Quantum Destinies
A Ranma � Fanfic
By Steven Thesken (jurai-knight@home.com)
This is purely a work of fanfiction done for fun, so please read and
enjoy. Comments and Criticisms are always welcome. It helps me to
know what is working, and what I need to work on to improve my
writing. Flames are ejected into an appropriate receptacle.
This story is inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi, creator of one
of the first of many anime and manga that I have enjoyed over the years.
It is also inspired by the stories of some of my fellow fanfic authors,
creators of wonderful alternate realities that I have enjoyed reading
about (and I don't say that just because some of them are my pre-readers
^_^ ), such as D.B. Sommer's "Shampoo �", Jim Bader's "A Very Scary
Thought -aka- Nabiki �", and John Biles' Elseworlds series. It is also
partially inspired by the science-fiction novel "Paths to Otherwhere" by
James P. Hogan, an author I have long liked.
Ranma and all other associated characters are owned by Kitty and the
ever-creative Rumiko Takahashi. This is primarily a Ranma fanfic, but I
will be bringing in some characters from other series for added color.
They will mainly be used for lesser roles or villains. Any new characters
are the property of the author.
Previous chapters of this story may be found at these websites, or you
can email the author for them:
Azatlan has given Quantum Destinies a home at:
http://www.geocities.com/~azatlan/Special-Series/quantum-destinies.html
Blood Blade has put it on his webpage at:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/5920/stories.html
Cursed One has it at his Anime Fanfiction page at:
http://members.xoom.com/Cursed_One/fanfic.html
It is also at Fanfiction Selections at:
http://members.tripod.com/DNyx/index.html
A brief explanation of some of the terminology and pseudo-science used
in this story appeared in the Appendix at the end of Chapter One, as
well as the meaning behind the Earth designations.
Thoughts will be bracketed by a * on each end. Any speech other than
Japanese will be bracketed by < and >.
The list of worlds reoccurring in this chapter:
Earth 0.000,0.000 - The world of Scholar Ranma (Baseline cluster)
Earth +1.612,+1.509 - The world of Shampoo � (Ranma � cluster)
What has gone before in this story (or at least what will help you
understand what is going on):
On a parallel Earth that diverged from the standard Ranma timeline over
five hundred years ago, the Empire of Japan rules almost half the world
and has done so for almost a century. A young scientist named Ranma
Saotome, through a device of his invention, is now possessed of the
skills and memories of a martial artist version of himself. Also, the
Nabiki of this timeline later snuck into Ranma's lab and used his device,
not knowing what it was, accidentally copying the skills and memories
from an alternate version of herself, one who went on the ten-year
training journey with Genma instead of Ranma. An unexpected accident
has switched the mind of Professor Genma Saotome with that of his
counterpart from the "Shampoo �" timeline. Ranma has gone across to
try and find his real father, only problems occur.
Chapter 8 - Sins of the Fathers, Part Two
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso
confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
King James Bible
Proverbs 28:13
***** Earth +1.612,+1.509
The trek to their destination took up the remainder of Ranma's time,
but he had already made the decision to return as soon as he could reset
his equipment. A digital clock on a nearby bank indicated he had only
one minute remaining. He turned to eye the large greenhouse that sat
behind the shop. Akane and Shampoo had simply wanted to charge
right in, and the part of Ranma's mind that belonged in this world had
wanted to follow their lead. But he suppressed the urge and managed
to convince them to wait for a few minutes. He turned to his father.
"<Pop?>" asked Ranma in Russian. "<I'm going to go away for a
few minutes, and you will have the other Ranma until I can get back. It
should only take a couple of minutes to reset the system.>"
"<All right, Son," answered Genma. "<I should be able to control
things here for a few minutes.>"
*Ranma is acting very strange,* thought Shampoo, very casually
eyeing the pigtailed boy as she pretended to study their objective. She
followed Ranma's example and simply ignored Akane, finding a vague
enjoyment in the act.
*What are we waiting for?* Akane thought with a glare at Ranma
and the others. She simmered with anger at his treatment of her, but she
would wait until after her family was rescued to 'discuss' matters with
him.
Ranma watched the two clocks within sight, the one on the bank and
another one a little further down the street. Both were digital, so it was
easy to see the time from where he was standing. They both clicked
over to the same minute at the same moment, and he closed his eyes in
preparation for the recall sequence.
Nothing happened.
He waited another minute, hoping that the clocks were wrong, and
still nothing happened.
"Ranma?" finally asked Genma, wondering how he would be able to
tell when the change had taken place.
"It's still me, Father," said Ranma, too surprised to bother hiding their
conversation in Russian this time. "Something is wrong." He blinked
and suddenly looked a bit miserable, wondering if perhaps the Ranma of
this world was even now waking up in his body, far across the parallel
timestreams. A sudden fear that he was now trapped in this life gripped
him for a moment, but he forced the fear down with some breathing
exercises.
"Are we through waiting?" asked Akane impatiently. "What have we
been waiting for?"
"Please be quiet, Akane," said Ranma politely, his outward form
hiding the panic he felt from the possibility of being trapped in this
world. "I am considering the situation." He turned to look at the
building across the street. An urge to just charge in and start beating
people up was hovering in the back of his mind, but he ignored it for
now.
Shampoo blinked. That had not sounded like Ranma at all. His voice
had none of its normal cockiness and impulsive speech. It reminded her
of one of the Elders of her tribe.
"I will not be quiet!" shouted Akane. "What gives you the right to
tell me what to do?"
Ranma blinked, and the ice-cold gaze was back in his eyes as he
turned to look at Akane. His voice was measured, but polite, as he
spoke and said, "I am looking at the possible entrances and exits from
the building. Our enemies obviously seem to expect us to just walk in
through the front door, but I am weighing other options. If you want to
help your family, you will let me finish thinking about this. If you want
to just charge in there and risk getting captured yourself, then go right
ahead. I will not attempt to stop you." *Stupid tomboy,* came the
thought, *why can't she just be quiet and let me take care of this?* He
shook his head at the odd thought.
"People in glass houses..." murmured Genma.
"What you say, Pop?" asked Shampoo.
"Well, the greenhouse area is all glass," noted Genma, his head turned
to observe the building that was their objective. "Why not simply stroll
over and take a peek through the glass? Ranma?"
Ranma considered that one, before finally nodding his head and
saying, "Yeah, it sounds good. It would certainly be easier than going
inside and tromping around. I'll be back in a minute or so." Without a
single backwards glance, he was gone, a quick run and one bounding
leap carrying him across the street to one of the neighboring buildings.
"What now?" asked Akane, still impatient to rescue her family.
"Now, we wait," answered Genma, watching the small figure of his
son on the far roof. Amazement coursed through his body as he did a
quick mental calculation of the force necessary to complete the leap that
his son had so easily performed. *I wonder if the physical laws are the
same here?* he thought.
Ranma eyed the glass of the greenhouse, but he could see nothing
from his current vantage point. He hopped down to the alley between
the buildings and looked through the glass at several locations, but it
was so fogged up on the inside that he could not see very much, only a
vast jungle of various flora inside. *So much for an easy recon job,* he
thought with a soft sigh. He bounded back to the others after trying to
look inside at a few more places without very much luck.
"What I wouldn't give for a good defoliant right about now," said
Ranma as he came near the others. "I can't see a thing through any of
that glass. It's too fogged up. Looks like we have to do this one the
old-fashioned way, go in and bust heads." He cracked his knuckles and
looked almost pleased at the prospect. He saw Shampoo nod, the
Amazon seeming eager to get to the action part of the rescue, and
Akane looked eager to go in as well. Ranma glanced at his father,
receiving a curt nod of approval in return.
With the other three forming up on his flanks, Ranma and his little
posse strolled across the street, grim looks of purpose on all four faces.
It was only a few moments to arrive beneath the slightly gaudy sign over
the front door. They paused there, and then Ranma led the way into the
building. Upon entering the structure, they saw the vast rain forest
spread out before them, filling the glass-enclosed region from wall to
wall save for a few small paths.
Ranma quickly realized that their enemies and the other Tendous
could be anywhere in this vast jungle under glass. He shook his head at
the sight of the heavy growth, somehow looking much larger on the
inside than he had imagined. "It's going to take forever to find them, if
we all stay together. Maybe we should split up. Father, why don't you
and Akane take the right half? Shampoo and I will take the left. I don't
think anyone should be on their own."
Akane appeared displeased as she said to Ranma, "Why do I have to
go with Mr. Saotome? I can take the middle path by myself." She gave
every indication of being stubborn about this, so Ranma decided to try
something unexpected.
"Because I don't think my father, being injured, should be out there
on his own," said Ranma, earning a surprised look from Shampoo. "I
also don't like the idea of you being on your own." *But you are really
tempting me to let you wander off and get stomped on,* he finished the
sentence in his thoughts.
"Oh," said Akane, looking at him with growing anger. "So you don't
think I can handle myself?" She put her hands flat against her hips and
glared at him.
"Honestly, yes," admitted Ranma slowly, getting tired of having to
argue with Akane every step of the way whenever he made any sort of a
decision. He saw her blink in surprise at his statement, then frown.
