this is where some of the major non-Akane changes start
to show up.
Featherbrite's Tale, the Bet. v 2.5
by Gregg Sharp based on Rumiko Takahashi's
situations/char, other char TM other authors.
Metroanime@metroanime.com
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com
5: Some Interest
OR...
"As far as tactics are concerned, in situations like
this, I personally recommend cheating." - M.Wright
"Best defense- is not be there." - P. Morita
--------------------------------------
Ranma crept out to the rooftop as soon as he could
splash himself with cold water and regain his clothing.
It was a chilly night, but the fresh air helped clear
the nausea and whatever had been in that sake.
"Ranma, why aren't you in bed?" Featherbrite silently
added that it should be with Nabiki, one of the few
ideas that she agreed with the panda on. That, in and
of itself, was enough to cause her to rethink this
course of action.
"Yeah, right. Brite, I thought we agreed there would
be no philtres, love potions, or turning 'em into
something."
"Yeah, yeah, you are SUCH a spoilsport." Featherbrite
sulked a little. But that had taken all the FUN out of
it. Well, almost all.
"Then WHY did I have one girl do a faceplant in my
lap? Shortly followed by two others deciding that I
made a good solid object to lean against?"
"Oh...your father drugged the sake," the faerie
shrugged and lay back next to Ranma. "If I had done
anything like that, all three of 'em woulda dragged you
off to bed and we wouldn't be having this
conversation."
"S'pose so." Ranma nodded. Bri'te managed to be subtle
every so often, but it definitely wasn't one of her
strengths.
The companiable silence lasted a few minutes before
Featherbrite spoke. "Brings back memories, don't it?"
"Clear night, stars, laying on a blanket in the cold?
Yeah." Ranma smiled a little. "Some good times, some
bad times, some crazy times."
"Lotsa crazy times," corrected Featherbrite with a
smirk. "So... which one do you like?"
"Huh?! Oh, cut it out, Bri'te." Ranma was quiet for a
few minutes. "Bri'te?"
"Hmmm?"
"Thanks for restraining yourself back there."
Featherbrite smiled a bit wider as she studied the
sky. "You're welcome, Ranma-chan."
"Bri'te?"
"Hmmm?"
"I know you found some loopholes. What kinda changes
*did* you make?"
Featherbrite groaned. She was busted.
-----------------------Morning---------------------
Nabiki awoke gradually, aware that the morning was
unseasonably cold and that there was a heat source over
to the side. She snuggled up to said heat source, and
further details began to make themselves known.
Heat source was moving slightly. Defcon Four. A
vaguely muddled memory of Ranma and her being tucked in
bed by their loving parents remained muddled. Enough
detail penetrated to start alarms going off.
Heat source was responding slightly to Nabiki's
movement, snuggling closer itself. Defcon Three.
Nabiki's eyes began to flutter.
Heat source was breathing. Said breath tickling her
face. Alert status upgraded to Defcon Two. Nabiki
cracked an eye open, silently cursing whoever's idea it
was to make mornings so damn bright.
Nabiki blinked at what she was seeing as she
reluctantly shoved aside the remains of sleep.
Half-memories of what had been going on the previous
night began to filter in and were carefully fit
together with what her eyes were bringing her.
It wasn't Ranma. Nabiki noted that the feeling of
disappointment that this generated and decided she
would figure out why later, MUCH later. Gently
disengaging herself from Akane, Nabiki looked over at
where Ranma's futon was rolled up and tucked into the
corner. The exact place where it had been yesterday.
Alarm battled with disappointment, and both found that
jealousy was sneaking around the edges waiting to get a
shot in.
Nabiki idly noted that Akane was still wearing the
little cross that Kasumi had taken down to a church and
had blessed. One of many preparations that had been
made for the vampire attack. At the time, Akane had
been amused at her elder sister's fantasies. Nabiki
doubted that the chain had left Akane's possession
since that night. Akane *had* been typically Japanese
in not being religious and giving Shintoism and
Buddhism a nod. She'd had a bit of a religious
experience, watching a vampire come back for the second
of three bites that would have made her an undead
slave. She'd probably get over it in a few days.
Nabiki slipped out of her bed, noting that she was NOT
wearing her usual pajamas. She figured that this had
something to do with what she had perceived as
unseasonable cold. She carefully left Akane on the bed,
still asleep, and quickly put on a set of said pajamas.
Nabiki snuck out of the room, not so much from the
desire to be sneaky as from the understanding that the
dull throbbing of her headache could get BAD when
exposed to loud noises. Akane was likely to find
herself in a strange bed and react loudly. It would not
be good to be caught there at ground zero.
At Kasumi's door, Nabiki slowly opened it to look
within. Kasumi and Shampoo were accounted for.
Shampoo's futon hadn't been slept in either. Nabiki
wasn't entirely sure WHY those two had hit it off so
well, but they had. Resisting the temptation to go back
for her camera, Nabiki quietly closed the door. It
looked as if they had passed out during a pillow fight.
Exactly how much had they drunk?
A drunk Kasumi and a drunk Amazon in a pillow
fight/tickle fest. Nabiki wouldn't have sold a kidney
for film of that, but she would've done quite a bit for
a videotape.
Still no sign of Ranma.
Nabiki thought this out. A vague memory of being
stripped and tucked into bed came to her, a little more
detailed than her previous musing. Ranma had been
similarly treated. Now Ranma was nowhere to be seen and
Akane was in her bed.
"He left when he realized where he was," came a voice
near Nabiki's ear. "Akane couldn't breathe in her room
with all of the garlic she'd hung, so she migrated to
yours about an hour later. Such a disappointing night."
"Got anything for a hangover?" Nabiki glanced to the
side where she could _almost_ see a pixie sitting on
her shoulder. She could almost see the transparent
dragonfly-like wings and oddly slick-looking skin, the
little strands of hair (this morning a muted green).
The dull throb in Nabiki's head almost immediately
began to unwind and fade away. "Thanks."
"No problem."
Nabiki stopped, her head slowly coming around to stare
as best she could at her shoulder. Her already mussed
hair was attempting to "toing" out of control. She
_could_ almost see a pixie sitting on her shoulder. She
was a little transparent but otherwise quite alarmingly
*there.* She also _heard_ the pixie quite distinctly.
"Uhm, how come I'm having a conversation with you...."
Featherbrite turned with a sly grin to Nabiki. "What?
You think we went to Holly just because I could finagle
some free food? Everything you ate or drank that came
from there had an enchantment on it."
"WHAT?!?!" Nabiki immediately clapped her hands over
her mouth. Sounds of irritation came from various
points around the house in response to her outburst.
"What did you do?"
"A minor enchantment here, a minor enchantment there."
Featherbrite pouted slightly. "Ranma said I couldn't
use the Philtre or the really interesting stuff..."
Nabiki shuddered slightly as she wondered what all she
had just been saved from. A Philtre? Love potions? Oh
dear.
"All he'd allow was the basic stuff he'd suggested."
Featherbrite sounded more than a little disappointed.
(1)
"What kind of basic stuff?" Nabiki tried to control
the queasiness in her stomach. One of the first things
she'd read in her new book on magic had been that
transformation was one of the easiest things to do with
Faerie magic. There had been a few pages on protective
measures, none of which she could remember taking the
previous night.
"Oh, giving you some basic protections if you should
find yourself in the Faerie Realm again. Remember those
two pastries I got you and Shampoo? Those will allow
you two to see and hear me, more or less. Makes
communication a lot easier, don't you think? Just
remember it also makes you stand out from the crowd as
far as the supernatural is concerned."
