It's a surprise, you'll find out the title of this one at the end. Some
of you may catch on, others won't. It takes a little while to get to the
Ranma part, but this is important.
Carrot Glace sat down at his computer, a cigarette burned slowly in his
hand as he sat in the darkness at a small desk that sat in the corner of
a small slightly messy kitchen. He sighed heavily as he clicked on an
icon and popped the tab on a can of beer as he relaxed from his day at
work and rubbed his temples as the internet program slowly loaded. He was
an average looking man, twenty one years old with short cut brown hair
and gray eyes; his build was slim, but he wasn't really skinny. He
glanced for a place to set down his drink and frowned when he found all
surfaces covered in paper and disks. With a frustrated growl he swept his
arm across a portion of desk sending the mess there to the ground.
Finally the program finished and he scrolled down through the messages
from his mailing list; various fanfiction with a few personal messages
thrown in for good measure. He stopped and noticed an odd looking
message, "From a fan?" he read the tag outloud. A small smile crossed his
lips as he clicked on it not sure what to expect.
As he read the message his eyes became wide in shocked disbelief.
"Dear Mr. Glace,
My name is Chin Wu Kon, I am the owner of a large corporation called
IGN, as well as a fan of some of your works. I have a project I've been
working on and I'd like your personal opinion on it. I will be sending a
helicopter to pick you up tomorrow at nine o'clock. Yes, I already have
your address; please do not be alarmed, the things you can get over the
internet if you have the proper connections and knowledge are quite
surprising.
In any case, I have a proposition for you. I would like you to visit me
and see what it is I've done, I'm sure you will be quite impressed. The
details of my operation are far to sensitive to convey over such an
insecure form of communication. If you refuse my offer I will understand,
just instruct the associate I am sending with the chopper to move on and
he will do so without asking. You will be well paid for your time and
I'd like to thank you for your participation in advance.
Thank you for your time.
Chin Wu Kon."
"What the hell is this?" muttered Carrot as he sat back and scrunched
his brow in annoyance. He wasn't sure what the hell was going on, but he
didn't think it was funny at all. "Oh well, I guess he just has a weird
sense of humor." Without dwelling on the matter any further he moved on
to the next message.
It was six o'clock in the morning when Carrot found himself standing out
in the yard staring in shock at the helicopter landing in his yard. His
toothbrush hung from his mouth and a towel was draped over his shoulder.
He wasn't sure what to say when a man in a neatly pressed business suit
ran out from the vehicle as the blades blasted the area with wind.
The man was a skinny older man, he was balding and had a thin pair of
eyeglasses resting on his face. He rushed over to him with his bag held
over his head letting his tie flap in the wind. He stopped and looked at
the man standing in the yard in his pajama bottoms and frowned as he
rushed over to him. The first thing he noticed was that the boy was in
pretty good shape, the second thing was the fact that he had obviously
not taken the message clearly or not yet read it. He extended his hand
and smiled at him.
"Mr. Glace?"
"D'anna actually, Carrot Glace is just my screen name, and my nickname,"
replied the man as he took his hand and shook of the surprise remarkably
well. "You must be Mr. Kon's friend."
"Not his friend, not really," replied the man as he walked towards the
home with a tight look growing on his face. "I take it you read the
message then?"
"Uh, yea. I thought it was some kind of joke," replied the man honestly
as he looked back over his shoulder to be certain he wasn't dreaming.
"I take it you're declining the offer then?" if Carrot didn't know
better he'd think the man sounded hopeful.
"How much?" he asked the man.
"Pardon?" the skinny man straightened his comb over and readjusted his
tie with an odd look on his face.
"How much? I'd like to know how much money Mr. Kon is planing to give me
to drop everything and come see him and his little project," Carrot had a
strange smile on his face as he clarified his question.
"Ten thousand a day for five days," replied the man simply.
"Give me five minutes," replied Carrot as he rushed into his home and
came out a few moments later with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder.
He was dressed in a pair of black trousers and a black button up shirt
with a pair of dark shades stuck into his pocket. The businessman frowned
as he ran a comb through his hair as he went grooming his still unkempt
locks.
"Are you ready?" he shouted over the thump of the blades as the chopper
sat waiting nearby.
"Yea, how far do we have to go?" screamed the boy in reply as he jumped
into the passenger seats and closed the door behind himself.
