Since I was bugging you about this, and you were kind enough to post
promptly, I suppose I'll move this to the front of the C+C line and get
right on it.
Due to the sheer girth of this chapter, I'm breaking it up into sections.
This is part one.
Part two should be posted within two weeks, then part
three two weeks after that.
Beware of making promises like this about future postings. It's almost like
asking God to throw obsticals in your path to keep this from happening. I
learned that the hard way.
> LE PLUS CA CHANGE...
Oh man! It's another friggin' Ranma fanfic...
And here I am C+Cing another Ranma fanfic... :)
By Dave Menard
WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE: The year is 2015, and the offspring of
the Ranma 1/2 cast take center stage. The annual 'King of
Fighters' tournament is today, and it looks like there'll be
some action in the under-thirty division this year, as quite a
few famous names will be showing up. Bogard, Masters, Masaki
And the real powerhouse in the group, Gosunkugi,
Additionally, it appears that Sachiko Tendo and Kobuta
Hibiki have picked up a rider on their bicycle-built-for-two;
Ti-Pi, Shampoo's niece, has taken Kobuta as her Airen, and
Sachiko as her Shield-hand wife. Kobuta is embarrassed by the
whole thing but isn't complaining (would you?)
Yes. I'm not so stupid as to believe anything good would come from that sort
of situation. :)
**************
CHAPTER SEVEN (PART ONE):
"Welcome back to the first-ever co-ed King of Fighters
tournament!
Oh goody. The boys will be squaring off against the girls this time around.
"For the benefit of viewers who are only just now joining
us, here's a review of the stunning events so far. In a
surprise move, the board has abolished gender categories this
year, a decision that has met with mixed reviews amongst the
competitors. Last year's under-thirty women's champ,
I'd use 'champion' since this announcer seems a bit more formal in his
speaking.
the
beautiful and talented Ranko Tendo, had the following words to
say:
'S'about time I had some real competition. These guys'll
never know what hit 'em.'"
Heh. That should go over well.
'Fighting girls? No, that's not right! Nobody told me I'd
have to fight girls!'
"It just goes to show that chivalry is not dead, Ota."
Though common sense is. :)
"You bet! Any words from last year's men's under-thirty
champ, Alexander Bogard?"
Alex: YES! Now I can finally employ my 'Spanking Tight Buns Assault' and
'Striking Tiger Titties Grope' without everyone thinking I'm gay!
"Well Ota, it just so happens that I have him here in the
booth. Any thoughts, champ?"
"Urhm, I, uh... Well, I've known Tendo from way back, and
although I've a lot of respect for Tendo as a competitor, I've
got to say I'm a little uncomfortable with the idea of
fighting women.
'I have this problem with losing to them whenever I fight one.'
Still, if there's a woman alive who can
compete with the men, it's Tendo."
And that's going to go over real well with the rest of the female
competition.
"Any truth to the rumour that you and Tendo are
romantically involved?"
"What?! No! I- uh, we just trained together under the
same sensei about four years back, that's all, really
Well, that and we had hot sex. But really, there was no romance involved. It
was just for fun.
"Well, I've got to say that my cousin Ichino's doing very
well, and I'd like to let her know I'm rooting for her. Aside
from that, I'd have to say that Prince Hemlock's looking good.
Hemlock blushed. It was about time Bogard realized just how handsome he was.
Now all he had to do was defeat thet Tendou bitch and Alex would be his for
the taking.
UNDER-THIRTY DIVISION A:
RANKO TENDO-----------------
|
|__________
|
|
KIN "GOLDEN BLADE" KUNO-----
Keeping it in the family.
NOBOHIKO SARUGAKURE---------
|
|__________
|
|
TOBATSU KUMON---------------
Got to go with Kumon, since we know his ancestry and not Sarugakure's
KOBUTA HIBIKI---------------
|
|
|__________
|
GORO HONDA-----------------|
Gee. I wonder who'll win that one.
UNDER-THIRTY DIVISION B:
ICHINO BOGARD---------------
|
|__________
|
|
HEMLOCK MUSK----------------
Intersting first round match up.
ACHIKA MASAKI---------------
Hmm. I assume Light Hawk Wings are illegal.
|
|__________
|
|
BURAKURO TARO---------------
LINA GOSUNKUGI--------------
Oh? Gos's kid knows martial arts? And given who she was sleeping with last
chapter, that makes the above bracket's winner potentially interesting.
KEIICHI ONO ----------------
|
|_________
|
|
TI-PI JOKETSUZOKU-----------
Could be a decent fight there too.
