane, anyways, but he felt
he had something to prove to himself: he could indeed be bold enough to
ask a girl to a date. And it just happened to be that Ukyou seemed to be
a nice person. "U...Ukyou... I was w-wondering.. ah...
"WHERE ON EARTH AM I NO-..."
Everyone in the resteraunt froze as those words were roared. Megane
and Kyoko blinked, shrugged, then resumed eating.
"That... sounded like Ryouga," said Ukyou, smiling. She headed for the
front door, with Ryoko following.
"R-ryouga? I-it can't be!" mumbled Gosnkugi.
***
"WHERE ON EARTH AM I NO- oh... Fujiwara street... let's see...." Ryouga
unfolded a map and began tracing his current location. "Oh... I see...
then I go south," he said as he turned west, "then I turn west at the next
light." He reached the next light and turned south. Miraculously,
despite the wrong directions, he got to where he was headed anyways.
Unfortunately, he didn't notice.
"Where is Ucchan's from here..." he muttered, getting angry at himself
for getting lost to begin with, while right behind him a large sign with
lights reading 'UCCHAN'S' flashed quietly. "Damn it... I HATE GETTING
LOST!" He felt the anger surge in him, and tried to calm down again. If
anything, he learned that loosing control of his temper was a Bad Thing.
He began to notice that there seemed to be a slight glow of eerie purple
light slightly tainting the area. He heard behind him a door open, and
turned around.
"Ukyou? Is that you?"
Ukyou stood there, in the door way to Ucchan's, with a shocked
expression on her face. Her hand was pointed... Ryouga couldn't tell, at
him? Above him? What, he wondered, was bothering her?
"Ryouga! Look out!"
Ryouga dodged to the left just as something glowing an unnatural purple
slammed into the pavement. Ryouga stood in a defensive position as the
purple blaze of fire dimmed, revelaing a sneering, lanky, pale figure in
a black suit.
"Hello, Ryouga."
The figure held out his hand and suddenly an ebony umbrella with a
razor-sharp tip appeared in his hand. His eyes were alight with the
otherworldly aura, and it seemed as if he was actually leaking energy.
His hair was swept back, but spiked by the energy. He fixed his two empty
burning eyes on Ryouga, and grinned.
"Ryo?!" yelled Ryouga. "You...you were dead!"
"I'm feeling better now," said Ryo. "Time to die."
"RYO!"
The Gosunkugi-lookalike from hell paused, his eyes narrowing.
Suddenly, Ryoko ran forward and stood between the two. "Don't you dare
hurt him!" she yelled, glaring at him defiantly. Ryouga stared at her,
surprised at her actions. She seemed... familiar to him somehow.
"Ryoko? Is that you?" he asked.
"Not now!" she hissed. "I'm trying to save your life."
Ryo leveled a gaze at her that would, in other circumstances, kill.
For some reason, though, he seemed to soften his glare slightly. "And why
do you defend him?"
"I... I..." she said slowly, "Well... I'm... I'M IN LOVE HIM!"
There was a moment of absolute silence. Ukyou and Ryouga were in
shock. Gosunkugi peeked through the doorway and was stunned into silence
as well: seeing a demonic version of himself was incredibly alarming to
him. Ryo's expression was unreadable.
Finally, Ryo spoke.
"You," he said flatly, looking at her.
Ryoko nodded.
"And him," he said, glancing briefly at Ryouga.
Ryoko nodded again.
"Ryouga... I'LL KILL YOU!!!" He lunged forward quickly. Ryoko tried
to stop him, but he tossed her aside with ease and began slashing wildly
at Ryouga, who blocked with his own umbrella.
Ryouga saw openings in Ryo's attack, now that he was attacking purely
from anger, and readied himself to end the fight with a solid hit to the
skull. Ryo stepped back a moment, then moved forward with a low slash.
Ryouga saw his opening and let loose a hard punch, not holding back on his
strength. Meanwhile, Ryo's slash revealed itself to be a feint, as his
grip suddenly rotated so that the handle was now at the front, and it
raced towards Ryouga's face blazing with dark energy.
*WHAM*
Ryouga went sailing through the sky and over a few blocks, while Ryo
was flung back into Ucchan's, breaking through the doors and stopping at
the back wall.
"Wow," said Ryoko. "Cross-counter punch!"
Ukyou looked at the damage done to her establishmetn and winced. "My
restaraunt! Look what they've done!"
Ryoko handed her a credit card. "Here."
"What's this?"
"Ryo's credit card."
"Ooh."
Meanwhile, at the back of Ucchan's, Ryo shook his head, winced, and
struggled to get up. It was at this point that he finally realized he
landed on somebody. He looked back at the crater he made in the wall and
examined the curious other person that was in the hole.
"What's this?"
He reached down and grabbed the figure by the collar, looking him over
like a lab specimen.
"You... must be Gosunkugi."
Gosunkugi picked this most inopportune moment to regain consciousness,
and his eyes opened to reveal the hellspawn version of himself staring
right at him. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He screamed in sheer terror, loud enough
to irritate Ryo, who promptly booted him through the ceiling and across
town.
"To think I look like _him_" Ryo muttered. He suddenly felt _very_
weary, the purple and red flames around him flickering away to
nothingness. "Over... exertion... maybe?" he muttered as he felt his own
consciousness flicker and fade into black.
"Well," said Ukyou, "what do we do with him now?"
Ryoko put her hand on her chin and hmmed for a while. "Ah. I know.
Got any ropes?"
***
"Ow. Owowowoww..."
Gosunkugi groaned, pulling himself from the wreckage. That... whatever
that was... could it be the thing that he had tried to summon before?
Hadn't he cancelled the summoning? He had to prepare himself... things
were going wrong.
In times like that, he wished he really knew magic. It would have
certainly come in handy a minute ago, wouldn't it? He began to hear a
call, a whisper in his head. Then it was interrupted.
"THERE YOU ARE, EVIL SORCERER!" Kunou bellowed.
Gosunkugi turned a paler shade of white. Kunou was charging at him,
surrounded by a dark swirling aura. His bokken seemed to be engulfed with
purple, red, and blue fire, and twice as long as usual.
"I know the true nature of your existence, foul demon! I shall
vanquish you now!" Kunou yelled, slashing with his sword. A black ribbon
of energy surged forth off of Kunou's bokken and slammed into the wall
next to Gosunkugi. The wall shattered.
"GAAAAH!" screamed Gosunkugi as he ran down the street faster than he
ever ran before in his whole life.
***
Ryo wasn't feeling well. In fact, he felt distinctly tired. Perhaps,
he thought, he was tapping into his newfound power too much? He shook his
head to clear the cobwebs, and that's when he finally noticed his dilema.
He was chained, tightly, to a chair. As Ryo's vision cleared, he saw
he was in the establishment known as Ucchan's. With four familiar people
sitting near by.
"Oh. _You_ people."
