Black Rose, Blue Thunder:
An Altered Destiny
By: Dreiser
Chapter Fourteen:
When Demons Meet
Today was something rare for Dr. Fuyuki Umi.
Today was a good day. And why was it a good day?
For one reason and one reason only.
It was the release day for all of the injured Furinkan
High students who had come in a month ago.
Umi wasn't sure how they had healed so quickly but
she figured it best not to question it. Because she and
everyone else in the hospital really wanted to get rid of these
very moronic and often strange teenagers.
Heaving a sigh, Umi murmured, "Maybe things will
start to calm down with all of those idiots finally gone."
Even as she said the words, Umi found herself not
believing them. After all, this was Nerima.
The strangest district in all of Tokyo.
If you didn't count Tomobiki or Juuban.
Well, they were in the top three at least. With all the
strange goings on there they had to be.
But their third place ranking gave Umi comfort
because it meant there were places stranger than Nerima and
doctors even more harried than she was.
And somehow, that made her feel much better.
---
"All right," said Nabiki as she looked suspiciously at
Ranma and Kodachi. "What are you up to now?"
"Up to? Us?" began Kodachi smoothly.
"Why would you think that, Nabchan?" finished
Ranma in equally smooth tones as he smiled.
"Save it," retorted Nabiki. "And just tell me what you
have in your warped little minds this time."
"Warped?" Kodachi sniffed. "I'm insulted, Nabiki
darling. I prefer to think of us as creatively skilled when it
comes to gathering yen for our purposes."
"Yeah," chimed in Ranma. "Don't hate us because
we're skilled. We were born this way."
Snorting at this, Nabiki shook her head and said,
"Spill it already. What do you want to talk to me about?"
"It's just this," said Kodachi as she produced a letter
that was neatly opened and handed it to Nabiki. "I wanted to
make sure you were aware of your options before you do
anything hurried when it comes to the final negotiations in your
contract with Ukyo-kun. If you were to take up this offer, I'm
sure that the percentage you would gain in the movie making
process would increase significantly."
Scanning the letter quickly, Nabiki looked up and
said, "A paid concert with Ryoga-kun and I as the stars at the
Karaoke Citadel? How did you two get this letter?"
"We told you," said Ranma easily. "It came to the
house when you were gone so we figured we'd investigate and
look out for your best interests, Nabchan."
"Or in other words, you were being nosy," said Nabiki
rather dryly as she frowned.
"Nosy is such a harsh word," Kodachi said in
dismissive tones as she smiled. "We prefer to think that were
we acting out of concern for your welfare."
Still frowning, Nabiki sighed and said, "I'll have to ask
Ryoga-kun what he thinks about this before I agree to sing at
any concert. But if he says yes, then I'm in. After all," she
paused to smile. "It would be nice to show Ukyo that I can
actually sing before we start filming."
Taking another pause, Nabiki blinked and pondered
in thoughtful tones, "I wonder why he hired me without hearing
me sing? Do you think he was just taking Ryoga's word for it
that I'm good because all of you used to be friends as
children?"
"Maybe," said Ranma. "But don't ask me. Ucchan's
always been a bit on the odd side. When we were little he and
I were good buds but he mostly ran after Ryoga trying to
make sure that he didn't get lost all of the time."
After Ranma said this, Kodachi's violet eyes gained a
contemplative gleam but before she could comment, she found
a small gnarled figure gripping her chest.
It took Kodachi less than a second to react.
And all of Furinkan High, along with most of Nerima,
winced at the sound of her supersonic scream.
"Jeez, Dachi," Ranma said with a loud groan as he
plugged up his sore ears. "Lower the volume, huh?"
"Darling! Get this thing off of me!" Kodachi demanded
with a shriek as she swatted ineffectively at the creature
hugging onto her chest.
Squinting at the creature, Ranma said, "That's a weird
looking thing. I wonder what the hell it is?"
