Sailor Ranmoon.
Part 5
Sailor Jupiter!
Ranma glanced around; a thick fog was surrounding him as he stood in the
center of a field. He paused as he heard his name called from somewhere
in the distance. "Who the?" After a moment he paused and looked down at
himself, he was in his cursed form and wearing a long flowing gown. "What
the heck?"
In the distance, still shrouded in fog, a lone figure seemed to be
calling to her. She paused as he tried to make out the features on the
person and squinted her eyes. The figure stopped and fell to the ground
on his knees.
A moment later the figure was holding a bush in his hands shaking it
vigorously and screaming his name.
Ranma felt an unfamiliar pang of irritation with the boy in the
distance. "That dope! He's done it again." She blinked at the unfamiliar
reaction and shook her head. She stepped towards the shadowy figure and
called out to him, "Hey, I'm over here! What the heck do you want jerk?"
The figure looked up as if he had heard and stood moving slowly towards
her.
Ranma sat up in bed and spit out a mouth full of water as his father
woke him up. "Get up boy, we have to train."
"You stupid old man! You didn't have to wake me up that way!" snapped
the now female Saotome.
"Take it like a man son!" retorted Genma as he blocked a kick and jumped
out the window of the room into the Tendo yard.
A short time later...
"Ranma, about this Tuxedo Mousse character," said Luna from the radio
watches.
"What about him?" snorted the boy in disinterest.
"I don't see what the big deal about him is," said Akane from her spot
beside him on the sidewalk as the pair walked to school together.
"We don't know anything about him, you should avoid him," warned the
cat.
"You mean Mousse? He's just some stupid jerk that followed Shampoo back
from China," said the pigtailed boy indifferently.
"You mean...you do know about him?" said the cat in shock.
"Yeah, so?"
"Why didn't you say so sooner! Do you know what he wants?" said the
animal excitedly.
"He wants to find the crystal too, he thinks it can cure a Jusenkyo
curse," said Ranma. He paused and looked behind him to find Akane had
froze in her tracks with a look of shock on her face.
"Ranma, you don't think that Tuxedo Mousse is really...Mousse do you?"
she had a skeptical look on her face.
"Of course he's Mousse! You don't really think he's disguised just cause
he dresses up a little do you?" said the boy in reply.
"But, that's impossible. I mean, he's Mousse! He can't be Tuxedo
Mousse!" cried the girl in denial.
Ranma shook his head and continued towards the school. Akane glared at
his back. "He's wrong, there's no way Mousse is that handsome and
mysterious. I mean, he's -Mousse- for God's sake!"
Luna was remarkably silent throughout the conversation up until this
point. "We can't let him get his hands on the Silver Impirum Crystal!"
"Yeah, I know. That jerk would keep the cure to himself if he got his
hands on it!" said Ranma a little bitterly.
"Ranma, we have to protect the princess! We can't let him get his hands
on that crystal! He has no idea how powerful it is!"
"Whatever, I'll beat that jerk! I always do," said Ranma confidently.
Akane started walking after Ranma was well out of sight. She paused when
a pair of familiar voices called her name from behind.
Yuka and Sayuri, Akane's two friends from school caught up with her as
she turned.
"Hey Akane! How's it going?" said Yuka cheerfully.
"All right I guess," replied Akane absently.
"Where's Ranma?" inquired Sayuri.
"That dope went on ahead," snorted Akane as she realized she was alone.
She wasn't too angry at the moment though.
Yuka paused and looked at where they were standing. "You looking at
wedding dresses Akane?"
The girl turned and noticed where she was standing and blushed. She had
stopped in front of a bridal shop; several mannequins were displayed in a
window wearing long flowing dresses.
"No I wasn't," replied the girl sharply.
"Wow, you're so lucky Akane! You get to be a bride soon, wearing a fancy
dress! It's almost like a fairy tale!" said Sayuri.
"Huh?" said Akane in confusion.
"She's right Akane, it's so romantic that you're engaged to Ranma!"
squealed Yuka girlishly.
"I wanna be a bride!" cried both girls in unison.
Akane just scowled. "We're gonna be late for class."
Lunchtime, at Furinkan...
Shampoo jumped over the fence and giggled to herself as she held the box
high over her head. "Ranma love Shampoo ramen! Is special made just for
Airen!"
She bounded through the schoolyard and waved as she came within sight of
the boy. He was resting peacefully against a tree.
