To celebrate the arrival of the last year of the 20th century/2nd
millennium, I present to you the final version of CMD26.
If you spot any errors please let me know because it'll be going to RAAC
soon.
Enjoy and Happy New Year!!
=======================================================================
Childhood of a Modern Dynasty
Chapter 26: It's a Small World After All, Ranma
Ranma 1/2 characters/situations created and copyright by Rumiko
Takahashi/Shogakukan/Kitty/Fuji/Viz - Used without permission
Childhood of a Modern Dynasty series created, written, and
copyright 1998-2000 by Jim Lazar
An ongoing series set after the end of the Ranma 1/2 manga and anime.
<Speech text in angle brackets is thought by character.>
"Speech text in double quotes is spoken as Japanese unless otherwise
identified as English."
E-mail comments and/or criticisms to: mailto:jimlazar@earthlink.net
Make sure to check out my Modern Dynasty website for
all released CMD stories, graphics files, and other information:
http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlazar/anime/md
=======================================================================
>From the personal journal of James Davidson:
October 21, 2057
I looked closely at Akane as I walked up to her house. "Good
morning." After an exchange of cheek kisses, I looked around. "Where's
Sanma this morning?"
"Morning." Akane smiled. "How do you know I'm not Sanma?"
"I set my palmtop to vibrate if Sanma comes within ten meters of
me. I don't want to end up kissing his cheek again." I know this wasn't
the intended purpose for the tags that everyone in the Compound had
implanted under their skin, but it was the only way I could be sure who
was who around here with Sanma's curse.
Akane chucked. "A little paranoid, aren't you? Well, I guess I
can't blame you since it's not the first time he's misused my body. But
I don't think he'll do it again since I spanked myself good after he
pulled that last trick on you."
I shook my head to clear the image that suddenly popped into my
head. "I really didn't need that visual image."
"I have pictures." Akane winked.
"Don't you think you're a little old to talk like that?"
"You're only as old as you think you are. And I think I am one hot
chick."
I rolled my eyes. "Akane..."
"Are you saying I'm a crusty old broad?"
"No. You are a very beautiful woman."
"Good."
"But you're nowhere near as sexy as Hanaki."
Akane huffed. "You should have seen me in my prime. I had guys
drooling all over me."
"Yeah, I know... I wrote the book on that part of your life,
remember? Both you and Ranma had your fair share of admirers."
"I had more," Akane boasted.
"Kept score, did you?"
Akane giggled. "Yeah... it used to bug the hell out of me, but once
I married Ranko I started to see the humor in all the love problems that
Ranma and I used to have."
"Speaking of Ranma, you promised to tell me what happened after he
left the Amazon village."
A mischievous glint suddenly appeared in Akane's eye. "It really
wasn't anything out of the ordinary. For us, at least."
The look on her face told me she had something up her sleeve. "Let
me guess... he got engaged again?"
"Close... some hussy tried her best to steal him from me and that's
just the tip of the iceberg." Akane thought for a second. "But the story
really starts back before Ranko had Daiji..."
***********************************************************************
August 3-5, 1999 - Tokyo, Japan
Akane straightened her personalized Mickey Mouse ear hat and
snuggled up to Mickey Mouse. "Come on, Ranko."
Ranko shook her head. "No... it's silly." She pulled off her
matching Mickey Mouse ear hat and looked around Tokyo Disneyland to see
if anyone was watching. All the other visitors were oblivious to Ranko's
discomfort and went on their way. Only Mickey and a nearby teenage boy
in a Disneyland uniform were watching the two of them argue about the
picture.
"Please?"
Ranko sighed. "First Space Mountain and now this."
Akane rolled her eyes. "Are you still moping because you can't go
on Space Mountain?" Ranko nodded. "You're eight months pregnant for
goodness sake!"
"If I had known that they wouldn't let me ride on all the good
rides, I'd have waited to use the discounted tickets until after I had
my son."
Akane chuckled and as she had done many times before, she countered
her husband's insistence that she would be having a son. "Or daughter.
Well, there's still the Snow White ride." She winked.
Ranko grinned and realized that this argument was suddenly a waste
of precious make-out time. She walked up to Mickey, standing on the
opposite side from Akane. "Let's get this over with quickly." She tried
to smile, but she kept glancing nervously at Mickey's huge head.
"Smile!" the teenage boy said and snapped the picture.
Akane was smiling pleasantly, but Ranko's smile was forced and she
was glancing at Mickey's head. <Damn... why do those big heads freak me
out so much?>
"Thank you," Akane said, retrieving the camera from the boy. "Now
let's go see if what your parents did on the Snow White ride is
possible." She winked at Ranko.
Ranko smiled devilishly and took Akane's hand.
As Mickey watched the happy couple walk away, a loud sigh was heard
from within the giant head.
-C- -M- -D-
Mickey and the teenage boy walked into one of the backstage
dressing rooms. "So, was that her?" the boy asked.
Mickey nodded and started to take his head off.
"She's cute, too. Being pregnant is a bummer, though."
Mickey's head came off revealing a much smaller head with a black
pigtail dangling behind it. "You idiot! My sister's the redhead. Akane
is the beautiful short-haired one!" Ranma shuddered a bit as he put down
the giant head. <Damn, it was creepy being inside that thing.>
The boy put his hands up defensively in front of him. "Okay...
okay..."
Ranma sighed and started removing the rest of the costume. "They
look happy... just as I..."
The boy slapped Ranma on the back. "Cheer up, Ranma, there are
plenty of fishes in the sea."
Ranma shook his head. "Not like Akane. She's one in a million."
"Well, maybe they aren't really that happy."
"Nope, they are. I could tell." Ranma finished getting out of the
costume and was pulling on his pants. "Anyway... Hiroe, thanks for
getting me those discount tickets and letting me go out as Mickey."
"Just don't tell anyone... it's against the rules."
"No problem. At least I know they're happy while I serve out my
sentence here."
Hiroe laughed. "If you don't like it here, you shouldn't have blown
up that mechanical dragon."
"Hey, it looked real!!"
"Real dragons... right. Anyway, you could have just had your
parents pay Disney back for it."
Ranma shook his head as he pulled his shirt on. "No... I'm not like
my old man. I pay off my own debts." A wistful look appeared on his
face. "Besides... I don't know if I'd be comfortable at home with Akane
and Ranko being married."
"I feel for you man..." Hiroe slapped Ranma's back. "Hey! Want to
go check out the Snow White ride?"
Ranma frowned. "Huh?"
"You heard them mention it, right? Well, that's where almost every
couple goes to make out around here."
Ranma gasped as he remembered something. "Actually... according to
my father, I was conceived on the Snow White ride."
Hiroe laughed like a perverted old man. "Really? Let's go then..."
He grabbed and pulled him out the door.
Ranma had just slipped his first shoe on and had to hop on one foot
as he was pulled out of the dressing room. "I'm not sure about this..."
"Don't be a wuss."
"I'm not!"
Hiroe led Ranma through a maze of corridors linking the rides in
Fantasyland until he stopped and pushed Ranma into a small alcove. "Open
that little sliding panel."
Ranma did so and revealed two little holes. "What?" He looked
through the holes. "It's the Snow White ride."
"Yeah... you can see a lot of good stuff here." Hiroe opened
another panel and looked out.
"I don't know..."
"Trust me!"
Reluctantly, Ranma watched and waited. Eventually, Akane and Ranko
rode by in their little car. Ranma snapped his panel shut and looked
away with a pained look on his face.
"Wow!! Hot lesbian action!" Hiroe was roughly pushed aside and
Ranma closed his panel. "Damn..."
-C- -M- -D-
Hearing an odd sound, Akane looked up from what she was doing and
scanned the dark corridor the ride's car was being pulled through.
"What's wrong?" Ranko asked, after she felt Akane's lips leave her
skin.
"Nothing... I guess." Akane shrugged and resumed her interrupted
activity.
-C- -M- -D-
"Cheer up, Ranma," Hiroe said later that day as he ate dinner with
Ranma at one of the fast food spots at Tokyo Disneyland.
"Why?"
"Well... um... err..."
Ranma looked at the teenage boy. "Gee, thanks for being so
comforting."
"Hey, I know how to cheer you up!" Hiroe pulled Ranma away from the
half-eaten dinner.
"This had better not be another voyeur trip."
"Trust me."
-C- -M- -D-
It's a world of laughter
A world of tears
It's a world of hopes
And a world of fears
There's so much that we share
That it's time we're aware
It's a small world after all
There is just one moon
And one golden sun
And a smile means
Friendship to ev'ryone
Though the mountains divide
And the oceans are wide
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small, small world
-C- -M- -D-
Ranma screamed as he jumped off the boat and ran as fast as he
could away from the 'It's a Small World' ride. "Oh, the horror!!" He
shook his head repeatedly, but couldn't get the song out of his head. Or
the image of all the little dancing dolls that had sung the maddening
song either, for that matter.
One of the ride attendants watched him go. "That's the sixth one
today, must be a record."
The attendant standing next to him shook her head. "Nope... On New
Years Eve in ninety-five we had twenty-eight screamers on this ride."
"Wow."
-C- -M- -D-
Little Kodachi and Takewaki Kunos danced around Ranma. While
Takewaki sang, "It's a small world after all. It's a small world after
all," Kodachi cackled to the tune.
Ranma woke up that night in a pool of his own sweat. "Oh... the
horror!"
-C- -M- -D-
The next day Ranma stood and stared at the entrance to the 'It's A
Small World' ride. "I will not let this ride beat me... I will not let
this ride beat me..." He started walking stiffly towards the line.
-C- -M- -D-
Ranma screamed as he ran away from the ride. "Oh, the horror!!"
-C- -M- -D-
Ranma screamed as the sword was thrust into his chest and pinned
him against the wall. Blood flew everywhere as he flailed around for a
few seconds before giving a last gurgling gasp. He slumped against the
wall and lay still.
A tall man dressed in armor laughed as he withdrew his sword from
the corpse. "The foul sorcerer will never trouble us again, my love,"
the man boasted as he pulled the redheaded princess into his arms. He
gave her a deep kiss to the thunderous cheers and applause of the
audience.
A loudspeaker blared to life. "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for
attending the Medieval Stunt Spectacular!! Please, enjoy the rest of
your stay at Tokyo Disneyland!" After a slight pause, the announcement
was repeated in English.
-C- -M- -D-
Ranma stumbled into the dressing room, wiping the blood off his
face. The fake blood that is. "It's getting so boring doing the same
thing, show after show." He sat down next to the man who had killed him
earlier. "Why don't we change the routine once in a while?"
The man laughed and pulled off his gauntlets. "Relax, Ranma, the
routine was worked out years ago. You'll get used to it."