"Darrrrrrrling!" Kodachi wailed rather dramatically in
tones that managed to sound very kawaii. "Help me!!"
With a careless shrug, Ranma bunched his hand into a
fist and slammed it into the creature's head causing it to fall to
the ground and reveal that it was in fact a man.
And upon discovering this, Kodachi reacted in even
less time then when it had been glomping her chest.
"Pervert!" shrieked Kodachi who produced a large
mallet out of nowhere and tried to slam it on the dirty old man.
The old man lazily lifted up a finger and sent the mallet
flying into the air causing the three teenagers to look at him in
certain surprise.
"What it is with pretty ladies and mallets in this town?"
asked the old man in sad tones. "You think they'd be glad that
I appreciate their healthy figures."
"They usually do," said Ranma drolly. "But only if
you're a handsome young stud like me and you go about
expressing your admiration a little more subtly."
"Impertinent aren't you?" the old man asked as he
narrowed his eyes. "Who might you be?"
"Saotome Ranma at your service," replied Ranma with
a smile. "And ladies find my impertinence charming."
Hearing this, Nabiki snorted while Kodachi sidled up
to Ranma and grabbed his ear sharply to bring it down to her
mouth. She then hissed, "Darling! Don't carry on a
conversation with this pervert! Punish him on my behalf!"
Looking from the old man to his girlfriend, Ranma
squinted his gaze a bit before he sighed. Turning back to the
old man, Ranma said, "Sorry about this, but it looks like I'm
going to have to beat you up, Gramps."
"Really?" the old man quirked an eyebrow in
amusement as he looked at Ranma. "Somehow I don't think
that's going to happen anytime soon."
"Oh yeah? And why's that?" asked Ranma.
"Because," the old man began with a smile. "I'm
Happosai of the Anything Goes school of martial arts." He
then paused to add, "And your Master."
A long moment of silence passed when a stunned
Nabiki, Kodachi, and Ranma, all echoed, "Master?"
---
"I don't like it," Cologne grumbled. "Picking out the
business and setting it up all without my permission."
"Oh, lighten up," said Siren in teasing tones as she
grinned. "I think this is the perfect business and it's certainly
more interesting than any of your ideas. Besides, this will help
Kasumi along in her training."
Watching as Siren flicked her wrist in an easy
movement to put the finishing touches on the sign to their new
business Cologne said, "That might be true but do you
honestly expect to get customers with this kind of store? What
use does a normal person have for items sold in a Wiccan
shop of sorcery anyway?"
"Cologne," chided Siren who sounded rather
disappointed with the Matriarch. "I've just arrived here and
even I know that no one normal lives in Nerima."
"Funny," said Cologne dryly before she hopped into
the shop which Siren had inappropriately named Sensual
Sorcery.
"Ah, the sound of your held back complaints is music
to my ears," said Siren with an easy smile as she followed
Cologne into the shop.
Holding back the urge to snort at this, Cologne turned
to regard Siren with lidded eyes and asked, "Why, after all of
these years, won't you finally leave me alone?"
When Cologne asked this, she said it in tones that
would have turned the most stoic of Amazon warriors into
quailing cowards who are fearful for their very lives.
Luckily for Siren, and unluckily for Cologne, the Mage
wasn't like most Amazon warriors.
Because she was made of sterner stuff than the
warriors and had a sense of humor and a playfulness that most
of them would never be able or want to achieve.
This meant Siren found Cologne's tones not
threatening but rather more on the humorous side. And why
did she find it humorous? Probably because she knew that
Cologne couldn't or wouldn't ever really do anything to get rid
of her in the permanent sense of the word.
Which meant Siren could go on tormenting Cologne
and teasing her silly until her final days on this Earth.
Now wouldn't you find that humorous?
Siren certainly did but from the look on Cologne's
face it didn't seem like the Matriarch shared her opinion.
"I'll leave you alone," Siren began in unusually quiet
and subdued tones. "When you reveal the truth about yourself
to everyone in the tribe. Including your kin who I think
deserve to know what's lurking inside their blood."