"Last time I checked," she said smugly, "I was the only one who
managed to conquer their fear, and confront the Sanslaygh. Isn't that
right, Ranma?" She gave a smirk in his direction.
Ranma's memory suddenly filled with images dredged up from that
recent little adventure of his counterpart. A flood of fear from his new
memories surged forward, about being trapped as a girl and everyone
else treating a doppelganger as the real him, affecting him for a moment.
He blinked and frowned, personally not caring in the slightest way for
the cheap shot against his counterpart's pride, and he was very strongly
tempted to tell her off. But he said nothing.
Akane apparently took his brief silence as an endorsement of her
actions, and she snorted, "Fine, then you go with Shampoo. I'll take the
left... by myself." With that bit of defiance declared, the complete
opposite of his initial suggestion, she tromped off into the jungle.
Ranma muttered something under his breath as he watched her stomp
off.
Shampoo turned to Ranma and said, "It quicker if we all split up.
You no mind, Ranma?"
Ranma blinked. *Didn't anyone listen to a thing I just said?* he
thought with an internal grimace. *So it takes a little longer to explore
this place. Why divide our forces and risk getting picked off one by
one? That's just idiotic.* He frowned and shook his head.
"Yeah, I do mind, actually," said Ranma, looking seriously at the
Amazon. "I don't think it's very good strategy to divide up and risk
getting picked off one by one, if we have the option of pairing up. We
can cover the same amount of ground almost as fast that way." He saw
Shampoo frown at him.
"You let Akane go by self," said the Amazon a little gruffly. "You no
think Shampoo able take care of self?"
"I didn't say that at all!" shouted Ranma, frustrated with this whole
situation now. He lowered his voice, sarcasm undertoning it. "I told
Akane not to go by herself, but does she listen? Of course not. Now
you want to do the same and get mad at me for caring if you get hurt."
Shampoo blinked. *He cares more for me than he does for Akane?*
she thought with surprise, feeling a sudden warmth deep in her heart.
However, her warrior pride was still aroused, and she looked at Ranma
neutrally. She saw his resistance fade a little.
"Fine. I guess you can handle yourself," Ranma decided, relenting.
He saw her smile at him and then start to run off. He grabbed her by the
shoulders before she could take a single step and turned her to face him.
"Be careful out there, okay?"
Shampoo gave him a confident grin, a little wink, and then rushed off
into the verdant greenery.
Ranma turned to his father and said, "This place is starting to give me
a headache. I don't know if I could handle a lifetime of this." He turned
to look at the remaining paths. "I suppose we could just listen for
Akane's scream when she gets in trouble and find one of the enemy that
way. What do you think, Pop?" He grinned at his father.
"An interesting notion," admitted Genma with a faint smile as he
studied the miniature jungle. "We should get moving though. I think I
will be fine on my own though. We really could cover more ground
singly."
Ranma looked scandalized as he cried out, "Pop! Not you, too!" He
frowned at the older man.
"All right," relented Genma. "We'll go together." The two Saotome
men moved off together into the greenery, Genma taking point. Now
that the shock and dismay at his counterpart's life had finally begun to
fade, he was finding that he felt far more alive than he remembered
feeling since he was a teenager. *Must be something in the air,* he
mused with a smile as he plodded along.
Now that the two were alone, Ranma stopped and fully considered
the idea that he might be stuck in this world forever. It would take
months, maybe years, if it was at all possible, to build a new resonator.
Some of the technology he needed might not even be available here, and
the costs involved might be prohibitive.
"Pop?" asked Ranma from a short ways behind him. "What are we
going to do if we can't ever get back home? I don't know if I'll even be
able to build a new resonator, especially with the way things are now."
He frowned at the unpleasant predicaments this life offered him and said
with great conviction, "And there is just no way that I am ever going to
marry Akane Tendou!"
"Not to worry, my boy," said Genma, adopting the other Genma's
mannerisms so well that it spooked Ranma a bit. "When we get back to
the Tendous', expect to see some changes made. I am certainly not
going to force any son of mine into an arranged marriage, especially not
at your age. Leave everything to me." He adjusted his glasses. He
might have allowed Nodoka to bully him into accepting it in his world,
not resisting her efforts at making Ranma get married long before he
was ready, but Genma would be damned if it would happen again. This
time Ranma would be allowed to choose when he wanted to get
married, and to whom, and without any interference from anyone.
While Ranma was thinking about his father's statement, they came
around a corner and discovered one of their opponents, Mousse. The
pair saw the white-robed warrior standing in the middle of the path, his
hands concealed in his voluminous sleeves. Ranma saw Mousse's thick
glasses catch the light in an almost sinister way.
Mousse started to say something when Genma felt a breeze pass him,
his son going by him in a blur of motion as he shot forward at full speed.
Ranma had been feeling edgy, frustrated, and generally annoyed with
this whole situation, and Mousse gave him a perfect outlet for all of his
wrath. He was not about to waste time with needless posturing when
he felt he would have the advantage of surprise by going all out while
the Chinese boy was just making his opening statement. He gathered
his Chi before his feet even left the ground, called out a loud "Kachu
Tenshin Amaguriken" while still in midleap as he bounced off of a tree
to increase his momentum, and then he hit Mousse without the slightest
mercy at the end of the final arc of his leap.
Mousse was inundated by a hailstorm of blows from Ranma's fists,
caught completely by surprise at the sheer audacity of the other boy's
actions. He lost consciousness somewhere between the two hundredth
to three hundredth blow from Ranma's fist repeatedly hitting him in the
face. The Chinese boy slumped to the ground in a heap, a few of his
hidden weapons falling from his sleeves, unused.
"Take that, you jerk," muttered Ranma as he got up off Mousse,
catching his breath from the level of exertion. He grinned at an almost
gaping Genma and took a quick bow. "Great technique, but it is kind of
tiring. I guess he wasn't expecting to deal with an attack without first
going through the usual exchange of manly threats."
"Impressive, Ranma," said Genma, smiling at him and nodding his
head. "Most impressive."
"Yeah," said Ranma, a sudden grin on his face. Things seemed to be
finally looking up. He stripped the robe off of Mousse and quickly tore
it into long strips to tie him up with them, binding the other boy's arms
together tightly, running a loop around the Chinese boy's neck and a
second one to bind his ankles. At the end, Mousse looked to be in a
rather uncomfortable position, and the length of silk around his neck
would choke him if he struggled. Ranma looked satisfied at the result.
"I see you still remember the knot-tying techniques I had you learn as
a boy," said Genma approvingly. That had been part of the wilderness
survival training that the Science Ministry had instructed him to ensure
that Ranma knew. He nodded at the trussed up Chinese boy, seeing that
Mousse would have to be an escape artist to get out of such bindings.
"Yeah," said Ranma, hitting Mousse almost casually with his fist
when it looked like the other boy might have been stirring. He used the
remaining strip of silken cloth to gag the Chinese boy and stood up to
survey their surroundings. "Now, let's go."
The two of them continued on their trek through the greenery.
******************************
Elsewhere in the jungle, Akane was walking through a more heavily
forested area of the greenhouse.
"Just how big is this thing?" she wondered out loud.
Her reverie was interrupted when a small piece of ribbon flew out
from a tree and wrapped itself around her wrists like a pair of handcuffs.
She tried to break free, but the harder she attempted to tear the ribbon
the tighter it got.
"OHHOHOHOHO!" came a chilling laugh from above Akane. She
gazed upward to see Kodachi standing on a tree branch above and
grinning down at her. "You have fallen into my trap, Akane Tendou.
No substitutes can save you this time. Just come along quietly."
"Yeah, right," Akane sneered. And with that, Akane jumped up,
kicked the branch Kodachi was standing on, and shattered it beneath the
gymnast.
The Black Rose prevented her fall by using her ribbon to lash onto
another branch and gracefully land several meters away. She gave an
almost predatory grin at Akane. "You are only making this harder on
yourself," she said with a manic undertone.
Kodachi began hurling pins at Akane. The first struck the Tendou
girl in the knee, and the second in the head. Deciding the wasn't going
to play the pigeon in a shooting gallery, Akane raced forward at full
speed, managing to avoid two more pins thrown at her. She then
executed a leaping tuck and roll and came up standing right next to
Kodachi. She very quickly grabbed the Black Rose by the throat and
started choking.
"Where is my family?" Akane growled, lifting Kodachi off of her feet
slightly and tightening her grip slightly. "What have you done with
them?"
The gasping Black Rose didn't try to answer. Instead, she pulled a
compact out of her leotard and held it in front of Akane's face. The
other girl made the mistake of loosening her grip on Kodachi's throat in
surprise, providing the Black Rose enough breath to let out a puff and
blow the powder into Akane's face. A moment later, Akane hit the
ground, unconscious.
Kodachi stood there clutching her throat, a grim look replacing the
usual manic smile, as she murmured, "You are fortunate indeed that I
need you intact, else something... terrible would happen to you." The
evil glint in her eye made one certain she meant every word she said.
She wrapped her ribbon around Akane and dragged her off, making sure
to hit every bump and rock on the way back.