"I doubt it... I'm used to more variety in my life."
"Maybe you shouldn't be working for Disney then." The man laughed,
then looked around to see if the walls had ears. Mouse ears.
"Don't got much choice. Besides..."
"Saotome!!" a voice bellowed out.
Ranma flinched and looked over to see his supervisor standing in
the doorway. "Yes?"
"They need a understudy for Indiana Jones and someone thinks you'd
be good for the job," the stocky man in a business suit said. He seemed
to appraise Ranma with his eyes. "I don't know why."
"Huh? Who's that?"
"Indiana Jones. He's a movie character and they have a big stunt
show featuring him at Disney World."
"Oh, so they are setting one up here?"
"Nope. They want you at Disney World."
Ranma's jaw dropped. "In America?" His supervisor nodded. "But...
but... I don't really know much English and I don't want to leave
Japan."
"I already went over this with the American stunt show producers.
They said they'd get you a tutor and the increased pay would cut your
twelve-month contract down to six-months. Apparently, they are desperate
for someone good since their lead Indy is retiring soon and the last
understudy... slipped."
"Slipped?" Ranma asked.
"During the propeller stunt."
"I hope he's okay."
"He'll live."
-C- -M- -D-
August 12, 1999 - Orlando, Florida USA
Ranma walked down the airport concourse and looked very lost. "This
sucks... they said someone would meet me." He hefted his backpack up and
continued walking while looking around for anything that may help. He
spotted a man in a uniform and approached him. "Excuse please. Me seek
Disney World?" he asked in broken English. <I should have paid more
attention in school, I guess.>
The man laughed and replied in English. "You and everyone else
here, boy. There are shuttles and taxis on the lower level."
Ranma understood some of what the man said and pointed down the
concourse. "Lower level? Disney World?" He frowned. <I thought it was
outside like Tokyo Disneyland. Odd that it would be in the airport.>
The man nodded and then went on with his sweeping.
Ranma continued down the concourse and rode the escalator down to
the lower level. Instead of the happiest place on Earth, he found
himself in the baggage claim that was filled with angry people waiting
for luggage. <I don't think this is right...> he muttered and looked
around, only to be tackled by a short teenage girl. Both of them crashed
to the ground.
"Sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going... I'm very late," the
teenager said in English. She was shorter than Ranko and had more
pronounced curves as well. Which was to say she was well endowed.
At that moment, those curves were pressed against Ranma's chest,
causing him some embarrassment. "Is okay," he said in broken English.
"Um... can get up?"
The girl blushed as she hopped off Ranma. She turned away to hide
the blush and straightened her dress. "Sorry." She idly twisted her long
blond hair trying to hide how nervous she suddenly felt.
Ranma didn't notice her blush or nervousness. He got to his feet
and flipped his head back to knock his pigtail off his shoulder.
The girl looked at him and smiled broadly. "Ah... Ranma Saotome!!
They said you had a pigtail."
Ranma was amazed that she knew his name. "Yes, how you know that?"
The girl smiled and then responded in near perfect Japanese. "I'm
here to pick you up. Sorry I'm late." She did a quick bow.
Ranma relaxed when he realized he could use Japanese now. "Oh,
great. I was completely lost. For some reason Disney World is not in the
basement like the guy said."
The girl chuckled. "Very funny. It's not here at the airport,
silly. Come on." Without even pausing, she pulled Ranma's arm towards
the exit. "Um... you have any more luggage than that?" She gestured to
the backpack Ranma carried.
"Nope, I travel light."
"Okay... great. Let's get going. On the way we can start your
lessons." She turned away from Ranma to hid the blush that appeared on
her face. <God, he's such a hunk. When she sees him, Susan is going to
be so mad that she passed this assignment up.>
"Huh?"
"I've been assigned to give you English lessons and get you
settled. I usually teach Japanese to English speakers, but I can handle
the reverse. Probably."
"Um... aren't you a little young?"
"I'm sixteen... almost. And I'm fluent in English, Japanese,
Mandarin, and French!" the girl boasted.
"Wow... that's impressive."
The girl smiled broadly. "I've got a knack for languages. My dad's
one of the bigwigs at Disney World and got me this job so I can be
exposed to a wide variety of languages before I start college next year.
I'm trying to learn German at the moment." She paused and then said
something in German. Although it could have been Greek for all Ranma
could tell.
"Huh?" Ranma had enough trouble following the all the information
she had blurted in Japanese, let alone the German part at the end.
She smiled. "That's German for I'm very glad to meet you."
"Oh, me too." As they reached the curb by all the various shuttle
vans he suddenly realized something. "Err... by the way, what's your
name?"
The girl slapped her head. "Doh! I'm sorry, Mr. Saotome, I must
have had a blonde moment there. I'm Deedee."
"Okay, Deedee. You can call me Ranma. My old man's Mr. Saotome, at
least when he's not scratching his furry butt."
Deedee's hazel eyes lit up when she laughed at the part of the joke
she understood. "Okay, Ranma." She slipped her arm around his arm and
escorted him into one of the shuttle vans.
***********************************************************************
>From the personal journal of James Davidson:
October 21, 2057
"What?" I asked.
"Apparently the little hussy had eyes for Ranma from the start. But
I guess I can't blame her," Akane chuckled.
"No... no... what was the girl's name?" I asked impatiently.
"Deedee," Akane replied and looked at me with concern. "Why?"
"Deedee." I repeated softly. "That's my mother."
Akane's mouth dropped open and it took several seconds for her to
speak. "No... it has to be a different Deedee."
"Blond, sixteen, working at Disney World as a translator in
ninety-nine. That's my mom. Deborah Diana Ledesma.... 'Deedee'."
An irritated look crossed Akane's face. "Ranma never found out her
full name... much to my regret. I can't believe the background check we
ran on you didn't find out that Deedee was your mother."
"Well... she only used Deedee when she was younger."
Akane's annoyed look turned into an amused smile. "Guess you had a
surprise for me this time."
I chuckled. "How does it feel?"
"Not as much fun as when I surprise you."
"Now you know how I feel."
"I guess so... but I may have some surprises concerning your mother
to tell you."
"Huh?"
"I think we'd better call her. Oh... and I'm sorry for calling your
mother a floozy." An apologetic smile appeared on Akane's face.
"You said hussy."
"Oh... sorry about that too."
-C- -M- -D-
"Hi, Mary, can we talk to Mom?"
The hologram of my older sister frowned and twisted her long blond
hair in the way she always did when she was irritated about something.
"We?"
"Akane Tendo is here with me." I glanced at the holo-status display
and verified that Akane and me were both included in the
holo-transmission to New York. We were.
Akane smiled. "Nice to meet you, Mary."
Mary seemed to notice Akane for the first time, but nodded. "You
too, Matriarch."
"You can call me Akane. We're family, after all."
Mary nodded, but I could tell she was in one of her moods when she
looked back at me. "Why do you need to talk to Mom? She needs her rest."
"I know she does, but it's important."
"Hold on." Her holo-image was replaced by a 'Please stand by'
message, which the local systems automatically translated into Kanji
characters over a mountain landscape. I sometimes wonder what they did
for hold messages when they only had voice communications. Maybe they
played some pleasant music for the person waiting to enjoy.
"I'm sorry about my sister. She's been very protective of my mom
since the stroke."
Akane nodded. "I understand. If your mother's too sick, we can
wait."
"Well, according to her doctors, she's recovering as well as can be
expected. She did have a bout with the flu recently, but she's off the
I.V. now and can go outside for short periods."
Akane smiled. "I'm glad. If there is anything I can do to help..."
I waved her off. "No... no, that's not necessary. I've made sure
she's getting the best care possible." Suddenly, a holo-image of my mom
appeared. "Hi, Mom."
"James, I'm surprised you called. It was only a couple days ago
that we just talked." My mom was in her bed at home and looked stronger
than she had the last time we talked, much to my relief.
"Well, I was talking to Akane and we... um... sort of..." I
stumbled, unsure how to bring up the subject.
Akane saved me. "Deedee, It's nice to see to you again."
And surprised me at the same time. Again?
My mom smiled at hearing her old nickname. "You too, Akane.
Although I'm sure you thought I was a floozy or a tramp at the time."
"No... no... of course not." Akane glared at me before I could
remind her of her earlier comments.
My mom sighed. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?"
"I can't believe you never mentioned anything about your
experiences with Ranma to your son or tried to contact me in all these
years."
My mom looked nervously at her hands. "Well, those were rough times
for me. It took me a long time to get over them and really didn't want
to talk about it."
"Deedee, I..."
I cleared my throat. "Excuse me, but... Akane, you've met my mom?"
Akane looked at me. "Yes, a long time ago. Although I didn't know
she was your mother until now."
"James, I'm sorry I never told you this story, but I had put it all
behind me long before I met your father."
"I know you had some bad experiences back then, but I had no idea
they involved Ranma and Akane."
My mom nodded. "Yes, they did. I do find it ironic and maybe a
little comforting that you married into the family I wasn't able to."
I gasped. This was why my mom always seemed so amused that I was
writing the books and when I married Hanaki. "So... your first love that
you lost when the Three Harbingers appeared was Ranma?" I had heard the
stories from my father, but he had never mentioned any names.
"Yes." My mom looked nervously at Akane. "I was devastated when I
heard about his death. I'm very sorry, Akane."
A pained look came to Akane's face. "Thank you. Um... Deedee, I
think we have a lot to talk about. Can I come and visit?"
My mom smiled. "You're more than welcome to visit. I was sort of
expecting this once you started telling James about Ranma's time at
Disney World, but didn't know how to bring it up after all this time."
I shook my head sadly. "I can't believe I almost had a pigtail."
My mom shook her head. "No, I would never have let you have a
pigtail. It was the one thing I hated about Ranma."
Akane frowned. "That was the only thing that bugged you about him?
I find that hard to believe."
"Well, the fact that he was totally clueless sometimes irked me
too."
Before we discussed the trip, I was treated to Akane and my mom
sharing notes on Ranma's various shortcomings. And some of them were
things you should never have to hear your own mother talking about.
-C- -M- -D-
"Roadtrip?! Great... what do we get to blowup?" Sanma asked
excitedly after Akane told him the news. She was still in Akane's body
and leaning against the doorframe of Akane's family room.
Akane chuckled. "Nothing, Honey. We're going to New York to visit
James's mother."
"Why?"
"You remember Deedee?"
"Yeah."
"She's his mother."
Sanma looked over at me. "Deedee is your mommy?" I nodded. "Damn,
how did you hide that?"
I sighed heavily. "It was news to me too. Apparently, only my mom
knew the connection and didn't want to talk about that part of her
life."