"Oh," said Nabiki. That could be bad, but it could
also be good. So she could See The Supernatural now.
Maybe she could approach some brownie or sylph as a
spy.
"Basic protective stuff, stuff I did for Ranma years
ago. A warding against disease, good luck invocation,
enhancement of the efficiency of the digestive system,
little increases in healing rate and removal of some
nasty little problems caused by your environment here."
"Such as?" Nabiki felt a trickle of panic. She was
quite aware that the little being was Alien in
perspective. Only that these were things Ranma had
apparently not vetoed and her reputation as an Ice
Queen kept her from checking various body parts to make
sure that they were unchanged.
The grin completely faded from Featherbrite's face and
she looked seriously into Nabiki's eyes. Nabiki's eyes
nearly crossed from the effort of meeting that gaze on
someone who was still sitting on her shoulder. "Nabiki.
A Faerie Contract is not something to be scoffed at or
lightly discarded. Ranma has made me promise that I
will not alter any of your minds to make you fall in
love with him, nor knowingly influence your thinking in
that regard. Sure, there are loopholes in that. I could
weaken the restraints on Kasumi's libido, which is much
like a raging fire that she constantly seeks to
control. If I did *that* she'd be trying to seduce
Ranma before dinner. (2)
"I could have used a minor alteration in Shampoo's
mindset, increase her competitiveness level while
damping her aggression, and she'd be ready to seduce
Ranma before breakfast just so she could make him hers
FIRST.
"Your youngest sister resents Ranma, dislikes him, and
thinks he's nuts. She's got her first impression and is
running with it. Do you have any idea how easy it would
have been to alter that so that she was grateful to
Ranma for his rescue instead of resenting him for
drawing the vampire here? Underneath it all, she finds
Ranma attractive. All it would take is a nudge to start
THAT rolling.
"I didn't do ANY of that stuff, no matter that
everyone would have been much happier with any of those
outcomes. Pfeh. I promised, and I'm *trying* to be good
here. Therefore I only changed the things that Ranma
approved of.
"Little tiny things mainly. Your mother also passed on
to you three the very thing that killed her. The cancer
that killed her would eventually have at least appeared
in Kasumi." The moment of intensity passed and
Featherbrite rocked back on Nabiki's shoulder. "Plus
your youngest sister would have had some problems down
the road with her leg tendons. All history now."
"Well, she does tend to concentrate on developing her
arms." Nabiki began to smile. "That's all?"
"Ranma can be SUCH a stick-in-the-mud sometimes," the
little faerie confided with a nudge and a wink. "Why,
he wouldn't even let me use the Lemon Aid. Imagine
that!"
"Yeah, just imagine. What a disappointment." Nabiki
silently thanked Ranma.
"So, yeah, just a couple of protective things, plus
you and Shampoo will be able to see and hear me now.
More or less."
"More or less?!" The alarms went back on.
"Don't get your dander up. Sheesh. I had to pay you
back for your help, didn't I? Paybacks are *very*
important to a faerie. (Good AND bad.) I gave Shampoo
an increase in strength, Kasumi a resistance to
mind-affecting spells (girl was WIDE open), and you
struck me as the sneaky sort so I gave you Eyes Of The
Cat."
"Eeeep?!"
"NO. Not literally. That's just what the Faerie Gift
is called. Your nightvision is a lot better, that's
all. There's a number of Faerie Gifts given out to
either heroes or champions, or those we have as mortal
god-children. Eyes Of The Cat, Animal Speech, Gift Of
Song, or the like. Or lesser gifts like Valiant Heart,
Perfect Pitch, Grace & Poise, and so on."
"Ah." Nabiki nodded. Fully understanding the faerie
was obviously not included in any deal. "By the way,
where IS Ranma?"
"Still on the roof. After you were both 'tucked in
bed' he left and found a safe place. Your father really
wants this engagement between you and Ranma to work,
doesn't he?"
"The roof? Isn't he cold up there?"
Shampoo entered the hallway, stretching. She froze
when she spotted something sitting on Nabiki's
shoulder.
"Yes." The faerie giggled with a sound like tiny
bells. "It's his own fault though. Could have stayed in
your nice warm bed, but..."
There was a cracking noise and Shampoo dropped part of
the doorframe that had somehow come off in her hand.
"Airen was...IN...her bed?"
"Yeah," Nabiki nodded. "I was wondering about that
myself. Why's he so shy?" After a moment she added,
"not that he would have gotten away with anything..."
"Airen in...HER...bed?!" Shampoo twitched slightly.
"Oh, I'd better get breakfast ready." Kasumi moved
past everyone with a little smile showing. If she had a
hangover she wasn't letting it show.
"Airen in her...BED!?" Shampoo turned stricken eyes to
Nabiki. "Snea...Nabiki sleep with airen? And Violent
Maniac Girl say _Shampoo_ too forward?"
"Nothing happened, Shampoo." Nabiki protested, though
she realized that the Chinese girl was a little out of
it still. "It's just an honor agreement between
families."
"Shampoo, can you help me in the kitchen?" Kasumi was
halfway down the stairs, but her voice clearly reached
the group.
"Shampoo coming," mumbled Shampoo in a clearly
distracted manner. "Why this happen to Shampoo? Shampoo
is nice girl. Shampoo good Amazon warrior. Shampoo
cute. Why not Shampoo one who sleep with airen? What
Shampoo do to deserve stupid Mousse who always annoy
Shampoo? Doesn't
Shampoo deserve..."
Nabiki and Featherbrite both (large sweatdrop forming
on Nabiki) watched the Amazon wander off to the
kitchen, still mumbling as she went.
"Uhm, you were saying?"
"Oh, he doesn't understand a lot about that stuff.
Father always dragging him hither and yon. That kinda
thing. He's *really* naive about sex and stuff."
"Being around YOU?!"
"Yeah, go figure, huh?" Featherbrite chuckled.
------------------EYECATCH#1---------------------------
-------
A hand spreads five cards out on a green surface. The
back of the cards has the series logo. The hand then
uses a single motion to flip all the cards over at
once.
King Of Hearts has Ranma's face, Queen Of Diamonds has
Nabiki's face, Queen Of Spades -Ukyou, Queen Of Hearts-
Kasumi, Queen of Clubs - Shampoo. A sixth card, the
Joker, is added, and the picture on that card is of
Featherbrite which winks at the viewer. A voice
provides a single comment (which changes from episode
to episode) this time being:
"Shampoo not know what mean stacked deck..."
----------Kuno Estate, Nerima--------------
Kuno swept through one set of practice motions to
another, exercising on an empty stomach as was his
wont. Later Sasuke would bring forth a light repast,
but now was the time for the constant practice and
attention to form that had made him the living legend
that he was.
The bokken stopped partway through a sweep. There was
a disturbance near at hand. Kuno's eyes narrowed
slightly as he went through the usual interruptions.
Someone had entered his sanctum? Yes. It was
definitely a presence. His twisted sister? No. Sasuke?
No. His <shudder> father? No. Akane Tendo? (One could
always hope, but no.) Not the pigtailed goddess,
either...
"Come out, villainous blackguard." Kuno swung the
bokken up, having eliminated anyone who had a right to
be there observing him. "You find the righteous Blue
Thunder ready for whatever perfidy you do intend!"
A feminine giggle was his only answer.