******************************
As Ranma and his father were walking along, one of the sprinkler
systems suddenly came on and splashed Ranma with a blast of cold
water, his body quickly shrinking into its female form. The boy turned
girl sighed as the change concluded in a moment. The elder Saotome
blinked at the sight, somehow being just missed by the water as if it had
been specifically targeted at his son who was now his daughter.
"I hate this life," said Ranma-chan sullenly. It was an odd sensation
to have his body shift like this into its alternate form, almost a faint
tingling occurring, but it passed in less than a moment. She squeezed
water out of her shirt, the cold, damp cloth raising goosebumps on her
skin. It was the work of a moment to adjust the clothes to ride a little
better on her shortened frame.
"Fascinating," muttered Genma as he studied the result of the curse.
He had all of the memories of previous changes his counterpart had
witnessed, but first-hand experience was something else. "A complete
morphological reconstruction of your physical form. It appears that
even your mass changes."
"Yeah, I'm not sure what to make out of that one," said a still sullen
Ranma-chan, still squeezing a few drops of water from her clothes. "I
know it's called magic, but there has to be some rational explanation for
how it works. I just haven't figured it out yet."
"I have some theories on how it might be occurring, but now is not
really the time to explore them," said Genma. His scientific curiosity
was intrigued by what he had just seen, but his practical nature was also
well aware that the middle of a potential battleground was not the place
to discuss the nature of Reality with his son, er, daughter. Perhaps it
was a naturally occurring quantum shift that specifically modifies the
body without affecting the mind? Or swaps the body, not the mind?
"Let's just get this rescue over with," said Ranma sullenly.
"Agreed."
******************************
Elsewhere in the greenhouse, Shampoo was carefully making her way
through the brush, when she heard familiar, insane laughter. She
spotted Kodachi standing in front of a tree, a manic grin on her face.
"OHHOHOHOHO!" chortled the gymnast, like a demented, female
Santa Claus. "If it isn't the little philistine."
"Shampoo not philistine! Shampoo Chinese!" snarled the Amazon
cutely.
Kodachi sighed, "I forgot, you're intellectually impaired. We'll just go
with bimbo from now on."
"What you want with Kasumi, Crazy Gymnast Girl?"
Kodachi smiled as she sneered a bit at the Amazon, "I wanted to lead
Ranma and yourself to your doom. And it looks like I have succeeded."
The Black Rose pulled a hoop from her leotard and threw it high
above the Amazon's head. Shampoo remembered the boomerang pin
from her previous encounters with Kodachi and tracked the hoop's
progress, not completely taking her attention off of the gymnast. It
traveled high up into the tree Shampoo was standing next to and
severed a bunch of bananas, which struck the Amazon in the head,
causing quite a mess. She looked back down just in time to have a
pineapple, thrown by Kodachi, impact and burst all over her face.
"I haven't made fruit salad in years," Kodachi laughed gleefully.
Shampoo wiped the majority of the fruit off her face, and looked
above Kodachi. A playful smile crossed her features as an idea came to
her.
"You forget coconut."
Shampoo drew her sword quickly and threw it, like a spear, high up
into the tree behind Kodachi. It sailed up into the branches and briefly
disappeared. The gymnast did not look impressed.
"Your aim is off you purple..." but the rest of Kodachi's statement
was interrupted when a large coconut fell from the tree above and hit
her solidly in the head. Kodachi's hands went to her skull as she
grimaced in pain, and her expression turned villainous. "You wicked,
wicked girl! I was going easy on you because I knew Mousse would
not approve of my harming you. But I see you leave me no choice."
Kodachi pushed in a knot of wood on the tree that the coconut fell
from.
Part of the ground Shampoo stood on raised itself up and hurled her
into a covered pit. She rolled, her body absorbing the impact without
injury as it came to rest on the densely-packed earth. As she stood up in
the pit, she noticed two eyes glaring at her. From out of the shadows,
the orbs revealed themselves to be attached to a hungry tiger that was
waiting for its next meal.
"You have a fun time, dear," said Kodachi as she skipped away,
laughing her insane cackle, leaving the girl with the tiger.
******************************
Ranma-chan and Genma finally arrived where the Tendous were
being held. They saw Kodachi waiting for them on some sort of
gigantic plant stem. On a balcony nearby were held the majority of the
Tendous, minus Nabiki, and the girl Ranma-chan now recognized as
Minami, the ghost sweeper. The boy turned girl spotted Akane
wrapped up tightly in some chains and suspended from the ceiling.
Ranma-chan watched Kasumi wave happily to her as the cursed boy
considered the best way to bring about a rescue.
"Get me down from here!" Akane yelled at Ranma-chan, a cry that
was ignored by the cursed boy. Having the troublesome, headstrong
girl out of his hair suited Ranma-chan just fine.
"Where is my beloved Mousse-sama?" asked Kodachi, puzzled to see
Ranma-chan and her father looking so well.
"He's a little, er, tied up right now," said Ranma-chan with a smirk as
she spoke to Kodachi. "Tell you what. I'll make a deal with you. You
give me back Kasumi, Mr. Tendou, and Minami, and I'll tell you where
we left Mousse. Refuse, and I'll have to hurt you." It was very odd for
Ranma right now; this Kodachi was like a warped reflection of the
rather sweet noblewoman who he was only now just getting to know
from his home timeline. Ranma-chan was actually bluffing, for the most
part, uncertain if she could really attack the gymnast but deciding to
brazen it out.
"What about me?" Akane grumbled.
"I thought you could handle yourself," Ranma-chan taunted as she
looked up at Akane. She turned back to look at Kodachi and said with
a smirk, "I'll let you keep Akane."
Akane's battle aura began to glow a dull blue, and the chains started
to bulge as she shouted at the top of her lungs, "RANMA! YOU'D
BETTER HOPE THEY DON'T RELEASE ME!"
"I don't think you understand the gravity of your situation," said
Kodachi. "You aren't in a position to make demands."
"Oh?" asked Ranma-chan, suddenly curious to see what Kodachi had
up her sleeve. Out of the corner of her mouth, she softly whispered to
Genma, "Try and make your way to the others and get them loose. I'll
keep her busy."
"You see," said Kodachi, her maniacal glee back in full force, "you
have fallen into my ultimate trap. Behold!"
Kodachi held her arms out grandly, and a huge plant she was standing
next to began to move, slowly at first but becoming more animated by
the moment, as Ranma-chan gaped at the sight. Surrounded by several
broad leaves, a massive nest of roots secured it to the ground, providing
a solid base for a thick, heavily-veined stem. A huge, oval-shaped bulb
on the end of the stem opened up, revealing a mouth with a rather large
number of sharply-pointed teeth inside. A thin stream of greenish drool
lazily dripped from one side of the plant's mouth, and that only added to
the unreality of the situation for Ranma-chan.
Her arms held wide in an act of showmanship, Kodachi smiled in
ecstasy as she gazed at her revealed secret weapon. "Witness the
awesome power of a genuine South American man-eating plant, or in
this case, a Ranma-Eating Plant. Mousse-sama and I found him while
on our extended vacation. He was shipped here just last week and
is very hungry. Aren't you, precious?" She made little kissing noises in
the plant's direction, then spoke to it, "Now, sic her!"
*What I wouldn't give for a good defoliant,* thought Ranma-chan for
the second time that day. She noticed her father making his way to the
others, so Ranma-chan knew that she had to keep everyone's attention
on her. Plans of attack began to sprint through her mind.
The plant roared its power to the skies and then moved its head to
attack. It was much faster than Ranma-chan had thought, the head
whipping out like a striking cobra to try and engulf her.
Kodachi remained on her plant, closely watching the Ranma-Eater try
to devour its prey. *Kill her, my pet,* thought Kodachi gleefully, her
eyes focussed on the life-and-death struggle taking place before her.
She watched the battle with glittering eyes.
Ranma-chan evaded the first two attempts by the plant to devour her,
the second one missing by inches, then started looking for a way out.
She almost slapped herself at how long it took her to realize the most
obvious one. "The damn thing's got roots," she said, dodging a third
strike. "All I have to do is get out of its reach."
Dodging and leaping to one side, Ranma-chan tried to run out of the
plant's reach, but that tactic had been anticipated by Kodachi. She let
out a shrill whistle, and huge strands of what appeared to be some sort
of webbing extended themselves from the trees and interlocked, many of
the strands shooting up into the ceiling. Once complete, a huge spider
web now extended from tree to tree, as well as the ceiling, effectively
sealing off the portion of the greenhouse Ranma-chan and the plant
were in.
Examining the new barrier quickly, Ranma-chan looked extremely
unimpressed. She grinned up at Kodachi and said, "Like this is really
going to stop me." She reached out to pull away part of the webbing, a
rather confident smirk on Ranma-chan's face. She touched it, then
quickly drew back, gasping in pain as a surprised look appeared on her
face. A small trickle of blood dripped from a thin cut that had formed
where she touched the web.
"That's no mere spider web," Kodachi informed her opponent with a
cold smile, "It is formed with razor wire. Touch it, and be sliced to
ribbons. Now, remain where you are and prepare to be devoured."