"Yeah... it was a rough time. Damn, did you know what a fox your
mommy was when she was sixteen?" Sanma smiled.
I sighed. "I really don't want to hear that kind of stuff."
Sanma grinned.
Hanaki walked into the family room and smiled at me. "Auntie, you
wanted to see me?"
"Yup, we're going to New York to visit your mother-in-law. Do you
want to fly Tendo One and arrange for the escort?"
Hanaki's eyes lit up. "Okay, but I've only flown the Beast in a
couple of training flights."
"Beast... escort?" I was overflowing with questions.
Hanaki smiled. "The 'Beast' is our nickname for Tendo One... you'll
see. And my aunt can't exactly go anywhere without some protection."
Akane sighed. "The Buyierfei want me dead, remember, James?"
"Ah...yes. I can understand that."
Akane scowled at me. "Why? Do you want to kill me too?"
"No! I... um..." My awkward reply stopped when I saw Akane smile
mischievously. "Well... when you tease me like this I do." I winked at
her.
-C- -M- -D-
"Wow.... what a beast!" I exclaimed as I saw Tendo One for the
first time.
"That's how it got its nickname." Hanaki gave me a quick peck and
then waved to a young woman with long black hair who was checking out
the bottom of the large spacejet.
The woman smiled and waved back. She was tall with long slender,
but muscular, arms visible from the rolled up sleeves of her flight
suit. She carried herself down the length of the spacejet with a haughty
spring to her step, which seemed designed to attract attention to
herself.
"Who's that?"
"Jaki, she's my co-pilot for the flight. Anyway... I have to do the
pre-flight. Can you wait here for Akane and everyone?" I nodded. "Good."
She gave me another peck and then rushed off.
So that was the famous Jaki that Hanaki keeps telling me about. The
tall brunette was beautiful, but couldn't hold a candle to my sweet
Hanaki. Of course, I'm slightly biased. Hanaki had tried several times
to get Jaki to come over for dinner so I could meet her, but our
schedules never seemed to allow it. Apparently, Jaki spent a lot of time
in the air flying between the various compounds. Or in Hanaki's words,
Jaki is a bird born without wings who is forced to use mechanical wings
to stay aloft. Looking at Jaki's graceful movements as she checked out
the spacejet seemed to confirm that statement.
Without anything better to do, I looked around the main hangar.
Hanaki had promised me a tour when she could arrange it, but our
unexpected trip to New York had allowed me the opportunity to visit now.
It was down the Japanese coast, but Hanaki couldn't tell me how far. The
private tube ride took us just under twenty minutes, so it had to be
somewhere between a hundred and a hundred and fifty kilometers from
Tokyo at typical tube speeds. Of course, when it comes to the Tendos the
definition of 'typical' is anybody's guess.
The main hangar looked like it was underground, since two of the
walls were rough rock outcroppings. The large steel roof had several
large hatches in it for hoverjets to fly though. But Tendo One, or the
'Beast', was too large to get out of those openings. I imagined there
had to be a larger opening further down the hangar, but since the only
area that was currently illuminated was the area around Tendo One, I
couldn't be sure.
Tendo One itself was about the size of a typical midsize spacejet
that could carry a couple hundred passengers. Unlike the small civilian
spacejet that Hanaki and I had crashed into the Las Vegas Strip, Tendo
One was obviously made for combat. Or at least to survive combat if it
found itself in the middle of a battle. Considering Akane's history, I
imagine it was a good idea for them to be prepared for any eventuality.
The smooth flowing lines almost seemed organic as they flowed from
the nose to the tail. Although pictures of the hoverjets are easy enough
to come by--they are based on standard military hoverjets after
all--Tendo One is rarely seen and photos were very hard to find. Some of
ultra-global-net fan sites that keep track of the Task Force's
activities have some low-res pictures of Tendo One, but they don't do it
justice.
The rear wings swept forward and downward in a graceful curve. They
were larger than the smaller swept back canard wings in front. Viewed
from above, I imaged the two wings would form a diamond shape if they
were extended out so that the tips touched. Like many modern spacejets,
there was no vertical stabilizer and the large ramjets were arranged
along the bottom of the tail. There was another set of ramjets
positioned under the front wings as well. I guess this beast required a
lot of thrust to get airborne. And stay airborne for that matter.
The fuselage was wider than it was tall. It started at a flat,
rounded nose--which looked a little like the bill of a duck--and spread
out gradually in smooth flowing lines towards the back of the spacejet.
Right behind the front wings, the fuselage widened into the larger rear
section where the rear wings merged seamlessly with the fuselage and met
at a sharp point at the very rear of the spacejet.
On the side of the spacejet were several of the movable pods like
the ones that I had seen on the hoverjet they had used to clear out the
avian nests. Although not as many or as articulated as the pods I had
seen on that hoverjet, these appeared to serve the same purpose: To
allow Task Force members to fire chi blasts while in flight. From what
I've been told, Tendo One wasn't intentionally used for combat missions,
so I guess these simpler pods were enough. Of course, that didn't mean
combat didn't find Tendo One.
There were some windows, but nowhere near the number that you found
on commercial spacejets. The two pilot chairs in front could be seen
through the array of thick windows that made up the cockpit. The chairs
and controls were suspended so the windows gave an exceptional line of
sight to the pilots. I could just make out more flight chairs behind the
two pilot ones, but they were set back behind the main windows.
"Don't drool on the floor."
I turned around and saw the woman that Hanaki had pointed out to me
earlier. "Oh... you're Jaki, aren't you?"
She smiled broadly. "Yup. Guess I'm as popular as I think I am."
"My wife has told me quite a lot about you."
"Does Hanaki complain how I keep getting the choice assignments?"
I frowned. "Nope."
"How I always score higher in the training simulator?"
"Nope."
"Then about how all the single guys are nuts about me?"
"Nope."
The smile vanished from Jaki's face. "No, huh? Well what does she
say?"
"That you're a great pilot and her best friend." I decided to leave
out the part about Hanaki always claiming Jaki is the sexiest pilot on
the Task Force. I didn't particularly agree with that, since Hanaki is
by far the sexiest woman I've ever met. More of that personal bias
showing there, I guess.
Jaki giggled and ran her hand through the red streak in her hair.
"Well, Hanaki never seems to be able to say bad things about me. Even
when I deserve them. I hope you know how lucky you are to have her."
I smiled and nodded. "I do."
"Good..." She suddenly looked me over like I was a side of beef.
"She's lucky too by the way."
I blushed. "Thank you."
"Jaki, if you're done flirting with my husband can you get up here
and do your preflight?" Hanaki called from the ramp to Tendo One.
"Yes, ma'am!" Jaki snapped back and the grinned at me. "You wife
gets pretty intense when she's in charge."
"Yes, I've noticed that."
"Please excuse me." She smiled sweetly, then walked up the ramp and
into the spacejet. "Hey, old man! Get your butt out of there!"
Seconds later, Akane sailed out of the open hatch and flew across
the hangar. She landed in the only bucket of water in sight. Either that
was an incredible coincidence or Jaki has very good aim.
"Oh my," I gasped as Akane--or to be more exact, Sanma in Akane's
body--transformed into a average sized bullfrog. I looked around and
noticed that no one else had seen him transform, so I walked over and
held out a hand for him. He hopped onto my hand and croaked. "Damn, this
is going to be difficult to explain to my mom."
The bullfrog croaked irritably.
-C- -M- -D-
I walked up the ramp and into the cabin of Tendo One, bullfrog in
hand. I took a moment to soak in the luxurious surroundings. There were
about a dozen rows of large padded seats. Each row had four seats that
reclined and swiveled. There were small flip up trays attached to the
side of each chair as well, each of which seemed to have a built-in
keyboard.
Behind the rows of seats were hatches in the side of the bulkhead,
which judging from their positions probably led to the pods on the
outside. Between the pods, was the occasional window. Further back, were
a few small conversation areas with round couches. And behind that was a
corridor leading back to a larger hatch. There seemed to be several
doors and alcoves in the corridor. The lavatories and galley, I assume.
Forward of the main hatch was a small corridor that ended in a
large, very sturdy hatch. It was a little like the hatch in the rear
corridor, except larger. It looked a little out of place in the
otherwise luxurious surroundings.
I looked around, a little amazed that no one was in the main cabin.
"Hello?"
Hanaki's voice came over the intercom. "James, come through the
forward hatch. My aunt is in her cabin."
I walked forward and the forward hatch slid open to admit me. A
couple of lavatories were on the other side and then the corridor lead
to a large hatch marked 'cockpit'. On either side of the corridor were
two doors. I walked towards the open one. "Hello?"
Akane looked up from a book she was reading. "Hi, James. Come sit
down here. Have you seen Sanma?"
I gulped and remembered who I was carrying in my hand. I held the
frog out so she could see him.
"Oh my. Come here, my prince." She reached out and the frog hopped
into her hands. She smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips.
I half expected him to transform into a dashing young prince, but
this isn't a fairy tale. You need hot and cold water to transform people
and animals in the real world. "I guess Sanma's not a prince after all."
Akane chuckled. "Nope... but he's a lot more fun than a snotty
prince." She smiled at the bullfrog. "What a way to meet Deedee after
all this time."
"Um... how exactly does a frog drown to make the Spring of Drowned
Frog in the first place?"
Akane chuckled. "Foul play is our best guess." She winked at me.
"So, how'd it happen this time?"
"I think Jaki tossed him out of the spacejet."
Akane looked crossed at the frog. "What did you do to your
granddaughter this time?"
The frog croaked innocently.
Granddaughter? Another piece of my Tendo family tree fell into
place.
-C- -M- -D-
The spacejet screamed as it raced down the hanger's runway. Outside
the windows, I could only see the wall of the hangar flash by. Akane had
let me stay with her in her private cabin. I think it was so I wouldn't
be able to talk to any of the Task Force members who were accompanying
us.
The cabin was very nicely furnished. Four chairs like the ones in
the main cabin. A little refrigerator and wet bar, a private lavatory,
and some other convenience items. Apparently, the cabin across the
corridor held a bedroom. Considering how down-to-earth Akane was the
luxurious nature of Tendo One amazed me. She had brushed off my earlier
questions about it by saying that it was all a part of the Matriarch's
image to the outside world. I guess there were times she had to mingle
with world leaders whenever they suggested the Task Force should be
expanded, have its funding decreased, or even be disbanded. Political
opinions change almost as fast as you can shake a poll in a politician's
face. I'm just glad I never had to cover politics during my time as a
reporter.
My stomach suddenly tried to jump out of my throat when the
spacejet lurched. I saw blue sky outside the windows. We were airborne.