Sitting at a nearby table was Ukyou, Ryoko, Megane, and Kyoko. Ukyou
watched him warily, while the other three gave him a nonchalant glance.
"Hellllllo, Ryo," said Ryoko casually. "Are you calm yet?"
"If you would... remove these chains... _now_."
"Oh no. Not yet. First, you calm down."
"I am calm," he said in a monotone voice. "Now release me before I
shall have to hurt you."
"Next," said Ryoko, "you tell us where you've been."
Without warning, Ryo surged forward, trying to break out of his bonds.
Ukyou quickly slammed his head with her spatula, and all went dark.
A minute later, his lights came back on.
"You shouldn't have done that," said Ryoko.
"Had to try," he replied with a shrug.
"Now," said Ukyou. "How'd you survive that blast at the bridge? What
happened to you? And what was with that strange aura?"
Ryo hmmmed. There didn't seem to be too much harm in telling them. He
thought of the possibilities, but no, no harm to be done at all.
"We were... at the bridge. My memory is hazy at this point, there are
things I remember that aren't right. Ryouga... turned into a pig... but
that can't be right."
Ukyou coughed violently for a brief second.
"The bridge was collapsing..." continued Ryo, "and then I was...
somewhere. It's all a blur. I wandered for weeks... I think I was in
China. Then, one day, it all changed..."
***
[the recent past]
Ryo angrily stomped through the thick foliage of the jungle, limping
and looking very much on the edge of madness. Damn this green... green...
stuff! He swore he'd join the "Pave the Earth" foundation if he ever got
out of there. And if he'd ever get his memory straight. He was getting
hurt, alot, because of some of the hazzards that the plants sometimes
covered up. He almost fell off of a cliff once.
Then there were the unexpected nuisances. He was stomping around
minding his own business when a group of gaijin lunatics pop out of the
bush and start yelling at him about getting in the way of their cameras
and the pandas. A film about pandas! How mundane! He muttered a silent
curse against all gaijins as he stomped through the wilderness.
He swatted some tall grass with the red umbrellla (he picked it up in
China) angrily and stomped onward. Suddenly, he felt a chill and turned
around.
A large figure, clad in a black military outfit and matching cape stood
there.
No, that wasn't quite right.
The dark figure _hovered_ there. He also was surrounded by a fiery
energy that pulsed blue, purple, and deep red.
"You," the dark man rumbled, "have great potential. I extend to you an
invitation to join my ranks."
"Why should I?"
"Join me, and I will give you wealth, prestige, and show you true
power. The dark powers of the soul. Psycho power."
"Psycho Power?" Ryo sneered, "It's nothing I've heard of."
"Oh?" The dark man began to flare. He grinned evily. "But then, in
your current state, you've heard of very little. Isn't that true?"
He had to admit, that was true.
The Shadoloo Lord considered the boy before him carefully. "Perhaps I
am being too generous... but I shall aid you. I sense a kindrid spirit in
you. It pleases me to see such a thing."
"What... kinda of aid do you offer?" Ryo couldn't help but look into
his eyes. They were so... hypnotic.
"Come closer, and I will show you." The Shadoloo Lord's armored hands
began to glow with an unnatural purple, red, and black flame. The boy
felt compelled to step forward, despite the fear he felt. He moved as if
pulled by puppet strings.
The military man reached forward quick as lightining and grabbed him by
the skull. Dark flames flared around them.
Two voices were heard in the deep of the jungle: the bellowing
laughter of the Lord of the Shadoloo, and the agonizing screams of Ryo
Muhoshin.
After a few seconds of agonizing contact, Ryo's head was released. His
smoking body fell to the ground and his mind was on fire with memories of
old, surging back all at once. This was hurting far worse than he
expected.
As Ryo writhed on the ground in pain, he could have sword he heard
someone say, "oops."
"D..did you j-just say... oops?" he muttered weakly.
The crime lord didn't dignify that question with an answer. Instead,
he gave a typical villianous speech.
"I give you a taste of true power... and your memories restored. I
leave the rest to you, although... I know you will not dissapoint me."
***
"... and here I am today. Simple, yes?"
Ukyou looked at him as if he was insane.
"Aaaaand, since then, I've been busy. A little walk by the harbor, a
stroll down the street... just getting ready..."
Ryoko regarded him warily. "What do you mean by that?"
"Considering I was a bit messy, you just might find out later," he
muttered.
Ryoko continued to eye him with much distrust.
Megane and Kyoko were looking over the desserts menu.
There was something wrong with this scene, thought Ryo.
"How, may I ask, are you paying for this dinner?" he asked. Ryoko
quickly put his credit card in her back pocket. Unfortunately, he
noticed.
"And how of my money have you used?" he asked, eyes narrowed. That
decidedly unnatural dark aura was slowly beginning to return to him.
"H-hey... we thought you were dead!" protested Ryoko.
"You stole from him?" wondered Ukyou quietly.
"_How_Much?_" said Ryo with a strain in his voice. That disturbing
aura got a shade brighter.
"Aheh... well... we did think you were dead," she said nervously.
Ryo frowned. "All of it."
Ryoko slowly nodded.
Kyoko ordered a milkshake.
Megane ordered a pina-colada.
Ukyou finished her tally of the damage to Ucchan's, and sent the
estimate, complete with Ryo's credit card number.
"And... let's see... what else... oh yes. You're in love with...
_Ryouga_." Once more, he was alight in purple and ebony flames, and his
eyes were obscured by demonic light.
"Ryo... calm down," said Ryoko nervously.
"I almossst forgot about Ryougaaaaa." With a blinding flash of light,
he vanished, leaving empty chains in the chair.
"Uh oh," muttered Ryoko.
"And, Ryoko, I want my wallet back later," said the disembodied voice
of Ryo Muhoshin.
"Baibai, oniichan!" yelled Kyoko.
"Hey, how do you know Ryo anyways?" Ukyou asked Ryoko.
"He's... ah... he's my... well... he's my brother."
Ukyou was surprised. There wasn't any family resemblance. "Was he
adopted?" she wondered.
"We wonder that a lot ourselves."
***
In his room, Gosunkugi opened a long untouched book.
For some reason, the call was stronger than ever. It demanded to be
opened, and Gosunkugi couldn't ignore it.
He flung the book open and it shot forth a bright blue light, engulfing
him. One moment, he was in his room. The next, he was... nowhere.
WELCOME, HIKARU GOSUNKUGI.
----------
The women of the apartments screamed in terror. They were running
through the halls, screaming, looking for deadly weaponry, and looking
very angry.
"What's the matter, ladies? Aren't you glad I'm back? Wheee!"
Happosai gleefully said. He darted past a barrage of kitchen knives, dove
under a wall of women armed with baseball bats, and crashed out a window.
"See you pretty ladies later, okay? Hahahahaha! What a haul! What
a..."
Suddenly, Happosai stopped.
