Here's the re written version of the begining of my Ranma/Yohko
crossover. If there is another problem or two, there might be a version
2.1, but there won't be a version 3, so the plot is pretty set so far.
Anyway, here it is:
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Prologue:
"What have I done to them?" thought the old woman bitterly to herself.
"How could I have brought those two girls out here, then let this happen
to them?"
It was hard enough to endure their stares of accusation, the lack of
respect in her grand daughter's voice. She didn't have the heart to
berate her, knowing that she deserved all their scorn. "I thought I was
doing the right thing, bringing them here. I thought that exorcising
these cursed springs would be in a simple exercise in using their
powers. How could I have underestimated the curse so badly? How can I
have done this to them?"
She glanced over to the small fire where the two girls sat. Her grand
daughter was careful not to look her direction. How angry she was! The
other girl was not so upset. The incredibly chipper Azusa would not
even let her curse bring her down for long. Hopefully her cheery
influence would work on poor Yohko and help her to come to terms with
the curse.
The guide talked quietly with the two girls. Old Mano Madoka knew she
was not welcome with them anymore, so she stayed further away, peering
at them from the tent and trying to guess what they could be thinking.
Azusa seemed to show some reluctance; her shoulders were hunched in, her
head shaking back and forth. With an uncharacteristic angry tone, Yohko
spoke tersely to her younger prot�g� until Azusa shook her head in
agreement. What could she be planning?
Madoka straightened herself and walked quietly over to the fire. She
knew she deserved Yohko's scorn for what she had done to them, but she
would not abandon her grand daughter, nor let her emotions carry her
away into something stupid. As she approached, everyone quit talking,
and all eyes focused on her. The crackling of the fire seemed almost
deafening in that silence, but Madoka swallowed and forced herself to
speak.
"I know that you blame me for what has happened to you, and I know that
you are right to do so. I would like to help you in whatever way I can,
however. Please don't shut me out now. Please allow me to still be
here for you. Please�" Madoka's voice caught in her throat, and she
couldn't go on. Tears welled in her eyes, but she could tell that Yohko
and Azusa were close to crying themselves.
Yohko suddenly jumped up and grabbed the old woman tightly around the
shoulders. She feared her angry young grand daughter was going to hurl
her into one of the cursed springs herself. She soon realized that
Yohko was crying, though and speaking softly to her. "I'm sorry,
Grandma! I'm sorry I was so angry at you. Please forgive me!"
Madoka brushed back her hair. "No, Yohko, it is I who am sorry. This
whole thing is my fault." Yohko looked up and smiled bravely at her
grandmother. Azusa couldn't be left out either, and soon the three of
them were holding each other tightly. Madoka sighed again. "What are
we going to do, girls?"
"We are going to move," answered Yohko. "I can't stand to face
everyone I know with this curse. Besides, the Guide was just telling me
of a place where there are tons of people who have fallen into these
same cursed springs. There we will find other people who understand us,
and who may be able to do something about the curse."
Madoka raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure that's wise, Yohko? What
about our training room, and all the things that you use as Devil
Hunters?"
"We can take the things we really need, and leave the things we don't.
We're not going to be gone forever, just until we can find out how to
deal with this curse, right?" Madoka could see the anxious look in
Yohko's eyes. She was really serious about this move. Madoka looked at
her appraisingly for a moment more.
"Allright, we'll do it. The three of us can find a place to live, and
we can set up a dojo of sorts there. What is the name of this place,
anyway?"
Yohko answered her, but the name sent a chill down Madoka's spine.
What was it about this place that cursed individuals were drawn there
like a lodestone? What hazards would they encounter there? What made
this place so special, this place named Nerima?
Part I
"Students, this is the new transfer student. Her name is Mano Yohko,
and I want each of you to make her feel welcome here at Furinken High
School."
Yohko stood in front of the class, looking out over her new fellow
students. Many of the boys gave her an appraising eye, and most of the
girls looked at her disinterestedly. There was one boy in the back of
the class that particularly impressed Yohko. "Now that's a babe!" she
said to herself. She smiled at him when she could catch his eye.
Immediately several of the girls in the room darkened their gazes. "Ok,
Ok," she thought, "So he's not fair game!"
Yohko made her way carefully towards her seat. She was also in the
back, not far from the guy she had noticed, and she couldn't help but
glance at him again as she walked back. Another girl with really short
hair seemed to be extremely angry about this, but oddly enough, she
seemed to be mad at him, not her. What a weird group of kids!