I was suddenly pressed back into my seat as we accelerated,
probably due to another set of engines firing. "Oh.... god..."
I heard Akane laugh, but didn't want to turn my head to look at her
lest it snap off under the stress of the G-forces we were pulling.
"Don't worry, James, you'll get used to it. It just takes a lot of
thrust to get this beast airborne from the small runway in the hangar."
It seemed like hours before the engines throttled down, but it was
only a few minutes according to my palmtop's clock. I glanced outside
and saw the four hoverjets that had been glued to our side during our
ascent. They wagged their wings a few times and then veered off. "What
happened to our escort?"
Akane smiled. "Although the hoverjets can do orbit burns, they
can't quite keep up with Tendo One. She may be a beast to get off the
ground, but at the edge of the atmosphere and burning full out she's
hard for anything to keep up with. We'll have some hoverjets waiting in
New York to escort us into J.F.K."
I gulped. "We're not at top speed now?"
Akane smiled and shook her head. "Nope. Just wait till she does the
orbit burn."
Just then, Hanaki's voice came over the intercom. "We're in our
normal ascent now if anyone cute wants to come up and visit me before I
burn this baby."
I looked over at Akane and smiled. "You think she means me?"
"Probably... I'll stay here with my husband."
I frowned and looked around. "Where is Sanma anyway?"
Akane smiled and opened her blouse a bit and the frog climbed out
of her cleavage.
My jaw dropped. "Must be nice and comfy in there, huh, Sanma?"
The frog croaked.
-C- -M- -D-
October 22, 2057 - New York City, New York USA
"Mary, this is Akane and her husband Sanma."
"You married a frog?" my sister asked as she stood in the entryway
to my mom's townhouse. She looked at the bullfrog in Akane's hands with
a confused look on her face.
I smiled. "It's a long story. You've met my wife, of course. And
that's Jaki and Yohachi next to her. The four outside are..." I frowned
as I realized I had forgotten the names of the Task Force members who
had taken up sentry duty.
Akane smiled. "Michio, Yoshitaka, Makato, and Naoyuki. They are
just outside as a precaution."
"I'm pleased to meet you all." Mary suddenly frowned. "Precaution?"
Akane tried to reassure my sister. "Just standard procedure when we
travel. You needn't worry."
Mary looked ready to complain, but I could see she was not going to
pick a fight with Akane. She looked over at me. "Have you put on some
weight, James?"
I frowned and looked down at myself. "No... I don't think so."
Hanaki answered with more conviction. "No, he hasn't." She smiled
at me.
Mary looked at the group who had come with us to my mom's
townhouse. "You're not all going in there, are you?" She nodded towards
my mom's room.
Akane shook her head. "No... I understand your mother isn't well.
It'll just be your brother, Hanaki, and me."
"And your husband." Mary eyed the frog suspiciously.
Akane nodded. "Sometimes I forget about him when he's so small."
The frog croaked irritably. I wasn't sure if it was because he
didn't like being overlooked or being called small.
-C- -M- -D-
My mom's eyes brightened and she smiled as our little group walked
into the bedroom. "James!"
"Hi, Mom." I kissed her cheek and squeezed her hand. She was
looking much better than she had just yesterday. She must have spruced
up for this.
"Hi, Mom." Hanaki gave her a kiss and a hug. "Don't worry, I'm
taking good care of James like you asked me to."
"Good. He's so lucky to have a nice young woman like you to keep
him out of trouble." My mom turned towards Akane. "Nice to see you again
after all these years, Akane."
Akane smiled slightly and nodded. "You too, Deedee."
My mom cocked her head slightly. "I think Deborah is better these
days. Deedee is a little too young sounding for this old woman."
Akane smiled and sat down in the chair next to my mom. "You're only
as young as you think you are-" She placed her hand on my mom's hand.
"-Deedee."
"Well, that seems to have worked for you, Akane. You look
fabulous."
"Thank you, but I feel my age too. There are days when I can't
stand to get out of bed..." Akane gasped and looked awkwardly at my
mom's bed. "Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."
I was a little surprised to see Akane so awkward. She was usually
the one who remained calm and collected no matter what the situation.
My mom shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Mary gets me outside
enough and I'm still able to enjoy my books. I used to read to James all
the time when he was little."
Hanaki smiled and looked at me. "That explains my husband's love of
writing."
My mom nodded and beamed with pride. "Do you want to see the first
thing he ever wrote?"
No, she couldn't still have THAT. "Mom, I don't think..."
Hanaki smiled. "I'd love to."
Akane smirked. "Yes, since I'm trusting my family's life story to
him, I could use some proof that he's not a two-bit hack."
"Akane!"
-C- -M- -D-
After I was thoroughly embarrassed, Akane finally asked the
question. "So, when did you fall in love with Ranma?"
My mom sighed. "Well... who knows. I thought he was a hunk when I
first met him at the airport. The time I spent teaching him English and
getting him settled was a lot of fun. He was always talking about his
adventures and how great he was."
"Yup, that was Ranma alright." Akane chuckled.
"I didn't really believe some of his stories and thought he was
making them up to impress me. At the time I never realized he already
had someone he loved." An awkward glance was exchanged between my mom
and Akane.
"Back then, he... no WE were not very verbal about our love. Since
it took him long enough to admit it to himself, let alone to me, I
imagine he wasn't running around Disney World shouting 'I love Akane!'."
My mom chuckled. "Actually, he did say that once in his sleep."
That statement did not amuse Akane.
I wasn't exactly thrilled to hear it either.
***********************************************************************
August 12-September 4, 1999 - Disney World, Florida USA
As the van bounced along the road, Deedee examined her new student.
<No wedding ring... check.> She looked up from his hand to his chest.
<Wow... what a bod. Old worn clothes that are out of style... even in
Japan... check.> She looked up at his face. <Gorgeous blue eyes...
check. Might have to do something about the pigtail though. But all
signs point to him being single and a hunk.>
While Deedee was checking him out, Ranma was staring out the
window. An occasional flash of green trees interrupted the rows of tacky
souvenir shops and family restaurants. "Disney World looks a lot
different than Tokyo Disneyland."
Deedee giggled. "This isn't Disney World, silly. We're not even on
the Disney property yet. The souvenir shops there aren't as tacky.
Well... they're a higher class of tacky."
"Oh."
"So, what brings you here anyway?"
"I blew up a dragon."
Deedee's face went blank. "Huh?"
"Disney was holding a parade or something in Tokyo near the airport
and there was this big mechanical dragon. Well... I sort of thought it
was real-" Ranma tried to ignore Deedee's sudden giggle. "-and blasted
it. Now they're making me pay it off."
Deedee laughed. "Do you slay a lot of dragons?"
Ranma shrugged. "Well... not a lot, but there was the yamata no
orochi which I defeated and put back to sleep with some help from..."
Ranma paused to wonder what Akane was to him now. Fiancee didn't quite
work anymore. Girlfriend didn't seem right either. What exactly do you
call the woman you intend to marry after her current husband-who is also
your sister-gives birth to her immaculately conceived child? Ranma chose
the best thing he could think of. "...fiancee-in-law. She really saved
my butt that time."
Deedee frowned. <He must mean his brother's fiancee, but what an
odd way to put it.>
"Other than that, it's usually some crazed martial artist or a
demon that I have to fight. I had just been in a big fight with the
Buyierfei in China, so I guess I was a little on edge when I first saw
the dragon."
"Buyierfei? That's Mandarin, right?"
"Yeah... I guess. The Buyierfei are a nasty race of invisible
demons with all sorts of tentacles. Hard to kill, but nothing I can't
handle. I'm the world's greatest martial artist, after all."
Deedee just stared at Ranma as he rambled on. <Sounds like
something on one of those pornographic Japanese cartoons. He must be
really trying to impress me to tell such tall tales. Well, he's cute so
I'll go along with him." > She smiled. "Wow, I'd love to hear more."
Ranma, being Ranma, was more than willing to describe his heroic
battles to Deedee.
-C- -M- -D-
"I am a handsome guy."
"Good. Next."
"You are a very pretty girl."
"Thank you. Next."
"Tank you?"
Deedee smiled. "Th-ank y-ou. It means arigato. 'Thank you very
much' is the same as domo arigato gozaimasu."
"Thank you."
"Good."
"Thank you very much."
"You're welcome. You're picking this up really fast."
Ranma smiled proudly. "Hey, that ain't nottin Ranma Saotome can
do!"
Deedee sighed. "Try: There is nothing that Ranma Saotome can't do."
"That's what I said," Ranma replied in Japanese.
Deedee giggled. "Not exactly. Try it again and think about each
word you want to use before saying it."
"There is nottin that Ranma Saotome can do!"
"Careful on the nothing. Sound it out. No-th-ing. And remember that
can and can't are opposites."
Ranma sighed and dropped his head to the desk. "This is too hard!!"
he mumbled in Japanese.
Deedee reached over and patted him on his back. "It's okay. You're
doing great so far."
"I guess. But why do I have to learn English anyway? I'm just
repeating all the moves in the stunt show."
Deedee smiled. "Because Disney has this thing about the stuntmen
being able to understand shouts like: 'Watch out for that loose rope' or
'Don't step on that exploding panel' or 'Watch out for the spinning
propeller'. That's why you have this job now, you know."
"Yeah... I heard about that. Is the guy okay?"
"He'll live."
-C- -M- -D-
A few days later at lunch, Deedee sucked some soda though a straw
and then looked at Ranma. "You know, Ranma, you'd look a lot better
without the pigtail."
Ranma frowned and put down the half-eaten burger he had been doing
his best to inhale. "Huh? It's my best feature." He idly reached behind
his head and touched his pigtail to reassure himself that it was still
there. It was, of course.
"It's just not in fashion anymore. I know a great barber who could
make you look stunning."
Ranma smirked and put on a dashing smile. "So, I'm not stunning
already?"
Deedee's heart skipped a beat. <Damn... he's such a hunk.> "Yes...
you are. I was just... making a suggestion."
"I've had my pigtail for as long as I can remember."
Deedee reached out and ran her hand through Ranma's hair. "Well, I
still say you'd look even better without it. You're quite handsome."
Ranma blushed. "Err... thank you. You're cute too. You'll probably
have all kinds of guys chasing you when you grow up."
That was the last thing Deedee wanted to hear. She huffed and took
another sip of her soda. <He's a bit... dense, but with a face and body
like that... who cares?>
-C- -M- -D-
Ranma ran down the ramp just slightly ahead of the huge boulder
that was bearing down on him. He pulled out his whip, hoping to use it
to escape the boulder. In the process he tripped and fell in the path of
the boulder. A piercing scream rang out as he was crushed flat.
A tall man clapped as he walked onto the ramp. "Nice... you've got
that one down pat now." He held out a hand to Ranma.