Kuno stopped. "Akane Tendo? Winged water sprite?"
"Water sprites do not have wings," came a voice
correcting Kuno. "Nor am I this other you refer to."
"Whoever you are, know that I shall not be tempted to
stray from the path of my two loves." Kuno nodded and
lowered the bokken. It was obvious that this was not to
be a battle after all. No doubt some young maid who was
overwhelmed with his manly presence, not that Kuno
could blame her.
"Oh?" The feeling of presence came closer.
"Then...I...have no chance at all?"
"Alas, I..." Kuno's eyes widened as the girl showed
herself at last. A curvaceous and barely clothed
beauty, whose laughing eyes seemed to draw him in.
"Oh, poor baby, you _have_ had a hard time of it,
haven't you?" Holly looked over the swordsman. He'd do.
He definitely would do. His healing would take a long
time...best to start as early as possible.
"I..." Kuno decided that breakfast would be a good
thing. He was quite ravenous of a sudden.
"Come, brave warrior," purred the dryad. "I think we
might have much that we could interest the other in."
"As you say," Kuno walked forward, following the dryad
into the apparently solid trunk of a tree.
Sasuke appeared ten minutes later to see if Master
Kuno would like breakfast. He found no sign of his
master.
Kuno was already having breakfast anyway.
-------------Elsewhere in
Nerima----------------------------
"Documents are signed and sealed, copies with the
proper authorities."
Isao nodded at the Yakuza member. The deal with the
oyabun was simple. Knowledge would be shared. The
smuggling uses alone for someone with Ranma's
abilities were staggering. "Equipment?"
"Standing by."
Isao nodded. "We roll in a half-hour, have everything
in place."
----Grounds of the Nerima Public Library-----
Gosunkugi sat on the park bench, opening the book
before him and ready to read the first incantation.
"Boy is that screwed up," said a girl's voice.
"Like you would know," began Hikaru Gosunkugi
haughtily. "I..." No one was there.
"Geez, lookit this stuff," continued the voice. "A
real mishmash. Looks like someone took pieces of the
Necronimicon and spliced in bits and pieces of the
Farmer's Almanac. And this bit? It's Makai Mahou. You'd
need four limbs to cast it right. Titania's Golden
Orbs, child, what is this supposed to do? It looks like
a demon summoning, fertility ritual, and I'm not sure
what the sheep's bladder is for. What the heck is
'Cheese Whiz' anyway?"
Hikaru, momentarily puzzled, looked right. He looked
left. He looked up. "Oh my." He recognized the little
faerie, he'd seen it flitting around Saotome earlier.
"Let me guess, this is supposed to be a love spell?"
The faerie shook a diminuitive finger at the large boy,
incidently using a Quench spell to put out the candles
he had strapped to his head. Just when she thought she
was getting to understand humans...
"You don't think it will work?" Gosunkugi reached off
to the side, maybe he could catch the little magic
creature if he just could reach his mallet.
"If you *successfully* cast this, as I understand it.
It will work. You'll have the undying affection of
every toad within three miles."
Hikaru's hopeful expression died. "Oh."
"Look, you obviously got some magical Talent. Voodoo
ain't it."
"No?"
"No. Neither is this crap. Shamanistic maybe? No,
hmmmm." The faerie began orbiting Gosunkugi, shifting
around until the would-be voodan was dizzy. "Got it."
"Well, I understand if you... excuse me?"
"Alchemy would be your best bet. Chinese Sorcery is
also a possibility, but that takes more chi than you've
got. Shen Mysticism perhaps to build up your reserves."
Featherbrite nodded rapidly.
"I have magical potential?" Hikaru's heart sang almost
as much as if Akane had talked to him. He, he wasn't
worthless after all!
"Yeah, if you like I could try getting you some books.
Just don't go near Ranma or his girls."
"I won't!" Hikaru nodded so hard his head was ready to
fall off. Besides, everyone knew Ranma wasn't
interested in Akane. That fool Saotome.
Featherbrite glanced at the book. She wasn't sure
about some aspects of human behavior, but she did know
a few things. "You ought to lay off the love spells
too. Those things never work right unless the target's
willing. If you've got a particular girl in mind, try
being her friend first. Then be the kind of guy she
wants. Don't just fake it, BE it. If she wants a
studious guy, be a real juku student. If she wants a
troubadour, learn to be a musician or at least know a
lot about music. If she wants a hero, be a hero."
Hikaru nodded repeatedly as the faerie continued to
talk about magic, talent, and being heroic. A brief
vision of him turning Tatewaki Kuno into a gerbil, then
sweeping Akane off her feet, caused Hikaru Gosunkugi to
shudder slightly.
Akane. Power. Akane. Magic. Akane. Hikaru smiled.
Life... was good.
--------------Tendo-ke, Nerima----------------------
Ranma was at least grateful that the usual battle over
food wasn't taking place this morning. A more leisurely
pace allowed her to enjoy more fully the flavors of the
simple breakfast that Kasumi had prepared.
Of course, ever since Featherbrite had put that curse
on anyone who stole Ranma's food, Genma was slower and
more careful about what he stole from Ranma's plate.
Genma assumed that Ranma had hidden some Chinese herb.
It couldn't be a Curse Of Explosive Flatulence.
It was the traditional Japanese breakfast. The
everpresent rice, a small bowl of miso soup with a
chunk of tofu floating in it, and green tea.
Ranma had switched to his cursed form during the
night. The yousei form seemed to throw off the effects
of alcohol better, despite the decrease of mass.
"Thank you, Kasumi, that was delicious!" Ranma placed
her chopsticks down across her bowl.
"Shampoo still having some trouble with food."
Shampoo's voice was absolutely miserable.
Last night had been a mistake, a _big_ mistake.
A shriek from upstairs let everyone know that Akane
had finally attained consciousness and
discovered that she was in a strange bed.
"So, Ranma, where did you spend the night?" Soun
ignored the sounds of crashing as
someone accidently knocked over her dresser in an
attempt to get dressed at high speeds with a
hangover.
"Uhm," began Ranma, stopping when a particular loud
smashing noise came from Akane's
room. "Uh, well, I spent it on the roof. Fresh air
helped clear my head, y'know."
Soun waited briefly for Genma to put his two-yen in
but the other seemed distracted by
something. Whatever it was, it was not the sound of
someone tripping over a drawer and smashing
into a wall.
"She must really be feeling the effects of that
stuff." Nabiki sipped at her tea. She'd wait until
after Akane was done before going up and starting to
assess the damage.
"Oh, Ranma, thank you for fixing those things that
Akane broke earlier. Especially that
bowl. It was something that Mother had made back during
a ceramics class during High School." Kasumi smiled,
seemingly oblivious to the sound of someone falling
down the stairs.
"I'M LATE!!!!" Akane cried, throwing the door open and
charging out at full speed.
"Akane, today's Sunday," Nabiki said. She considered
yelling but some people might still have a hangover.
"Oh well..."
"Such energy she has today." Kasumi smiled in the
direction Akane had vanished in.
Soun blinked, his mind having stuck on something his
eldest daughter had said earlier.
"The bowl your dear mother made in High School?
Broken?" The waterworks began, a waterfall that
threatened to drench anyone nearby.
"It's all right father, Ranma fixed it like he did my
cup." Kasumi sipped at her tea again, blocking one of
the streams of water with a small fan.
Soun stopped in mid-weep. "Oh...he did? Oh. Well done,
son." Maybe Genma was wrong about his son. After all,
he'd been wrong about going to train with the Master.