"Hm. Wait. I sense something.... HE is ba-*ACK*"
Unfortunately, he stopped long enough for an angry mob of women to
catch up to him....
----------
[some days later]
A cruise ship sailed into the harbors of Tokyo. Crowds surged on the
edges of the boat to have a look at this city's bright lights.
One particular girl looked out at the city with hope in her eyes.
Manami Hinako looked out, across the waters, across the towers, across
the miles of streets, looking for her first true love. It seemed destined
that they be together again. Manami was already happily astonished when
her father told her that they'd have to move back to Tokyo because the
company had changed it's mind. She felt lightheaded at the now very
realistic possibility of their reuinion.
Manami looked down at the photograph of the bandanna-clad boy which she
kept in her locket and whispered, "Where are you now?"
-------
Gosunkugi sat in his room, in a blank state of mind. Ever since he...
came back from... Nowhere... he hadn't budged an inch. Candles were once
again tied up on his forehead, but unlit. At the moment, Gosunkugi was
speechless.
Being told that you're supposed to be the next great sorcerer tends to
have that effect.
It all seemed to make sense somehow, all the reasons why his magic so
far has been woefully unsuccessfull. He just wasn't doing it right.
Almost right, but not exactly right. He chanted silently in his head and
gestured with his arms. The candles on his forehead lit up, but not with
flame. Instead, a light, no warmth coming from it, was attached to each
end of the candle, glowing blue.
Well, that was the simple stuff. Easy. He could never have done that
in the past. He looked at a doll and remembered all his past failures,
and smiled at how stupid he was. Then he looked at the stack of self-help
books and frowned. He'd resorted to those silly things when he thougth
magic had totally failed him. Now he knew better. With a dramatic swing
of his arm he gestured towards the books.
He gestured again.
Nothing.
He took a deep breath, looked at the books carefully, and then slowly
waved his arm in their direction. The books dissapeared in a puff of
smoke.
Gosunkugi smiled. He had been given the ability to better comprehend
the technicalities of magic. Maybe he couldn't yet do great feats of
wonder, but he was more powerfull now than he'd ever been.*
*(of course, before he was about as powerful as a feather...)
Life seemed, to him, to be taking a magnificently great turn for the
better. If those bullies ever even tried to mess with them again there'd
be hell to pay. In fact, why not get a little revenge? Sounds like a
good idea, doesn't it? And Akane... ah... no. That's over.
But what about Ukyou?
Gosunkugi slowly formed a possible love spell, but then dismissed it.
Maybe he was desperate and dateless, but he didn't want an artificial
substitute. He was determined to do this the right way, he'd win her
heart, he'd charm her socks off, he'd be suaaaave. Then he frowned.
He'd have to get rid of Ryouga.
And that rampaging demon too.
For a few minutes, Gosunkugi looked through the book, picking,
choosing, and memorizing what spells looked particularly helpful against
anything that might have come straight from hell: exorcism, holy touch,
protection spells against all sorts of danger, including evil, demons, and
magic, healing spells, and other interesting items. Out of habit, he
brought along his mallet, spike, and voodoo doll, as well as a few shinto
wards.
And for Ryouga, he had a few different spells in mind. Mostly of a
destructive nature.
Gosunkugi started humming a happy tune and strolled out the door.
-------
Breakfast with the Muhoshins.
Toast, milk, cereal, newspapers, and of course the television.
Today was the last day that they'd be in the hotel suite, after which
they'd have to start looking for a place.
//... and Mishima stock rose today six points on the Nikkei
exchange...///
"Pass the eggos please!" said Kyoko cheerfully.
Megane grumbled, groped around for the plate of eggos, and placed them
in the general area where his younger sister sat. He wasn't a morning
person. He detested the mornings, and felt that, contrary to popular
belief, mankind wasn't meant to see the sun rise.
//... another scandle hits the ruling party of... //
"Need more coffee, Megs?" asked Ryoko. She, like her sister, and
unlike her brother, was a morning person.
Megs grumbled in response and groped around for the coffee pot.
//... gruesome discovery, as a warehouse full of slain yakusa was found
by the harbor this morning...//
"Newspaper," Megs managed to grumble. Kyoko handed it to him, then
resumed plowing into her waffles. "Hey," he mumbled, "wherz'sports
section?"
//... only evidence found, an umbrella, which seems to have been the
murder weapon... //
Ryoko blinked.
Megane lowered his paper briefly, a puzzled look on his face.
Kyoko finished her waffle. "Want more!"
Ryoko handed her the rest of the waffles, then stared at the screen
with a worried expression on her face. Her brother's words were echoing
in her mind... {"a walk by the harbor"... "just getting ready"...
"Considering I was a bit messy, you just might find out later"}
She looked, worried, towards Megane, who also had a somewhat concerned
expression. "You don't think," she said, "that our bro's gone over the
deep end...?"
Megs looked as puzzled as she did. "Hrm."
"By the harbor.. really messy..." she muttered. "I mean... he..."
"No... no way," said Megs. "He's never killed before, though th'guy
keeps on talkin' like he will... he never has. You told me yourself, he
coulda killed Ryouga a couple'a years back."
"I... guess you're right."
"Of course I'm right. He ain't a killer, an'he never will be," said
Megane with increasing confidence. "Might break a few bones, but not a
killer..."
"Well... he _really_ doesn't like Ryouga," she said nervously. "And
then there's that umbrella..."
"Er... aheheh..." Megane laughed nervously for a moment. "Er.. ah..
maybe he got brainwashed while he had amnesia by some vast criminal
organization and is now an unsuspecting pawn involved in a greater scheme,
all the while ignorant of the dark schemes revolving around him?"
Ryoko stared at him.
"Then again," he said, "maybe not."
"Been readin' too much of that science fiction stuff again, Megs."
"Hey, just speculating. But trust me, he don't have the guts to be a
murderer."
"Hope you're right," she said quietly. "Hope you're right."
-------
A girl and her rather *vicious looking pig walked down the streets of
Nerima. She sat down, looking sad. "I don't know," she said to the pig,
"I don't think I'll ever find a worthy husband. Grandfather would have
been dissapointed."
The pig snorted.
*(It was as tall as an average basketball player and had big, menacing,
blank eyes. It also weighted almost as much as a small car.)
"We've been traveling for such a long time. It's amazing how many
people can't beat you, Katsu-Nigiri. You're a strong one, aren't you."
She said, scratching behind one of the pigs ears. It squealed proudly.
"I really was hoping that Shutaro Mendo would be the one. It would
have been nice to be rich. I wanted to stop wandering around so much."
The pig grunted and glared at her.
"I know, Katsu-Nigiri, I shouldn't give up."
The pig squealed.
"I'll find the man of my dreams if it's the last thing I do!" she
said, standing up and yelling at the sky. She sat down on the sidewalk.
"But where on earth is he, anyways?"