"A few hours, we have to pick up a few other people and take them to the
airport, from there you'll move on to our destination," replied the man
calmly as he sat back and relaxed in his seat. He extended his hand again
and smiled. "I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself. My name is, Hugo; I'm
Mr. Kon's personal assistant."
"Pleasure," replied the man with a lopsided grin as he returned the
formality. "My real name is Sean D'anna, but you can call me Carrot." He
pulled out an ungainly looking leather hat. It was Australian and looked
like a cross between a fedora and a cowboy hat. He placed it on his head
and pulled the tip of it down tautly in what was obviously a habit. Hugo
raised his eyebrow and said nothing. "Can you tell me where we're going?"
"I'm afraid not, you don't need a passport to go there though," replied
the man as he took off his glasses and cleaned them off with a
handkerchief brought out from his jacket pocket.
After about an hour he found them landing on a helicopter pad on what
looked like an office building in the middle of a large wooded area.
Carrot noticed a large number of cages that surrounded the building and
could not make out what was inside them. "Where are we?"
Hugo looked up and smiled at him. "A privately owned research center in
Louisiana. One of our other guests is here."
Carrot nodded as his companion rushed out of the copter and ran over to
a woman in her early thirties. She was pretty enough, dressed in a pair
of brown shorts and a matching shirt. She had long red hair that was
obviously colored and a pair of eyeglasses that almost matched Hugo's
exactly. The woman lifted her bags and ran following the man into the
helicopter.
She smiled at him and sat down crossing her legs. "Hello, I'm Dr.
Jones," she supplied with a heavy southern accent.
"Carrot," he replied simply extending his hand to her. "Can I call you
Indy?"
The woman took his joke in stride and winked at him. "As long as you
call me."
"I can see you two are already introducing yourselves," said Hugo as he
rushed inside. "That's good, Dr. Jones is a Biologist."
"Charmed," replied the woman with a small wink. The look she was giving
him made him slightly uncomfortable, but he took it in stride.
"And what is your profession young man?" she asked as she gently
accepted his hand.
"Short order cook," replied the boy getting a strange look from both of
the other occupants. "I do a little writing in my spare time, I think
that's why I'm here."
The woman's interest dropped sharply, but she remained pleasant. Carrot
found himself strangely relieved.
The next occupant on the steadily growing number of passengers was a
pale looking man in his late twenties. He was dressed similarly to Carrot
and didn't speak much. The man seemed to ignore the goings on around him
after his introduction and looked away at the scenery beneath them.
"So, Mr. West was it?" asked Dr. Jones casually.
"Doctor West," replied the man simply with a pleasant smile. He looked
at her and pushed his, almost military cut, short black hair back down
neatly.
"And what are you a doctor of?" asked Carrot.
"I'm a psychologist," replied the man simply before turning back to his
musings, Carrot noticed he carried a very slight German accent.
"A shrink? Interesting, I'm beginning to wonder about this trip," he
replied out loud, earning a small glare from the man.
The last stop on the trip was in Texas, in Dallas they met a large broad
shouldered man in his mid-twenties. He was dressed in a Cowboys t-shirt
and an old looking pair of blue jeans. He shook everyone's hand and
easily caught the eye of Dr. Jones. Carrot found himself smiling as she
treated him much the same as he had been treated when they first met, a
small pang of sympathy went out to the man for some reason he could not
identify.
"Name's Jackson, Daniel Jackson," said the man in an ambiguous American
accent. He took Carrot's hand firmly and shook vigorously.
"And what do you do for a living Mr. Jackson?" he found himself asking
before anyone else spoke up.
"I'm a biologist," replied the man simply.
Carrot raised his eyebrow at this and looked back at Hugo. "It seems
everyone, but me and you has their doctorate," he commented dryly.
"Yes, Mr. Kon likes you. I've read some of your work as well, you are
hardly a Pulitzer prize winner, I don't really understand why he likes
you so much," replied the man curtly. He pulled a bottle of nasal spray
out of his pocket and used it.
Carrot found himself smiling at the man. "That's not the point Hugo, I
do what I do for fun. It's just a hobby of mine really. For the
uninitiated I guess it wouldn't make much sense."
"Quite," replied the man curtly, as he turned away from him and looked
towards the others. "It's time we left, come with me and I'll take you to
Mr. Kon's private plane where you'll be transported to the island."