Ranma-chan's thoughts were filled with dire imprecations for a few
brief moments.
The plant continued with its relentless assault, which Ranma-chan
continued to nimbly evade. However, after many leaps and bounds, she
eventually got backed into a tree with nowhere to run. The giant plant
reached forward, mouth opened wide to engulf her small form, then
stopped, no more than a foot away from her. It then curled back and
looked at Kodachi, quickly muttering something unintelligible to
everyone but its mistress.
Kodachi sounded annoyed as she said, "What do you mean, 'Is she
white meat or dark meat?'" The plant muttered again, and the Black
Rose answered once more, "I don't care what you are in the mood for.
Just eat her!"
The plant looked at Ranma-chan, then turned back to Kodachi and
muttered something yet again.
"I know she doesn't look like much," growled Kodachi sounding very
annoyed now. She calmed herself and said, "I'll tell you what. I'll get
you an entire cow afterwards if you are still hungry, is that all right?"
The plant considered, then nodded its assent.
*I can't believe this is happening,* thought Ranma-chan. *I never
thought I'd go out this way, killed and eaten by a piece of ambulatory
greenery with an attitude. I hope you choke and die, you damn thing!*
"Good! Now devour her!"
Just as the plant moved forward once again, a loud noise was heard
from the other side of the web. A sword suddenly cut through some of
the razor wire and Shampoo rushed quickly through the newly made
opening.
A huge and still hungry tiger rushed through the opening hot on the
tail of Shampoo. Kodachi looked displeased at the interruption. "Why
hasn't Mr. Meow eaten that damned Amazon yet?" she muttered. At
least Mousse wasn't here to witness this.
Ranma-chan's attention locked onto the tiger, and she felt the first
wave of fear brush against her thoughts. *C-c-cat,* she thought, as she
felt raw terror begin to grip her. Ranma normally liked cats, though.
*S-so why d-do I feel afraid?* Ranma-chan stared at the tiger with a
sense of mounting horror. *C-c-c-cat,* the boy turned girl thought
stupidly, as her eyes remained locked onto one thing, and one thing
only, Mr. Meow. The fear struggled to grip her mind as Ranma-chan
clutched her head, frowning in concentration. *There is n-nothing to
fear. There is nothing to fear!* The vivid memories of the Cat Fist
training washed over her mind like an incoming tide, and tears leaked
out of the corner of her eyes as she struggled to keep control. *F-fear is
an animal reaction. I am a human being of intelligence and w-will. I
will not feel fear. I will not feel fear!*
However, the terror, combined with the high stress of the situation
she was already in, was quickly overwhelming Ranma-chan's frantic
attempts to regain control. The fear was ripping at her very sanity,
shredding through the young scientist's mental disciplines. *F-fear can
be controlled. There is n-nothing to fear.* Memories of claws ripping
away at a little boy's flesh exploded across her mind. *I c-can control
this.* Ranma-chan struggled with the fear, but she was losing.
"G-get back," Ranma-chan muttered, eyes still locked on the tiger
nearby. "I w-won't be defeated by a stupid fear. I refuse to s-submit to
fear. My will is stronger than this f-fear." Ranma-chan was calling up
all of the self-control exercises that she had been taught as a child, but it
was too little, too late.
"C-C-C-C-C-C-CAT!!!"
With that declaration of supreme terror given voice, Ranma-chan ran
up the tree and clutched onto a branch for dear life, looking down in
absolute terror at the tiger. Sensing the fear in the newcomer, Mr.
Meow ran under the tree, trying to climb up it and roaring with all his
might. Everyone paused to watch the bizarre display of man and cat.
Genma had managed to make it up to the others while this was
occurring. He stared in horror at his son, the guilt of the Cat Fist
training hitting him anew. He muttered, "Oh no. Not now."
Akane turned far enough to look at the old man as she said, "Not
now what?"
"Ranma is afraid of one thing and one thing only," said Genma,
staring at the failure of his son's valiant attempt to master the fear.
"Cats."
Shampoo appeared confused and asked, "How come?"
Genma sighed, his attention more on Ranma-chan as he said, "It has
to do with the Cat Fist training he received as a youth." Genma quickly
described the process of wrapping young Ranma up in various fish
products and throwing him into pits with hundreds of hungry cats. He
explained how he did it day in and day out until Ranma snapped and
came out meowing like a cat himself.
Akane's eyes were open wide in shock as she asked, "What kind of a
father are you?"
"Pop. We gonna have long talk about this later," declared Shampoo
as she waved her sword menacingly at Genma.
Even Kodachi was sickened as she said, "That is beyond demented,
even by my standards. You are truly a warped individual."
"I have much to make up to Ranma," said Genma sincerely. He had
not been the one to make the mistakes his son was now paying for, not
exactly, but he was determined to help his only child as much as he was
able. He went back to staring at the results of another Genma's tragic
stupidity.
Meanwhile, Ranma-chan had finally snapped, the brilliant intellect of
a genius scientist thrown back into the darkness of her own mind. She
curled up and started hissing like a cat, and her eyes fixated on the
enemy below. Through narrowed eyes she saw Mr. Meow, bewildered
by the turn of events, suddenly stop roaring and begin to slink away
rather than be confronted by the bizarre human. He didn't move fast
enough, as Ranma-chan hissed and leaped after the tiger. Just as she
was about to hit the tiger, her body was snatched from midair by the
Ranma-Eating Plant and swallowed whole.
The plant turned and looked expectantly at Kodachi, who patted him
on the head.
"Good plant," said Kodachi pleasantly.
Shampoo and Akane together shouted, "RANMA!"
*Son,* thought Genma, eyes closed as a tear or two began to trickle
down his cheeks. He vowed to the heavens to make everything right in
this life, if only Ranma was somehow spared. Perhaps his heartfelt
prayer was answered.
The huge plant remained where it was, a broad grin on its mouth.
Suddenly, the smile disappeared as the plant's jaws started to move
violently, as though something was trying to get out. The level of
violence increased, causing the head to shift and turn until, finally, a
figure burst through the side of the mouth, making a huge, gaping hole
in it. The plant recoiled in pain as Ranma-chan savagely tore through it
using the Cat Fist, sending ragged shreds of plant flesh flying.
Kodachi looked on, horrified, as she called out, "My poor, poor,
Ranma-Eating Plant!" and began to cry.
While the gymnast was distracted, Shampoo jumped up and severed
the chains binding Akane. She then cut one of the chains loose and
threw it to Soun and Kasumi. With Genma's help, Soun lowered his
daughter down to the ground safely, before both of them climbed down
as well. Shampoo quickly turned her attention to the still feline-like
Ranma-chan, who had now backed Mr. Meow into a corner. Ranma-
chan continued hissing at the tiger until Shampoo slowly walked over,
bent down, and held out her hand, trying to calm Ranma-chan and get
her to walk over to the Amazon.
Genma wasn't sure if enough of his own son was present in the now
catlike Ranma-chan to risk approaching closer, so he let Shampoo try
and calm her down.
After much cajoling, Ranma-chan calmed down and walked over to
the purple-haired Amazon. Shampoo began to pet her on the head,
murmuring soft words of comfort, and both of these actions helped
relax Ranma-chan enough to sit on Shampoo's lap and curl up into a
ball. Shampoo smiled at the rapidly relaxing form in her lap, but the
peace didn't last. Ranma-chan was resting peacefully on the Amazon's
lap one moment, and the next got punted out of Shampoo's lap and
through the skylight of the greenhouse.
"MMMMMMEEEEEEOOOOOOWWWWWW!" came a catlike, female scream, followed
by a loud crash of glass.
Genma glanced at Akane with a cold gaze, secure in the knowledge
of what he must now do. He shifted his attention to the Amazon to see
what her reaction would be, somehow certain that she would deal with
the irate, youngest Tendou daughter.
"I told you to hope they didn't let me go!" Akane shouted upwards at
Ranma-chan's rapidly departing form. Upon hearing about the training
of the Cat Fist, the anger Akane had felt at Ranma-chan's threat of
leaving her chained up died down. However, the sympathy she had
begun to feel was quickly drowned out by the affection Ranma-chan had
shown Shampoo. Even when she thought she was a cat, Ranma-chan
still flirted openly with Shampoo.
Shampoo spun on Akane, "Why Akane do that?"
"He was being a jerk!" screamed Akane.
"You hear what Pop say," said Shampoo, getting angry. "Ranma
think he cat, not boy." She moved closer, getting right in Akane's face,
and looked her in the eye. "You no hit Ranma again."
Akane stared at her, incredulous, and asked, "Are you trying to tell
me what to do?"
Shampoo dropped her voice and took on an almost threatening tone,
"Shampoo say no hit Ranma again."
Akane didn't back off, shouting, "I don't believe it! Where do you get
off telling me what to do?!"
*Ranma told you the same thing,* noted Genma, watching how the
Amazon was acting as Ranma's champion in his absence. He saw both
girls beginning to glow with an azure light.
The tension between the two almost managed to ignite the forest.
Fortunately, it was defused when Kasumi stepped between the duo.
"Now, now," said the eldest Tendou girl. "We mustn't fight."