Yohko should have been paying attention to where she was going, though.
Her skirt caught on the desk she was trying to sit at. Embarassed, she
tried to loosen it without ripping it, but the harder she tried, the
worse it seemed to get.
"Oh, for goodness sake! Your never going to get it that way, just let
me do it!" She looked up as she heard the voice, and was surprised to
find the beautiful boy she had smiled at was coming her way. He grabbed
her skirt to extricate it from the desk, but just as he did so it
ripped.
"Oh no!" Yohko thought. "My can't I ever seem to keep my clothes on
right!" The boy lost his balance when the cloth gave, and before he
knew it, he found himself on the floor with his arms around Yohko's
legs. He looked around and found that Yohko's skirt was underneath him.
The beet-red girl was desperately trying to pull her shirt down low
enough to cover her panties.
"Ranma, you pervert! What in the world are you doing?" The short
haired girl shouted as she pounded on his head with her desk. What a
wonderful start to the first day of class!
"Yohko, over here!" Azusa waved at her friend. "How was your first day
at school?"
"I've had better," growled Yohko. "C'mon, let's just go home before
anything else happens." The two girls turned around the corner of the
school building, and ran right smack into Ranma. Both Azusa and he fell
to the ground. Yohko was horrified to see Asuza fall into a puddle.
She quickly bent over to pick her up, hoping that nobody noticed the
transformation.
"Why don't you watch where your going?" said Ranma, picking himself up
from the ground and brushing himself off. "And what is that you're
carrying, a rat?"
Yohko was starting to get really annoyed with Ranma's attitude. "No,
it's not a rat, it's a hamster, and she happens to be my best friend!"
Azusa stuck her tiny hamster tongue out at Ranma. "You know, I'm
getting pretty sick of how rude you are! You could at least apologize
for running into us, not to mention pulling my skirt off in class!"
"That's not my fault! You must have ripped it more!" said Ranma. A
few people were starting to gather around the arguing pair now,
including the short haired girl from homeroom.
"I must have ripped it?!" said an outraged Yohko. "Of all the nerve�"
"Look, just stay out of my way, hoophead. I've got enough trouble with
the girls I do know already�" Ranma's voice trailed off as he looked to
his right. There was a bright light starting to grow in the air. The
light seemed to burst, splitting into a window-like structure floating
in the air. Before it closed, some kind of creature hopped out and
roared at Yohko and Ranma.
Ranma acted instantly. This strange creature was exactly the kind of
thing Ranma needed to get out his annoyance. He had never seen a
monster that looked like this, though. It was humanoid, but with
reddish-brown skin and a tough exoskeleton. He looked almost waspish,
in form, and he had a sharp stinger on his rear end. Ranma gathered
his energy to attack the beast, when his attention was caught be another
bright light behind him.
It was Mano Yohko who was glowing this time. She spun in the air, and
power seemed to blast from her body. Her clothes ripped to shreds and
she stood completely naked in front of everyone.
"He he, will you look at that?" said the astonished Ranma with a
crooked smile.
"No, and neither will you!" said Akane with a blow from her mallet.
"Show some respect for a girl who's changing!"
Yohko was now dressed in a slinky red silk dress, and she carried a
huge sword. With a shout, she leaped into the air and swung the sword
at the creature, neatly lopping off one of it's arms. The beast roared
again, and tried to backhand her with it's other arm. Yohko blocked it
with the flat of her sword, then swung again, hitting it's head as if
she were using a Louiseville slugger. The monster's head flew into the
sky to disappear over the horizon, and the body slumped to the ground,
then disappeared, leaving only a pool of blood.
As if to punctuate the filthyness of the beast, a heavy rain started
falling abruptly, washing away the smoking blood. Of course, the rain
had it's other effects as well.
"Hey, what happened to Yohko?" said Ranma in his now very unmasculine
voice.
"I'm right here!" said a very tall blond youth. "I see I'm not the
only one with this same problem!"
Ranma smiled. "Jusenkyo?" he asked.
"Yep. Spring of Drowned Viking Boy"
Akane introduced herself, and suggested they all return to her fathers
dojo before they got any wetter than they already were. "It sounds like
we may have some things to talk about."
Yohko readily agreed. But she couldn't help wondering to herself about
the strange demon that had appeared. She made a mental note to ask her
grandmother about it. Especially why it hadn't activated her warning
system�
Joshua Dyal
j-dyal@geocities.com
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arcade/1958/
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