Hello and good evening. Please place the customary
"first fic" warning here.
Done? Good. Now place the usual disclaimer here.
Done with that? Good. Now you have to listen to me
ramble on for a while. This is the first revision
of the Prologue, which I messed up on and labeled
as Chapter 1 when I first posted. Get it? Got it?
Good!
Legend:
<thoughts>
(sidenotes)
_emphasis_
[panda signs]
*other languages*
Ready? Good! Let's do it!
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All The Small Things-Prologue
A Sailor Moon/Ranma 1/2 fanfiction
By: Slacker(r_heins@yahoo.com)
***************************************
Okinawa, 10 years ago
"Ranma! Damn it, boy! Stop!"
<Okay, so maybe the Neko-ken wasn't such a good
idea.> Genma Saotome thought as he ran after his
young son. <But it sounded pretty good, and who
really reads every page of a manual these days?>
Genma noticed he was losing ground on his son
rapidly. <Kami-sama! He's faster than I thought
possible! And given the way he shredded the
gate...and me... when he took off, he's learned the
Neko-ken! The manual described the ability to shred
damn near anything. Now all I have to do is teach
him to use it without going insane first. He'll be
unbeatable! But more importantly, once he starts to
use it in matches, he'll be rich! Which means he
can support me in my old age. Now, how do I train
him to use the Neko-ken? Maybe some steaks and the
tiger cage at the zoo?>
As Genma pondered on ways to further screw up
his son, Ranma proceeded to vanish around the next
corner. When Genma rounded the corner, his son was
nowhere in sight.
<Uh-Oh. This could be bad. How will I explain
losing my son to Nodoka?>
Just as Genma was about to continue on he heard
what sounded like...purring? The purring sounded a
bit...off, though.
<Could that be Ranma? I sure as hell hope it
is. I seriously don't want Nodoka, and that damn
katana, mad at me.>
When Genma followed the sound he came upon a
most unusual sight: his son curled up in the lap of
an old woman and purring loudly. He seemed to be
sound asleep.
"Oh, good! You found my son! I'll just take him
and stop bothering you!" Genma said as he started
to
move forward.
"You'll do no such thing." The old woman said
calmly. Genma froze.
"Pardon me?"
"I said, 'You'll do no such thing'" She
repeated in a very calm voice.
"And why not?"
"Because I recognize what has happened to him."
"You do?" Genma said, somewhat nervously.
"Oh, yes. The Neko-ken has been around for
quite a long time. I know what it looks like and
its effects. And right now the only people he will
allow near him are people he likes or trusts. And
you don't fall into either of those categories."
"Woman! I am his father!"
"You just threw him into a pit of
_starving__cats_ wrapped in food! Most likely
_several__times_! I have seen the results of the
Neko-ken many times! It leaves mental scars that
_never_ completely go away. In time, they will
fade, but for now I will not allow you anywhere
near him, for both of your sakes!"
"Well, then! What do you suggest I do? Just
leave him here?"
"Actually, yes. You will leave him here at
least three days. It will take me that long to calm
him down and teach him some tricks to keep him from
slipping into the Neko-ken so easily."
"And if I don't?"
"Your son will most likely go insane within 2,
maybe 3 years. He'll slip irreversibly into the
Neko-ken. Nothing and no one will be able to bring
him out of it," she replied, still in that calm,
even voice.
"Now, you will leave. You will stay away for at
least three days. And when you come back you won't
attempt to do anything stupid involving the Neko-
ken. I'd say anything stupid period, but if you're
dumb enough to train your son in the Neko-ken,
that's a vain hope."
"'Anything stupid involving the Neko-ken'? What
do you mean by that?" Genma asked.
"Like wrapping him in steaks and throwing him
in the tiger cage at the zoo." She said, staring
him straight in the eye.
Genma twitched. For some reason, he couldn't
seem to look away from her eyes.
"Now leave."
Genma turned and left without another word.