Kasumi's peaceful aura worked a near-miracle as the two girls
simultaneously broke the deadlock building between them.
"Shampoo go find Ranma," declared the Amazon. "Make sure he
okay." She gave one last, rather pointedly intense glance at Akane, then
jumped up onto a tree, using it as a springboard to go through the hole
in the skylight.
A rather severely battered-looking, half-naked Mousse stumbled into
the scene, lacking even his usual glasses, and Kodachi paused in the
binding of her plant's wounds. After confirming that it would pull
through, she rushed over to assist him.
"Mousse-sama," said Kodachi, checking him over for injuries. His
face was the worst of it; a broken nose, multiple contusions, and a split
lip among the injuries.
"Where's Saotome?" muttered Mousse, lisping slightly from the loss
of an incisor from his upper jaw. He was intensely determined to have
his revenge on the pigtailed boy, as soon as the room stopped going
through the gyrations it was now doing, that is.
"He's gone," said Kodachi, turning her attention to the remaining
people. They were in the process of leaving the building, a grimly
thoughtful-looking Genma in the lead. "I do believe we have been
forgotten, Mousse-sama."
A fireball hit the pair and engulfed them in flames for a moment or
two.
As the smoke cleared, the duo appeared singed, but very much alive.
A coldly furious-looking Minami stood alone at the top of the balcony,
having finally been untied by Genma before the others left. She casually
discarded a gold scepter and began to form a ball of electricity between
her palms.
"Let me assure you," said Minami in a conversational tone of voice,
"The two of you will soon be gone, but definitely not forgotten." A
moment later, she released a brilliant lighting bolt at the duo, who barely
got out of the way of the arc of energy. The two took off, with Minami
following in hot pursuit, firing off spells of destruction as she ran after
them.
******************************
***** Earth 0.000,0.000
Ukyou sat at her usual place at the dining table in shock. Currently,
she was dressed in the traditional disguise used by the Kuonji Ninja
Clan: tight black pants and a heavy, blue, short-sleeved shirt with the
sleeves rolled up a bit, the classical outfit of an okonomiyaki seller. Her
long hair was tied back into a loose ponytail with a white ribbon. Her
breasts were bound down, to her mother's displeasure, and she now
looked like an attractive boy.
Resting against the wall behind her was a rather large spatula, a
polearm-like weapon that Ukyou had discovered in her youth she had a
particular talent for. Her grandfather had encouraged her in this skill,
training her to mastery with it. Since the days of her young childhood,
she very diligently and rigorously trained in all of the weapons and the
fighting techniques of the Kuonji Clan, but she enjoyed the feel of the
large spatula in her hands, moving it about like it was an extension of
her body.
Akira Kuonji, her father, had managed to surprise her with about the
very last thing that she would have expected from him. Ukyou's lunch
now sat all but unnoticed before her, and she sullenly eyed her mother
and father as they sat there before her, calmly drinking tea. They were
allowing her some time to absorb the news, very shocking news as far as
she was concerned. When Ukyou finally spoke, her tone of voice was
one of quiet disbelief, "You want me to what?"
"You're going with your father and I tomorrow morning to meet a
potential husband for you," said Yukiyou Kuonji, her mother, quite
calmly. The older woman's hazel-green eyes, identical to Ukyou's own,
studied her daughter for several moments before speaking once more.
"We've received word from one of the matchmaking services that we
subscribed you to. They tell me that they've found a nice boy in Tokyo
who comes from an excellent family background. We're going to meet
him and his parents tomorrow."
Ukyou just sat there blinking, taking it in. She finally asked, "Don't I
have any say in this?"
"Listen to your mother, Ukyou-chan," said her father in a solemn
voice. "It's high time that you started thinking about your future. You
are to be the next leader of the Kuonji Clan, and you should be grateful
that we found you a husband. You've already rejected all of the local
boys."
"They're all perverts or weaklings," grumbled Ukyou. "I think I'm
more of a man than any of the boys I go to school with."
"That's another thing, Daughter," said Yukiyou, velvet covering steel
in her voice as she reproved Ukyou, her eyes staring at the male disguise
that her daughter wore so disturbingly well. "This continuing tendency
of yours to disguise yourself as a boy is becoming alarming to me for a
girl your age. I know you did it because of your grandfather, but you
are really a girl. Why do you persist in doing it?" A note of desperation
entered her voice.
"It's good practice for my disguise skills, and it lets me see the boys
as they really are," replied Ukyou evenly, taking a sip of her tea. "If
they think I'm a boy, then they talk to me like an equal. The girls my
age that I've seen are all simple, flighty creatures, without any warrior
spirit within them. If I have to choose between that, I'll act as a guy.
However, so far, all I've found is that all boys are perverts. There isn't a
real gentleman in the entire lot."
"Promise me that you won't pretend to be a boy around the Saotome
boy at least until after you meet him," commanded Yukiyou, her tone
grim. "He comes highly recommended by the matchmaker. He has a
bright future in the Science Ministry. Such connections would do our
Clan well."
"Feh," murmured Ukyou, making a slight look of distaste. *He
sounds like another pervert or weakling. This is so stupid. I doubt that
this Ranma Saotome can possibly be any different from any of the local
boys.*
"Ukyou-chan," warned her father, his expression darkening.
"Yes, Papa," Ukyou sighed. "I promise that I won't disguise myself
as a boy before I meet him." *Afterwards, on the other hand....*
"That's better," said her father with a smile. "You know that your
mother and I have only your best interests at heart. Besides, this is only
a preliminary meeting between the families. If things go well, then I'll
find you a place to stay with some of our relatives in the area where he
lives. That way the two of you can get to know each other better."
"Yes, Papa," said Ukyou with a sinking heart. *This doesn't sound
like it's going to be any fun at all.* She slowly got up and picked up her
harness and battle spatula from their resting place against the wall. A
dozen sharpened spatulas sat in sheaths across the front. With the ease
of long hours of practice, she slipped the harness around her chest and
slid the battle spatula into its sheath. She headed out the door with a
heavy tread, simply saying, "I'm going to go train now."
Behind Ukyou, her mother watched the departure of her daughter
with sad eyes. Yukiyou got up from the table and went over to her
husband. She softly asked, "Husband? Do you really think Ukyou will
like this Saotome boy?"
"Perhaps," said Akira Kuonji, watching his daughter walk off into the
woods to one of her usual training areas. "I sincerely hope that she
does, but our daughter will get married and bear children to carry on the
bloodline. This Clan needs her to do so if it is to continue, and this boy,
Ranma Saotome, may be our last, best hope for the Kuonji legacy to
continue on. Until I had received word from Mitsuma-san, I confess I
had almost given up on her. After what she did to that boy from the
Moroboshi Clan," he trailed off, shaking his head at the memory.
"I hope this all works out," said Yukiyou, laying her head against her
husband's shoulder. She felt his arm go around her body and give her a
warm hug.
******************************
Near the edge of the Kuonji Clan territory, a lone figure stood next to
a tree, his hand resting lightly on a rope that ran far back into the thick
woods, tied at irregular intervals to various trees. He was dressed in
heavily travel-worn garb consisting of a long-sleeved brown tunic, black
pants laced up the shins with yellow lacings, and comfortable, black,
slip-on shoes. His unruly black hair was held back out of his eyes with a
black-spotted, yellow bandana. He wore a large backpack, the straps
resting comfortably on his shoulders, and there was a red and black
umbrella secured to the top of the backpack.
He was Ryouga Hibiki, and he was a man with a mission.
*Just let go of the guide rope, Ryouga,* he thought as he stared out
past the edge of the woods that marked the border of the Kuonji Clan's
territory. He had been here for over an hour, hoping that his quarry
might pass by this way and make things easier on him. Taking a deep
breath and releasing it slowly, he lifted his hand from the rope that he
had followed to reach this point. It was one of several that allowed the
various members of the Hibiki Clan to function relatively normally in
their high mountain valley. The first of them had been strung by the
grateful villagers of Kikaitani when one of Ryouga's direct ancestors had
stumbled into their valley centuries ago and helped the village deal with
some bandits.
Since that day, the village had maintained the tradition of stringing
the ropes to assist their guardian and his descendants find their way
around without getting lost and leaving them defenseless. Using the
guide ropes was second nature to one born of Hibiki blood and raised in
Kikaitani. Ryouga was one of the few who ever went this far out of the
valley, but several years ago he had gotten the assistance of one of the
villagers to help him string a rope to this point. Now all he had to do
was walk forward.
Ryouga took one step, glancing back to see that the guide rope was
still where he had left it. He breathed a sigh of relief and then growled
at himself for being so childish about this little fear of his. The worst
thing that could happen would be that he got lost, and he knew that he
would find his way back, eventually. However, he also knew that he
would never be able to fulfill his vow of vengeance unless he kept on
moving forward, and he took a second step, and then he took a third. A
grim smile lit his face as he began to walk towards his ultimate goal, to
finally prove his superiority in martial arts to the boy who had defeated
him time and again over the years, ever since they were both young
children.
Ukyou Kuonji.