"There sure are, Fukui-san! I asked the judges about
that, and they simply said that it was unfair to exclude folks
from competition just because they're from off-planet. Jurai
and Oni both have treaties with Japan, so they're just as
welcome here as our fighters from overseas."
That they have abilities inaccessable to normal humans is irrelevant.
"That's right, Fukui-san! Challenger Kuno is in fact
Champion Tendo's cousin. It looks like fighting runs in the
family. The Kuno family has a long and illustrious history in
the sport of Kendo, and as we all know, Tendo is the daughter
of Ranma Tendo, who was champion of the men's division for an
unprecedented eight years running before he withdrew from
competition, and the late great Akane Tendo, a former women's
champion."
"Truly, a Modern Dynasty
Don't think that needs to be capitalized (Woo! Actual grammar commentary)
*****
Ranko took a quick sip of gatorade
The eternal sport's drink, though shouldn't it be capitalized.
"Any last words of encouragement, Pops?"
"Don't lose or I'll disown you," Ranma said.
Ranma stood stoically beside the Anything-Goes banner ,
arms across his chest. "Mm-hmm. Kin's quick, and
not sure if you need that comma
sneaky. Don't
count her out just 'cause she's a weapons-user;
since any true weapon's master could tell you that for those truly skilled
in its use, the weapon is nothing more than an extension of the self.
she knows a
bit of AGMA herself, not just kendo. I'm not telling you
anything you don't know yourself, kiddo. Just try to keep your
moves fresh. That flying side-kick you've been using so far?
Drop it. She'll have watched your matches, she'll know to
expect it. Above all, keep fluid, be like water.
Evaporate in the sun.
Kendo is a
very rigid discipline,
At least until they started using firearms in their arsenal.
"No problem. Just keep up the intensity you've shown so
far, and you'll have no trouble. Remember, though; fight
clean. No disabling strikes, she's family."
Across the ring, Kin was getting encouragement of her
own.
Nabiki: Remember, this is Ranma's kid. Dull as a brick and twice as dumb as
a Hibiki. Fight dirty. Since you can't kick Ranko in the balls, no matter
how much butch she is, you're going to have to settle for trying to throw
knockout powder in her face.
"Remember, daughter dear, that the dullness of the fool
is the whetstone of the wit. Use thy mind to the utmost; thou
canst outthink this opponent easily."
"I haven't the faintest idea of what you said, old man," Kin replied.
"Yes, father." Kin nodded, as she tightened her hakama's
strings. "Though she be my kinswoman, I shall still prevail,
for she has not a tenth of my cunning and daring."
Though Ranko does possess the edge in brains, the way Einstein had an edge
over most lab rats.
ahead. Winning this round'll just be gravy. Tasty gravy, but
gravy nonetheless. Give it your best shot, but don't be afraid
to concede if things get too rough for you.
I see Nabiki hasn't changed.
No sense in taking
the chance of ruining those photogenic looks, hmm?"
So I assume Nabby secretly sells pictures of her daughter to potential
parmours for money?
"Yes mother.
Yes, Mother.
Fear not! Never shall I, the Golden Blade of
Furinkan High, allow my fair visage to come to harm, nor in
any way damage my chances at scoring yon humongous endorsement
contract."
It's nice to see a child that takes her parents' interests to heart. :)
"Fabulous. Give 'er hell, sweetie." Nabiki bussed
bussed?
*****************
The crowd cheered mightily. Tendo was a popular
competitor. Flashy yet skilled, and good-looking to boot. Not
a few folks in the stands were waving "Ranko, Gambatte!"
banners, too.
Think you should drop the 'too'
"And in the black corner, representing the Kuno school of
Kendo, Captain of the Furinkan High girl's Kendo club, sixteen
years old, a Scorpio with blood type AB negative, Kin "The
Golden Blade"
Think you should use single quotes around that
The two bowed to each other and took their places; Kuno
assuming a rigid offensive stance, while Tendo took a looser
defensive stance, arms akimbo and feet apart.
"Hajime!!!" called the referee,
since the dialogue in the fic had suddenly had the translation mode cut off
(why no, I can't say I care much for standard Japanese terms in most fics.)
and it began.
Kin made the first move, taking the fight to her opponent
with a flurry of her trademark credit-card shuriken.
That's the plural for shuriken? Never knew.
Ranko
evaded most of the barrage, plucking a few out of the air and
returning them with interest,
Ohh. And we know how heavy crrdit card interest rates can be too. :)
Not sure if your wording was intentional there, but if so it's a good
choice.
A golden crescent of ki-energy poured off the blade,
streaking through the air towards Ranko. She leapt upwards,
glancing over her shoulder to see the golden projectile rip a
trench into the turf. The moment of inattention cost her, as
her younger cousin was able to get inside her guard with
another Million-Yen Strike, knocking Ranko to the ground.