Since Cologne's expression before could be described
as dark it now looked downright murderous as she gazed
upon the figure of Siren with blazing eyes.
"I'm not going to have this conversation with you
again, Siren," said Cologne tightly. "My decision is final. It dies
with me unless you're going to break our vow."
"I won't," murmured Siren. "A vow is not something I
take lightly." She paused a moment and her sapphire eyes
gleamed almost playfully as she added, "I also don't give up
easily. Sooner or later I'll convince you to change your mind,
Cologne. Trust me on that."
On hearing this, Cologne gave a snort of humorous
skepticism while a hint of a smile played on her ancient
features as she looked at her companion.
She was about to reply when Siren suddenly whirled
around to look at the door to the shop which had been pushed
open barely an inch.
That was when Cologne saw the almost always
haggard figure of Perfume in her pixie form flying into the shop
spewing vulgarities in melodic bell like sounds.
Cologne was used to seeing this but Siren wasn't.
In fact, it occurred to Cologne that Siren didn't know
about Perfume's curse which had been acquired during the
time that the Mage was traveling the world.
While Siren gaped at the tinkling and sparkling figure
of Perfume pixie Cologne couldn't help but form a smug smile.
Because no matter how old she got, Cologne always
loved to be the one with the advantage.
This was something, that thanks to Perfume, she finally
had managed to acquire over Siren.
An auspicious fact which helped to make Cologne's
day.
---
"Master?" Ranma said with some disdain. "Sorry, old
man but Saotome Ranma has no Master and he never will.
Unless you count Dachi and my mothers of course."
"I'm afraid that's not so, lad," said Happosai. "I was
the one who trained your good for nothing father all those
years ago and it was he who trained you, am I right? And if
I'm not mistaken, he taught you what I taught him. All of that
ends up making me your Master, boy."
Snorting at this, Ranma said derisively, "That's gotta
be the lamest thing I've ever heard. Just because you taught
my Pop some stuff doesn't mean I'm gonna let you teach me.
Besides, grabbing onto girls chests is something I learned to
do a long time ago."
Seconds after he said this Ranma felt a sharp slap on
the back of his head and looking at Nabiki, he said in rather
wounded tones, "What'd you do that for?"
"Try and control your ego and hormones for a second
will you?" asked Nabiki dryly. She then stepped in front of
Ranma to glare at Happosai. "Look," she said. "I don't believe
that my father or even Ranma's would learn anything from you.
If you expect us to believe your story we're going to need
some proof."
Quirking an eyebrow, Happosai said, "A forceful
woman. I like that. Very well," he said with some deal of
exaggeration. "Come with me and you'll see for yourselves just
how well I know your father, little Nabiki."
With that, the old man leapt into the air and bounded
off into the distance but not before glomping a few random
girls before he left.
Watching his exit, Nabiki could only say dimly, "How
did he know my name?"
"Beats me," said Ranma as his cobalt eyes narrowed.
"But something tells me that old man just ain't normal. Did you
feel his level of chi? I haven't felt anything near that except
when around the old ghoul or Grandma."
"Grandma?" asked Nabiki curiously.
"Yeah," Ranma said with a nod. "My Grandma gives
off the same sort of chi energy as he does. Which doesn't
make sense because she's a--"
Ranma suddenly found himself interrupted when a
hand sharply grabbed his ear and he found himself looking into
enraged violet eyes.
"Hey, Dachi," said Ranma as he gave a very nervous
grin to his obviously upset girlfriend.
"Darling!!" Kodachi exclaimed with more than a hint
of menace. "I thought you were going to punish that pervert
for tarnishing my honor! You let him get away!"
"C'mon, Dachi," said Ranma while he winced. "He's
just an old man. What'd you want me to do? If I punched him
I could've given him a heart attack and ended up killing him.
Then I'd be a murderer. You don't want that to happen now
do you?"