******************************
Nodoka moved through her kata with grace and speed, but her
thoughts were troubled as her bokken slashed through the air. Her
skillful strikes alternated between decapitating and eviscerating the
imaginary foes that surrounded her. *I hope that this first meeting
tomorrow goes well. Ranma only seems to be doing it for my sake.*
She picked up the pace of her sword kata, trying to find her center in
the purity of her movements, but her thoughts remained very troubled.
*Ranma hasn't shown very much interest in girls, only in his studies.
Could I have rushed him before he was ready?* She paused at the end
of her kata as she took deep breaths. Her arms were steady as they held
her weapon in place.
"What troubles you today, Nodoka?" asked a pleasant female voice
behind her. "Your moves lack their usual sureness."
Nodoka turned around. Her friend, Achika Masaki, stood behind her
with a worried look on her face. Nodoka relaxed her stance and swiftly
lowered her wooden blade. She paused to wipe a line of sweat that had
escaped the boundaries of her headband, and she sighed a little bit.
"Has Genma done something?" asked Achika with a smile. She
began to do stretching exercises as she talked, limbering herself up for
today's match against her friend.
"No," replied Nodoka with a smile. "It's not Genma. Ranma has his
first meeting with a potential bride and her family tomorrow. I'm just
feeling a little worried."
"It's nothing to be worried about," said Achika with a smile. "I've
been through it with Tenchi, and everything worked out fine. If the first
potential bride doesn't work out, then move on to another that does.
Tenchi and the Hino girl make a lovely couple. She dotes on him quite
a bit," said Achika proudly.
"I only hope that I can find a girl to make Ranma so happy," said
Nodoka with a troubled look. "The three prospects I was given all
come from fine families. One is even of high nobility."
"Just let events take their natural course, my friend," said Achika with
a smile. "Ranma is a fine young man, almost as good a catch as my own
son. I'm sure that the women will be clamoring around him before you
realize it."
"I just worry about him so," said Nodoka, frowning, her thoughts
already on the meeting tomorrow. She wanted it to be perfect.
"I really don't think you have a thing to worry about," said Achika as
she continued her warm-up exercises. She gave Nodoka a sly look.
"Are you ready for a defeat today?"
"That is a question I should be asking you, old friend," replied
Nodoka with a smile, her troubles forgotten. For a time, she could
pretend she was a teenaged girl again, when testing her skills in battle
was all that had really mattered to her.
******************************
Ukyou finished her exercises with a proud flourish. Her battle spatula
was returned to its sheath on her back, and she plucked several of her
miniature throwing spatulas from their sheaths, studying the nearby
target. With a 'kiai' yell she leaped into the air, both hands flashing out
in precision throws. From one hand she buried the thrown weapons into
the neck and head of the wooden practice dummy, and from her other
hand the remainder flew to strike it in the chest and vital organs. She
landed with a fluid grace, drawing her battle spatula once more. The
forest clearing around her was soothing to her as she went through
fighting movements that were centuries old.
However, Ukyou was not so engrossed in her practice that she failed
to sense the presence in the woods behind her. She pretended not to
notice as she continued to slash and thrust with the spatula, allowing the
presence to draw ever closer. There was only one person other than her
grandfather who ever came to this section of the woods. She let the
intruder approach within striking distance.
Ukyou smiled when she heard the distinctive sound of air rustling
against cloth rising behind her, and a distinctive battle cry.
"UKYOU KUONJI! PREPARE TO DIE!"
The intruder had taken to the air in a long jump at her supposedly
unprotected back. Her ponytail bobbed around as she hopped to the left
and whirled around. Her spatula came up into a perfect block as the
intruder's weapon slammed hard against it. The two figures then
remained locked in that pose for a moment.
The intruder was revealed to be Ryouga Hibiki, his black-spotted
bandanna holding back his mop of unruly hair. His large backpack still
rested on his back, but it did not seem to hinder him in the slightest. His
determined expression was matched by one on Ukyou's face. His heavy
umbrella and the shaft of her spatula pressed against each other as he
slowly began to force her to give ground through sheer strength.
"Ryouga," said Ukyou with a strained nod. "It's been a while." Her
tone was pleasant, but the very determined look on her face did not go
away. The soles of her shoes were leaving shallow furrows as Ryouga
muscled her back. She felt a rather pleasant tingling running along her
nerves at Ryouga's presence, an odd excitement filling her body at
testing herself against him. They were sensations that she had begun to
feel during their last few years of fighting against each other.
"Ukyou," growled Ryouga with a nod of his own, his expression now
darkening up even more as he felt a similar tingling sensation running
through his body. These feelings only made him angrier. *Damn you,
Kuonji!* he thought, confused as to why he would feel this way about
another boy, but anger consumed the confusion. "It looks like I get to
settle things with you sooner than I hoped. Prepare for a beating."
"Heh. You're welcome to try, Ryouga," snarled Ukyou with a cocky
look, whipping the shaft of her spatula free. Ryouga attacked again
with his umbrella, and she blocked him once more. The stillness of the
forest was only broken by the clash of their weapons resounding against
each other. Her somewhat longer weapon was proving to be a slight
disadvantage at such close range, and she managed to avoid getting hit
by his umbrella by the slimmest of margins. She backed away from him
a half pace as they circled around each other.
Ukyou leaped backwards in a smooth somersault to put some more
range between her and Ryouga. *He's gotten better in the last several
months,* she thought as she eyed her opponent. *However, I've gotten
a lot better too.* She forced Ryouga to stay at range as the blade of her
weapon slashed at him.
Ryouga came leaping in as Ukyou took to the air as well, her jump
carrying her a little higher than his own. She blocked his strikes in
midair with the spatula and managed to land a hard blow with the flat of
it onto the top of his head and making a resounding clanging sound. He
plummeted face-first into the soft mulch of the forest floor as she landed
gracefully on her feet about ten feet away from him. She stuck her
tongue out at him playfully when he pulled his head up to see her.
"Why, you..." growled Ryouga softly as he charged her once more.
His umbrella strikes blurred by her head and body as she dodged and
blocked deftly with her spatula. Ukyou was supple grace and strength
combined into one as she evaded his attacks like water. Ryouga was
growing frustrated. "Stand still and fight like a man!"
"What was that?" asked Ukyou, somewhat angrily, in the middle of
another leap. The amused look on her face had grown irritated. She
began going on the offensive. Ryouga ducked under one of the swings
of her spatula, but a lock of his hair didn't quite make it. It fell to the
ground, unnoticed by both combatants. "Big talk from someone I keep
beating up every time he manages to wander into my life."
"You dance around like some kind of girl," said Ryouga tauntingly.
"If you're going to dress like a man, then you should at least fight like a
man." His fist managed to find a chink in her defenses and impacted
into her gut, forcing Ukyou back. He smirked and pressed his attack.
Ukyou's spatula, backed by the full power of her shoulder muscles,
slammed into his face in reply. Her following strike was a kick to his
chest. She saw Ryouga blinking at the pain, but he didn't seem much
affected otherwise.
"Did I touch a nerve, ninja boy?" taunted Ryouga with another smirk.
Ukyou growled and redoubled her efforts to attack. Now it was
Ryouga who was doing most of the blocking and dodging as edged steel
slashed and thrust at him. He managed to slow up her assault a bit with
a couple of strikes that managed to connect, but they were off-center.
Ukyou shrugged off the pain. *The nerve of this...this jackass! Making
fun of my femininity like that.*
Ryouga managed to disarm her of her weapon with a very powerful
strike from his umbrella. It flew off and embedded itself deeply into a
nearby tree. Ryouga smirked at her again. Ukyou leaped up and kicked
him hard in the face for the smirk. Ryouga stumbled back, and his eyes
crossed for a moment. Ukyou knocked the umbrella out of his hand
with another kick.
Ryouga backed off, and Ukyou eyed him for a moment with a cool
smile. She stepped gracefully over his umbrella and blocked his path to
it. Ukyou smirked, eyeing her spatula for a moment.
"I don't need a weapon to beat you," she said with a grin.
"Come on and try it," said Ryouga with a serious look. He gestured
for her to come forward with one hand.
They leaped at each other in a blur of fists and feet. Ryouga's
superior strength was nullified by Ukyou's greater speed and ability to
dodge. He shrugged off most of her blows, but very few of his strikes
managed to even touch her. Her punches slipped by his guard, but
Ukyou had to settle for trying to wear him down rather than a single
knockout punch.
The sound of a pair of hands loudly clapping stopped both young
warriors in mid-struggle. They were both so startled to find that they
had an audience that neither of them took advantage of the other's
distraction. Ryouga noticed that he had the collar of Ukyou's tunic held
tightly in his fist, the tingling he was experiencing at such nearness to his
rival in martial arts skill feeling so very pleasant. He quickly let go and
backed off, angry once again that he felt such feelings for his long-time
sparring partner. A brief blush was on his face, but Ukyou didn't appear
to notice.
"That was a magnificent display, children," said the elderly man that
seemed to materialize from out of the nearby edge of the forest. His
monk's robes whispered as he stepped closer and a faint twinkle was in
his ancient eyes. "I see that you have done some improving since I last
saw you, Ryouga Hibiki. You do your family proud."