Unbeknownst to him, his peace was about to be destroyed completely.
"Airen!"
The pigtailed boy lifted his head at the familiar voice and paused as
yet another familiar sound came immediately afterwards.
"Ranchan!"
"Uh oh."
When both girls tried to feed him at the same time, things never went
well. He hated to admit it, but the taste of Ramen and Okonomiyaki in his
mouth at the same time wasn't a very pleasant one. He had been forced to
endure in order to keep from hurting the girls' feelings. Unfortunately a
fight still broke out, usually with him in the middle whenever these two
girls decided to cook for him at the same time. It happened with
uncomfortable frequency.
Realizing that their target was the same Ukyo and Shampoo faced off. The
Amazon smirked confidently and Ukyo scowled and pulled her battle spatula
off of her back.
"Spatula girl no get in Shampoo way! She bring Airen lunch!"
"No way sugar! Ranma is gonna eat my Okonomiyaki!"
"Eat Shampoo Ramen!" cried Shampoo.
"No way! I say he's gonna eat my Okonomiyaki!" retorted Ukyo.
"Well Ranma?" both girls said this at the same time.
"Airen must decide to eat Shampoo ramen now!"
"Nuh-uh! You'd better decide to eat my Okonomiyaki Ranchan!"
They turned to see the boy sitting against the tree still with an empty
bowl and a few crumbs of crust around his mouth.
"What?"
A short time later, after school was out...
Ukyo Kuonji walked alone towards her restaurant and sighed. The fight
with Shampoo was short lived as neither of them was sure whose food he
had eaten first. The heat wore off and Shampoo had other deliveries to
make so they dispersed relatively quickly.
She paused outside a familiar shop just as she did many times before.
The mannequin stared back at her vacantly. "One day Ranchan, I'll be
wearing one of those. I'll be standing next to you at the altar..." A
blush formed on her face as she looked into the shop. "I can't wait to be
a bride!" she sighed heavily and had a rather contented look on her face.
"Say, isn't that Ukyo?" asked Akane as she walked with her fianc�e
towards their home.
"Yeah, what she doing looking at the men's formal wear store that way?"
"I dunno, it's right across the street from that bridal shop though,"
noted Akane.
Ranma grew strangely silent at that moment and looked upwards with a
slight blush. "Better not let pop catch us near that place."
"You're right, let's go talk to her," said Akane cheerfully.
Ranma was already walking towards her. "Hey Ucchan! What's up?"
"Ranchan! What are you doing here?" said Ukyo as she turned and faced
him. She had a guilty look on her face and she turned away as if she
hadn't been looking in the store at all.
A strange laugh suddenly filled the air and the girls spun around to see
something rather odd. A snowman with a palm tree stuck in his head
bounced down the street towards them from an alleyway.
"Ha ha ha ha ha! You best be stayin away from that store brudda! Is very
haunted de say!"
The two girls and one pigtailed martial artist just continued to stare
as the thing bounced around excitedly.
The snowman continued to tell his story as if he had been answered. "Das
right Keiki! Haunted by a ghost! De say dat dis mannequin be floatin
around dis here store! She be seducin da kahunas! Is very bad karma, so
you stay away now!"
The girls and one pigtailed martial artist continued to stare as the
thing bounced away.
"Dat was pretty good story I made up for da keki! De be real scared of
me now! De is paralyzed wit fear! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" said the snowman
to itself.
After a long moment of silence the group simply stood unmoving from the
first appearance of the snowman. Finally, Ranma spoke up.
"What the hell was that!?"
"Uh, a snowman?" said Akane nervously.
"In the spring?" said Ukyo as she looked back at her.
Another voice stopped their peaceful trek towards their respective
homes. "Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho! That foolish snowman! Trying to frighten
young girls that way! Only some simpletons such as Ukyo Kuonji and Akane
Tendo would be so simple minded as to believe such a fantastical story!
But still, such a tragedy does bear some looking into! I the mighty Black
Rose of Mars shall investigate this tonight!" She spun her ribbon sending
rose petals in every direction and disappeared into the mass of flowers.
"Hey!" snapped Akane as she realized she had been insulted.
"She's nuts!" snorted Ranma.
"Never the less, she is right. We need to look into that story," said
Luna from the watch radio.
"Did your watch just talk Ranchan?" said Ukyo in surprise.