Hmmm. (3)
"Not a problem," Ranma dismissed the feat with an idle
gesture. Heck, a good tube of superglue would've done
as well.
"Airen very useful."
Soun paused and noticed the look Kasumi was giving
Ranma. He could swear little hearts were floating
around his eldest daughter. "Uhm, what all did Ranma
do?"
"He exhausted himself repairing dishes and mending
clothing again?" Nabiki tsked as she contemplated the
financial pages of the newspaper. She hadn't missed the
way Kasumi looked at Ranma after he had done such
things. He was just doing it to be helpful, right?
There wasn't anything going on between them, was there?
Damnit, he was *HER* iinazuke!
Nabiki blinked as the intensity of that thought caused
her to pause and reconsider whether she wanted this
engagement or not. Surely not, right? It was just a
family honor thing, right? She was still the Ice Queen,
wasn't she? Yeah, she was in control. He was just a
guy, and she would NOT get all worked up about him!
"Err, Nabiki, I think it's dead." Ranma's voice was
concerned.
Nabiki blinked again as she noted that the financial
pages had been crumpled. "Oh my."
-----------------Street
nearby-------------------------------
"I'm late!!!!" Akane rushed by the van and its two
attendent cars, her attention on getting to school on
time.
"Late?" Isao looked at his watch then back at the
rapidly disappearing girl. "Young people
nowadays."
"Sir?" A heavily scarred chauffer looked back at the
researcher.
"Nevermind," Isao said curtly. With any luck he
wouldn't have to go back to teaching such
students at the University of Tokyo again.
(1) Otherwise this scene would bear a vague
resemblence to "Addicted To Love."
(2) There is absolutely no canon evidence for this, or
for Kasumi being into chocolate. One can easily picture
a graceful, ladylike, Kasumi daintily nibbling on a
Belgian chocolate in the privacy of her own room. One
can also easily imagine the scene where Kasumi retreats
to her room and hits the "Reese's Peanut Butter
Cups"(tm) after a stressful day.
Likewise, the concept was expressed in an
earlier work that the reason Kasumi is so zoned at odd
times is that her attention is on other things. Such as
reining in a libido three times more powerful than
Happosai's. An amusing concept though, ne?
(3) Even if every other decision made by Soun &
Genma in the best light, these two went off to train
under Happosai. By all accounts, they didn't enjoy it.
They didn't enjoy it SO much that the two tried to
murder their former Master. If forced, it should've
been mentioned in the series. If chosen, this qualifies
as a lapse in judgement. If their judgement isn't
faultless, then they can make other mistakes.
thanks to Jared for the Genma sequence.
------------Tendo-ke, Genma's room-----------
In a very distant corner of Genma's mind, something
small was crying out and dying.
It had started objecting to him when he and his buddy
Soun had decided to go train under their Master. He had
known Happosai was not... pleasant, but it had all been
for the Art. Happosai's Anything Goes School Of
Indiscriminate Grappling was quite effective from both
a
practical aspect and in terms of raw power from what
they had been able to learn beforehand.
For years that little voice had screamed at him about
panty raids, theft, and all the other little crimes he
had committed. Each time he had chosen to ignore it
just a little bit longer, the little voice had gotten a
little more distant, a little less noticeable.
When they'd stolen the extra sake and trapped the
Master in his cave, the voice had gone quiet for a
time. For a brief period thereafter, Genma had been
prepared to listen to it.
He'd overlooked something, that part of one's being is
precious and vulnerable, and it had been abused for
years. It was no longer as loud as it could have been.
So quiet, that he'd not even noticed while he was
chafing under the treadmill drudgery of work and home
and meeting responsibilities. There had been a peep
from that voice when he'd convinced Nodoka to let him
go so that he could train Ranma, but the joy of his
false freedom had swept that voice away. He'd changed
over the years. (1)
Still that little voice rallied when he'd gotten
hungry and sold his son. Daikokuji hadn't given up
anything he couldn't afford, just some rice and two
pickles! Nothing he would suffer over, and Genma had
quite convinced himself that he'd had to do it. The two
were starving and he'd never intended to actually go
through with the sale. He'd retrieved Ranma as soon as
the buyer had turned his back, hadn't he? No problem.
Bit by bit over the years, that voice had been
weakened and slowly withered. It became easier and
easier for Genma to sell his son. It became easier and
easier to ignore the hurt he caused those around him.
That voice that had been the pure and noble heart that
he had once had, the glimmer of which had been the lure
that had attracted his wife to him.
Genma sat and contemplated the contract, still looking
no further than the first page which had all the pretty
numbers.
Two million yen. Five hundred thousand that he'd
gotten last night. The remainder to be delivered when
Ranma had been taken to his new home. Grandchildren
that he could train. All it required was for him to
sell Ranma one last time.
Genma's conscience gave its last gasp and died.
Genma decided that the best thing would be nets near
the boy's backpack. If Ranma tried to escape, he'd
likely come for that...
-------------A temple in Nara----------------------
Quite aware that the young girls were talking about
the slender bishonen with the bandolier of spatulas,
Ukyou brushed "his" bangs back and took a "cool" pose.
The masquerade
continued without flaw if those girls' reactions were
any indication.
Going up to the dispensary, Ukyou slipped the money
through the appropriate slot and received the rolled up
fortune in return.
"Patience," Ukyou read. "All is not as you believe it
to be. That which you seek will make
its way to you."
Ukyou placed the paper in one pocket. "Yeah, right."
Still, in another four months she
would leave this school and transfer to another.
Continuing to look for her target, where she could at
last close part of her life and gain vengeance on the
two who had wronged her so many years ago.
"Ranma Saotome, vengeance will be mine!"
----------------Bumblee Park,
Nerima--------------------
"Ranma," grumbled Ryouga as he warmed himself by the
fire. "Vengeance will be MINE!"
Shammi considered moving forward, to find out what
this strange husband was so upset
about. No, he'd probably just take off running again.
"Ranma," Ryouga grumbled again, but didn't go into
details. Instead he poked at the fire
as if it had somehow offended him.
Shammi settled down for what looked like a long wait,
aware that Tiger had taken a position at the other gate
to the park. Between the two of them, they ought to be
able to keep track of this husband. Shammi wasn't sure
if either of them could actually understand him,
though.
--------------------Tendo-ke, Nerima-----------------
Kasumi picked up the phone on the third ring. "Hai.
Moshi moshi."
"Hello. This is Hikaru Gosunkugi. Is Nabiki Tendo
there?"
"Nabiki is taking Shampoo to look at some new
clothing, Mister Gosunkugi. She needs a uniform for
school and some other supplies."
"Gos?" Featherbrite flitted to the receiver. "I talked
to him this morning. He wants to get into magic but
he's going about it all wrong."
"Featherbrite says hello," translated Kasumi.
"Oh, she's there? How about Ranma?"
"Tell him I left word with Holly, who'll get in
contact with Ivy, who'll get in contact with Drath,
who'll get him a DECENT spellbook. And don't forget to
burn that copy of the Necronomicon he said he's got!"
Kasumi relayed the message. "She says burn the
Necronomicon, and you'll get a replacement. No, Ranma's
not here either."
"Oh, thanks! Uhm. I've been thinking about what she
said, that if I want to win Akane, I've got to change
ME so that I could actually make her happy without
resorting to spells on HER. I'm gonna take her
advice... Oh, and there's something else..."