"Grandfather Kuonji," said Ukyou with some surprise. "What brings
you out this far into the forest?"
"Just enjoying a walk among the wonders of nature," replied the
elderly man with a smile. He looked at Ryouga. "What brings one of
the wandering Hibikis to this area of the mountains? I think it's been a
couple of months since your last visit, young Ryouga."
"My guess is that the idiot has been practicing again and wanted
another rematch, when he should know that he won't ever beat me,"
said Ukyou with a playful smile. She chuckled at Ryouga when he
looked at her with a growl. "Am I wrong?"
The elderly Kuonji stepped between then before it got violent again.
"Don't tease the boy, Ukyou," he said reprovingly. "The Hibikis have
been our allies for over two centuries. You two should try to get along
better."
"Yes, Grandfather," said Ukyou with her head bowed. A moment
later her head snapped back up. "He started it though. He jumped at
me from the trees."
"You're the one that's always bragging about what a great ninja
warrior you are," growled Ryouga. He pointed his thumb at his chest.
"I know for a fact that I'm more than a match for you, Kuonji. I just
thought I'd prove it to you. If you're so great, then how did I manage to
sneak up on you?"
"What was that, you jackass?" snarled Ukyou right back. "I can take
you in a fight any day of the week!" She poked her finger hard against
Ryouga's chest, her anger letting her ignore the pleasant feeling she got
from being near him. "For your information, I let you get that close to
me. The way that you stomp around, I'm surprised that you can sneak
up on anybody. Some great martial artist you are."
"Children," said Grandfather Kuonji sternly. They both looked at him
guiltily. He eyed them both, and the two of them wouldn't meet his
eyes. He sighed gently. *I wish I knew why these two felt it to be so
necessary to antagonize each other. Still, it reminds me a bit of some of
the many glorious fights between me and that old ogre, Shiro, Ryouga's
grandfather.*
"You should be getting back to the house soon, Ukyou," said the old
man. "Your parents are probably wondering where you are. You have
to get packed, after all."
"Ack!" Ukyou exclaimed. "That's right! I have to get going." In a
blur of motion, she gathered up all of her weapons and resheathed them,
and then she sprinted across the woods in the direction of the shrine.
Ryouga watched the ninja girl go with a surprised look on his face.
Grandfather Kuonji studied Ryouga with a slight smile.
"Walk with me, Ryouga?" asked the elderly Kuonji with a gentle
smile. Ryouga shrugged and picked up his umbrella. They walked out
into the forest on one of the small trails. It was quite peaceful.
"Where's he off to in such a hurry?" asked Ryouga, a little gruffly.
"Ukyou's going to the capital," replied Grandfather Kuonji. "I don't
know all of the specifics, but I imagine that the boy will be gone for a
long time." He turned away to watch the wind blowing gently through
the tree branches above.
"He's... he's what?" stuttered Ryouga. He stopped walking and
looked surprised.
"He's going to the capital, I think to study the finer skills of our
Clan's
cooking arts with an aunt," said the elderly man. A very loud crashing
sound started behind him and immediately began receding into the
distance. He turned around to find that Ryouga wasn't there behind him
anymore. A meandering line of broken trees went off into the distance.
It looked like it was curving in the opposite direction from the Kuonji
shrine.
"Such a strange boy," he muttered to no one in particular. The old
man smiled as he looked once more up into the trees. *I wonder how
long it will take him to get to the capital?*
*Damn you, Kuonji!* thought Ryouga as he ran in what he hoped
was the right direction. *If I have to follow you to the very ends of the
Earth to finally defeat you, then I will!*
******************************
Before the recent accident in Ranma's laboratory, Professor Genma
Saotome was normally not a man for drinking. Dulling the mental
abilities with the poison of alcohol had always seemed to him to be a
silly thing for a grown man to do. His colleagues all thought of him as a
dull sort, devoted to his work and his family. However, for the new
Genma Saotome, drinking was a wonderful way to pass the time.
*The boy has a fine life ahead of him,* Genma thought as he took a
sip of sake. It burned like sweet fire down his throat. *I'll see to it
that
he becomes a great martial artist. Ah, to have a chance to forget the
mistakes of the past. This time I'll do it right. No more mistakes for
this Genma, no sir.* He grinned happily at his good fortune.
Genma swallowed the sake remaining in his cup. He waved off the
bar maid when she stopped by his table to pour another cup for him. He
picked up the small bottle and served himself, leaving the girl to shrug
and go on to the next customer. Genma took another sip of sake and
grimaced at the burning taste. It seemed to taste differently than he
remembered, but it was becoming more tolerable with each cup he
poured down his throat.
*Still, I need some way to derail Nodoka's plans for a while. A wife
is one of the last things that Ranma needs right now. The boy has the
potential to be an even greater fighter than that ungrateful son of mine
back home. A wife would only distract him from his training... all that
constant yammering.* Genma sighed.
*You were, and still are, the only woman for me, Nodoka-chan,* he
thought with a smile, the memories of the two versions of Nodoka
blurring together in his mind as he thought about her. A tear formed in
one eye as he remembered his wedding day. *You were so beautiful
that day, Nodoka-chan. Married life was a difficult adjustment at first,
but it was so nice to have someone at my side, to warm my bed at night
on a regular basis.* A rather lecherous grin appeared on his face at the
thought of his wedding night.
*Perhaps I could honor the agreement with Soun in spirit in this life,
using this more obedient Ranma,* thought Genma, staring into the
rippling liquid in his cup. *Heh. I'm sure that I can get the boy to obey
me. After all, I am his father now. Of course he will listen to me. I'll
just tell him I was confused when I woke up on that couch, but I'm
better now. Yeah, that should work. I'll have to talk to the Dean in the
morning though.* An evil grin appeared on his face as he thought,
*Such a shame that Ranma's experiments will have to end, but he's
going to carry on the Anything-Goes School now if I have any say in his
life. He can forget about science.* He took another deep sip of sake.
The taste was definitely becoming more palatable. He waved the bar
maid over and told her to bring him another bottle.
*Perhaps I can use Nodoka's desires to engage Ranma to my own
benefit,* he thought with a chuckle. *After all, it is perfectly legal in
the
Empire to have more than one wife. Think of all the dowries I could
collect that way, and playing them off against each other would keep the
issue of marriage in the distance....* Genma blinked. Maybe it was the
effects of the sake on his brain, but that idea didn't seem to be totally
without merit.
At that moment, someone sat down at his table.
******************************
Genma Saotome was doing something totally out of the range of his
normal character when Soun Tendou would finally confront the man
who had been his nemesis so many years ago. Deciding that there was
too much of a risk of failure if he did not take a much more active role
in arranging Nabiki's future life with Ranma, Soun had decided to try a
more direct approach with the Saotome family patriarch. Towards that
end, he had detailed a small number of his most junior agents to watch
Genma, explaining it as a training exercise. They had reported on all of
his movements to Soun over the past several days.
An hour ago, Soun had received a phone call from one of his men
that Genma Saotome was in one of the small bars near his home,
drinking. A relaxed social environment suited Soun's needs quite nicely,
so he had taken advantage of this unexpected opportunity. He patted
the carefully written piece of paper in his jacket pocket as he stepped
into the bar.
Soun spotted Genma at a quiet table towards the back, three empty
bottles of sake near one of his elbows. He was staring down into a
small cup of sake when Soun sat down next to him. Genma blinked his
eyes and focused on Soun's face.
"Greetings, Saotome-san," said Soun pleasantly. He gestured at the
waitress to bring more sake without looking up. "My name is Soun
Tendou. I don't know if you remember me, and I hope that you do not
mind if I join you. I have a rather modest proposition that I wished to
discuss with you that concerned your son."
Genma was not as drunk as he must have appeared to Soun. Brief
memories of his past in this life in regards to Soun Tendou surfaced in
his memories. Theirs had not been a harmonious relationship, and
Genma chuckled at one memory of stuffing a belligerent Soun Tendou
into a garbage can for reasons that he could not recall at the moment.
He smiled inwardly and thanked the gods for granting him this boon.
This was going to take some careful handling. *Ranma will thank me
for this. I'm sure of it.*
"Tendou-san," said Genma with a slight slurring of his voice. "I am
honored to remake your acquaintance. I believe that my son is going to
the Imperial Academy with two of your daughters." After the barmaid
brought them another couple of bottles, he poured Soun a full cup of
sake and gestured for him to drink.
"This is true," acknowledged Soun. It was a little bit early in the
afternoon for him to start drinking, but it was for a good cause. He
took a long sip of sake, relishing the sensations as it slid down his
throat. "My daughters Nabiki and Akane have mentioned your son to
me once or twice."
"My son has also mentioned your daughters to me as well," said
Genma. He poured another full cup of sake for Soun when he noticed
that the other man's cup was getting empty. "I imagine that they are fine
and upstanding young women. A tribute to the new generation of the
Empire."
"You are too kind, Saotome-san," said Soun. He took another deep
sip of sake. It was a pleasant change of pace to relax like this. It had
been a long time since he had let himself do so, not since before the
death of his dear wife. He drained his cup of sake and held it out for
another refill.