Somebody bumped into her, knocking her over. "Ow!" she yelled, falling
down.
The pig snorted in a rather hostile manner at a bandanna-clad figure.
"Oh, sorry." He said, reaching out to help her up. "Really, I am."
{He's... cute} she thought.
"Er... interesting pig you've got there," he awkwardly said. The pig
glared at him in a very unfriendly fashion.
"He's a sumo pig." she said proudly. "Hi, um... my name's Akari...
Akari Unryuu. Sorry I got in your way."
"Oh, not at all. I just wasn't looking at where I was going. My
name's Ryouga Hibiki." he said. "If you'll excuse me, I've gotta get
back home soon."
"Do you live in this city?" Akari asked.
"Yeah, I'm working at Ucchan's resteraunt. Drop in some time." Ryouga
said, smiling, and wandered away.
Akari looked at him with an appraising eye. "He's so hansome!" she
squealed. "So, what do you think?" she asked her pig.
The pig grunted.
"Well, one way to find out. Let's go!" she said, and the pig charged.
--------
Ukyou stood at the doorway of her resteraunt, watching the sunset. She
thought about the events of the past several days, and about how she
reacted to them. They were rather hectic days, really. Just when things
were settling down to an eerie sort of normality, it got weird again.
Maybe it was weird, but it felt like the _right_ kind of weirdness to her.
She closed her eyes, and a boy's smile came to mind. It wasn't
Ranma's.
Ukyou adjusted the yellow and black bandanna that held her hair back.
She looked out into the streets, searching for a bandanna-clad figure,
and sighed.
"I hope that idiot didn't leave Japan," she said affectionately.
-------
And so Ryouga wandered through the streets, feeling pretty good in
general. Admittedly, picking up several love interests and finding out
that your worst enemies seemed to have gotten a major power boost was not
good. That wasn't important at the moment.
It felt pretty damn good to be _here_ in this city, this district, this
little corner of the world. It was a nice feeling, right here right now.
A girl's smile came to form in his mind. It wasn't Akane's. Ryouga
smiled and it seemed that somewhere in the universe there was a *snap* as
if a loop was being closed or a boulder started to roll again after being
held back by a small twig.
He hummed a little tune he heard once when he passing through America.
He didn't notice the sumo-pig charging at him a block away.
He didn't notice a young girl named Manami behind a window of a
restaurant holding a locket which held a picture of her first love. She
stared at Ryouga as he past by, in shock as she realizes that the boy who
just walked by matches the photo perfectly.
He didn't notice Tatewaki Kunou glowing with dark ki energy charging at
him with a frighteningly fiery bokken.
He didn't notice Kodachi Kunou with her bouquet of toxic flowers and
fiery obsession in her eyes.
He didn't notice Gosunkugi perched high atop a building nearby, candles
once again tied to his head but this time burning a supernatural blue. He
was aiming a rather nasty curse at Ryouga.
He didn't notice Ryo Muhoshin struggling to run at him, being held back
by Megane and Kyoko. Ryo didn't notice Happosai charging at him from
behind.
He didn't notice Ryoko bounding towards him and calling his name.
He didn't notice Ranma rocketing across the skyline in yet another
Akane-induced crosstown flight. He didn't hear Ranma either, as he yelled
"Heeeeeey Ryooooooougaaaa!"
He didn't notice the trash can that suddenly sprouted robotic arms,
spidery legs, several interesting bits of weaponry, and had a maniacal
transvestite at the helm.
Ryouga went on, still happily humming and occasionally singing a song.
"Da da-da, Da da-da....dadadumdadadumdadadumdadadumdadadum..." He might
have been happy, but he was not musically inclined. Fortunately, nobody
heard him display this astounding lack of talent.
He dug into his shirt and pulled out a little compass necklace. He
looked at it and smiled. "Guess I'd better find my way back." he said,
and started walking again, hopefully in the right direction.
After all, he had to get back home.
----------------------------------------------------
[keep sound of Ryouga humming]
[Fade out from scene]
[Roll credits]
[Start credits sequence]
[Ryouga's humming tune merges with a song that begins playing, getting
louder as it begins, and soon the humming is replaced by...]
"I'm gonna be (500 miles)"
by The Proclaimers
from Sunshine on Leith
When I wake up [Scene from Part I where Ryouga gets
yeah I know I'm gonna be awakened rather violently when Ukyou
I'm gonna be the man hits him with the spatula.]
who wakes up next to you
When I go out [Scene of Ryouga and Ukyou in the movie
yeah I know I'm gonna be theater, sitting in the theater and
I'm gonna be the man enjoying the movie.]
who goes along with you
====================================
MANY THANKS TO: RUMIKO TAKAHASHI...
====================================
If I get drunk [Flashback of Ryouga entering Ucchan's
yes I know I'm gonna be while somewhat drunk, then he gets
I'm gonna be the man dragged away quickly by Ukyou.]
who gets drunk next to you
=============================
...THE FANFIC MAILING LIST...
=============================
And if I haver [Show flashback of Ryouga and Ukyou
yeah I know I'm gonna be in the woods talking while Ryouga
I'm gonna be the man practices with his umbrella.]
who's havering to you
============================
...THE RANMA MAILING LIST...
============================
But I would walk 500 miles [Show flashback clip of Ryouga's tour
And I would walk 500 more around the world, Paris, Seattle, etc]
Just to be the man
who walked 1,000 miles
To fall down at your door
========================================
...MY BOSSES, WHO NEVER BUGGED ME WHILE
I WAS WRITING THIS INSTEAD OF WORKING...
========================================
When I'm working [Show flashback clips of Ryouga working the
yes I know I'm gonna be tables, cleaning dishes, lifting heavy
I'm gonna be the man equipment, etc etc at Ucchan's.]
who's working hard for you
And when the money
comes in for the work I'll do
I'll pass almost every penny
on to you
=======================
AND FINALLY, COCA-COLA!
=======================
When I come home [Ryouga walks down the street, using Ukyou's
yeah I know I'm gonna be compass to guide him. He's smiling a bit.
I'm gonna be the man who From far behind, a massive war party
comes back home to you including Ryo, Kunou, Kodachi, Mecha-Tsubasa,
And if I grow old Ryoko, Sumo-pig, etc etc etc are charging at
well I know I'm gonna be Ryouga and catching up to him. Ryouga doesn't
I'm gonna be the man notice.]
who's growing old with you
When I'm lonely [Show Ukyou standing at the restaurant door
yes I know I'm gonna be fiddling with the bandanna that ties her hair
I'm gonna be up. Camera shifts to over-her-shoulder view.
the man who's lonely Ryouga appears, walking from around a corner,
without you smiling and waving.]
When I'm dreaming [Ukyou smiles. Then the rest of the war
yes I know I'm gonna dream party become visible. She frowns
Dream about the time and retreats into the store, closing
when I'm with you the door quickly.]