"Yes?" Kasumi prompted.
" Ah. Tell her there's going to be a kidnapping
attempt on Ranma. They're medical researchers from
University Of Tokyo, but I think they've got
connections..."
"There's going to be a kidnapping attempt on Ranma?
But he's such a nice young man." Kasumi wondered who
would want to hurt someone as helpful as Ranma.
"Kidnapping?" Featherbrite began to glow, showing her
agitation. "Is he sure?"
"Uhm," Gosunkugi paused. "Anyway, can you tell
Nabiki?"
"I think so, Mister Gosunkugi." Kasumi nodded after a
moment. It must be a misunderstanding. Why, even though
Akane was more hostile towards him than she was to
Kuno, Ranma had put his life on the line for her.
Surely no one who knew Ranma would be holding a grudge
against him.
[I'm expecting a call, Kasumi!] A panda walked by,
holding up a sign.
"Well, thank you, Mister Gosunkugi." Kasumi put the
receiver down. She'd tell Nabiki, of course, but it
certainly was a misunderstanding.
"Kasumi, I'm going to track down Shampoo and Nabiki
and let them know about this." Strength in numbers, a
lesson learned hundreds of years ago. The faerie shot
through an open window and was gone.
Kasumi watched the faerie go and turned to her next
task. The laundry wouldn't get done by itself.
--------------------------------------
Genma finished the net traps and considered his
options. It was really in the best interest of the Art,
and this wasn't THAT different from some of the
training the Master
had put him & Soun through.
The smell of garlic from Akane's room blew past him.
The young girl was still out, probably sulking or angry
that no one had stopped her before she got to the
school.
Genma nodded. Why, this reminded him of the time he
and Soun had put together a little trap so that they
could escape that one village of martial artist
acrobats in the wake of a panty raid from the Master.
Ah, those were the days.
Genma went down to find that Kasumi had finished with
the phone. It was time to make the call.
--------------Downtown Nerima--------------
"Shampoo very fast, will come along later. Ranma only
able to carry one persons, you take Nabiki she not able
to fight as well."
"But..." Ranma stopped. If this were real and they
went after hostages, Shampoo would be much less a
vulnerable target than Nabiki. Just knowing that he was
engaged to her made Nabiki a more likely victim.
"I agree," Nabiki said after a moment. "When I'm home,
there's a few phone calls I can make. We can determine
if there's anything to this within a few hours. Until
then, it is only sensible if we take some precautions."
Featherbrite hovered nervously nearby. "Look, I can go
meet with Gos, and see how much he actually knows. I'll
meet you back at the Tendo house."
Shampoo watched the little pixie take off, then
watched her airen fly off with the sneaky girl.
"<Vanilla? Is that you?>"
A shadow detached itself. "<Shampoo. I was that
obvious?>"
"<You aren't that good a tracker or a stalker. I was
uncertain of the other, but you were fairly easy for me
to detect.>"
"<Others. Shammi and Tiger are off chasing Shammi's
new fiance, Di Na is around someplace. You didn't hear
it from me though.>"
"<Balance of power shifting among the Elders? Figures.
Elder Cherry sent you ostensibly to keep an eye on
me?>" Shampoo leaned against the wall of the dress shop
and made a point of not
looking towards the other.
"<Of course, though mainly I and Tiger are to act as
foils on the other two representatives. Cologne has
been a good Matriarch thus far, why change leaders?>"
"<Besides which, Cherry is too wise to want the job,>"
Shampoo chuckled throatily. "<What of these hunters?>"
"<Yakusa.>" Vanilla sighed. "<We haven't gotten too
close. They have guns and some high tech equipment. I
think Di Na is trying to get one or two of them alone
so she can beat them senseless and loot the bodies.>"
"<Yakusa,>" Shampoo spat. Not warriors at all, they
usually fought from... ambush?!
Shampoo started leaping from one rooftop to another,
swearing a stream of Mandarin that was not taught in
classrooms. Vanilla was a bit odd, and Shampoo now
realized she should have asked those questions first.
Maybe she had time...
-------------------------------------------
Nabiki knew something was wrong when their flight
dipped in unison to a loud meaty thunk.
Another one sounded and Nabiki's concerned gaze left
her iinazuke's face to track down to the two cylinders
protruding from the red silk shirt. "Ranma?! You've
been shot!"
"Noticed," managed Ranma as their altitude decreased
at a rapid pace. "Uhm. I've noticed this before. My
yousei form seems to be a little more easily affected
by some stuff like drugs." Which made the greater
tolerance for alcohol quite strange.
Nabiki privately doubted Ranma's ability to remain
conscious, let alone airborne. Those looked like the
kind of darts that zookeepers used to put down large
animals. "Ranma, you'll never make it carrying me. Set
me down before I end up having to carry you home!"
"I can make it..." Ranma mumbled, skimming the ground.
"LEFT! LEFT!" Nabiki tugged on Ranma's head. The trash
cans were narrowly avoided. "Ranma! Put me down NOW!"
Ranma did, standing a little unsteadily as she landed.
"You get back to the house, Ranma. They're not after
me. You get home and you can sleep it off. By then I
should have some answers." Nabiki felt a little pang at
Ranma looking so vulnerable. Just protecting an
investment, ,that's all it was. Yeah, she was the
unfeeling Ice Queen. No personal involvement at all.
"Okay, Nabiki-chan," Ranma staggered as she
straightened. If she could just get some hot water and
turn back into a guy, she was sure she'd be okay.
"Don't...take any chances, 'kay? You look cute in that
outfit,but it's not practical for hiding..." She spread
wings and slowly flew off.
"Nabiki-chan?" Nabiki blinked. "I look cute?!!" It was
just her two hearts sweater and a pair of jeans. Cute?
Nabiki-chan? Nabiki shook her head. Ice, she told
herself, think ice. Cold, frigid, unyielding, barren,
strong ice!
Looking up at the weaving dot that was Ranma
attempting to fly, Nabiki said a few choice words that
would have earned her a disapproving glance from Kasumi
and started off towards home.
"Iceiceiceiceiceiceiceice," Nabiki muttered. "Why does
he have to do things like that as a girl? Couldn't he
say something like that when he's a guy?" Catching
herself, she again began the task of returning to being
the Ice Queen. She would NOT think about why this was
getting so difficult.
---------------------------------------------
Another dart thunked in as Ranma cleared the compound
wall. Ranma slowed further, there was an open window
over there, but which one was it? The images appeared
to dance in her eyes.
She'd just find some hot water. Everything would be
fine once she returned to human and male.
She shot towards the window. So close...
---------------------------------
"Oh..." Kasumi looked up from her laundry at the sound
of glass breaking. The neighborhood kids weren't
playing baseball again, were they? But then there HAD
been that call. "Mister Saotome, can you go take a look
upstairs? It might be a burglar."
The panda looked up at the ceiling and seemed to
hesitate just for a moment. Then he nodded and held up
a sign. [Don't worry. I suspect I know what it is.]
"Oh good," Kasumi turned her attention back to the
chores. She stopped and regarded Mister Saotome again.
That noise had come from Nabiki's room. Nabiki would
probably not appreciate Mister Saotome going through
any of her possessions. She'd just make sure he didn't
get curious...
Genma was already in Nabiki's room when Kasumi reached
the hallway.