An unknown number of cups of sake later, the two men were acting
like the best of friends. Genma had managed to control his level of
intake somewhat, but the world had taken on an even more pleasant fog
than it had before. The bar maid removed another empty bottle of sake
and replaced it with a fresh one. Soun slapped a bill down on the table
with a drunken smile.
"Where was... was I?" asked Genma drunkenly. He blinked his eyes
owlishly. "Oh, yes, my wife. Wonderful woman is my Nodoka-chan,
but she's stubborn. She wants my son to get... get married. She and I
just need to find the boy a good wife." Genma took another deep sip of
sake. He briefly wondered why he ever thought it tasted differently.
"Marriage is..." said Soun before pausing. He took a moment to
focus his thoughts. "Marriage is a wonderful thing. I miss my wife a
great deal." Soun paused and felt a tear forming in his eye. He jerked
his head back and harshly mustered his will to stop any more from
flowing. *I will not cry,* he thought grimly. *I am an important man in
the Empire, in the Security Directorate. I must be strong for the girls.*
Soun's hand brushed against the pocket of his jacket. He suddenly
recalled his reasons for seeking out Genma Saotome. He reached in and
pulled out a folded sheet of paper. He carefully spread it out on a clean
section of the table. Genma eyed it blearily.
"What is that, Soun old buddy?" said Genma with a smile. He leaned
down to read it, but his eyes wouldn't quite focus right.
"The answer to your problems, Genma my friend," answered Soun
with a smile. *Now if I can just remember what it says.* He paused for
a moment before it came back to him. *Oh, yes.* Soun pressed one
finger to the symbols printed on the piece of paper.
"Your son needs a wife, right?" asked Soun, swaying a little in his
seat.
"Yes," answered Genma. He adjusted his glasses a little. They had
slipped down a bit on one side. "The boy needs one to make Nodoka
happy." Genma felt tears in his eyes.
"Sign this paper then," said Soun. He managed to pull a pen from his
pocket on the third try. "My Nabiki needs a husband, and she's already
one of those chosen for your son by the matchmaker. You engage your
son to my daughter, and we both win."
Genma couldn't believe his incredible good fortune. *This is just too
perfect,* thought Genma blearily. *Nabiki will be the first in line, and I
can even honor the agreement with Soun, that other Soun, in spirit. Oh,
this is indeed a blessed day. I'm sure Nodoka will be pleased.* Genma
took the pen from Soun's hand. It only took him two tries.
"I agree," said Genma with a smile. Soun nodded, eager to finish the
deal and get home. He had a staff meeting in the morning. He could
not remember if he had told his driver to remain outside.
"That is... emimen... eminently agreeable," said Soun. He watched
Genma make his mark, in rather good penmanship for his inebriated
state, at the bottom. The two of them shook hands, both smiling.
"You are a good... good father, Genma Saotome," said Soun as he
stood up. The room seemed to be weaving in a not entirely unpleasant
way. "We should do this... do this again sometime."
"I agree, Tendou," said Genma with a happy nod. "You have lifted
my spirits. I... salute you." Genma executed a sloppy military salute
and promptly let his head fall to the top of the table. Snoring sounds
came from him a moment later.
Soun carefully folded the paper and placed it into his jacket pocket.
He checked it once or twice to make sure that it was in there before he
staggered to the door. The weaving of the room was becoming a little
less pleasant now. One of his men was waiting outside.
"Are you all right, sir?" asked the Security officer. Soun could not
recall the man's name at the moment.
"I'm... I'm a little bit... drunk, son," said Soun with great dignity.
He
made a shushing sound as he raised one finger up in front of his lips.
"You can't tell anyone I was in this condition. If you do, I'll have you...
have you shot." Soun smiled. "Please drive me home."
"Right away, sir!" snapped the Security officer with precision, before
helping Soun into the car. He got into the front and drove off quickly, a
snoozing Soun Tendou in the back seat.
******************************
***** Earth +1.612,+1.509
Shampoo found Ranma-chan after only a short period of searching.
Based on the angle of Akane's punt and her knowledge of the area, she
tracked her quarry to the rear of the local fish-market. The target of her
search had pulled a dirty sweater from a dumpster and was playing with
it. As the garment shredded under the "claws" of the Cat-Fist, Ranma-
chan mewled with pleasure. As Shampoo came closer, she clicked her
tongue to attract Ranma-chan's attention.
Ranma-chan turned to look at the familiar shape, recognizing the
Amazon almost instantly. Her thoughts were too primitive for words to
convey, but she saw the Amazon as a warm lap provider, a companion,
and also something more, something that was almost akin to a mate, but
not quite. Instinct told her that without the proper smell and actions,
she would neither mate nor have a mate. This person in front of her had
neither. Still, there were ample warm feelings for the purple-haired girl,
so, with a joyous "Meow," the redhead quickly pounced onto Shampoo,
bounding into her with abandon, and knocking the other girl down with
an animal-like cry of happiness.
Sprawled out very inelegantly with her legs out in front of her by the
weight of the redhead resting on her lap, Shampoo looked down with a
bemused smile. Quickly rearranging herself into a more comfortable
and ladylike position, she seated herself with her knees together in front
of herself with Ranma purring there. Shaking her head in puzzlement,
she wondered, *Now how do I get you home?*
Resigning herself to a long afternoon, Shampoo petted her friend on
the head as she muttered, "Silly Ranma."
Ranma-chan looked up at the Amazon, a flickering of recognition in
her blue eyes. "Mrowr," she drawled out slowly, smiling much like a cat
would. When she saw Shampoo looking down upon her and smiling
gently, the redhead lifted up her head quickly and placed a catlike kiss
right onto the Amazon's lips. She then settled back down and curled up
into a more comfortable position, resuming her purring.
For a very long moment, Shampoo looked as if she was carved from
stone. Unnoticed by either of the two girls, a few scraps of newspaper
and some cherry blossoms lazily blew past. A second gentle zephyr
blew some more past a few moments later.
The Amazon's eyes were wide with disbelief as her trembling hand
reached up and gently touched itself to lips. *Ranma... kissed... me,*
she thought, as her thoughts finally lurched back into motion after an
unknown amount of time. This had been a day of somewhat shocking
events for the purple-haired girl. She brushed her fingers slowly along
her lips, her gaze gradually moving down to rest on the sleeping figure
in her lap. Her hand gently dropped back down upon the sleeping girl, a
tranquil smile now on Shampoo's face.
******************************
Genma had separated from the group heading back to the Tendou
household shortly after emerging from the greenhouse, and his glasses
gleamed with reflected sunlight as he walked the streets searching for
his son. As he searched, he reviewed his counterpart's life. As much as
he hated to admit it, he came to the only conclusion he could: the man
he was in this tangent was both a coward and a fool.
For example, there was no real honor in the agreement behind the
engagement between Akane and Ranma, only the foolish plottings of
two men who had somehow never grown out of childhood. The bond
between them was forged by the training under a perverted master of
martial arts. The "joining together of the two Schools" was an alcohol-
induced promise originally, but one that both were far too proud to deny
when sober. It was a flimsy reason that he would gladly expose to the
light of day if Soun did not agree to dissolve the agreement.
Personally, Genma held honor to be important, a reflection of the
heritage he was born to. However, he did not consider it to be the
ultimate arbiter of all decisions. To him, honor was carried in the heart,
and shown in the actions of a righteous man. For it to be used as a
defense in the face of all reasonable thought offended Genma on a
deeply personal level. *The Tendou girl is obviously not happy with
being forced to go along with such an asinine agreement, and Ranma
most certainly is not,* he thought, pausing briefly at a corner to watch
the passing throngs on the street. He sighed briefly. *Soun Tendou,
that blubbering fool, relies on his daughters for far too much, more than
any responsible parent should. If he tries any of his usual tricks, then I
will simply assume the 'dishonor' upon myself for the sake of my son's
happiness and unilaterally dissolve the engagement agreement. I need to
get the boy out of that house, anyway. He won't be able to work on a
solution to our problems there. Not to mention that the only person
really worth a damn there seems to be Kasumi.*
A weight seemed to lift from his shoulders as he nodded at the choice
he had just made. Then, his thoughts turned to the other great problem
to deal with, one in which Ranma was not even aware of. *That only
leaves Nodoka to contend with,* he thought. Genma sighed again, as
his mind filled with memories of the highly traditional woman that this
Nodoka Saotome was, a woman with peculiar notions on some things.
Despite Ranma's curse, he would have to try to convince Nodoka of the
boy's 'manliness.' If Ranma truly was trapped inside his counterpart's
life, as Genma was, then there was little he could do to avoid it. They
would need someplace to stay, after all.
*Still, it should not be too difficult,* Genma found himself hoping.
*Ranma, in this life, has undergone and overcome trials that any ten
ordinary men would have broken under. Even when in female form this
other Ranma was very much a man, perhaps too much at times. But, I
must remember to have a little talk with Ranma before we show up on
Nodoka's doorstep. I am reasonably certain that we will no longer be
welcome in the Tendou household after this night is over.* Personally,
Genma felt a faint twinge of regret at that, but he was convinced that
what he was about to do was for the best.
******************************
(end of 1 of 2)