Putting up a good fight there.
With a yell, Ranko answered the blizzard of thrusts with
a amaguriken-driven series of grabs, until she snatched the
bokken from the younger girl's grip and jumped back, causing
Kin to topple forward onto her face, her balance disrupted.
With a cheerful laugh, Ranko backflipped to the edge of the
ring, twirling the bokken like a cheerleader's baton,
The old man taught her a few martial arts cheerleading moves, eh?
A blinding flurry of 1000 yen notes sprung from Kin's
upthrust hand, momentarily concealing her from view. When the
bills finally floated down to earth,
Good thing she didn't inherit her grandfather's greedy streak. She'd be
picking those up for hours. :)
"Hah!" Kin's voice called from everywhere and nowhere,
"That is for me to know, and you to find out! YAAH!!"
A series of invisible punches buffeted Ranko's unguarded
form, knocking her to the ground.
Interesting, considering even Lukkosai (sp?) didn't develop offensive moves
for that particular technique.
"Founding School? Well, that's rather impressive. Say,
Ota, what happened to all those 1000 yen notes? I guess the
groundskeepers are getting some nice tips down there today."
"I'm sorry to say that that was just Monopoly money,
Fukui-san."
Of course. Her mother would have rung Kin's neck if it had been real money.
:)
"Oh, she's off talking to one of her friends,
Knowing Sachiko, that could be ominous.
The statuesque Amazon nodded, smirking wryly. "Yes, just
as overconfident and arrogant as you ever were.
Ranko: Bugger. Thought I was worse than the old man. Guess I got to get even
more cocky for my next fight.
"It IS a powerful technique, is it not?" Shampoo
continued.
"Yeah, I s'pose. 'S pretty handy. Why?"
It
Need opening quote
is only one of many techniques of the Amazon nation,
passed down over 3000 years of tribal history. If you'd like,
I can show you a few..."
Shampoo: And insinuate myself into your good graces so I have an ally when I
court your father.
Ranko: Fine. You teach me everything you know, and in return you get the old
man and I keep Sachi off your back.
Shampoo: Deal.
Ranma: Don't I get a say in this?
Ranko and Shampoo: No.
"No, of course not, child." Shampoo soothed. After all,
as her "husband's" daughter, Ranko was _already_ de facto part
of the tribe.
Hey. Already confident she's won.
"Er, I don't have a problem with it, I guess. Just, er,
no Bakusai Tenketsu training, huh?"
"Exploding point? That sounds pretty impressive. Why-"
"Just don't, okay?"
Thereby ensuring Ranko will want to learn it later.
Ranma and Shampoo were almost bowled over by a silver-
haired comet of exuberant affection that was all over Ranko
like white on rice.
"OH, RANKO-CHAAN! I'M SO-OOO HAPPY TO SEE YOU AGAIN!!!!!"
"SEMPAIII! IT'S BEEN FOREVER!!!!"
Ichino?
The two proceeded to jump up and down in a circle while
maintaining a hug, causing the new girl's endowments to gainax
impressively.
Heh. Although wouldn't 'gainax' be capitalized in this case?
Ranma picked himself up off the floor with Shampoo's
help.
"Who, or what," asked the Amazon, sotto voce
sotto voce?
The newcomer was a girl Ranko's age, maybe a year or two
older,
since she called her sempai, I would assume she was older.
dressed in what looked like some hentai anime fan's
concept of a kunoichi outfit that barely covered her
pneumatically improbable endowments.
Yep. Mai's kid.
"Oooh, Pops, Shampoo-san, this is my sempai, Ichino
Bogard! We studied together under her great-grampa. You
remember, Pops, don'cha?"
"Err, Ichino-chan? Is that... you?" Ranma hemmed and
hawed. "My, how you've... grown."
Ranma: Don't jump too high or one of your tits might bounce high enough to
knock you out.
"Uncle Ranma!!" Ichino cried, seizing Ranma in a firm
glomp.
Shampoo firmly resisted the urge to bonbori the girl
upside the head, instead restraining herself to a mere
grinding of teeth. "Well, young lady. It's very nice to meet
you. You seem to be a... healthy girl. Are you competing
today
in the silicone enhanced division?
^_^
Ichino nodded cheerily, releasing 'Uncle Ranma', who
collapsed into a groaning heap. "Mm-hmm! It's nice to meet
you, lady!" She bowed formally, almost spilling out of her
top. "Are you Uncle Ranma's girlfriend?"
Heh. Maybe she stands a chance of being well-received after all.