"Uh, no! It's just the alarm!" said the boy nervously.
"Oh, that's a strange alarm," commented the Okonomiyaki chef as she
turned away and started home again finally.
Nearby Pantyhose Nephrite stood watching the scene with a smirk on his
face. "An interesting idea, I'll have to thank that snowman before I kill
him."
Andy stepped out of the arcade. It had been a long day and he enjoyed
his job there. He always had time to stop and talk to the cute girls that
came there. Things had picked up a bit recently though. The red haired
girl and her friends had started coming to the arcade recently. He had
heard rumors about Furninkan girls but had discounted them. Now he knew
most of it was true, he was a bit wary of finding out if they were as
dangerous as they were said to be.
He sighed and locked the doors behind him. Only the shorthaired girl
actually played the games while she was there. The red head and the girl
with long dark hair mostly sat in the back and scowled at each other
distastefully. It was odd, they acted like they hated each other all the
time, but they spent so much time there talking with the short haired
girl in the corner.
After their meetings the dark haired girl would leave, making a huge
mess of the floor in the process, which he also had to clean up. Then the
redhead would stick around until the shorthaired girl was finished
playing her game. They would always leave together.
"I wonder if they're..." he shook his head and rubbed the base of his
nose as if to make sure it wasn't bleeding on his shirt. "No! Stop
thinking that way! You'll only get yourself into trouble!"
A girlish and haunting laugh stopped him in his tracks. It wasn't an
unpleasant sound, but it was kind of spooky. "Who?"
A ghostly white figure floated down towards him and he paused staring
into its eyes without even thinking about it. Unfortunately that was a
mistake.
Nephrite smirked as he watched nearby, this plan was going better than
he had thought. "Huh, I'll have those idiot sailor brats here soon
enough."
About an hour later...
Ukyo rounded the corner with a bag of groceries in her arm. She had to
shut down early because her supplies on a few important ingredients had
gotten low. Something rather odd met her gaze when she turned the corner.
A ghostly figure of a woman floated down to meet her in the street.
"What the hell do you want?" said Ukyo flatly.
The figure paused, as if uncertain about what to do. Her beauty would
have seemed like the ideal woman for any man that should pass by. "Don't
you think I'm beautiful!? I've been watching you from afar! Say you'll
marry me!" This boy seemed like a tough kid, they always seemed to go for
the demure type...
Nephrite couldn't believe his eyes. His perfect plan was already
crumbling. "What's wrong with this guy!? She's supposed to look like a
gorgeous babe!"
Ukyo was having troubles of her own. "Oh shit! Not this again!" she
thought desperately as she backed into a wall. She was never quite sure
what to do when this happened to her, and it had, several times in her
past. "Uhh, look...I don't think this is going to work out sugar..."
The ghost woman blinked and looked at her. "Can she see through the
illusion?" Unfortunately for her another cry broke the silence.
"Get away from my beautiful Shampoo Saotome!" hundreds of sharp objects
slammed into the ground around Ukyo forcing her to dodge through the
resulting mess of chains and rope.
"Who are you calling Shampoo?" snapped Ukyo as she pulled the battle
spatula off her back. She blinked and saw the figure standing before her,
her jaw dropped in shock.
"Heh, I must apologize for my manners, but I cannot allow this deception
to continue!" said Tuxedo Mousse angrily. "Evil demon! I shall take the
Silver Imperium Crystal from you!"
"Hey, you are kind of cute," commented Ukyo as she noticed the boy
standing between the bride and herself. That was when she realized that
he was pointing at her.
"Hey! The demon is over there you dope!" snapped Ukyo!
Another familiar cry tore through the already noisy, supposed, silence.
"Ranma you jerk!" cried a feminine voice.
The pigtailed girl in question landed head first on the monster's noggin
sending her to the floor before she could regain her senses enough to
argue with Mousse and Ukyo.
"Stupid Akane, it's not my fault the wind blew her stupid dress up!" she
grumbled as she dusted herself off. She blinked when she saw the girl
dressed in the wedding gown. "Oh man! Pop's done it again!"
"Ranma! Who the hell is that?" snarled Akane in her Mercury costume. She
stood angrily over the boy.
"How the heck should I know?" retorted the boy nervously.
"Take a cold shower!" snapped Akane as she threw out her hand and
blasted the pigtailed girl in the chest with a large number of...bubbles.