Ranma took the hand and got up out of the recessed pit in the floor
of the ramp. "Thanks. Is real easy."
The middle-age man laughed. "For you maybe... it took me twice as
long to get the moves down right."
"You good teacher, Max."
"A teacher is only as good as the student."
"Then you great teacher."
Max laughed loudly. "Some ego you have there, kid."
"Thanks."
-C- -M- -D-
"Come on..." Deedee pulled on Ranma's arm and looked at him with
cute little puppy dog eyes.
"NO!"
"Please." She fluttered her eyelashes.
"I'd rather not. I had a long day of training today."
"Come on... it's one of the perks of working here."
"Well, okay... but not that Small World thing."
Deedee frowned.
-C- -M- -D-
"Ack... too... tight..." Ranma gasped and tried to pull Deedee's
arms off his neck.
Deedee screamed again as the roller coaster crested another peak.
Her arms contracted around Ranma's neck again.
"Ack..."
-C- -M- -D-
"Sorry, Ranma." Deedee looked sadly at the ground.
Ranma laughed it off. "No problem... I've survived much worse. So,
what's next?"
"See, I told you that you would enjoy an evening in the park as a
regular visitor instead of as an employee." Deedee casually took Ranma's
hand and held it.
Ranma flinched as she took his hand, but decided not to make a
scene about it. <It's America. I'm sure friends hold hands like this all
the time.>
Deedee smiled. <He's not pulling away. He does like me!> She looked
around and then pointed to a pastel colored building. "Let's go on
that."
Ranma eyed the building suspiciously. <That's looks a little
familiar.> After being unable to explain why he was uneasy, he shrugged.
"I guess so."
-C- -M- -D-
"Arggghhhhh!" Ranma screamed and clung to Deedee in sheer terror.
"Make it stop!"
Deedee grimaced a little from the force of Ranma's grip, but was
elated her plan to get Ranma alone on the ride worked so well. <I guess
he's just shy outside. When we're alone he's such a tiger.> She cuddled
up to him and then flinched as he gripped her tighter.
Ranma and Deedee were alone as they floated down the concrete river
in the boat. The little plastic dolls danced all around them. "It's a
small world after all. It's a small, small world."
"Oh the horror!!" Ranma jumped out of the boat and ran for the
nearest emergency exit.
-C- -M- -D-
"Are you okay, Ranma?" Deedee asked Ranma as they sat in a fast
food restaurant near the ride's exit.
Ranma lifted his head and revealed his pale face and haunted look.
"Yes... yes... nothing beats Ranma Saotome!!" His head fell back to the
table with a loud thud.
Deedee couldn't understand what was wrong with him. "What do you
want to go on next?"
"I... I just want to go to back to my place."
Deedee blushed and looked around awkwardly. "Well... we've only
known each other for a few weeks."
Ranma didn't seem to hear her. "Yes..."
"Well... okay, Ranma."
-C- -M- -D-
Ranma staggered into the small one room apartment he was staying
in. <Never again... I will never go on that ride again. I just won't
tell anyone about it... so I wasn't really beaten.>
Deedee walked in behind Ranma, trembling with anticipation. <This
is it... I didn't expect to go this far this fast. The Japanese must be
used to going all the way on the first date.>
Ranma collapsed onto the unmade bed and sighed heavily.
Deedee stood just inside the doorway and seemed to be torn between
leaving and lying down next to Ranma. She flinched when she heard the
door click as it closed behind her. Her choice seemingly made for her;
she started undoing her blouse.
***********************************************************************
>From the personal journal of James Davidson:
October 22, 2057
"Oh god... please stop..." I gasped before my mom could say any
more.
My mom looked at me with that look that always made me feel ten
years old. "You're a grown man, James."
"Yeah... but... but... I really don't need to hear this sort of
thing from my mom. It's bad enough when Akane talks like this... but my
own mom." A shiver flowed up my spine.
"Well, I was sixteen... almost, and in love for the first time. I
did some pretty embarrassing things. That's part of the reason I never
told you about it."
I shook my head sadly. "Did Dad know?"
"Most of it. I told him I had met the Great Hero and fell in love
with him when I was sixteen."
Akane raised an eyebrow. "This isn't exactly what Ranma told me
about his time at Disney World."
My mom looked at Akane. "What did he tell you?"
"Well, he talked a lot about how quickly he picked up English and
learned the stunts. If it wasn't for the dojo, he said he might have
considered becoming a stuntman for a living."
"And about me?"
"That you were a good friend who had a crush on him. When we met, I
could tell that you had feelings for him. I was used to women falling
for him at the drop of a hat and could recognize the signs right away,
where it apparently took him quite some time to figure it out. But he
never told me about this 'date'." Akane's eye twitched, as she grew more
and more irritated.
"Well, in retrospect, I think I was the only one who considered it
a date. It was about that point I found out I had competition for his
love."
***********************************************************************
September 4-24, 1999 - Disney World, Florida USA
Wearing just her bra and panties, Deedee slipped into the bed next
to Ranma. "It's my first time... so please be gentle with me, Ranma."
Ranma's response was in the form of a long drawn out snore.
Deedee stared dumfounded at Ranma. She nudged him, but he didn't
wake up. She sighed and rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling.
"Well, now what? This isn't exactly how the girls on Dawson's Creek lost
their virginity."
Ranma stirred and rolled over. Deedee suddenly found herself pinned
under his body.
<This is more like it.> Deedee could feel the heat of Ranma's body
against hers. She slid her hands up Ranma's back and raised her head to
kiss him.
"I love you..." Ranma muttered, causing Deedee to smile.
"...Akane."
Deedee frowned and let her head drop back to the bed. "Huh?"
"Akane..." Ranma muttered as he shifted onto his side, freeing
Deedee.
Deedee scurried off the bed and collected her clothes. She
redressed while looking at the sleeping Ranma. <Who's Akane? Why did he
go out with me if he already has a girl back in Japan?> After she had
finished redressing, she took one last look at Ranma and left the
apartment.
-C- -M- -D-
A few days later, Deedee was watching Ranma go through his English
lessons.
"See the ball. The ball is red. See the ball roll. Roll ball roll."
Ranma sighed. "This is boring!" he shouted in Japanese.
"Ranma, use English..."
"Hai, Sensei." He saw her scolding look. "Yes, Teacher."
"Good. Continue."
"Why you give me so much work suddenly?" Ranma asked.
"That's 'why have you given'..."
Ranma sighed. "Yes, teacher." He reluctantly went back to his
studying.
After about another hour of lessons, Deedee finally asked a
question that had been on the tip of her tongue since their 'date'.
"Who's Akane?"
Ranma looked up from his book at hearing Deedee's sudden question.
"Huh?"
Deedee clenched her fist. It had already taken her a lot of courage
to ask once. She swallowed hard and then repeated the question. "Who's
Akane?"
"She my fiancee... sort of."
"Sort of?"
Ranma blushed and looked away as he explained in Japanese. "Well,
it's a long story. You see, me and my two sisters were engaged to marry
Akane and..."
"All three of you?"
"Yeah... I know it's weird, but we were. Anyway... my sister Ranko
got herself pregnant--that's another long story--and Akane decided she
could only marry her."
"That's... very unusual. So your sister is a lesbian, huh?"
"No, she's just a man stuck in a woman's body."
Deedee blinked loudly twice.
"Anyway, once Ranko has her baby and I'm done paying back Disney,
Sanma and me will marry Akane too."
Deedee looked sadly at Ranma. <Oh the poor guy. This lesbian dumped
him for his own sister and he must have created this lame fantasy to
hide the pain from himself.> She patted Ranma's hand gently to comfort
him. "Well, I'm sure you'll get over it soon."
Ranma chuckled. "Oh... I'm okay with it. It'll only be a few months
until I can go back and marry her."
Deedee sighed. <He's really hooked on the lesbian... that's so
sad.> Suddenly, Deedee smiled. <That means he's available after all.
I'll just have to get him to forget this lesbian.> "So, what is this
Akane like?"
Deedee could see Ranma's eyes light up as he related a very glowing
description of the woman he loved.
Deedee frowned again. <This could take a while.>
-C- -M- -D-
Ranma ducked the sword meant for his neck and followed up with a
kick to his opponent's side, causing the sword to drop to the steel hull
of the airplane and slide down the slopped wing.
Ranma laughed deeply and punched his opponent hard. He then laughed
mockingly while his opponent punched him repeatedly in the stomach,
without causing Ranma any noticeable harm. Ranma stopped laughing when
his opponent hit him across the stomach with a steel pipe. He fell
backwards, slid down the wing, and landed on the ground. By the time he
got to his feet, his opponent had recovered the dropped sword and
brandished it in front of him.
Ranma took up a defensive stance to deflect the sword blows that he
expected would soon follow.
They never came. Instead, his opponent gestured wildly behind him
and then ducked down and hid his face.
Ranma spun around just in time to see the airplane's spinning
propeller reach him. Blood flew everywhere as Ranma shuddered under the
impact of the blade. He dropped to the ground and lay still in a pool of
his own blood.
His opponent took this opportunity to jump back on the airplane and
shoot open the locked canopy and pull the tall lanky woman out. They
slid down the wing and took off running as flames danced around them.
They jumped to the ground and covered their heads as the airplane
exploded behind them.
They jumped back to their feet and kissed to the thunderous cheers
and applause of the audience.
A loudspeaker blared to life. "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for
attending the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular!! Please, enjoy the
rest of your stay at Disney World!"
-C- -M- -D-
Ranma wiped the blood off his face as he walked into the dressing
room.
"Not bad, Saotome," A voice called out in English.
Ranma looked around and smiled. "Thank you, Max," Ranma replied
slowly in English.
"Think you're ready to do the whole show as Indy tomorrow?"
"Hai... um... Yes, I am."
Max studied Ranma for a few seconds since that is exactly what
Ranma said when he first came to Disney World and began training for the
stunt show. Max had started by teaching Ranma some of the smaller stunts
and then letting him take some of the bit parts to get used to the
audience. Ranma would pick up each stunt faster than anyone Max had ever
trained would. "Yes... I think you are. Just remember to concentrate and
don't let anything distract you. Oh... and be especially careful about
that propeller stunt."
"Yes, I will. How is..."
"He'll live."
As Ranma finished cleaning up and changing his clothes, he realized
he had something he had to do. Something had been on his mind lately and
to be free of distractions during the show the next day, he had to face
it head on.
-C- -M- -D-
Ranma stood in front of the pastel colored building and repeatedly
clenched and unclenched his fists. "I will not be defeated. I will not
be defeated."
Several people passing by looked oddly at him.