"Oh my!" Kasumi held a hand up in front of her
mouth,staring at what she saw in Nabiki's room. There
was Ranma-chan, netted and struggling to get airborne,
when the panda very calmly
used one of his signs to slam Ranma's head. When Ranma
tried to get up, the sign came down again, this time at
the base of the skull. Another struggle, another brutal
slam of wood to flesh.
"Mister Saotome! Why?" Kasumi stepped back, turning
slightly pale as she saw how limp Ranma's body was and
the slightly brighter patch of red on her hair. Genma
lifted, netting and all going over one of the panda's
shoulders.
[It's for the boy's own good, you'll see.] Genma's
sign now read. He proceeded past Kasumi, pausing only
to wrap the net a little more securely around the form
within.
Kasumi stared at the two, her shock beginning to ebb.
Little scenes from the past few days began replaying
themselves unbidden in her memory.
/Ranma wiping sweat away, as he proudly presented the
repaired bowl to her./ Ranma playing the flute, pouring
his heart out into that wonderful music./ When she'd
burned her thumb on a pot, Ranma had rubbed the area
around the burn and ever so lightly had kissed the
burned area. The burn had healed, and Kasumi had needed
to take a cold shower for reasons that had completely
escaped Ranma. /Ranma hugging her when she had fallen
up against him during that party to celebrate little
sister Shampoo's victory over the vampire. Remembering
as well that Ranma hadn't taken advantage of the
situation./ That scene in the furo.../Ranma risking his
life to protect her sister, despite Akane being hostile
to him ever since he passed her over./ Genma stealing
food from Ranma's bowl. Ranma smirking as it became
obvious that everything that Genma stole found its way
back to Ranma's bowl before it came anywhere near his
father's mouth./ Helping out with dinner./ The way
Ranma had stared at her nightgown the night of the
first vampiric attack./ Out shopping, how she had
looked at the filmy underthings and thought of what
could happen if Nabiki *did* drop Ranma as an iinazuke.
Akane hated boys, so there was no way for Kasumi to
escape that fate. It was a rationalization, but Kasumi
bought them anyway./
Kasumi frowned. This wasn't right. Mister Saotome
might have his reasons, but it wasn't right. Not at
all.
Featherbrite was suddenly there, wings blurring in
agitation. "WHAT IS HE DOING?!"
Kasumi stepped outside, watching some strange men
coming up to the front gate. Two of them were clearly
tattooed and showing all the unmistakable signs of
Yakuza. The leader appeared to be a businessman, the
remaining two completely nondescript. One of these
others handed Genma a suitcase as the panda handed a
netted Ranma over to the two obvious Yakuza.
"Kasumi, I'm going to feed you what's in those minds.
I don't think I can get too close without that one
detecting me." One of the tattooed individual was
marked by magical heritage of some kind. Featherbrite
hesitated to do this, innocence was so difficult to
find in this world and if she did this, Kasumi would
lose some of hers.
Kasumi nodded, she wanted to understand what was going
on.
Reluctant, even if she needed the girl's help,
Featherbrite forged the link. For five seconds, Kasumi
saw exactly what each of the people planned to do with
Ranma. For those five seconds, she saw directly into
their souls.
Kasumi rushed back into the house, found the bathroom,
and was very very ill.
Featherbrite waited a few moments, watching as Soun
Tendo came outside, inquiring as to what was going on.
She tuned out the conversation, knowing what each would
say.
As soon as Kasumi stopped heaving, Featherbrite
brought the link back up to strength. She had to know.
She had to see. Featherbrite linked to Ranma's mind,
the friend she had kept from being corrupted completely
by his father. Then she fed this directly to Kasumi.
Kasumi's head came up, and she saw Ranma's soul. She
saw his character, his strengths and fears, his
failings and his triumphs. Kasumi also saw love. He
cared deeply about everyone around him. Kasumi wept.
There was a core of iron in each of the Tendo
daughters, however, and Kasumi moved back to the front
door, pausing as she heard her father speaking with
Mister Saotome.
"Twenty million? Plus he still marries my daughter and
goes on to produce an heir?" Soun Tendo had his share
of vices, one could not train for long under Master
Happosai without them. "Well, as long as the boy isn't
harmed..."
Kasumi shuddered. Her own father. Twenty pieces of
silver with accrued interest. Ranma wasn't perfect,
she'd seen failings as well as virtues, but compared to
those who were now loading him into a truck...
Flashes of previously experienced images came back to
Kasumi,triggering another surge of nausea. The first
thing to be done would to be to inject him with a
tracking beacon. Then would begin a medical exam that
would never truly end. Every sort of degradation one
could expect would be inflicted on Ranma. Once in their
lab, Ranma would never escape. One of the Yakuza was
already planning how he would rape the female Ranma
repeatedly, so that she would then produce children
that could become elite smugglers for the Yakuza.
Kasumi shuddered, having seen Hell.
"Featherbrite," Kasumi managed through the sour taste
in her mouth, "can you get Shampoo,
lead her to the appropriate car, then have her get to
the place where we entered your Faerie Realm?"
Featherbrite nodded and shot off at full speed. She
could find Shampoo easily enough, there was still
enough remaining of her earlier spells on the amazon.
She could track Ranma as they had been together for so
many years. Kasumi had a plan. This was a Good Thing.
====================
(1) "No man is an island." More modern usage might have
this as "no single individual is an island." Feedback
between environment and one's Self occurs. If Genma
were to have joined the Yakuza after leaving Nodoka, he
wouldn't be the same individual who selflessly offered
his son/daughter to his Master as a target for
lechery/beating. Err. Hmmmm. Well, this wouldn't be the
same wise and honorable Genma who was ready to let the
Tendo union fall by having his "daughter" marry into
the Chardin fortune. uhm. Well, he wouldn't be that
cuddly a panda.
And yes, i've done this before. In "Source Of
Pride" among other things, things get worse for Genma
because of this environmental feedback factor. A strong
will or self-image might defeat that feedback loop.
Does Genma qualify?
------------------
Holly looked over the newest catch, and her
co-conspirators, and suppressed a giggle. This would be
*fun.*
She'd had visitors, and certain loopholes had been
observed. A hair had been obtained from each. One of
her co-conspirators had made the journey to the Faerie
Realm and had stalked until she could be sure of her
target. A red hair had been obtained, followed by a
black one. The two had been entwined and enchanted as
one.
Enchantments had been laid upon each of the hairs in
question, strengthening the symbolic unity to those who
had grown them. A final check of identities was made
and confirmed. One of the co-conspirators slipped an
extra hair into the mix.
Though she was a Princess of Faerie, Pirette was more
than a little interested in this situation. And if she
were "accidently" caught by this spell, well- she could
hardly help the occasional trip to the Mortal Realm
then, could she?
Silverblonde hair, brown hair, longer brown hair,
green hair, purple hair, all woven together in a ring.
All bound and tied by the black and red hair. Finally
the dwarf looked over the results, snorted but accepted
the ring.
Faerie magic was largely about transformations and
coaxing things together. It was often earthy but
largely nature-oriented. Human magic was harder to
access, but due to mortal souls could be much more
powerful. Dwarven magic was both more limited and more
powerful. More limited in that it was the magic of
Crafting. A dwarven Crafter had made Mjolnir, another
Gungnir, yet another had fashioned the Sword Of Light.
Their enchantments took time and effort, raw materials
and meticulous skills. When done, however, the results
were such even the gods could respect.
The dwarf had never done anything like this before,
and that was part of the attraction. If it could work
here, then he might be able to ensnare the heart of
that oriad later.
-------------------
"Shampoo no like these odds."