As Genma walked away, he tried to figure out
why he gave in that easily to an old woman. <Her
eyes. It had to be her eyes. I've never seen eyes
like that. Red to the point of crimson. They gave
me the creeps. Brrr. And the look in them. They
seemed to warn, "You won't like what happens if you
cross me."> He'd seen that look before, in a mother
bear. <I think it's probably a good thing I obeyed
her. Yes, a very good thing.>
As soon as Genma was out of sight the "old
woman" began to change. Her hair turned from gray
into a deep green, her back straightened out, and
her face smoothed out. The only thing that stayed
the same were her eyes. Her red eyes. Eyes that had
seen countless years. Eyes that had watched the
fall of an entire culture and witnessed the
sacrifice of a queen's life to give her daughter
another chance. Eyes that said, "I have seen more
pain and suffering than you ever can imagine. I've
done things that would drive you insane, and come
out unchanged. Do not cross me. You will not like
what happens."
The eyes of Sailor Pluto.
She looked at Ranma and, after scanning him,
murmured, "It is you. Why did she send you foward?
And if you're here, then so is she. And I don't
know where she is. This could be very...bad."
As she picked him up and carried him into the
house, only one thought went through her mind:
<Great, I've got two more people who are a bit
unstable and have the power to destroy the planet,
one of which I _can't__find_! Perfect! Sometimes, I
really hate my job.>
Three days later, Genma came back to pick up his
son. Over the three days he was gone, he had camped
out and tried to convince himself he had managed to
trick the old woman into feeding his son for three
days free. He had almost succeeded. (His ability to
convince himself of things was second to none.) If
he noticed anything different about his son, he
didn't mention it to the "old woman," who he was
still a little bit scared of, even after "tricking"
her. (Which proved that maybe he wasn't a total
idiot after all.)
Watching as Ranma and his father walked away,
Pluto thought to herself, <I hope I never have to
remove those blocks I put in, and I really hope
they don't fail. That would be a _very_ bad thing.
But from what I could read of his future, I almost
feel sorry for Ranma. He's really a good kid. He
doesn't deserve what his father will put him
through, especially Jusenkyo. He deserves peace in
this life, at least.>
"May good luck and the blessings of the Goddess
go with you, Ranma," she whispered. <You're going
to need it.>
To be continued(like you hadn't guessed that!)
***************************************
Author's loud-mouthed piece:
Like it? Love it? Hate it? Hate me? Let me
know! My e-mail is r_heins@yahoo.com C&C read,
appreciated, and considered when writing. Flames
will be used to heat my house. Death threats will
be laughed at and deleted.Letter bombs will be kept
for a rainy day to relieve the boredom.
I always need prereaders. If you want to
volunteer for this task, tell me.
As was already mentioned at the top of the
fic, this is my first fanfic. As such it probably
has huge holes. If you see one, _PLEASE_ tell me!
Any and all C&C will be greatly appreciated!
Author's loud-mouthed piece (Part II):
Weeeelll, I got some prereaders, revised it,
and decided to give it another shot. Hopefully, it
has benefitted from the additional work. (I know it
did. Some of the mistakes that were pointed out to
me were real "Hey, what were you on when you wrote
this?" type things. But I've got the aformentioned
prereaders to slap me up side the head now.
Speaking of which, they are, in no particular order
(well, maybe alphabetical, I copied them straight
from my address book):
Aaron Blomenkamp, the Beast of Chaos
Anchan
Battlezone http://www.angelfire.com/bc/Battlezone
CCMax
E_Nebedum
I'm apathetic
Mr.P
`tsuki-chan
William Dix
Xaldaran
I love these people! Without them I would be
nothing.
Ja Ne!
Slacker
Revised 3/4/00
=====
Always listen to experts. They'll tell you
what can't be done, and why. Then do it.
--Lazarus Long
I am...(Drumroll, please)...Slacker!
KSC, Knight of Discordia, Lord of Discord
Member of the Church of Ami & Makoto
"All Hail Eris! Eris All Hail! Hail, Hail! Hail, Yes!"
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