Ranma took a step towards the dreaded ride. "I can do this." He
took another step. After several more slow motion steps, Ranma settled
into the little boat. "I can do this."
"Why is that man talking to himself, Mommy?"
The young woman hushed her child. "Shush... just ignore him, dear."
Ranma's eye twitched. "I can do this."
-C- -M- -D-
"It's a small world after all. It's a small, small world."
Ranma was clutching the edge of the bench he was sitting on when
the boat exited the tunnel. "I... I... did it!! I did not let this ride
beat me!!" He started to laugh.
"Just ignore him, dear."
-C- -M- -D-
The airplane exploded behind Ranma and the woman. He threw her down
to the ground and shielded her from the explosion. After the dust
settled, he got to his feet and pulled the woman into a long kiss. Or at
least made it look like a long kiss, since his lips only kissed the air
in the generally vicinity of her lips.
The stuntwoman rolled her eyes. "You know... you could just kiss
me. It's just acting."
Ranma blushed and muttered a reply. "Sorry... but I just don't feel
right about kissing another woman."
The woman rolled her eyes and then they both bowed to the applauding
audience.
-C- -M- -D-
Later that day, the woman put a comforting hand on Deedee's
shoulder. "Sorry, Deedee... he's really hung up on this Akane chick. He
won't even kiss me as part of the act."
Deedee sighed. "It's so unhealthy of him to keep pining away over
the lesbian!"
The woman frowned. "Are you sure she's a lesbian?"
"She married Ranma's sister! What else could she be?"
"Bi-sexual?"
"Maybe, but it doesn't matter if she's already married. He's got to
let her go so we can..." Deedee trailed off and blushed.
"Deedee, as your friend, I really think you should give up on Ranma
and find someone else. He's so much older than you too."
"Only three years. Well... three and a half."
"Has he ever made any advances on you?"
"You bet! He... he was going to have sex with me, but he couldn't
get her out of his head. And just last week he took me dancing."
"Really?"
"Yeah... it was great!" Deedee conveniently forgot the fact that
she had told Ranma that she had to teach him to dance because of Disney
policy. <It's for his own good. He has to get over that lesbian.>
***********************************************************************
>From the personal journal of James Davidson:
October 22, 2057
"I am not a lesbian," Akane commented dryly.
My mom nodded. "I know that now. At the time I was thoroughly
convinced that Ranma was pining over a lesbian that married his sister."
I shook my head sadly. "I can't believe my mom would ever scheme
like that to get a guy."
My mom bowed her head and sighed. "James, I was young and in love.
And I assure you my love for him was as real as it could be for my young
age. Looking back, I know it never would have worked out even if Akane
wasn't in the picture. It was a simple one way school girl crush."
"Deedee, there was never anything 'simple' about Ranma's love life.
To tell you the truth, I'm amazed that he didn't catch on and then go on
a massive ego trip about the fact that he had another girl chasing him.
Back before you met him he did have three fiancees and a nutcase chasing
him almost all the time. And that's not even mentioning some of the
girls who gave up just a tad faster than them."
My mom giggled. "Yeah, when I read that in my son's first book I
wondered if I could have snagged him if I'd met him earlier. But when I
read the drafts of Childhood that James sent me, I knew for sure that
none us ever had a chance against you."
Akane blushed. "Well, we were young and unable to express
ourselves. And then the splits caused us some problems that I doubt had
a 'perfect' solution." She looked down at the sleeping frog in her lap.
"I used to think, and maybe still do at the back of my mind, that if I'd
married all three of them right away that things would have been better.
Or that I could have used the water that gave me Sanma on myself
instead." She stroked the frog again. "But then I wouldn't have Sanma to
love and his first wife might have been unhappy for her whole life."
"For your love to survive that... I never had a chance, did I?"
Akane smiled sweetly at my mom. "Deedee, I don't really know. Ranma
always spoke highly of you. And *I* never got him to study as much as
you did. Life throws us some odd curves sometimes, who knows how things
would have turned out differently. I've had my share of life altering
events that I'd love to have another chance to..."
"More than your fair share, I think," I commented.
Akane smirked. "You think?" We all chuckled. "My point is, I've
learned the hard way not to dwell on the past too much. You loved Ranma.
Could he have returned that love under different circumstances? Maybe.
Sanma here-" She stroked the sleeping frog's back. "-fell in love with
his first wife and even though he knew that it was tearing my heart
apart, chose her instead of me. He never stopped loving me, but he made
a choice."
"How could Ranma and Sanma make such different choices?"
I smiled at my mom. "I'll send you chapter twenty-five when I get
done with the draft."
-C- -M- -D-
October 23, 2057
After finishing our talk yesterday and then having a nice dinner
with my mom and sister, we all retired to the hotel we were staying at
while in New York. Some might call it ostentatious for the Tendos to
rent the entire top three floors of the hotel, but Akane insisted it was
safer that way.
Hanaki and Jaki were hitting the stores and Sanma was enjoying some
quiet time in a pond at the hotel, so it was just Akane and me visiting
my mom today. Oh... and our squad of Task Force members on sentry duty
outside, of course.
I was a little shocked to see my mom sitting in the living room
when we arrived. "Mom? Should you be up?"
"I'm fine, James," my mom replied, straightening her robe.
I looked around. "Where's Mary?"
"Your wife and that other girl dropped by early this morning to
take her shopping with them."
My eyebrows raised in surprise. "How'd they get her to give up her
sentry duty here?"
My mom chuckled. "I know your sister is overprotective of me, but
she means well."
I took my mom's hand and patted it. "I know. Maybe I just wish I
could spend more time with you."
"You've got your books to finish and Hanaki has her career. I
understand, dear."
"Well, Hanaki and I will come back for Christmas for sure. I'm
hoping to have my research done for Childhood by then so I can
concentrate on writing the final chapters and revising the earlier ones
I already have in draft form. But that all depends on Akane not throwing
me too many more surprises." I glanced at Akane as I finished my
statement.
Akane mocked being insulted. "Who me?" She grinned. "Don't worry, I
don't think I have any real big surprises left to tell you about
ninety-nine."
"Good."
***********************************************************************
Disney World, Florida USA; Southern Florida, USA
"Ranma?"
Ranma rolled over in his bed and grunted.
"Ranma?" Deedee nudged him.
A groggy Ranma opened his eyes and tried to focus. "Huh?"
"It's my birthday tomorrow. I'm finally sixteen."
"That's nice. Happy birthday." Ranma rolled over and tried to go
back to sleep.
"Ranma, do you think I'm pretty?"
Ranma didn't lift his head from his pillow. "Yeah... you real
cute."
Deedee beamed. "Ranma, can you take me out tomorrow night for my
birthday?"
"Yeah..." Ranma muttered and drifted back to sleep.
Deedee was smiling broadly as she slipped out of Ranma's apartment.
-C- -M- -D-
"Are you sure I agreed to take you out tonight?" Ranma asked Deedee
from across the table.
"Yeah, you agreed after your lesson last night. If it's a bother to
take me out for my birthday, I can just go home." She put her napkin
down and started to rise from the chair.
Ranma waved his hands in front of him. "No... no... that's okay.
You deserve a nice dinner after helping me so much since I came to
America."
Deedee smiled and took a bite of her lobster. "Thank you, Ranma. I
hope you know that I consider you much more than a student."
"Yeah, me too." Ranma smiled and took a bite of his hamburger. <How
am I going to pay for this? Oh well, she's a good friend and deserves a
happy birthday.> He glanced around at the fancy restaurant. <It's a nice
place. I bet Akane would love to eat here. Maybe I should break down and
call her. She never responded to that letter I wrote explaining what
happened to me. Well, she's probably busy with Ranko and the baby.>
"Cat got your tongue?"
A shiver went up Ranma's spine. "What?" He looked around nervously.
"Where's a cat?"
Deedee was confused by the unusual reaction. "It's just an
expression. I'm just curious why you're so quiet."
"Oh, I was just thinking about why Akane didn't reply to that
letter I gave you to send."
Deedee frowned and started to fidget. "Well, international mail
takes a while. I'm sure she'll get it and respond soon." Inside, she was
wondering if she made the right choice in destroying the letter and
debated telling him.
"Yeah... probably." He looked down at his empty plate. "Do you want
to go for a walk after dinner? I'm stuffed."
Her guilty feelings about the letter vanished and she smiled.
"Yes... I'd love that."
"No biggie."
-C- -M- -D-
Ranma and Deedee walked up to her parents' house after their
moonlit walk. Deedee paused at the door and turned around. "Thank you,
Ranma."
Ranma shrugged casually. "No problem."
"You know, Ranma... one of these days we should take a bus trip
down to southern Florida."
Ranma looked confused at the sudden question. "Hmmmm?"
"Well, Miami's so much fun, and the beaches, and the Keys, and..."
Ranma shrugged. "Yeah... guess I could use a change of pace. Um...
I'm kind of broke. After paying for the dragon I only get a little
spending money..."
Deedee smiled broadly. "Don't worry about that... I've got some
saved up." <Ranma in a bathing suit... I'll just die!>
"Um... thanks."
An awkward silence followed. When it became clear that Ranma wasn't
going to do anything, Deedee jumped forward and gave Ranma a long kiss.
"Goodnight, Ranma." She was blushing from head to toe as she rushed
inside and closed the door. She slid down to the floor and held her arms
around her. "Wow."
Outside, Ranma stared unblinkingly at the closed door for several
seconds. <Can these Americans be THAT casual about kissing? I think I
may have a problem here.> He frowned and walked away, lost in thought.
-C- -M- -D-
Several days passed before Ranma saw Deedee again, but he never
expected to see her when he shot the lock off the canopy and swung it
aside. "Deedee?"
"Hi, Ranma... I'm playing the love of your life today." Deedee
smiled.
Remembering the timing of the stunt, Ranma swore. "Shit." He pulled
Deedee out of the cockpit and raced to the edge of the wing with her
cradled in his arms. He landed on the ground just as the airplane
exploded into flames behind them. "Shit, we're too close!"
Right on cue, a steel scaffold crashed to the ground.
Unfortunately, Ranma and Deedee were not on their cues. Ranma rolled to
the side to avoid the falling scaffolding, but then had to contend with
the rotating blade of the propeller that was moving in their direction.
Although a prop, it could cause some serious injuries as the last
stand-in had found out first hand. But he'll live.
Ranma reached out a hand and fired off a small chi ball at the
spinning blades. The chi blast took out two of the three blades. Ranma
rolled to the side as the third blade flashed over him and Deedee.
Holding Deedee tightly with one hand, he used his legs and his
free hand to do a back flip to avoid the blade as it spun around again.