"Somehow," said Nabiki dryly as she watched
Kodachi get even more infuriated. "I don't think that is an
excuse that she's going to except right now."
With a gulp and a nervous nod of his head, Ranma let
loose a loud squeak and hastily dodged the large mallet that
Kodachi produced out of nowhere and ran off into the
distance as he followed Happosai's exiting path.
As she observed this, Nabiki couldn't help but sigh
and give a shrug as she murmured, "I might as well follow
them. Without me there who knows what sort of trouble they
might get themselves into this time?"
But as she followed after the couple, Nabiki had a
sinking feeling that whether or not she followed them they
would just end up getting into trouble anyway.
It was something that seemed to be a repeating trend
when it came to dealing with Ranma and Kodachi.
---
Shampoo looked at the hundred or so boys that were
wrapped in bandages, wearing casts, using crutches, and
sitting in wheelchairs with puzzled scarlet eyes.
"Can Shampoo help you with something?"
"Shampoo!" said the muffled voice of the boy leading
the group. He was bandaged from head to toe and leaning on
crutches as his left leg was in a cast. "We come to tell you
we're leaving to punish he who tricked us in the matter of your
love! We leave now for China to track down the treacherous
Grocery Bag and punish him on your behalf!"
"Her behalf?!"
"What about ours?!"
"Both of my legs are broken!"
"And I have to eat out of a tube!"
"Yeah! Plus my ovaries still hurt!"
"Dammit, Yoshi! You have no ovaries!"
"Oh yeah..."
Blinking at the sudden outburst from the crowd full of
injured boys, Shampoo asked, "Uhm... is Shampoo supposed
to know you? Because Shampoo lost right now."
"You mean you don't remember us?!"
"We who pledged our devotion to you?!"
"We who sacrificed our lives for you?!"
"We who got our asses kicked by you?!"
"Dammit, Shampoo! It wasn't that long ago! It only
happened back in Chapter Eight of the series!"
"Hospitalizing Idiots, remember?! We're the idiots!"
There was a long pause as everyone looked at Shiro
and mulled over his words.
"We're the idiots?"
"No way!"
"But we were hospitalized..."
"Hey, now that chapter title actually makes sense."
"This sucks! I'm not an idiot! And my ovaries still
hurt!"
"Dammit, Yoshi! You have no ovaries!"
Coughing loudly, the leader of the mass of boys, now
revealed to be named Shiro, looked at Shampoo then said,
"We leave now for China. To defend your honor and get
revenge on Grocery Bag for causing you to injure us."
With that, the huge group of injured boys all hobbled,
limped, and wheeled away while a perplexed Shampoo
observed them with wide eyes.
"Well," said Shampoo after a long moment. "Shampoo
is having no idea what that was about."
---
"You have a curse and you didn't tell me?" asked
Siren in stunned tones as she looked at her granddaughter.
Forming a grimace, Perfume muttered, "It not
something I was wanting to advertise and I was hoping to
have gotten rid of it before the time I saw you next."
"Small chance of that child," said Cologne from where
she resided behind the counter to their sorcery shop arranging
various spell books and potions. "There are no available cures
for Jusenkyo curses as we know it."
"I refuse to believe that," said Perfume tightly. Rising
to her feet, she bunched her hand into a fist then declared, "I'm
going to find a cure to my curse and never have to turn into
annoying kawaii pixie again!"
"A pixie, so that's what you turn into," Siren murmured
as her face gained a look of recognition and she snapped her
fingers. "I was wondering what it was. For awhile there I
thought you were a fairy and wouldn't that be an ironic curse
for you, eh Perfume?"
"Grandmother," Perfume hissed while she twitched
slightly. "Somehow I'm not finding those words so funny."
"That's because you're a grump, darling," said Siren as
she gave a dismissive wave. Resting her chin on the top of her
hands she smiled then asked, "And what's so bad about
turning into a kawaii pixie? I thought you were quite charming
in your other form. And very desirable."