"Hey! That's cold!" snapped Ranma angrily as she jumped away from the
jet of wetness. "Moon Prism Power Makeup! Ha! Now you can't get me with
that lame attack!"
Ukyo froze in place as the two teens fought among each other. "Ranma
is...Sailor Ranmoon?"
The creature shook its head as it woke from its forced nap. "I'll
destroy them all!"
OF course, even the best laid plans are laid to waste. How much chance
do you think something like a spur of the moment plan has?
"Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho! Evil creature who uses her body to seduce men! To
think that you would use a virgin image to sway them from their purity! I
shall punish you in my high heels!" Black rose petals began to float
around the air as Sailor Mars made her appearance.
Ranma and Akane looked up and took notice of the girl.
"Pigtailed harlot! I shall punish you!" cried Sailor Mars angrily as she
snapped the flame whip that appeared in her hands at Ranma. The monster
fell out of its defensive stance and fell face first into the ground.
Ukyo had just about all she could take. "Hey! Nobody talks to my Ranchan
that way!" Thunder rumbled in the sky in the distance.
Nephrite looked up warily and swallowed. "To think, my plan ruined by a
gay guy!" The lightning bolt that struck the ground nearby wasn't helping
matters much either.
"My protector Jupiter! I call upon your power! Lightning shower down!"
screamed the Okonomiyaki chef as she called forth her senshi powers and
fried everyone who was fighting nearby. Nephrite included.
Ranma paused as she stood up and saw Kodachi and Akane lying on the
ground dazed nearby. She shook her head and noticed his childhood friend
was wearing a green senshi uniform. "Ukyo... you're one of us?"
"That's great!" muttered Akane bitterly.
"Are you guys forming some sort of fianc�e club?" said Ukyo in
confusion.
A small cat that rounded the corner answered her question with a stern
look on its face.
"No, we are the defenders of light and justice. The Sailor Scouts, and
you are Sailor Jupiter."
"Sailor Jupiter?" said Ukyo in shock. She was still having trouble
comprehending what had just happened to her.
The cat looked at Ranma and the girl backed away nervously. "Don't come
any closer!"
The cat shook her head and dropped a small scepter with a crescent moon
on the tip. "Ranma Saotome, you are Sailor Moon. The leader, it's your
mission to find the princess and protect her. Only you can do it!"
"Ya think I don't know that?" snapped Ranma, of course, Akane promptly
kicked him in the face.
"Dope! Does he even realize he's insulting us?"
"He did have that one coming," agreed Ukyo.
Tuxedo Mousse was standing silently nearby. He had saved the girl in
time for her powers to be released and there was no need for him to stay
since the crystal wasn't present. Still, for some strange reason he
wanted to stay just a little bit longer. He paused and looked over at
Ranma with a small frown. The pigtailed girl returned his gaze and then
went back to paying attention to his current situation with Ukyo.
Fortunately Kodachi was still out.
With that small exchange done he whirled around and vanished into the
night.
Pantyhose Taro stood in front of Happosai with tendrils of smoke rising
from his body. He was currently in his transformed state and was glaring
angrily at the old lecher.
"You quit too?" said Happy cheerfully.
The bull like creature nodded its head and growled.
"Oh, off with ya then!" said the old man cheerfully.
"First I'm gonna pound you into changing my name!" said Taro's
Genma-esque sign.
Within moments a large beast flew out of the window of the dark castle
and sailed across the Negaverse sky. "Ingrate," muttered Happosai. He did
realize that he hadn't seen the last of him.
"He was incompetent anyway," snorted an unfamiliar voice.
Herb turned from where he was watching and smiled. "You think you can do
better Kumon?"
"Bah, I know I could," replied the boy who appeared from the shadows. He
was dressed in the same uniform as the others, but his pants were loose
fitting camouflage. "That dope never used his head to begin with."
"I suppose you will?" asked Herb quietly.
"We'll see," agreed Ryu as he turned away.
Happosai was merely standing over his crystal ball with that strange and
disturbing red glow in his eyes. "I must get pantie...I mean the Silver
Imperium Crystal! I must have those silky dar...er...that power now! I
can't wait for this evening so I can...I mean...till I finally get it."
Eventually he just gave up on his evil monologue and merely waved his
hands over the crystal dramatically.
TBC...
C&C to Carrotglace@juno.com
URL Http://www.geocities.com/misatira/