Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2000 10:14:46 -0700 (PDT)
From: Thryth <thrythlind@yahoo.com>
Subject: [Ranma][Fusion][Alt]MA&M:3rd Edition [2]
To: Fan Fiction Mailing List <ffml@fanfic.html>
Part 2: Ranma's Secret
"What are you up to, boy?" Genma asked as he
pulled Ranma aside. "I was all set to tell them
that
you were your sister when you pull this."
"Oh, yeah, that worked real well with
Ryouga,"
Ranma shot back. "I got this covered." Genma
twitched, a reaction not unlike Ranma had when his
father said something similar. "I'll just say its
like your curse." There was something nagging Ranma
about this "solution" but he couldn't figure it out.
He glanced back at the Tendo's and noted Nabiki
staring at them.
"So you think you can catch every time you
get
splashed with water?" Genma asked quietly, also
watching the Tendos waiting for them.
"How hard can it be to fix a trigger spell?"
Ranma asked.
"So I guess that means your a man for now,"
Genma asked cautiously.
"Yeaah," Ranma said slowly, that nagging
feeling was back. "What about it?"
"Nothing, let's just explain everything to
the
Tendos," Genma said quickly. Ranma started to push
the issue when his father walked past him into the
living room and took a seat. He cautiously
followed,
staring at Genma's back suspiciously.
"Are you ready, Saotome?" Soun asked from
where
he was sitting. Genma nodded as Ranma sat down next
to him. "I'll explain it then. This is my dear old
friend..."
"...Genma Saotome," the older man in the
handkerchief said. "And this is my son..."
"...Ranma." Ranma noticed Akane glaring at
him, chewing on a finger nail and clenching her
other
fist. Suddenly the nagging feeling came clear. He
was a boy, that had just beaten Akane, virtually
humiliated her in fact, and then "peeked" on her.
Ranma glanced at her and swallowed nervously. The
youngest Tendo was not happy.
"What's this all about?" Nabiki demanded,
looking from Ranma to Genma.
"Are you really her," Kasumi asked. "That
same
girl!"
"Hmm," Genma put his index finger to his
forehead and closed his eyes. "Where should I
begin?
I know..." Genma quickly turned to his son and
tossed
the surprised young man back into the courtyard.
"HYAA!!" ~Well, Ranma, you wanted to be Jusenkyo
cursed.~
"HEY!" Ranma called out as he sailed through
the air towards a small koi pond. He was so
surprised
by the action, that he almost forgot about his plan.
The airborne half-demon growled quietly as he landed
in the pool. And came out a spluttering redhead.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
The three Tendo girls stared in shock.
"Now he's a girl," Kasumi said, surprised.
"Ohhh. My own son, so humiliating, so
humiliating," Genma said, weeping. Ranma twitched.
~Gee, great acting Pops,~ Ranma thought as
she
kicked the older man into the water and the giant
panda returned. "Who are you to talk about
humiliating!"
"Daddy, why are you friends with them?"
Kasumi
asked quietly, so as not to offend the guests.
"They weren't like this before!" Soun said,
his
old friend had told him about the panda curse and
was
about to explain Ranma when the noise started. Soun
figured it out soon enough, however, and this
demonstration proved his guess. "Not before they
went
to Qinghai...and undertook that terrifying training
exercise."
*******
"Here, Sir. Is legendary 'Training Ground of
Accursed Springs.'" the speaker was a beardless
dwarf,
obviously an exile, in a civil servant's garb.
Ranma
looked over the training ground and twitched as he
looked over all the springs. Everywhere he looked,
magic was rising out of the springs as thick as
steam.
He corrected that thought. There was when
the
Masaaki pantheon came to visit his mother, but that
magic wasn't as hostile. Up until the Goddess of
Nobility and Auntie Ryoko got into a fight anyway.
Then everybody, including their mutual husband, took
cover and waited for the two to either kiss and make
up or collapse from exhaustion. Ranma never caught
the end of the fight, they moved on to another plane
of existence after the first thirty minutes.