"Grandmother!" Perfume exclaimed before turning
bright red and glaring at Siren. "Why you say such things?!"
"Because it's fun?" drawled Siren playfully. Upon
seeing Perfume's glare strengthen she sighed then rose to her
feet as she said, "You're really no fun, dear. But since you are
family and I love you I'll still help you get rid of your curse
even though I do find it entirely adorable."
"Get rid of...?" Perfume echoed with wide eyes.
"Impossible!" declared Cologne as she hopped out
from behind the counter and towards Siren. "There are no
cures for Jusenkyo curses and you know that, Siren!"
"When exactly did I say cure?" asked Siren while she
gave a small smirk. "I said that I would help her get rid of her
curse. Never once did I say that I could cure it."
"And that's not the same thing?" asked Cologne in dry
and skeptical tones as her eyes narrowed.
"Certainly not," Siren announced. Smiling again, she
said, "There is another option for those with Jusenkyo curses
to rid themselves of their magical affliction but due to the
nature of their curse many overlook it. But I think that my
Perfume might just be interested in it anyway."
"So do tell us about this magnanimous other option,"
Cologne said in droll humorous tones.
"Yes, Grandmother," said Perfume excitedly. She then
neared Siren and looked at her with plaintive sapphire eyes.
"Tell me how I can get rid of my curse."
"It's quite simple really," said Siren as she formed a
slow and easy smile. "I use my magic skills to merge your two
selves into one combined form. Since your pixie form is quite
human in appearance this won't cause a large shift in your
physical form. Which is usually the reason why most people
with Jusenkyo curses don't use this method."
There was a long moment of pause as Perfume hung
her head low and seemed to be considering Siren's words
before she said softly, "I see..."
"You see what, dear?" asked Siren in concern on
hearing the strange tone of Perfume's voice.
"I see that I never be rid of this curse," said Perfume
as she lifted her head to reveal wild sapphire eyes. "I not
change into pixie anymore if do this but instead I end up as big
pixie all the time! I never be rid of it! I be a kawaii pixie for the
rest of my life!!"
After saying this, Perfume gave a mad sort of laugh
before she went dashing out of the sorcery shop.
Another long silence enveloped the air before Cologne
broke it as she said, "She took that well."
"Eventually she'll get used to the idea of being a pixie
all of the time," said Siren unconvincingly.
"Somehow I doubt that," replied Cologne dryly.
"Me too," Siren said rather nervously.
---
When Ranma and the others approached the dojo
they heard the sound of loud shouting and almost maniacal
laughter echoing throughout the air.
"Huh," said Ranma slowly. "Somehow I'm thinking
that this doesn't mean anything good."
Seconds later, Genma pig went flying out of the dojo
as they heard Soun shout, "Saotome! You come back here! If
I'm going down for this you're coming with me!"
Squinting at this, Ranma leapt into the air and
produced his sheathed katana out of nowhere and then
whacked Genma pig on the top of the head with it.
When his father whirled around to squeal at him
Ranma smirked then said, "Hey Pop. Where do you think
you're going? I got some stuff to ask you about that old guy."
Hearing this, Genma pig's eyes widened and he
squealed even louder while he waved his hooves in the air.
"Jeez, Pop," said Ranma as he winced at the high pitch
of Genma's squeals. "He can't be all that bad."
'There you are, Genma! Thought that you could
escape from your Master did you?"
Turning around, Ranma looked at Happosai who was
glaring at Genma pig who immediately flew behind his son in
an attempt to hide from the shrunken old man.
"So," said Ranma as his cobalt eyes narrowed.
"You're the one scaring the crap out of my Pop."
"Yes," Happosai admitted. "What of it?"
A long moment of tense silence passed before Ranma
bounded over to Happosai, grinned widely then exclaimed,
"Please teach me how to scare him too!"
While Genma pig squealed indignantly at this, Nabiki
could only groan, and Kodachi scowled.