Carrot raised his eyebrow at this and looked at the others, they seemed
just as surprised as he was. "Island?" asked Jack out loud.
"Interesting," replied the woman as she bit her finger lightly. Carrot
noticed that Dr. West saw the slight hint of greed in her eyes as well.
"I hope she doesn't get out of hand," he muttered under his breath as he
passed by following Hugo through the airport.
Carrot smirked and lazily strolled after them.
Several hours later they found themselves on a small island in the
middle of the Pacific Ocean. The got off the plane and glanced around in
surprise as they saw the Japanese signs around them. "He flew us to Tokyo
Airport?" said Carrot. "I've always wanted to visit Japan."
"This way, Mr. Kon is waiting for you. There is a car out front," said
Hugo as he motioned for them to follow.
Outside Carrot found the hustle and bustle of Tokyo to be much less
crowded than he'd thought. He noticed Jackson looking around in confusion
as they all got into the back of the large black limozine waiting for
them.
Once inside Carrot found himself looking at a Chinese man in his early
sixties. He was bald and had a long thin gray beard and mustache. There
was a slight twinkle in his eyes as he smiled warmly at them.
"Welcome, all of you," he said cheerfully.
"You want to tell me what it is we're doing here? I haven't been to
Japan in a long time, and I'd rather not stay long. I've got work to do
back home," said Jackson impatiently.
"Quiet down, we were invited. I for one plan to relax a little," snorted
Jones impatiently as she accepted the glass of champagne she had been
offered by Hugo. The men all politely waved it away.
"I'd like to know what I'm doing here," said West calmly as he looked
out the window and quickly turned his head away.
"It may surprise you to hear this, but you and Mr. Glace are my most
important guests. The biologists are also very important to my work here,
but it is your opinions I value most."
Carrot turned his head away from the window and looked at him in
surprise. "Me?"
The old man chuckled and slapped his knee playfully. "You have a unique
flair I find unusual in one so young Mr. Glace, and your dark side
appeals to me as well, for reasons I won't go into right now. For now
just relax and enjoy the ride."
The man found himself blushing slightly as he looked on in confusion.
"Uh, thanks?"
West rolled his eyes and continued to stare out the window. "So, what
exactly are we doing here?"
"Research, it is a very important job, and it pays well, so stop
complaining," replied the old man with another chuckle escaping him. "I
find it very hard to be serious in this place at times. It is my
passion."
"Japan?" asked Carrot in confusion as he glanced back at him. The new
country was almost too much for him to ignore as it passed by him outside
the window. Suddenly his eyes where riveted on the glass in front of him
as his jaw dropped in shock.
Kon turned towards the small window separating them from the driver and
tapped it lightly. "Why don't we stop here?"
As he slowed the car down Carrot was already tearing at the door and
rushing out of the vehicle as he pushed his bangs out o his face and
stared slack jawed at the scene in front of him.
"Ranma! How dare you! Eat this Shi shi houkou dan!" screamed Ryoga as he
sent a massive chi blast at the boy who dashed out of the way barely in
time.
"Damn it Ryoga! How many times do I have to tell you! It ain't my fault
Akane was getting changed in there!" retorted Ranma as he rushed the boy
with his hands becoming a blur as he rushed by at a speed no human could
ever hope to match.
"You shut up you!" retorted the lost boy as he jumped fifteen feet into
the air and met his opponent at the peak of his jump. "I won't let you
taint her honor that way!"
"That's impossible!" gasped Jones as she watched the acrobatics in front
of her.
The other two men nodded in silent agreement as they watched in awe,
West tried his best to keep his amazement hidden and did not quite
succeed.
Carrot fell to his knees and simply could not take his eyes away from
them as he sat there unable to stand even if he desired to. He felt a
hand on his shoulder as the Chinese host chuckled merrily.
"My dear Mr. Glace. Welcome to Nerima Park."
TBC?
Well, that's all up to you. C&C is required to keep this one going since
I've got such a big workload. Still, it's an original idea for once as
well. Don't think this will be limited to Ranma either. I've got ideas
for several other shows to appear if I choose to continue this one. The
premise is an anime theme park. Not just Ranma 1/2.
C&C to Carrotglace@juno.com
URL: http://www.geocites.com/tokyo/fountain/3203