[Fade out as the camera does a closeup of Ryouga's hand reaching for the
door. There's one second of black and silence There's one second of black
and silence and then Loud Violent Fighting Noises (TM) erupt.]
[End with Ryouga screaming.]
================================
======== A NEW BEGINNING =======
================================
----------------------
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE
E P I L O G U E
All Together Now
----------------------
The sun rose slowly, filtering through the windows. Within the bright
white room, several people awakened to the new day...
"Doctor! Doc!"
"Painkillers! I need painkillers!"
"Ow! It hurts!"
"Get this cast off! I've got an itch!"
"Where's the PILLS?!"
A nurse quickly entered the room, looking angrily at the people. "Now
listen up, you're disturbing the patients in the other room! Just wait a
minute and the Doctor will be here soon."
She cast an angry glare at the many figures, all trapped in their
hospital beds due to one injury or another. They all were sporting casts
in various body locations, and in some cases were in entire body casts.
They had been in the hospital for two days now, with some not regaining
consciousness until just yesterday night. Now, with all of them awake,
the hospital staff was experiencing a nightmare.
She shook her head in disbelief. The Nerima district always brought
patients in, but the circumstances under which these people ended up were
stupidly amazing.
------
One figure in particular, restricted by a full body cast, groaned and
woke up. He began to talk.
"Ye gods! What pain is this that ails the mighty Blue Thunder!"
"Oh no, he's awake." someone muttered.
"It feels as if I had fought through the very depths of hell itself!
What fiend has inflicted such pain upon my personage? Tatewaki Kunou
shall have retribution!"
"Shut up!" the person next to him yelled.
"Brother dear, I think it would help alot if you'd just-"
"None interrupts the soliloquies of the great and mighty Kunou!"
"SHUT UP!" everyone in the room yelled.
------
"Are you alright?"
"BWEE!"
"Oh... poor Katsunishiki. Does it still hurt?"
"_bwee_"
"I didn't get a clear view of the fight. Who'd you lose to?"
*SNORT*
"Oh, come on. You lost to somebody. You were knocked out when I ran
to you! Oh, I guess I'll have to talk to somebody that saw the whole
fight."
Akari Unryuu sighed. So close to finding love, yet so far away...
------
"So, doc," asked Ukyou, "how are the guys doing?"
"Well, they've all suffered several degrees of burns, fractured bones
from the force of the explosions, and multiple bruises."
"So when will Ranma be able to leave the hospital?" asked Akane.
"Ranma? Hm..." said the doctor, flipping through his files, "Saotome,
right? He's recovering fast, really. Oughta be out in three weeks or
more."
"And how about Hibiki?" asked Ukyou.
"Hibiki... Hibiki... hm.... ah, here it is. Three weeks also, maybe a
few days less than that. Amazing, since he was in the middle of the whole
mess."
Akane and Ukyou thanked the doctor, left his office, and decided to
make a little visit.
------
= ON 'SOUL' OR 'PSYCHO' POWER AND IT'S VARIOUS SIDE EFFECTS =
Soul Power, or in it's more notorious form, Psycho Power, is a
legendary ability amongst martial artist circles. There is only one known
practicioner of it today, the leader of the controversial Shadoloo
organization.
From ancient tomes of lore, it is said that the technique taps into the
very energy of a person's soul. In times of strong emotion, the power
will surge forth in an aura reflecting the nature of the person. It is
said that this power is inherent in all, and merely requires an opening of
consciousness for the energy to flow.
It is this energy that is channeled into various attacks, including the
now infamous Psycho Crusher technique. Blows inflicted by Soul Power are
said to be surprisingly powerful, accompanied by a 'cold burn' of sorts.
Soul Power also can be used as a healing technique. Just as antibodies
develop resistance to certain bacteria, it is said that legendary
practicioners of Soul Power, in the past, had become immune to extreme
cold, heat, and in some cases, even ki projectiles.
( - from The Martial Artist Almanac, 1987)
. . .
"Kill you, kill you, kill you..." Ryo muttered, staring directly at the
person in the bed across from him.
"L-Look, I said I was sorry, didn't I?" whined Gosunkugi.
"I'll kill you, I'll-" *CLANG*
"Leave him alone!" Ukyou yelled as she walked past Ryo's bedside.
Ryo narrowed his eyes and glared at Ukyou as she passed by. He was in
an entirely rotten mood, ever since he was suddenly stripped of his
newfound powers by the idiot mage.
She went over to Gosunkugi, who was at the moment cringing away from
his psychotic twin nearby. "Hey, Gosunkugi, how's things?"
"Oh, could be better. I wish they gave us more painkillers."
"Hurts alot, does it?" she asked, brushing his hair back with her hand.
"Yup." Gosunkugi blushed. He wasn't used to women brushing his hair
back, or even touching him at all.
"What'd you do to get Ryo over there so mad?" she asked, pointing at
the person across from Gosunkugi.
"Well, I, um, well, it's an embarrasing kinda thing."
"C'mon, tell me." said Ukyou.
"Well, I thought he was... a spirit that was imitating me and going
nuts attacking people, so I tried some spells like purification, blessing,
exorcisms, and banishment of evil type spells."
"And?"
"Well, I... aheh... with everything happening, I kinda panicked... and
lost track of what spells do what... and... well..."
"Aparently I took away that guy's powers."
Ukyou looked over to Ryo. Gosunkugi was right. Ryo, who several days
ago was almost always surrounded by a dark purple, blue, and blackish aura
and had eyes that always glowed with those colors, now was normal. His
aura was gone. His eyes were non-glowing. Even his hair was not quite as
spiky as it was before.
"Not only that, but Kunou too."
"Kunou?" Ukyou asked. "What about Kunou?"
"Oh. He was glowing like the other guy was."
Ukyou shivered. A super-powered Kunou was not what the world needed.
"And I think I put Happousai into a coma."
"Don't worry, they deserved it."
"Who is that guy anyways?" asked Gosunkugi.
"Him? He's an old rival of Ryouga's."
"Typical for our neighborhood, I guess. Who's those others? I've
never seen them before."
"Ryo's brother and sisters. Compared to him, they seem nicer."
"One of them's been looking at Ryouga like she's in love with him."
Ukyou tensed up.
"Hey, you alright?"
"Absolutely. Nothing wrong at all."
"If you say so."
"Well, I've gotta go see how the others are doing. Hope you get better
soon. See ya!" She patted Gosunkugi on the head and walked off.
-----
Meanwhile...
"Hey, Ranma, are you alright?" asked Akane. She bent down and kissed
Ranma on the forehead.
"This, you know, is your fault."
"Hey, you're the one with a big mouth." Akane angrily replied.
"If I wanted criticism, I'd talk to the rest of the people in this
room. It's bad enough I'm stuck with them."
"You only have yourself to blame."
"Well, I have you."
Akane smiled a bit.
"To blame. OW!"