"Darling!" Kodachi said as she stamped her foot.
"What about defending my honor from this pervert?!"
"Oh yeah," Ranma said quietly. Leaning down to look
into Happosai's eyes he said, "Sorry about this but it looks like
I'm gonna have to beat you up now."
"You can try," said Happosai as his eyes gleamed.
Nabiki observed as Ranma and Happosai began their
battle which ranged throughout the entire dojo. Then she
heard the sound of quiet sobbing and saw her father crouched
near them as he watched the battle.
"Daddy?" asked Nabiki.
"Nabiki!" cried Soun as he dashed forward to grab
onto his daughter's waist. "You'll protect your daddy from his
evil Master won't you? It's up to you as my only heir!"
"What?" Nabiki blinked. "Daddy, what's this all
about? Who is that old man and why are you so afraid of
him?"
"Because he's evil incarnate! The most terrifying
person you can ever imagine!" Soun wailed loudly.
"But he claims that he's your Master," said Nabiki in
confusion as she blinked. "Surely he can't be--"
"Of course he's our Master!" Soun exclaimed through
his sobs. "That's why he's so evil!"
Before Nabiki could respond to this, Ranma went
flying towards her thanks to a blow from the old man he'd
been so concerned about hurting earlier.
Frozen in shock, Nabiki could only stare woodenly as
Ranma headed closer and closer about to crash into her when
she felt warm hands grab her waist and pull her to safety.
Nabiki then turned around to gaze into sandalwood
eyes that sparkled with humor and concern.
"Hey," Ukyo said in his charming drawl. "You feeling
okay? You almost got squashed there, sugar."
"I'm fine," Nabiki managed to stammer and she turned
bright red on realizing her hands had been resting lightly on
Ukyo's chest. Giving an embarrassed squeak, Nabiki pulled
away quickly and blushed darkly. "Thank you for saving me. I
don't know why I couldn't move. It's so unlike me to freeze up
in battle like that."
"It was no problem," said Ukyo softly as his lifted a
gentle hand to push some stray strands of hair out of the
transfixed Nabiki's eyeline. "What sort of gentlemen would I
be if I didn't save a lovely lady like you from danger?"
Nabiki could only gape at Ukyo but fortunately for
her, the Kung Fu star turned his attention towards Ranma and
Happosai's battle then said, "What's this all about?"
"Ranma's trying punish Happosai on Dachi's behalf,"
said Nabiki in dry tones. "But from the looks of it I don't think
it's working out too well. Do you?"
"Happosai?" asked Ukyo curiously.
"The old guy fighting Ran--"
"Kuonji! How dare you try to lose me when I was
following you to find Nabiki-chan! I'll get you for that!"
Turning around, Nabiki was met with the sight of
Ryoga breathing heavily and looking quite ragged.
"Ryoga-kun!" cried Nabiki as she went dashing to his
side. "Are you all right? What happened to you?"
"Got... ran... over... by... his... fans," Ryoga heaved in
between breaths. "Must... kill... Kuonji..."
Ryoga started to say something more when Happosai
stomped on his face to bound higher into the air as Ranma
continued to pursue him in their frantic battle.
Well, it was frantic but not so much a battle if anyone
other than Kodachi had bothered to watch it.
Basically what it consisted of was Ranma attempting
to hit Happosai and Happosai continually dodging these
attacks. All in all, not much of a fight.
Something that Kodachi, because she was the only
one watching, definitely noticed. "Darling!" Kodachi said in
more than a tad annoyed tones. "Punish him already!"
"I'm trying, Dachi!" said Ranma as he scowled at
Happosai. "You're starting to make me mad, old man. No one
makes Saotome Ranma look bad in front of his girl."
"You don't say?" murmured Happosai thoughtfully.
Dodging another attack by Ranma, he leapt into the air to land
on the outstretched arm Ranma had been trying to hit him
with. "If you only want to win this battle just to appease and
look good in front of your girlfriend then we might just be able
to work out a deal."