He smiled as he saw the gas-fed flames shut off as the show's director
finally realized there was a problem.
Wanting to save the show, he jumped to his feet and started to
give Deedee a fake kiss.
Everything had happened so fast that Deedee didn't even realize
they were in any real danger. And when she saw Ranma's lips come close
to hers, her heart skipped a beat. Elated she reached out with her neck
and exchanged a long passionate kiss with Ranma to the thunderous
applause of the audience.
One man in the audience leaned over to his wife. "Hey, they've
changed the routine. They didn't blow up the propeller last year."
"Yeah, and that new Indy is such a young stud."
The man frowned at his wife.
A loudspeaker blared to life. "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for
attending the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular!! Please, enjoy the
rest of your stay at Disney World!"
-C- -M- -D-
"Saotome!!" the show's director bellowed when Ranma walled
backstage. "What the hell were you doing?!"
Max ran up and got between the director and Ranma. "I'll handle
this... he's my student and no one got hurt."
"Just don't let it happen again... we're already getting bad press
because of your former student's accident."
"It won't..." Max watched as the director stormed away, temporarily
placated. He turned around to Ranma and Deedee, who was shyly hiding
behind Ranma. "What the hell happened out there, Ranma?! You were
perfect every time you did that stunt in practice and for all your other
performances."
"I sorry. Won't happen again."
"You'd better believe it won't! You're back on standby status. You
can be one of the henchmen for a few more weeks."
"No!" Deedee blurted, pulling off the brunette wig. "It wasn't
Ranma's fault. I... I rearranged the work schedules so I could play
Marion."
Max seemed to notice the girl for the first time. "Who the hell are
you? Where's Christie?"
"I'm sorry... I thought it would be fun."
Max's eye twitched. "Ranma... I'm still not sure how you escaped
those blades, but bringing your girlfriend into the act just cost you
your job."
"No! He didn't know... it was all my idea."
"I'm sorry Max, I think Deedee's gotten a crush on me. It won't
happen again." Ranma glared at Deedee.
Deedee fought back the tears.
Max sighed. "Dammit, Ranma. Just keep your love problems out of
here, okay?"
Ranma smirked. "Oh, that was nothin'... You should have seen what I
had to go through back in Japan because of girls falling for me."
"Quite the Casanova... aren't ya? Well, just don't let your love
life screw up the show again..."
Deedee finally lost her battle and burst out in tears and then ran
out of the room.
Ranma gasped. "Deedee..."
"I think you'd better go after you girlfriend."
Ranma nodded. "She's not..." he sighed. "She's just a good friend.
Damn, why didn't I notice?" He rushed out after Deedee.
-C- -M- -D-
"Deedee!" Ranma called out into the darkness. <Damn, am I so used
to girls falling for me that I completely missed the signs or is it that
*I'm* not looking for the signs anymore now that I have Akane.> He
looked around the alley behind the stunt show without finding her.
"Damn... Deedee!!"
He searched for a half-hour and then went to her parents' house.
"Excuse me... is Deedee here?"
Mrs. Ledesma frowned at seeing Ranma. "Yes, she is. But she doesn't
want to see you."
"Please... I think there was some misunderstanding and I don't want
her to feel bad. Please, can I see her?"
Mrs. Ledesma couldn't restrain herself any longer. "No! How could
you lead my little girl on like that?"
"I didn't lead her on!!" Ranma snapped. He took a deep breath. "I'm
already engaged to another woman. I told her that, but I don't think she
believed me... or chose to ignore it."
Mr. Ledesma made his appearance at the door and he was obviously
angrier than his wife was. "Look, there are laws in *THIS* county about
adults having relationships with children. So, either leave now or I'll
call the cops!"
Ranma sighed and realized he couldn't win against an overprotective
mother and a berserk father. "I'm sorry."
"I'm starting to wonder if all those late study sessions were
really for studying!!" Mr. Ledesma clenched his fist.
Ranma stood his ground. "It was just studying. I'm sorry, I never
meant to hurt her. Please tell her I'm sorry for the misunderstanding."
Mrs. Ledesma put a restraining hand on her husband's shoulder and
stepped in front of him. "Okay, I'll tell her. But please don't try and
contact her."
Ranma gulped. "If that's what you want. I'm sorry about all of
this."
Mr. Ledesma shot daggers at Ranma's back as he watched the teenager
walk away from his house. "I knew I shouldn't have gotten that job for
her. All those sex crazed teenagers running around..."
Mrs. Ledesma put a hand on his should to restrain him. "Dear, you
know how badly she wanted that job for the experience of interacting
with people from different countries. She wasn't trying to find a
boyfriend."
"Maybe, but look what happened!" Mr. Ledesma glanced at Ranma as he
disappeared around a corner.
Mrs. Ledesma sighed. "You can never say no to her, you know that,
dear. She has a gift for languages, but is still naive in the ways of
love."
"She better still be naive about love!! I'm going to make sure she
never sees that bastard again, even if I have to get him fired and
shipped back to China!"
"He's Japanese, dear."
"Whatever."
-C- -M- -D-
A few days later, Ranma awoke to the sound of someone pounding on
his door. "Huh?" He wiped his eyes and then stumbled to the door. He
opened it and saw a very angry mother and father. "Err... Hi... Ummmm,
what are you doing here?"
Mr. Ledesma barged in and started looked around. "Where's my
daughter?!"
"Huh?"
"Where is she, Ranma?" Mrs. Ledesma asked calmly.
"Who?"
"Deedee. After we told her she couldn't see you anymore, she left
us a letter saying she was running away with you."
"Shit... I don't..."
Mr. Ledesma had finished his search of the one room apartment.
"Where is my daughter, you punk!!" He grabbed Ranma's shirt and pulled
hard.
Big mistake.
By instinct, Ranma flipped the heavyset man over his shoulder.
"Oh... I'm sorry. I just sort of reacted. I really don't know where
Deedee is."
"Why don't I believe you?" Mr. Ledesma asked, rubbing his butt as
he stood up.
Ranma sighed. "Because no one ever does. I'm telling you the truth.
I haven't seen Deedee since that night."
Mrs. Ledesma shuddered. "Where could my baby be then?"
Ranma thought furiously and gasped when he remembered something.
"Damn... today was the date she bought those bus tickets for."
Mrs. Ledesma frowned. "Bus tickets?"
"Yeah.. she wanted to take a trip down to southern Florida for the
weekend. I completely forgot about it."
Mr. Ledesma clenched his fists. "So you were going to go on a
romantic little getaway with my daughter?!" He pulled his fist back, but
then thought better of it and put his hand down.
Smart move.
Ranma shook his head. "I only thought it was two friends going on a
trip. I never had any romantic interest in her. We were... are only
friends."
Mrs. Ledesma looked at her husband. "We'd better check the bus
station, dear."
"I'll go with you," Ranma insisted and made to leave with them.
Mrs. Ledesma blushed. "You might want to get dressed first, Ranma."
Ranma blushed and looked down at his shorts. "Yeah..."
-C- -M- -D-
Ranma scanned the road ahead searching for the bus. After finding
out at the bus station that Deedee had indeed left on a bus to southern
Florida, he had offered help her parents find her. Before he knew it,
Mr. Ledesma had bundled him into a cab and paid the driver to find the
bus Deedee was on. Deedee's parents were going to fly to the final
destination of the bus, Miami, and try to find her on that end in case
Ranma missed her.
<How do things like this always happen to me? I hope she's
alright... if only I wasn't such a great and handsome guy I wouldn't
attract girls like this.>
Ranma's ego parade was interrupted when the driver suddenly spoke.
"I think that's it." He pointed at a bus.
Ranma looked ahead and saw the bus up ahead on the two-lane
highway. "Great! Speed up so we can catch up to it!"
"I'm trying, boy... I'm already doing ninety!"
"Ninety kilometers per hour? That's too slow to catch up to them!"
"Miles per hour."
"Oh..."
They caught up to the bus and started honking the horn, but the bus
didn't stop.
"Get along the side of it," Ranma said, rolling down his window.
"Why?" The driver started to pull up along the side of the bus.
"Just do it. I don't want to chance her getting away." Ranma
started to climb out of the window.
The driver gasped. "What are you doing?!"
A cocky smile appeared on Ranma's face. "Trust me... I know what
I'm doing." In one quick movement he leapt from the cab's window and
through an open window on the bus. Doing a neat summersault in midair,
he landed in some old woman's lap. "Sorry."
The old woman blushed. "No problem, dearie."
Ranma sprang to his feet and looked around the bus. Amazingly the
driver hadn't even noticed him jump on board. "Hey you... sit down back
there."
Ranma blinked a few times, stunned that the bus driver didn't
notice someone jump onto his bus. Then he looked around the bus.
"Deedee?"
A shocked gasped came from behind him. "Ranma?"
Ranma spun around and made a beeline back to Deedee. He crouched by
her seat and spoke softly. "Deedee, why did you run away?"
Deedee looked at Ranma, tears coming to her eyes. "Because..
because this was supposed to be OUR trip and my mom wouldn't let me go
on it after she found out how old you were."
"Deedee, I told you... we can't be boyfriend and girlfriend."
The old woman bashed Ranma over the head with her purse. "You cad!"
Ranma restrained himself.
"Why not?" Deedee was close to tears.
"I told you... I'm already engaged."
The old woman hit Ranma with her purse again. "You two timer!"
Ranma restrained himself again.
"But... but... she's already married to your sister!"
Everyone on the bus gasped at that revelation.
The old woman tried to bash Ranma again, but he deflected it. "Stop
that..." He started to look back at Deedee, but was hit by the purse
again.
"Trying to steal your sister's lesbian wife! How horrible!" the old
woman shouted.
Ranma ground his teeth and wondered if a chi blast would kill the
old woman. He decided not to chance it and turned back to Deedee.
"Deedee, let's go back to Orlando and we can talk about this with your
parents."
"Only if you promise to stay with me forever!" The tears were
flowing freely from Deedee's eyes by that point.
Ranma shook his head. "I'm sorry, Deedee, I can't do that. I love
Akane and I just can't return your love."
"But..." Deedee sniffled. "But..." Another sniffle. "But... I LOVE
YOU!"
Ranma smiled and cupped the side of her head in his hand. "Yeah...
I get that a lot. I'm sorry."
Deedee burst out crying and rushed to the front of the bus, her
small backpack bobbing on her back. Ranma made to follow, but was
suddenly hit by dozens of purses wielded by dozens of little old ladies.
"Cut it out!" Ranma snapped as he tried to make his way to the
front of the bus. Suddenly, the bus lurched and he fell forward. When he
looked up at the front of the bus, Deedee was nowhere to be seen.