Akane removed her fist from his face. "Shut up."
"Look, your latent violent tomboy tendancies aren't exactly helping my
situation, y'know. Ya want me to be stuck in here for a month? Hm, maybe
if you bring that dinner in here, I'll be stuck in the hospital for two
months. Geez..."
Akane turned a dark shade of red. "So, that's the way you're gonna be,
eh?"
"Hey, wait a minute..."
"FINE! I'M LEAVING!" Akane yelled, and stomped out of the room.
"Aw geez." said Ranma. "Akane, wait!" Ranma grabbed his crutches and
raced as best as he could to the door. "Akane! Wait up!"
"Saotome," said Ryouga, "you just don't know when to shut up."
"Saotome you fiend! How dare you slander against the noble Akane
Tendou!"
"Well, there they go again," sighed Ukyou. "Hey, Ryouga, how are you
two?" Ukyou said, walking up to him.
"I'm... doing okay."
"Well, it looks like you won't be lonely around here, at least." Ukyou
said, gesturing to the contingent of Kodachi, Tatewaki, Tsubasa, Ryo,
Ryoko, Kyoko, Megane, and Gosunkugi.
"Ask'em to get us different rooms, will ya?" asked Ryouga.
"Sorry, the place is crowded. You're stuck together."
Ryouga groaned.
"Hey, how'd Ranchan end up with this bunch?"
"I heard Akane booted him through the dojo roof, and he just happened
to land in the area," said Ryouga.
"I gotta head back to the restaurant. Anything you want next time I
visit?"
"Food, please," said Ryouga. "I can't stand this hospital food."
Ukyou smiled. "Alright, see ya later," she said, mussing his hair a
bit before leaving.
As she closed the door behind her, Ukyou turned and nearly ran into
Ranma and Akane. He was propped up against the wall, and the two of them
were kissing rather passionately. As she stood there and watched, she
felt a little jealously, but seemed to accept that this was the way things
were going to be from now on. She didn't have to like it, but she wasn't
hating it as much as before.
Ukyou blushed, realizing that she'd been staring at the two for a
while, then smirked. "Jeez, you two, get a room!"
Akane and Ranma seperated suddenly, both looking very embarrased.
"Er, ah, we were..." said Ranma.
"Well, we..." said Akane.
"Yeah, yeah, see ya later, you two crazy kids," said Ukyou as she
walked off, snickering.
------
"This is your fault." Megane flatly stated.
"I'm not in the mood for this. Don't even start." said Ryo.
"You just HAD to chase after Hibiki."
"May I ask what _you_ were doing there?" said Ryo.
"Ah... Ryoko, this is all your fault."
"Hey!"
------
Outside of the crowded room, several nurses were talking.
"So, what happened to these guys?"
"It was kinda muddled. I heard it had something to do with some
martial artists..."
"Isn't it always" someone added in.
"...a mech, a gas main, that pervert Happousai, some bombs, a cargo
truck full of gasoline, and a power line."
"You're kidding."
"That's what I heard. Say, what happened to Happousai anyways? He's
not with this bunch."
------
Ryo Muhoshin blinked, looking at the piece of mail he held in his hand.
He'd received some mail, much to his surprise, from the Unorthodox
Weaponry School of Martial Arts. That in itself was rather surprising to
him. Either his travels were becoming famed, he guessed, or they were
spying on him.
That, however, wasn't the disturbing bit.
The disturbing bit was what was in the letter.
NOTICE:
The Unorthodox Weaponry School of Martial Arts is, as of
January 2, no longer an official organization. This is due
to problems in the clerical and financial segmet of the UWSMA.
Therefore, any sanctioned duties or contracts (protection
services, target assignments, or otherwise) between the UWSMA
and other parties are now dissolved and no longer officially
supported by the UWSMA
-Hiro Oguchi
UWSMA, legal dept.
In hindsight, perhaps it shouldn't have been a surprise. Quite a few
within the UWSMA frowned upon the new objective of growing bigger, faster,
and gaining recognition in the world. The Shaolin Monks never did that
sort of thing, why should they? The fact that they hired an outsider, and
a lawyer/accountant to boot, to oversee the financial matters and public
relations wasn't comforting to quite a few either. It was an attempt to
move the Unorthodox Weaponry School of Martial Arts into the modern era,
and it backfired.
Such is life.
For Ryo, this event brought mixed emotions. The UWSMA had been much
like a home to him. It was where he leared all his lessons on life, and
had achieved great personal success. On the other hand, the various
sensei were beginning to be a nuisance to him. Be damned what they say he
should be, he always did what he wanted to do. Essentially, it was
freedom at a price.
Ryoko was slightly more sad. She tended to grow attached to places,
and the UWSMA was very much her home. Granted, she didn't have many
friends amongst them, but it was her comfortable niche in the world.
Megane merely shrugged.
Kyoko pouted for a while, but recoverd as soon as someone handed her
the newspaper comic strips.
------
Somewhere, deep underground, a small platoon of men in white medical
coats marched, surrounding a medical bed on wheels. The bed contained a
small figure, encased in a metal body cast.
They wheeled into an elevator, where it went even further underground.
They exited the elevator and went through a security barrier in a long
hallway.
They walked through a contingent of Shinto priests who were setting up
all sorts of holy symbols and items.
They went through a foot thick metal door and entered a room full of
monitoring equipment, ki-dampeners, and security devices.
A man with glasses and greying hair looked down at the entrapped
figure.
"This time, Happousai, you're not getting away."
------
Despite their newfound love, Akane and Ranma still had a habit of
fighting. They'd come to accept it as a part of their life, a sort of
quirk. But unfortunately, it was incredibly annoying to everyone else,
especially several weeks later, when...
"Look, that's not what I meant!" protested Ranma.
"So what exactly do you mean?!" Akane yelled.
"Will you two stop?" asked Ryouga.
"NURSE!!!" yelled Ryo.
"Will you just listen to me just once, you stupid tomboy!" yelled
Ranma.
"Why should I, you insensitive jerk!" countered Akane.
"Dammit, I can't get any sleep." muttered Megane.
"Leave my darling Ranma alone!" yelled Kodachi.
"You macho chick!"
"Pervert!"
"I'm warning you, Saotome, stop insulting her!" yelled Ryouga.
"Hold thy foul tonge, fiend!" cursed Kuno.
"Make the bad people go away," whimpered Ryoko.
"He's MY darling!" yelled Kodachi.
"Smite him, my love!" yelled Kunou.
"Jerk!" yelled Akane.
"Idiot!" Ranma shot back.
*BONK*
Akane hit Ranma on the head, although he could tell she held back a bit
on the force of the blow. Anyone that knew their relationship well would
see this as a sign of progress.
These weren't those people.
"And it begins." muttered Ryo, pulling a pillow over his head.
"Please don't do this here, you guys?" whined Gosunkugi.