Featherbrite flitted past the Amazon and frowned.
"Shampoo, how about if I weave a glamourie on you?"
"Is what?"
"Uhm, a disguise spell."
"That help get me closer," Shampoo admitted. "Police
in Japan no carry guns. Yakuza no care guns illegal, so
they does carry guns. Disguise not do good against
guns. You have anything make Shampoo bulletproof?"
"I..." Featherbrite blinked as she spotted a manga
store. There was a big poster for one of those magical
girls' series on display. Naoko Takeuchi autograph
session? Oh yeah, Nabiki had that series. She'd even
traded some issues to Holly- that tree nymph. An idea
came to her. "Shampoo, this is really dangerous to me,
but I've got an idea."
"How is dangerous?" Shampoo kept an eye out, knowing
the truck would be coming past this point from what the
faerie had told her.
"It's exhausting and I may not be able to get free. I
need your permission, though."
Shampoo's attention was focussed on the truck as it
turned onto their street. "You do
something, do fast. It showtime."
Featherbrite sighed. At the very least this was going
to hurt. "FUSION!"
---------------------------------------
A crowded Tokyo city street. Today, however, something
quite unusual was occurring. It would draw attention
the world over.
A TV crew filming a commercial for Pocari Sweat got
the break of a lifetime.
"I am the (do Shampoo really have to say this, it
silly) sailorsuited warrior of love and
justice, Sailor Amazon!" Shampoo muttered something
under her breath about how silly this
was and couldn't she just go break some heads?
*No, Shampoo. Use your chi to bolster my magic as I'm
showing you. They'll hesitate to
shoot with a lot of attention on you. (Besides, they're
all guys and the short skirt'll distract 'em.)*
Said sailorsuited warrior hovering on broad
dragonfly-like wings in midair, caused the
torturously slow traffic to grind to a complete halt.
Several motorists tried to get directly underneath the
flying "Sailor Senshi" but she started moving rather
quickly.
"This better work," muttered Shampoo. "This sound
awfully silly. What do 'in genre' mean?
Oh, okay, Shampoo do. Airen will need to comfort
Shampoo because dignity taking big beating today."
Shampoo flipped her currently blonde hair back and
held a hand up. Speaking in a louder voice, "For
kidnapping innocent girl and preying upon weak, I shall
punish you! KAWAII HURRICANE!" She pointed both hands
at the truck.
Nothing happened for a long second. Three men started
getting out of the truck.
*Now, Shampoo! Use your chi!*
The whirlwind struck.
--------------------------------------------------
Naoko Takeuchi, trying to think of the newest plotline
she could unleash after killing the Senshi off at the
end of the Beryl plotline, dropped her tea and stared
at the television.
The nice young man from the animation studio followed
her gaze and stopped talking about storyboards. "Oh
my."
The figure on the TV screen twirled in midair, forming
a cyclone of sakura petals which utterly destroyed one
armored car. The figure flitted in and grabbed some
tied down girl then flew away at high speeds.
"We gotta sign her!" The intern's eyes sparkled. This
could be the mother of all Sentai series!
The newscrews started talking about reaction to
"Sailor Amazon." They were tuned out by the two in the
conference room.
"Okay, how about this," suggested Naoko, ideas coming
to her. The girl was wearing an obvious variation of a
Senshi seifuku and was calling herself "Sailor Amazon."
Obviously someone had been inspired by Sailor Moon and
somehow had decided to go that route herself. "There
was a rival kingdom to the Moon Kingdom, and their
rivalry weakened both enough that the Dark Kingdom
could come in and defeat both. Maybe the Dark Kingdom
used distrust and friction between the two kingdoms and
got them to attack each other. So they come across the
Senshi and bring them back to health, but neither group
really likes or trust the other..."
The intern was writing frantically. "Name of the rival
kingdom?"
"Uhm, Sun Kingdom? Rival Moon Kingdom? I'll have to
work on that later." Naoko watched as the televised
Sailor Amazon unleashed a brutal seven strike combo
that not only disarmed a gunwielding thug, but probably
would put him in ICU.
"Magnificent," breathed the intern. Sailor Amazon was
a white hot blur of martial arts fury whose clothing
did absolutely nothing to conceal her attractiveness.
If they could sign her, (and with the Sailor motif she
was probably a fan), then posters would *SELL* to
mainstream adolescent males. The usual fan base would
buy the usual tie-ins, but this promised *major*
marketshare.
"There you have it, live from Nerima! Is this a new
Sailor Senshi? Who IS Sailor Amazon? We'd like to hear
from you, 555-71...."
Naoko turned the TV off and looked at the intern.
"Sailor Amazon?"
Not surprisingly, the phone began ringing.
--------------------------------------------
"Kasumi say meet at park?" The blonde sailor suited
Amazon seemingly asked herself. "What Kasumi do?"
*I don't know. I didn't read her mind.*
"There is...Kasumi?" A little ways past some guy
cooking hot dogs over a fire, there was her big sister.
Kasumi stood there, smiling at her little warrior
sister, parasol perched jauntily over one shoulder, and
a mound of luggage behind her.
"Shampoo never own that many bags, airen just have
backpack last Shampoo knew..." Shampoo's voice trailed
off into a gasp as Featherbrite seperated from her and
she returned to normal.
"My goodness, Shampoo, I had no idea you were a Sailor
Senshi."
"Shampoo not know either." Shampoo winced at the
sudden headache. "Shampoo got to beat on bad people for
hurting airen, so not entirely bad experience."
"They'll be coming!" Featherbrite warned, trying to
open the gateway. As she was noticeably exhausted it
was quite slow going.
"How will follow? Shampoo fly pretty fast." She
shuddered at the memory. Shampoo wasn't that thrilled
with being thousands of feet over the ground with no
visible support. It had been quite unnerving. A hundred
feet, no problem. A thousand... Shampoo remembered
dropping an egg off a cliff once. Her imagination added
purple hair and changed the colors a little.
"Did they inject Ranma with the tracking tag, then?"
Kasumi sadly looked over at the still unconcious Ranma.
"No problem, I'll (huff) just (puff) make an exclusion
for (wheeze) that when I get the transport...(unnggg)
going!" There was nothing she'd like better to do than
rest, but if she
did Featherbrite knew not everyone would be there when
she woke up.
"Big sister, why you bring all this luggage?"
"Because, Shampoo, I need to get away and think about
things for awhile." Kasumi looked slightly pensive.
"And I'm not sure I want to be around Genma Saotome
right now."
Shampoo grinned. Big Sister agreed with her on what a
schmuck the panda was. She'd make a proper Amazon yet,
maybe not a warrior, but a proper Amazon nonetheless.
-------------------
A few yards away, Ryouga's head snapped up. "Ranma?!"
Those two were talking about Ranma? There couldn't be
another one, could there? No, it had to be Saotome!
A rising glow began to appear around the two girls,
the mound of luggage, and whoever that was that kid the
one girl had slung over her shoulder.
Could it be that his quest was finally over? "RANMA!
For the insult of the bread, for the missed duel, I
shall make you pay!"
Ryouga started walking but realized that both luggage
and girls were fading out. They were getting away! He
switched to running.
Shammi noted her airen running and instincts took
over. She gave chase.
Ryouga crossed a boundary and began fading away.
Shammi, a half second later, also faded. Tiger, staring
from a few feet away, wondered what the heck was going
on here. After a few minutes of checking the area for
signs, she decided to contact Cologne for additional
instructions. Di Na would make a good courier while she
remained behind to keep an eye on things.