"Are you prepared, Ranma?"
"Hey, Pop, I don't think this is a good
idea,"
Ranma said.
"Are you going to let a few pools of water
deter you from your proper duty as a martial
artist?"
Genma demanded. Ranma looked out over the pools
again
and turned back to Genma. "Are you a man or
aren't...you?" Genma's voice dropped as he turned to
see his daughter standing there.
"Guy or girl, I ain't getting close to that
stuff," the girl said. She stuck out her tongue as
she gave the older man a red eye.
"How you do that?" the dwarf asked curiously.
"You fall in spring before?"
"Nah, just a spell," Ranma said hastily.
What
did she care if this guy saw her switch, it wasn't
like they were going to be around for long. "What
the
springs change you into stuff?"
"Oh yes," the dwarf nodded. "This place very
dangerous. Nobody use now. Is more than one
hundred
spring here, and every one have own tragic legend."
"Enough of this nonsense," Genma declared,
striding forward. "There's nothing here but a bunch
of poles stuck in some springs. Don't you think
that
I would know if there really were a curse on this
place?" Genma asked as he made ready to jump into a
pool to prove his point.
"Pop! Don't!" Ranma shouted blurring forward
in an attempt to keep her father from the magic
emanating from the pools.
The redhead was an inch too slow and had to
leap back to avoid getting splashed by the water
herself. She could already feel the magic reaching
out to grab her. The tendrils of magic burned
against
her inborn spell resistance.
"Pop?" Ranma asked as she recovered her
balance. Those wisps of rising magic, suddenly
seemed
much more than just the aura of a strong curse.
They
were part of it, trying to grab more victims.
Suddenly the water surface erupted, and the magic of
the area started whirling viciously again, as a
giant
panda leaped out of the pool and growling in
irritation.
"That is 'Spring of Drowned Panda'!" the
dwarf
yelled. "There is tragic legend, very tragic, of
panda who drown there two thousand years ago! Now
whoever fall in that spring take body of panda!"
Ranma leaped away from the spray of water again, as
the guide backed a safe distance away from the
pools.
This time the pull of the magic on the redhead was
much stronger.
"No way, I ain't going in there!" Ranma
shouted
as she felt her weak resistance giving in to the
pull
of the pools. The redhead desperately abandoned her
human disguise. Instead of falling into the more
actively magical pools as the seemed to plan, the
redhead sprouted great batwings and pulled herself
away from the cursed pools. She didn't land until
more than a stone's throw away from the pools.
"AH!! You is demon you is!" the dwarf
shouted
as the winged girl landed and stared hard at the
pools. Ranma reached beautiful sharp nailed hands
out
to pull up her gi top as her wings retreated and she
took her completely human form again. The guide
tried
to run only to find the demon girl, in human form
appearing in front of him.
"Oh please, Master Dwarf...Sir," the girl
said,
batting her eyelashes cutely. "I'm only half demon,
and I really need your help getting my father out of
this mess he's leaped into. You aren't afraid of a
cute little thing like me are you?" The redhead
added
the last on a cute plaintive plea with a hint of
tears.
"Certainly, can help demon stupid father as
much as can," the guide said nervously.
"Wai!! Thank you, sir!" the redhead cheered
cutely. Then she turned to the panda and shouted,
"Pop, get away from there before you fall in another
spring!" The panda irritably complied, shaking off
the remaining water and grumbling every step of the
way.
*******
"...And I wasn't really paying attention
after
the change," Genma explained. "And I just had to
take
out my shock on something. So while Ranma was
chatting with the guide about something, I attacked
and tossed him in the 'Spring of Drowned Girl'."
The Tendos and Saotomes sat in silence in the
wake of the tale.
"The legendary training ground of accursed
springs," Soun said dramatically. "Its true horror
has always been shrouded in mystery, but now..."
~I could have been turned into a panda,~
Ranma
thought. ~Or a full human, or even...brrrr~ The
pigtailed martial-artist shivered a little.
"Whaddya
mean 'true' horror?"