"Ah, er..." Shampoo temporized, "It's a little more
complicated than that, child, I-"
"Oh, that's so SWEET!" Ichino bubbled. "You're never too
old for romance!"
That bonbori attack's getting harder to resist. ^_^
"Old..?" A vein on Shampoo's head throbbed.
"Girlfriend..?" Ranma murmured again, looking confused
(an expression that was growing more and more at home on his
face.)
Obviously life has been far too easy for him lately. :)
Prince Hemlock of the Musk Dynasty chuckled evilly as he
sucked back a two-litre bottle of Jolt.
Better than amphetamines. :)
Oh sure, winning this contest wasn't exactly high on his
list of priorities; after all, global domination takes a lot
of planning. But it _did_ provide him the opportunity to size
up any future threats to his power. After all, his mother the
king had been laid low in his youth by one of these weak,
pathetic outsiders, so it behooved him to take the measure of
all who might someday oppose him.
Actually a resonable plan.
Peppy J-pop played over the stadium speakers as the
groundskeepers cleared the field for the next match. In the
stands, a large black pig squatted, humanlike, a soda in one
trotter and three skewers of yaki-tori in the other. A young
man in his late teens sat next to him, munching away on
octopus balls and occasionally conversing with the pig.
Needless to say,
Oh. Hate that saying. I'd just drop it outright, though it's as much a
matter of personal preference as anything else.
<<Where's Sachiko-chan?>> Ryoga signed to his son, taking
a lazy sip of his soda.
Oh, so pork-rind actually grew up from his piglet form.
Ryoga produced another sign. <<Avoiding my cousin Dan.>>
cousin, Dan
"Whatever..." Kobuta mumbled. He really, REALLY wanted to
go look for Sachiko, but he was afraid his Dad would wander
off if he didn't have someone to keep an eye on him. "Dad, I
gotta go find Sachiko-san. You gonna be okay if I leave you
here for a few?"
<Insert Derisive Snorting>
The big pig blinked, then grinned fangily. <<You miss her
already, do you? Ah, young love...>>
Kobuta blushed fiercely. "Aw, c'mon Dad... I only just
met her." So what if she's incredibly cute, has a gorgeous
smile... Not to mention her hair smells really nice
Oh? Odd thing to think about.
The kawaii voice startled the Hibikis, appearing as it
did almost out of thin air. (Actually, it wasn't quite out of
thin air, more like from above. But I digress...)
Blech. Drop the break in the fourth wall. It really doesn't work there.
A well-
rounded figure of an Amazon (And when I say well-rounded, I'm
referring to the shape of her body, not merely the content of
her character. Although an Amazon liberal-arts education can
take you a fair ways, touching, as it does, on cosmetology,
herbalism, 1,001 ways of inflicting severe violence, and many
other wonderful- Ah, but I digress again.)
and here.
Ti-Pi double-blinked and glanced behind her. "These?" She
fluttered her downy wings demurely, settling down on the
bleacher next to her Airen. "Ti-Pi born this way; come from
Papa's side of family. Papa from Phoenix Mountain, very brave
warrior. One day, he meet Mama while she climb mountain,
decide to attack.
While climbing? Gee, no wonder he won.
"B-but, you didn't have wings before... Did you?"
"Is like Airen's curse; it come with cold water, and
leave with hot. Is too-too convenient for getting around.
<<I don't understand,>> signed a boggled Ryoga-pig, <<If
you were born with wings, why do they behave like a Jusenkyo
curse?>>
Was wondering that myself
"No, at least... Probably not, but I'm worried about
Sachiko-san. She left a while ago and hasn't come back..."
"Tsk! Shield-hand wife probably go home! She no
appreciate Airen like Ti-Pi does!" she tickled Kobuta gently
under the chin with a wing-feather. "She complain all morning
how she no want to come here, no want to see good fighters
compete. Is silly, but Ti-Pi no mind. Ti-Pi happy so long as
Airen here!"
Well, she is easy to please. :)
"We find Shield-hand wife easy this way!" Ti-Pi chirped,
scanning the crowd for the petite redhead. Kobuta merely
whimpered and clung tighter. The winged Amazon glanced down at
her Airen, his face nestled in her cleavage.
Heh.
"I'mgonnadieI'mgonnadieI'mgonnadieeeeeee" Kobuta
whimpered, eyes firmly shut, only to have the breath knocked
out of him by a pair of slender arms grabbing him about his
midsection and arresting his descent. He blinked hard, and
opened his eyes.
"I'm... not gonna die?"
"Not if I've got anything to say about it, Ko-chan," a
husky voice purred in his ear.