Tiger nodded, it was a good plan.
By the time the Yakuza arrived, the park was empty.
------------------------------------------
Ryouga ran through the boundary of the spell and so
was ALMOST where Ranma and the others were. Shammi went
through the same part of the field as Ryouga and so
ALMOST ended up where Ryouga was.
Not being directionally challenged, Shammi was able to
find her airen without much difficulty.
Shammi watched her airen go stumbling about until a
BIG Thing started towards him.
"AaaaaaH!" Ryouga managed when confronting something
that rather resembled a nine foot long three-eyed boar.
"Heheheh, foolish mortal," the boar grinned. "You have
intruded into the territory of Greaket, forest imp of
the ninth level of the Unseelie Court. You are SO very
doomed."
"A talking pig?" Ryouga drew his umbrella. "Uh huh.
And how exactly am I doomed?"
"Urrr," Greaket paused. This wasn't how it was
supposed to go. Wasn't the mortal supposed to be
cringing in fear? "I am the mighty Greaket, mortal, and
I can call upon you the Doom Of Pigs."
"Big deal. Now why don't you tell me where Ranma is?"
"Huh?! Aggghhhh!"
125 pounds of curvy amazon warrior impacted on the
boar's head. "Hello, darling! When did you learn to
speak Mandarin?"
"Huh? You're speaking Japanese?" Ryouga froze up as he
realized what she had said.
"How dare you use the mighty Greaket as a landing
site? You shall be punished!"
Drawing a set of knives out, Shammi grinned. "Darling
husband such good provider. Shammi shall make wedding
feast!"
"Greaket Final Attack. Doom Of Pigs!" Greaket
concentrated and a herd of pigs materialized,
splitting up to head for the two mortals.
--------------------Tendo-ke, Nerima----------------
Nabiki was not a happy camper. She was not, in any
stretch of even Genma's imagination, pleased. She was
unsatisfied with the current situation more than mere
words could place it.
The contract had been left out on the table. Her
father and Genma had apparently left to go celebrate.
She'd seen them leaving and had exchanged a few words
with them. Then she'd found an empty house, no sign of
Ranma, and THIS on the table.
Nabiki prided herself on her business skills. She
skimmed the contract then began seperating the meaning
from the legalese mumbo jumbo. It didn't paint a pretty
picture.
Akane entered the house, somewhat angry over having
been to school, gotten into a fight with a soccer team,
then discovering that it wasn't even a school day!
"Where is everyone?" Akane said after watching Nabiki
reading something and groaning every few paragraphs.
"Our wonderful father and his friend have decided to
go celebrate this lousy business deal that they have
just made." Nabiki covered her eyes with her hands. If
her father knew about this, then this would be worse
than the time he'd gotten that "good deal" on Kobe
beef. From then on, Kasumi had done all the shopping.
"Dad got another deal?" Akane frowned. "Not another
one of those 'once in a lifetime' deals like that 'in
your home pachinko parlor' crap?"
"From this, I'd say that Mister Saotome's business
skills are at least on a par with father's."
"That bad, huh?" Akane looked around. "So where's
Kasumi? For that matter, where's that fiance of yours?"
"Kasumi?" Nabiki blinked, it just now penetrating that
she hadn't seen any sign of her elder sister.
--------------faerie realm----------------------
Shampoo held the collapsed pixie in her hands.
"Featherbrite asleep now. So now what do?"
Kasumi spread a blanket out on the grass and clucked
to herself. She should have brought a thermos of tea.
Well, one couldn't think of everything. She found where
she'd stowed the kettle.
"I wonder if there's any water nearby," Kasumi said.
She looked around at the grassy field with a few odd
trees sticking up. Ranma would probably be more
comfortable if he were male.
"That way," a large crow croaked, wing extended to
Kasumi's left. "Stream."
Shampoo stared. Kasumi merely bowed politely and
thanked the crow.
The raven, for that is truly what it was, merely
shrugged. "Don't mention it." There should be some
leftovers around soon. The raven blinked again as the
smell of roasting pork reached it. Hmmm. This bore
looking into.
----------------------------------------
The fire crackled cheerily. Strips of meat were
cooking on tiny little sticks, filling the air with the
smell of roast pork.
"Husband is such a good provider!" Shammi smiled,
maybe this would work out after all. Too bad they
weren't back at the village, she really hated to waste
the meat but there was too much to carry.
"H-hu-husband?" Ryouga repeated for what had to be the
twentieth time since Shammi and Ryouga discovered that
they could speak to each other.
"Yes, husband." Shammi's eyes flicked towards her new
husband. He seemed a little shy, which she found
endearing. Much easier to take the proper aggressive
in-control role for an Amazon with such a mate.
"MMMRgghhhhhfffff!" The decapitated head of Greaket
struggled to spit the apple out of his mouth. He was
still quite angry about this turn of events. Was he not
the mighty Greaket? This was a temporary setback! He'd
teach these upstart mortals to mess with a member of
the Unseelie Court!
Ryouga stared at the woman as if he couldn't believe
this. A girl. A pretty girl. A pretty girl was
interested in HIM!?! No, it couldn't be. This was a
joke right? Right. Had to be. A pretty girl couldn't be
leaning close to him now, brushing his hair back so
that she could look into his eyes. A pretty girl
couldn't be giving him a slightly pouty look and asking
him if he was hungry for anything, just anything at
all...
With a fountain of blood erupting from both nostrils,
Ryouga fainted.
Shammi stared for a moment, swore, and turned back to
the cooking meat. Feh. Fighting got her hot, she knew.
All revved up and nowhere to go. Maybe this wouldn't
work out after all.
-------------------------------
"Where's Kasumi?" Ranma tried to sit up, only to fall
back immediately.
"She try to get water, been gone long time." Shampoo
was torn. Her airen couldn't defend himself, and her
big sister was out there without anyone to defend her.
The little faerie was still unconscious. What was she
to do?
"Shampoo," Ranma gasped. "I'll be fine. Drugs are just
making me woozy. I don't seem to be as able to fight
'em off in my faerie form as I would if I were a guy.
But I can cope..."
Shampoo watched her airen collapse again. "Shampoo
think airen is, how Nabiki say, full of it." Maybe she
should just check up on Kasumi and come right back?
-----------------------------
Kasumi filled the kettle with the cold water from the
stream. She'd still have to find a way to heat it up,
but that would come when she could rejoin the others.
Kasumi stopped as she felt a presence. Background data
began to accumulate. A faint smell reached her, a not
entirely unpleasant smell that reminded her of old
leather easy chairs.
The large cave near the waterfall seemed to be the
source of the smell and the feeling of presence.
"Uhm, hello, is anyone there?" Kasumi called,
wondering if this was some sort of faerie like
Featherbrite.
Glowing yellow eyes, each bigger than Kasumi's head
appeared within the darkness of the cave. A low growl
rumbled as something made itself known.
With a roar, the beast launched itself forwards.
------------------------
continued...
-----------------------------------------
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com/
"This is it," Nabiki said with a smile. Forget money,
THIS was power! "Rebel Squadron, Xwings
LAUNCH. Black Tiger Squadron, LAUNCH all
Veritechs; Bird Of Prey and Arcadia II- link your
fire control to ours on channels 4 & 7. Yamato
... HASSHIN!" -Nabiki Tendo, A
Very Scary Bet
ja ne,
gregg