"Deal?" Ranma echoed. He paused to narrow his
cobalt eyes and smiling slowly he said, "I'm listening."
"I'll allow you to defeat me in front of your lovely
girlfriend if you do something both your father and Soun could
never do for me," said Happosai solemnly.
"And what's that?" asked Ranma.
His beady eyes gaining a gleam, Happosai replied, "I
want you to steal all the ladies panties in Tokyo for me."
---
Kodachi frowned as she saw Ranma talking to the
perverted old man and was about to call to him once more
when she was bumped by Nabiki who was being gently
pushed back by Ryoga who was glaring at Ukyo.
"Kuonji," Ryoga was saying with a growl. "How dare
you try to lose me like that? I know you were doing it on
purpose. Don't try to lie to me!"
"Why would I do that?" asked Ukyo as he gave his
usual easy and charming smile. "You already know where I
stand on things so lying doesn't make any sense at all."
On hearing this, Ryoga turned red with rage and
started to step forward when Nabiki touched his arm and
stalled him as Ryoga looked into her hazel eyes.
"Ryoga-kun," said Nabiki softly. "What's going on?"
Ryoga opened his mouth to reply but shut it and
turning to glare at Ukyo, he said, "I'd ask Kuonji that if I were
you. He seems to know more about it than me."
Frowning at this, Nabiki looked to Ukyo and began in
hesitant tones, "Kuonji-san..."
"Call me Ukyo, sugar," said Ukyo as he flashed yet
another charming smile that caused Nabiki to blush.
"Ukyo," Nabiki said while she continued to blush
furiously. "What's this all about? Aren't you and Ryoga
friends? Why would you be fighting like this?"
"We were friends," Ukyo said. "Were as in the past
tense. But we can't be friends anymore, I'm afraid."
"Why?" asked Nabiki in confusion.
"Because," said Ukyo as his sandalwood eyes grew
serious while they bore into Nabiki's. "It's awfully hard to be
friends with someone when you're falling for their iinazuke and
you want her for yourself."
There was a long pause as everyone, even Kodachi,
gaped at Ukyo in complete and utter shock. This included the
observing Soun and Genma standing on the outskirts.
Nabiki's response was somewhat predictable.
She promptly fainted.
---
Unryu Akari had a problem.
When compared to some people's problems hers
would seem a bit insignificant but nonetheless it was still a
problem. A weird problem but still, it was a problem.
And her problem was that Akari couldn't date. Well,
that's not exactly true.
Akari could date if she really wanted to but her honor
wouldn't allow her. This was because she promised her
Grandfather, who had raised her, when he was dying that she
would only date (and marry) someone who was strong enough
to defeat her in battle.
They also had to care as much about her beloved and
precious pets as she herself did.
This promise left Akari dateless because she had yet
to meet anyone who could defeat her in battle or loved her
pets with as much loyalty as she herself did.
Hence Akari's no dating problem.
Still, all the battles that she had helped to improve her
skills and had moved her up in the world. That was something
to be glad about. And because of that, Akari was now
heading towards Nerima where she would be living from now
on.
Forming a smile, Akari pushed one of the low hanging
branches out of her way and murmured, "I can't believe that
I've been made the official..."
Her sentence trailed off as Akari saw something that
people in her line of work would never think of seeing.
A Clefairy riding on the back of a Tauros.
A Clefairy riding on the back of a Tauros and both of
them having quite a pleasant conversation together.
"Clefairy, fairy fairy," the Clefairy was saying.
"Tauros tauros," replied the Tauros gruffly.
"Fairy," the Clefairy gave a nod of its head.
Observing this rare and strange sight, Akari said,
"They don't look like they have trainers and I don't have to be
at the gym to get things started until tomorrow..."
Making her mind up in that instant, Akari leapt out
onto the dirt road the Tauros was walking on and shouted,
"Kawaii friends, Tauros and Clefairy, I challenge you!"