"Damn..." He rushed to the front of the bus and saw the girl disappear
into the bushes along the side of the road. "Double damn." He took off
running and left the bus behind.
-C- -M- -D-
"Deedee!" Ranma called out and then stepped into another deep
water-filled hole. "Shit... Deedee!! Come on, it's too dangerous for you
out here!"
Just like all the other times he had called out, there was no
response.
His desperate search continued as he waded through the muddy water,
swung from tree to tree, and hopped from rock to rock. He landed on the
latest rock and looked around. Suddenly, the rock shifted and he fell
into the muddy water. When he surfaced he saw a gaping mouth full of
teeth. "Shit."
He managed to duck his head away from the alligator's jaw as it
snapped shut. Although slowed down by the water, he dodged to the side
and escaped the follow up snap. He thrust out his fist and landed a
punch to the skin under its jaw.
The alligator's jaws parted, as if grinning at the fleabite of a
punch. It lashed out with it's tail, propelling it forward.
Ranma leaned back to avoid the teeth and wrapped his arms around
the alligator's head. <I wish I'd have asked Kang how to fight one of
these things.> The alligator started to roll in the water, trying to
shake Ranma off. All Ranma could do was hold on and land an occasional
kick to the alligator's body. He got a mouth full of water and spat it
out, only to get another mouthful. <Time to end this.>
He released the alligator at what he hoped would be a safe time. It
was and wasn't. When he released his grip, he managed to spin into the
air instead of into the water. Unfortunately, instead of being thrown
away from the alligator as he had hoped, he went straight up and then
came straight down towards the waiting maw of the alligator. He managed
to get an arm out in front of him and was just forming a chi ball when
his arm disappeared down the alligator's throat.
Ranma grimaced as the teeth of the beast tore into the flesh of his
shoulder. "Arrrgghhh!" Before it could rip his arm off, he focused a
surge of chi into his arm and the chi ball exploded.
And so did the alligator. Pieces of flesh flew everywhere and Ranma
was thrown backwards. He gasped when he landed on a patch of dry land.
"Gahhhh..." He started to rise and winced. He grabbed his shoulder and
tried to staunch the flow of blood from the wounds the alligator had
made when it bit into his shoulder. In addition to the flesh wounds made
by the teeth, his hand was mildly burned where the chi ball had exploded
inside the alligator's stomach.
Ranma looked over at the remains of the alligator. "Well, at least
I'm in better shape than Mr. Luggage here." He pulled off his red
Chinese shirt and tied it around his shoulder wounds. "Shit... I hope
Deedee's okay out here."
"Deedee!!" he called out and winced from the pain shouting caused.
He debated going back to the road to get help for his shoulder, but he
knew he couldn't leave Deedee out in the swamp alone. That, and the fact
that he had no idea what direction the road was in anymore, made his
search all the more urgent.
He slogged through the swap further for another few minutes,
calling out her name. Suddenly, a high-pitched scream rang out.
"Deedee!!"
Even with his wounded shoulder throbbing with pain, Ranma raced
through the swamp towards the sound of the scream and burst into a
clearing. He screeched to a halt, momentarily stunned by the sight that
befell him.
All the trees and vegetation in the large circular clearing was
brown and decaying. The standing water was thick and murky. A large
number of animals in various stages of decay floated on the surface.
Bones of long dead animals were littered about on several mounds of dry
land that rose above the water. Although Ranma couldn't be sure, there
appeared to be at least one human skeleton mixed in with the assorted
bones.
Although spotting Deedee did make him feel better, the sight of two
black multi-tentacled creatures holding her filled him with dread.
The large black monolith that rose about ten meters out of the
water caused the dread to overflow.
"Oh.... shit."
Deedee screamed again as the Buyierfei holding her pressed tightly
against her. She suddenly felt very tired, as if the energy was being
drained from her and she found it hard to move.
After his initial shock at seeing the Buyierfei and the monolith
had worn off, Ranma sent two precisely aimed chi blasts at Deedee's
attackers. They crisscrossed each other before hitting the black
creatures. Ranma hadn't waited to see the effects of his blasts; he had
raced forward as soon as he released the balls. As soon as he saw that
one of the Buyierfei had been blown apart, he leapt at the other one
that had only lost a few tentacles.
Unfortunately instead of connecting with the creature, he was
blind-sided and crashed into the filthy water. He rose to the surface
and spat out a mouthful of water. "Shit." He looked around as saw
several ripples in the water stop suddenly. <There are more all around
me, but invisible.> He looked back and saw that the wounded Buyierfei,
which he could see due to the blood oozing from its wounds, was
advancing on him. For the time being, they appeared to be leaving Deedee
alone.
"Attacking the biggest threat first, good choice." Ranma grinned
and cupped his hands in front of him. "But it won't help you. Moko
Takabisha-Rapid Fire!" Dozens of blue balls flashed out from his hands.
Although seemingly randomly fired, they were in fact precisely aimed
wherever Ranma saw a ripple in the water. Several black creatures
flashed into existence when the chi balls hit them. Black leathery
chunks of flesh dropped into the water.
"Ranma..." Deedee gasped when she saw the blasts. She started to
rise from the mud that she had been dropped into.
"Hang on, Deedee! The Buyierfei are all around us!" Ranma let
another round of blasts fly, but this time they were more random, since
he couldn't track the ripples with all the disturbance his first series
of blasts had caused. A few more creatures flickered as they died, but
not as many as the first time.
Deedee screamed as she felt something cold and clammy touch her
leg. She looked down and screamed as the Buyierfei faded into sight and
finished wrapping its tentacles around her body.
Ranma landed by her side and kicked the creature savagely. "Let her
go!" Remembering how Cologne had penetrated the skin of one of the
Buyierfei with fast Chestnut punches, Ranma started to hit the central
mass of the creature repeatedly. After landing a couple hundred punches,
his fist went through the black skin. He let a small chi ball form at
the end of his arm and was rewarded when the creature let out an inhuman
scream and fell to pieces around him. "These bastards really can't stand
chi blasts, can they?"
When the creature released her legs, Deedee had dropped to the
muddy ground. "Ranma, what's going on?" She got up and clung to Ranma's
good arm.
"I've fought these creatures before, don't worry. First we've got
to get away from the monolith." Ranma glanced behind him.
Although he had tried to sound confident, Deedee could hear the
worry in his voice. "I'm sorry about this."
"Don't worry about that now. Just stay close to me and we'll get
out of this in one piece." Ranma scanned the area looking for more signs
of ripples, but didn't see any. <There must be more...> He snapped his
head to the side as he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He
spun around and sent a volley of chi balls in the general direction.
Several Buyierfei burst into fragments.
Deedee gasped. "How... how do you do that?"
"Just a simple chi focusing technique." Ranma explained quickly as
he sent out another volley. "Let's go. I need a free hand, so hold onto
me tightly." He wrapped his uninjured arm around Deedee and then used
the other one to clear a path with a series of chi balls. He couldn't
hold onto anything with it, but he could still point it and use it to
form chi blasts. When Deedee had tightened her grip around his neck, he
leapt into the air.
Deedee screamed as they jumped a good five meters into the air with
Ranma firing blasts in front of him as they traced a smooth arc over the
clearing.
They landed on a large mound and before Ranma could jump again, he
was hit hard in his stomach by a huge mass of tentacles. The blow sent
him and Deedee flying across the clearing towards the monolith.
The last thing Ranma saw before the blackness engulfed him was the
very large Buyierfei that had just hit him vanish back beneath the
water's surface. It was at least as large as the largest elephant and
probably larger. It's mouth, for lack of a better term, was a huge maw
filled with numerous tentacles. After the water settled, the only trace
of it was the round mound that stuck up of the water. Like the other
mounds gestating beneath the swamp, it waited until it was time to take
flight and feed.
-C- -M- -D-
A few hours after Ranma and Deedee vanished into the monolith's
black surface, the swamp around the monolith suddenly came to life.
Well, the dead animals and plants that the Buyierfei had sucked the life
out of remained dead, but the monolith suddenly was ringed with flashes
of black lightning that danced with a life of their own over the nearby
swamp.
The flashes continued as the monolith slowly started to rise from
the water.
The First Monolith had awakened and the world would never be the
same again.
***********************************************************************
>From the personal journal of James Davidson:
October 23, 2057
"You... you were inside the First?" I asked, breathing heavily.
My mom nodded.
Akane smirked. "See, told you *I* didn't have any more surprises."
"Akane! This is not funny!"
"No, it isn't, but you are so cute when you're flustered."
"Akane!"
My mom chuckled. "She's right, James, you are."
I shook my head sadly. "You know... sometimes you two are just too
much alike."
My mom and Akane exchanged glances and then burst out laughing.
"Way too much alike."
[End - Chapter 26]
Coming soon: Chapter 27: Bring Me the Head of Ranma Saotome
=======================================================================
The real author's (Jim Lazar) notes/ramblings:
All the Disney characters and locations belong to Disney, used without
permission. Any behind the scenes action and events is entirely
fictitious and I'm sure the real Disneyland/Disney World is nothing like
this. Really. I mean it. It's the happiest place on earth, after all.
"It's a Small World" song and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B.
Sherman and belongs to Disney as well.
Indiana Jones property of George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Lucasfilm.
Used without permission by me, I'm sure Disney paid a pretty penny to
use it. The stunts are recreated from memory, so they may be slightly
different in the real show.
The stunt show at Tokyo Disneyland doesn't really exist (to the best of
my knowledge). Call it artistic license. And I don't believe Disney uses
fake blood in their shows, but I do. So there.
I'd like to thank my pre-readers Jyh-I Lu, Michael A. Chase, EBJ, Johan
Holmburg, Jonathan Ng, and Thomas Kinnen for helping me find and fix
problems with this story. FFML members Lord Archive and Xstylus were
also helpful in fine tuning this story. Thank you all. Of course in the
end, any mistakes and botched characters are my fault.
Revision 0.0 - Rough draft (September 11, 1999)
Revision 0.3 - Pre-reader draft (November 21, 1999)
Revision 0.4 - FFML draft (December 1, 1999)
Revision 1.0 - Final version (January 1, 2000)
-=-
Jim Lazar
E-Mail - mailto:jimlazar@earthlink.net
FanFiction - http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlazar/anime
Please sign the Uncut Kite Petition -
http://www.crosswinds.net/~jimlazar/kite.html
-=-
"Unit 01, Angel at eleven o'clock."
"But it's only seven o'clock," Shinji quipped.
The computer-controlled voice didn't find Shinji's joke funny, so the
AI program inserted ten Angels around Shinji's Unit 01. It didn't take
long for his Eva to be reduced to a pile of scrap metal and flesh.
-=-
Excerpt from Garden of EVA 0:3