Heh. That isn't going to sit well with Ti-Pi
The girl winked coyly, eyes peering out from under a
spiky mane of blue-black hair. Kobuta looked down, and
realized that they were hovering a good ten feet off the
ground. He gulped loudly. "So, whatcha doing?" Achika asked
innocently.
Where's Ti-Pi in all of this?
"Hey! What's the big idea of dropping my Ko-chan like
that?!" Achika snarled. "You lookin' for trouble, Tweety-
Bird?"
"Who you call Tweety-Bird, Hedgehog-girl?"
"Who're YOU callin' Hedgehog-girl, Birdbrain?!"
Getting along famously, I see.
Ti-Pi squeaked in rage, and produced a war-trident from
nowhere, assuming a martial stance.
"Oh ho, y'wanna throw down with me, do ya? Fair enough!"
Achika stepped back, and a crackling blue energy sword sprung
into being in her fist.
Well, the fight would be brief, that's for sure.
"GIRLS! PLEASE!" Kobuta pleaded, "Can't we all just get
along?"
"Nope. Don't think so, Ko-chan. This little featherbrain
has it comin'."
comin',
"Is not shameless to have snugglies with husband!"
"HUSBAND?!"
Kobuta slunk away, head hanging. Oh, well. Maybe he could
find Sachiko, he thought. She's gotta be in a better mood...
Heh. Not completely dumb, then
She wasn't.
She had a fairly good reason, too. Aside from the whole
fiance thing. Really.
She was annoyed because she'd been stuck in the washroom
for close to forty-five minutes now, trying to convince her
best friend (Of course she's your best friend, her mind
repeated. Otherwise you'd've left half an hour ago...)
Heh
to come
out of the stall she'd barricaded herself into.
"Chugoku Kuonjii, come OUT of there!"
"Nonononononono! I saw him! He's here!
OhgawdsI'msonervousssss!!!!!"
Hmm. Which one, I wonder.
"Are you sure? Reallyreallreally sure?"
Yeah. Just because he's on the list, which would mean he's already fought a
couple of times and won, is no reason to think he's actually here.
"Yeah... It was just some other totally hunky dreamboat
with gorgeous brown eyes and perfect hair, and that sexy
little dimple when he smiles.... Oh god, it WAS him!" The
mistress of hidden-weapons-style okonomiyaki martial arts
began to squeal, hopping around on one foot.
Worse than either parent, I see.
"I've just received word that Ichino Bogard will be
accompanied to the field by none other than Ranko Tendo!"
"Wow! Sizing up the competition, is she?"
"Actually, Fukui-san," Alex interjected, "Tendo and my
cousin are old friends.
Oh, Alex is Terry's kid. Wow! Terry actually had a girlfriend that didn't
get whacked right after he met her. :) You have to admit, only Devil Hunter
Yohko Mano had a worse record when it came to potential love interests not
dying.
"AND in the WHITE cor-NERRR... Heir to the throne of the
Musk Dynasty, 21 years old, weighing in at an impressive one-
hundred and seventy-five kilos, His Majesty, PRINCE HEM-
LOCCCCCCKKKK!!!"
To the sound of cheers (hey, even badguys have fans)
Really don't like those little asides.
Hemlock took his time circling the kunoichi; that is to
say, he used only a fraction of his speed, so he was moving at
about eighty kph as he circled Ichino like a miniature
whirlwind.
"Give up now, foolish woman!" he dopplered,
dopplered? Bit obscure of a term, in my opinion.
Ichino kept silent and focused, waiting for the Musk
warrior to make his move, tracking him slowly with her inner
eye. His speed was truly inhuman, his power level off the
scale. Her cousin Alex might've been able to defeat him once,
but she was beginning to suspect that Hemlock had had a bad
day, and Alex had had a very very good one.
very, very
Ichino simply jiggled her breasts.
Hemlock stopped dead, two feet away, and stared.
"Are those..?"
"Yep, they're real!" Ichino giggled, gainaxing wildly.
Hemlock's ki-fist fizzled out as his eyes took on a
glazed and hungry look.
Has the old man's weakness, I see.
Oh, it wasn't _completely_ bare, you understand. You
couldn't exactly see the nipple. But there was definitely some
of the 'nippular area' in view. It was enough.
Ah, Chocolate Misu style wear, I see. And employing a varient of 'Jiggle Fu'
to boot. Very deadly, that art.
Sorry there weren't more grammar comments, but this was mostly dialogue
which helps keep those to a minimum. More romantic entanglements seems to be
forming as the matches continue and we learn more about the characters.
Action moved along quite well and the actions in-between the matches kept
things interesting. Nice work. Hope to see the next chapter before too long.
D.B. Sommer