The Tauros paused in its walk to look at Akari with
what appeared to be an irritated expression while the Clefairy
looked almost bemused at her statement.
"Fairy, clefairy," said the Clefairy to the Tauros.
"Tauros," the Tauros muttered as it rolled its eyes.
With that, the Clefairy leapt down and off of the
Tauros back and walked towards Akari who blinked in
surprise as she had been expecting to battle the Tauros.
"All right then, friend Clefairy," said Akari solemnly as
she took one of her pokeballs from where it rested on her
waist. "Lets get to it, shall we?"
Throwing the pokeball in a swift movement, Akari
shouted, "My kawaii friend, Gyarados! I choose you!"
When the huge form of the scaly Gyarados appeared
in front of the Clefairy, the pink and cuddly creature didn't
seem scared at all. In fact, the Clefairy smirked as it looked up
at the towering figure before.
"Clefairy, fairy," said the Clefairy with a sigh.
The Clefairy then cracked its knuckles before it began
chanting its own name as it rocked back and forth while
holding up its hands in the air to make an entirely mesmerizing
movement.
Feeling herself fall under some sort of spell, Akari
began to move her head back in forth in accordance to the
Clefairy's movements as did Gyarados who looked entirely
passive as it followed the Clefairy with its eyes.
All felt right with the world and a strange sort of
hypnotic sense of peace passed over Akari as this occurred.
Then an explosion sounded and in certain horror,
Akari watched as Gyarados went flying into the air only to
land burned and charred in front of her seconds later.
"Gyarados!" cried Akari in horror as she went running
to the figure of her burnt friend. "Are you all right?"
Her Pokemon couldn't respond and only gave a weak
groan and feeling the tears form in her eyes, Akari called him
back into his pokeball and looked up at the Clefairy who was
gazing at her sympathetically.
That was when Akari finally noticed it.
The depths of the Clefairy's blue eyes. The wisdom
that resided there. The humanity of that gaze.
"You," said Akari as she rose to her feet. "You're not
an ordinary Clefairy, are you? What are you?"
Eyeing Akari for a long moment, the Clefairy turned to
the Tauros and said, "Fairy, clefairy."
Moving forward, the Tauros walked towards the
Clefairy and knelt beside it as the Clefairy began searching
through a pack that Akari hadn't noticed on the Tauros' back.
Maybe these two Pokemon had trainers after all. That
would explain why the Clefairy had fought so well.
But much to Akari's surprise, the Clefairy didn't
produce a picture of their trainer as she expected but a small
silver flask which it held up for her to see.
The Clefairy stood a few feet in front of Akari when it
twisted the lid off of the flask and poured a stream of steaming
hot water over its small pink head.
Akari was puzzling over what exactly the Clefairy was
doing when she noticed something quite important.
The Clefairy was no longer a Clefairy.
The Clefairy was now a handsome young man.
The Clefairy was now a naked and handsome young
man.
Akari's reaction was the increasingly popular one.
She fainted right then and there.
To be continued...
All characters in this fanfiction are from Ranma 1/2. This fanfic
was inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi but the
craziness behind it is purely my own. I'd like to thank Jim
Robert Bader, Red Death, and my brother Patrick for listening
to my goofy ideas. Also special thanks to Wade Tritschler for
allowing me to be a part of his Altered Destinies project.
Send me comments and Pokemon collectibles at:
Dreiser1@ix.netcom.com
Chat with me on ICQ! My ICQ # is: 37674780
Thanks to Red Death all of my fanfics are archived at:
http://www.lvdi.net/~reddeath/dreiser.htm
For previous chapters of BRBT visit Altered Destinies at:
http://www.fortunecity.com/lavendar/attenborough/249/index.htm
Next up: Ranma's pursuit of panties and more Pokemon
mischief and mishaps with Akari as she heads for Nerima.
"Idiots."
-Hoshino Ruri; Martian Successor Nadesico-