Just a weird crossover idea i thought i'd throw out for
general amusement. Just to give it a title, call this
Bet: the Highwaymen
"Airen!"
"Ranma you idiot!"
Ranma managed to put his hand up, Amazon Glomp or not, and
did something he'd never done before.
He took the hammer away from Akane.
"Gee. Akane, you oughtta be more careful. Y'could hurt
someone with this." Ranma paused as the various expressions became
much more clear to him.
Shock, surprise. Then everyone around him...knelt?!?!
Shampoo had turned him loose and had knelt like the others...
"Uhm, guys? What'cha doin'?"
"HE has not Awakened," Cologne said drily.
"Then we should Awaken him," Akane said with a
confident tone in reply.
"Not yet, I think," Cologne looked off into the
distance. "When He Awakens, his Adversaries will know for sure.
Until then, they merely suspect."
"Huh?" Ranma noted that both his father and
Mister Tendo were standing on the veranda, looking as puzzled
as he felt, while Nabiki knelt in the manner of a warrior and
Kasumi curtsied deeply. "Guys? You're weirding me out.
Someone want to clue me in on the joke?"
"My liege," Nabiki began. "Look at what you
hold in your hand."
"It's just Akane's...hammer?!" Ranma had taken
a glance at the hammer in his hand and felt what there was
of his mind come to a stop. A BIG and elaborate two handed
metal sledgehammer with ornate runes on it. What in the name
of all the kami? "Akane, what were you thinking, trying to tag
me with this?"
Akane smirked. "My lord, it WAS merely the
very hammer that the La--, that my sister did give me."
"Kasumi? Nabiki?" Soun Tendo looked around
at the tableau and wondered if he REALLY wanted to know
what was going on or was he better off not asking?
Shampoo smirked and looked at her great
grandmother. "So, wizard, we're related this time around.
How...ironic?"
"True," Cologne's eyes narrowed. "How unfortunate
that it has not made you wiser."
"Uhm, guys?"
"Milord, if I may?" Akane stood, her hand gently
taking the hammer away from Ranma's nerveless grip. "If you
hold onto it for too long, it and you may Awaken earlier than
wouldst be prudent."
"Uh huh. And waking up from this weird dream would
be bad?" Ranma felt like his head was beginning to spin, though
it felt a little better after Akane took the hammer back.
--------------------------------------------
yeah, it's actually sort of a Mage:The Hero Discovered/
Ranma fusion. Ranma's been pretty corrupted by Genma and the
problems with Anything Goes style, but lurking hidden within is the
archetypical Hero. Alternatively (and maybe more interesting) would
be to approach this with only Ranma Awakening or Ranma and Akane
and/or Ukyou being the ones Awakened. Hmmm. Maybe a better
group would be Cologne, Akane, and Shampoo. All three of whom
are suddenly getting along a LOT better.
what could make this different is making it a post volumn
38 fusion, as opposed to the usual volumn 1 fusion.
Ranma's in the Kevin Matchstick/Artur Pendragon role
Cologne in the Mirth/Merlin/Friar Tuck role
Kasumi as the Lady Of The Lake/Marian, who hands Parcival the Fang.
Akane as Lancelot, who has this problem with going berserk and
apologizing later.
Shampoo as Isolde? Mousse as Tristan?
Ukyou as Galahad, irritating the heck out of Akane now by calling
her "Dad" a lot. (If nothing else, Zen should like this casting.)
Ryouga as the Green Knight/Gilgamesh/Odysseus (cursed to wander)
BA Hammer as the Edsel's Louisville Slugger/Excalibur
Tatewaki as Guinevere? (Arthur and Lancelot. I must have them BOTH!)
Happosai or Genma eventually Awakens as the Sherriff...
Making the sight of Excalibur the trigger for Awakening, or meeting
Ranma's eyes now. Hmmm. Tatewaki as Isolde? Kodachi as Tristan?
Kiima as Gawain? Lotsa possibilities here, especially if one makes the
Robin Hood band a Second Incarnation with Ranma's group the Third
Incarnation of the same group of Eternal Heroes...
Perhaps some gravitate/remember more of one particular
life and NOT the Table Round. An idea thrown out in Mage is that
these heroes are recurrent Archetypes. So maybe Ryouga is Gilgamesh
is Odysseus is Sir Pellimore (of the Questing Beast) or even the Green
Knight.
So the Heroes Reborn means the villains aren't far away.
Who? Well, Morgana LeFay and Modred as much as internal politics
and a tryst ended Camelot in most of the stories. Robin Hood died of
poisoning after his band won their battle. Eternal Villains make a
certain amount of sense as well.
or maybe mix things up like in the current Mage series.
So we've got some members of the Table Round, while others Awaken
as different Archetypes altogether.
How would the various characters deal with the memories of hundreds
of lifetimes? How would Shampoo deal with the memories of being a man?
How would Akane deal with being Lancelot and Little John? How would
Cologne handle being Merlin and Friar Tuck? I don't actually see Ukyou
having much trouble handling the memories of life as Galahad, except
maybe to feel guilty about the sins she'd committed in this life (at least
in the manga version where none of the characters seem to actually have
much in the way of character by the end of the series...sad really...)
If you go with Ranma being the one Awakened, then he's going to
come across quite different. He'll still have the Ego and the Cockiness
(Arthur's influence for the first, Robin Hood's for the second) but will
suddenly gain the Responsibility factor and maturity of the other
personas...Not to mention being the natural leader that the Eternal
King tends to be.
Of course, if Cologne=Merlin you could make Happosai=Morgana.
well, i thought it was an amusing concept. almost as much as that
Spring Of Drowned Elvis idea i threw out awhile back. (explained where
all those Elvis impersonators/sightings come from, ne?) "Akane, y'can
mallet me, but don't you scuff my bl..." <WHACKUM>
"Baka. Wearing blue suede shoes in the house..."
oh, why that title? go to the Art Bell webpage or search for lyrics
under the song "The Highwayman" - it's about reincarnation.
ja ne,
gregg