"Akane Tendou, DIE!" Kodachi would have lashed out with her whip, but
being in a hospital put a strain on her resources. She had to make do
with what was available...
"Put that toilet paper down!" Ryouga yelled.
"You dare threaten a member of the Kunou lineage? I shall smite thee!"
Kunou yelled. He looked around for his trusty bokken, but only found a
broomstick.
"Oh no." muttered Gosunkugi. He covered his head with the pillows. If
anything, this last experience re-affirmed what he suspected he should do:
quit trying to date anyone in Nerima at all. They were either too violent
or attached to someone too violent.
As the two young people violently in love continued bickering, they
finally noticed the chaos erupting around them, with Kuno, Kodachi,
Ryouga, and the others scrambling to and fro while attacks flew about.
"What's their problem?" wondered Akane.
Ranma shrugged. "Ya wanna go somewhere quiet? These guys..."
------
The doctor sat in his office looking thoroughly worn out. He wasn't
sure how much more he'd be able to put up with a certain group of
patients. He would have loved to seperate them, but the hospital was
suffering from overcrowding at the moment. The bickering seemed to have
stopped amongst them, but the damage in terms of sheer irritation they
caused the staff with their constant whining, bickering, and minor
skirmishes was bad already.
It was two weeks. Two long weeks until any of them would be ready to
leave the hospital.
"Doctor," a nurse said, popping her head into his doorway, "it's them
again. They're wrecking the room and making more demands. I think some
of them made their injuries worse."
The walls shook for a moment. He heard an explosion in the distance.
The doctor reached for his own medication. The nurse patted him on the
back.
"Have courage, doc."
- the end -
--------------------
EDITOR'S NOTES, MISC
--------------------
First off, thanks to Mihoshi@ffml. She put in alot of time weeding out
those 1001 typos and mistakes that the original TMTC had.
Sebastian Weinberg & Neil Reynolds also deserve a good mention, since they
both gave me some detailed, nitty-gritty C&C that was VERY much needed to
make things better.
Hm.
Here I am again... first fanfic, redone for the Nth+1 time... maybe I
shouldn't have done it, but I couldn't fight the urge. Oh well, if it's
good, it'll stand well. If not, it can easily be erased.
Primary objectives of the fanfic:
-put Ryouga through Hell
-Introduce villian that does NOT overwhelm the Ranma cast with his
fighting ability, but instead gets his ass kicked first. The
overwhelming bit should come later...
And just to let you know what COULD HAVE been...
--------------------------------
Early Ideas That Didn't Make It:
--------------------------------
-Ranma & Akane MARRIED
Somehow, it just didn't seem right. Not yet.
-Gigantic battle Ryouga vs. alliance of Ryo, Kunou, Tsubasa, & Gosunkugi
at The Bridge. Everyone witnesses Ryouga become P-Chan just before
Bridge destroyed.
It seemed like overkill after a while. Just too... too... too much.
-Titanic Angst-ridden scene between Ukyou and Ranma.
It just seemed too damn heavy. It didn't fit right either. Anyways,
John Biles did it _MUCH_ better in Furinkan Summer part 3...
-Ranma injured in bridge destruction by flying debris, in short Coma.
It had good possibilities, maybe a better resolution of Ukyou finally
letting go of him in a nice scene in a hospital room... but it also
seemed too dramatic.
-Ryouga stumbles into the O.J. Simpson courtroom, pisses off Judge Ito.
Thougth about it. Thougth some more. Dropped it like a hot potato.
-Shampoo actually falling for Ryouga.
Too unlikely for this story. Just couldn't find a believable way.
-Ranma-chan DOES give Ryouga the big smooch.
I was thinking along the lines of a horrible accident with
herbs/potions/etc.
-Ryo kills Kirin (from the first Ranma movie)
Had a good scene in mind, angst-generator running along nicely, but
it just didn't fit right.
-Ryo kills Happousai
Thougth about it. Probbably would make the new character more menacing,
but then I needed the comedy relief later on and so I dumped the idea.
--------------------------------------
Character Profiles/Ideas/Translations:
--------------------------------------
Akari:
For all you Akari fanatics, I would think that the "wild pig attacks"
that were spread across nearly all the parts would have been a clue...
I've heard some people complain about fanfics that put Ukyou and Ryouga
together with the main protest being "what about Akari?" Well, since
I've NEVER read anything with Akari in it (and won't, not for a long long
time since I don't read japanese and Viz is up to book five only
(and Akari is in book THIRTY, right?) I had NO idea how to properly
portray the girl. I read the translations from the net, and it
helped a little. And so now ya got a Ryouga fanfic WITH Akari in it.
So she isn't his main love interest. If I did that, I'd probably
write her amazingly off-character anyways. Besides, I needed to stick
Ryouga with as many love interests as possible (Let's see, so that's
Ukyou, Akari, Kodachi, Manami, and for a brief while Shampoo).
Basically, Akari assumes the role that Shampoo has held when she was
after Ranma. Y'know, the "you defeat me (or in Akari's case, my pig) and
you have to marry me" kinda deal.
Ukyou:
The modern woman. Intelligent, independent, runs her own business, and
can kick ass with da spatula. I can easily see her acting very possesive
in a strange way somewhat like Akane usually does with Ranma.
I guess I've made Ukyou take up Akane's role as angry main love interest,
although they start off on friendlier terms. They certainly would,
I think, resist taking that next step.
Ryouga: The ever-lost bandanna-man. Sucker for disguises, short-tempered,
and packing a mean umbrella. That would seem to be typical ryouga-ish
qualities, no?
Ryouga-Chan:
I was trying to think of exactly HOW Ryouga would look like if he had been
dunked in the same spring as Ranma. Nothing would come to mind at all.
And then I saw New Dominion Tank Police. Take a _good_ look at Leona
from that show. I did, and it immediately clicked. _THAT_ was exactly
how Ryouga would probbably look like when dunked into drowned-girl-spring.
Mousse:
C'mon, nobody's got enough patience to be put through what Mousse goes
through every day in his fruitless pursuit of Shampoo. I figured he'd
go nuts after long term exposure. Wouldn't you?
Shampoo:
Her and Mousse knew each other since childhood. There's bound to be _some_
good memories between them. That idea inspired their exit scene. Maybe
it worked, maybe it didn't, but I couldn't figure out a better way to send
these two off.
Gosunkugi:
Wishy-washy wimp, but a nice guy if he's given a chance. Finally turning
his life around, slowly, until Ryouga returns and ruins everything.
(Un?)fortunately, he's also destined for bigger and better things...
Tsubasa:
Let's face it: Tsubasa's always been a wuss. I decided that infusing him
with some serious Mecha know-how would be fun. I thought it was, anyways.
Unorthodox Weaponry School of Martial Arts
Well, it was born as the school of Umbrella Martial arts, but after a day
or two that just sounded stupid. Then I tried out Unusual Weaponry blah
blah blah... sounded not too bad. Then I needed Ryo to have a small
supporting cast, and Unorthodox etc etc etc sounded great. Then I
realized I had to validate the existence of such a stupid school, and
what better way to explain all the utterly stupid martial arts techniques
in Nerima than this school?
Ryo Muhoshin: age 17
Heir to the Unorthodox Weaponry School of Martial Arts (Umbrella Division)
Roughly translates like "Accomplished" + "Pointless". He bears a strong
resembalence to Gosunkugi. If someone looked closer, they might notice
that he actually looks a bit healthier than Gosunkugi usually does.
A bit taller, bigger, older and at the very end of this story, he's got a
short version of that weirdo dragonball-Z spiky hair thing going on.
Unstable personality. Will go through several types of personas.
If he's ticked off a bit and deems his opponent inferior, he'll slip
into Kunou-esque mode. In dealing with normal day to day situations he'll
be quite a gentleman. In combat his arrogance will rise to the surface.
When he deals with his siblings, he looses his cool entirely because
he can't deal with them like he deals with everyone else (negociate or
beat 'em up), and is somewhat overprotective of them as well.
Laziness factor rises and falls depending on what the circumstances are.
Fashion sense is a slight mystery to him, so after his uncomfortably
expensive venture into the good-suit look, he goes plain.
Inspired by Jinnai of "El Hazzard" fame, Gosunkugi, and Ryouga. Yes, as
Ryouga is now in Ranma's seat, Ryo takes Ryouga's role to some extent.
*The following names for these moves were swiped from King of Fighters '95,
A NeoGeo game. Thanks to Galen Komatsu (sp?) for the translations.
Gekihou: "Shock Blow"
Ryugeki-ken: "Dragon Strike/Fist"
Gou Rugeki-ken: "Great Dragon Strike/Fist"
(well, I _think_ it translates this way...)
Hyaku Gekihou: rougly "100 shock blows"
Ryoko Muhoshin: age 16
Student of the U.W.S.o.M.A. (Recreational Items Division)
Roughly translates into "Travel" + "Pointless"
Nabikiesque in persona, only more criminally inclined and considerably
more relaxed and affectionate. Will often find a way to get a free lunch.
Dresses tomboyish with a really short (think about Ryuunoske from Urusei
Yatsura (but with a bit more of a feminine sense)) type of haircut.
inspired by Jinnai's sister of "El Hazzard" fame, and by some people
I know of in real life.
Ryoko is supposed to be something like what Ukyou was to Ranma: a familiar
face from the past that suddenly and unexpectedly becomes a love interest.
Megane Muhoshin: age 15
Student of the U.W.S.o.M.A. (Musical Instruments Division)
Rough Translations "Glasses" + "Pointless"
Doesn't express much care about anybody or anything, it seems. Very
cynical in a calm fashion, with a low opinion on everything and everybody.
Doesn't get excited, just grouchy. Wears round-frame glasses, hair is
shoulder length and always pulled back into a pony-tail.
Partially inspired by Megane of "Urusei Yatsura" fame, and partially
by persons I know of.
Kyoko Muhoshin: age 12
Student of the U.W.S.o.M.A. (Hair Care Products & Equipment Division)
Rough Translations "Noisy Child"? + "Pointless"
Looks for beautiful & fashionable things. Keeps on seeing Ryo as hopelessly
ugly/out of fashion. Will act cute (See Azusa) if in trouble. Wears
whatever is cool these days and has a ton of hair, usually kept in a
ponytail. Slightly reminiscent of Azusa, I guess.
An infusion of Azusa and somebody I know, again.
Nuku-Nuku:
I _wanted_ to find a place where she could put a cameo in, but alas, my
imagination fails me. =(.................
--------------------
GUEST STARS & SWIPES
--------------------
TURBO TEEN (part 9)
-this show inspired the horrible concept of "Nissanichuan"
Yes, there was an American Saturday morning cartoon show called
"Turbo Teen" and yes he turned into a car. Except it wasn't water
that did it to him, it was just temperatures, and no cursed water,
just a weird accident of science.
URUSEI YATSURA (parts 1, 4, 8)
-Lum
-Ataru (Yup, there's an episode where Ataru gets hit by a sex-change gun.
It's episode 91.)
-Shutaro Mendo
KIMAGURE ORANGE ROAD (part 8)
-Kyouske (In case you didn't get the joke, He was the boy in the park.
And what else? He's an ESPer. Still don't get the joke? Go
back and read part 1!)
-Madoka Ayukawa
STREET FIGHTER (part 8)
-Ken
-Ryu
-Bison (Vega in Japan) I didn't want to call him by either name, since it's
the OTHER name on the other side of the ocean, so I just stuck him
with the description of big military guy with cape, big jaw and an aura.
-Unnamed Master of Ken and Ryu (see the Street Fighter Anime)
-(Mentioned) Dan Hibiki: hidden character in SFA. Story was that he trained
under the same master as Ken & Ryu but was too filled with anger to train
properly. Carries grudge against Sagat. I saw the last name and couldn't
resist mentioning him. I was gonna put him in a cameo but it just didn't
fit properly.
SUPER CATGIRL NUKU NUKU (part 3, 4)
-Mishima Heavy Industries Inc.
MISC. CINEMA & ENTERTAINMENT REFERENCES
-Jacky Chan
-"The Protector" man, watching this one HURT. Jacky Chan & Danny Aiello,
what a perfect action movie pair! *blech*
-"Drunken Master II" four stars, baby.
-"Twin Dragons" so that's where Van Damme got his idea for double impact...
-Pulp Fiction "Royale with cheese"
-Reservoir Dogs "Jokers to the right..."
-Wayne's World "Oh yes, it will be mine."
-Terry Pratchet's DISCWORLD (See: Librarian "ook!")
-Douglas Addams HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE (See: Earth "Mostly Harmless")
-DC Comics (The Fat gaijin guy who was good with umbrellas: guess who?)
-Pinky and the Brain: guess what show Ryo was watching on the portable tv?
-Saturday Night Live (Stuart Smalley): "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough...)
-------------------------------------
SLIGHTLY OBSCURE RANMA 1/2 REFERENCES
-------------------------------------
-Tatewaki Kunou did indeed gain the habit of slicing watermelons. It's in
the manga vol. 19 parts 1-3
-Yes, there WAS a fall-in-love medicine that Akane swallowed at the beach.
It's in manga vol. 10, parts 2-3
-Akari Unryuu, Ryouga's new love interest, arrives at manga vol. 30.
-Ryouga's house, I forgot which manga, but it's empty because the rest of
his family is also pathetically lost.
-----------
WHAT'S NEXT
-----------
Well, the sequel to this fic, 'The Pursuit of Happiness' is on the
horizon. Look for a little exploration into the history of the TMTC/TPOH
universe, as well as some old faces and new faces.