"Yo, old man," Ranma grabbed his father by
the
gi. ~Make me look like an idiot, huh?~ "What's the
idea of dragging me to a place like that, anyway?"
"Heeyah!" Genma shouted as he tossed his son
back into the pond.
~Damn, he's lucky I don't stoop to snacking
on
him,~ Ranma muttered as he, and then she, landed in
the pool again.
"You sound like a woman!" Genma shouted.
"Were
you not prepared to give your life for the sake of
your training?"
"My life, yes," Ranma said slowly. "My
species
is another matter!" The redhead splashed his father
as she shouted. He didn't notice Akane twitch
angrily, still aware of the various possibilities of
what could have happened. The panda and redhead
started rapidly exchanging attacks, reducing to
growling and punches. ~Hmm, if you were half the
man
mom is sometimes, you'd stop those stupid comments,
jerk!~
"Oh, what a tragedy!" Soun shouted, weeping
a
river of tears.
"Stop that!" Kasumi shouted angrily, and
Ranma
was impressed as the magic in the priestess's
command
washed over him and his father. Immediately the
impromptu battle ended.
"You just went too far, Master Saotome!"
Kasumi
said, gripping the panda's arm.
"Yeah," Nabiki agreed, flatly. "Even for
training." She was a lot calmer though, something
didn't add up in the story, and she was trying to
figure it out. Besides Ranma didn't seem quite as
mad
about the situation as she should have been.
"What EVER made you do something so
dangerous?"
Kasumi demanded loudly, the look in her face
promising
all the divine retribution a priestess of Belldandy
could call down. Depsite known as a generally nice
group of people, it was generally agreed that
actually
getting a Verdandi angry was about as intelligent as
jumping into a volcano.
The panda hastily dropped a scroll to the
ground, and the two elder Tendos were immediately
distracted.
"Its a map in Sylvan," Kasumi said.
"Something about 'training grounds,'" Nabiki
added. She took a moment to cast a language spell
and
continued reading. Ranma noted the priestess
arching
an eyebrow and glancing Ranma's way.
"No wonder," Kasumi said. "You can't read
Sylvan, can you?!" Kasumi whirled to accuse the
panda.
The panda produced a small flag virtually shouting
"correct!" to the world. Suddenly Soun appeared
with
a tea kettle and poured it over his friend.
"So," the other monk said. "When doused with
hot water, you return to human form."
"Well, it needn't be quite that hot," Genma
protested irritably. Soun ignored him and turned to
the small redhead.
"When doused with cold water you become a
girl," Soun said indicating Ranma, then tried to
pour
the same boiling water on her. "But hot water turns
you back into a boy!"
"Hot water! Not boiling!" Ranma shouted. ~If
I
have to switch one more time, I think I might
scream.~
"No sweat," Soun declared, a slightly mad
look
in his eyes as he clapped his hand on the small
girl's
shoulder. "Your problem isn't so terrible after
all!"
"Huh?" Ranma asked. ~Does he know how
irritating this going back and forth every few
minutes
is?~
"My daughter Kasumi. Nineteen. And Nabiki.
Seventeen. And Akane. Sixteen," Soun declared,
listing off his daughters. "Pick the one you want,
she's your fiancee."
~I forgot about that,~ Ranma moaned quietly.
"Oh, he wants Akane!" Kasumi declared in a
rare
moment of panic.
"Eh?" Akane continued to sit in shock.
"Oh, definitely," Nabiki agreed quickly.
"You must be joking!" Akane shouted, better
aware how to deal with confronting Nabiki than she
was
confronting Kasumi. "Why would I be..."
"Well," Nabiki said slowly, as if touching on
a
delicate subject. "You hate men, don't you?"
"So you're in luck!" Kasumi said, grabbing a
hold of that thread. "He's half-girl!"
"Me?" Akane said, insulted. "Marry that
pervert?! Never!"
"Whaddya mean pervert?!" Ranma demanded.
"You saw me naked, pervert!" Akane reminded
him.
"Hold it! You walked in on me!" Ranma
retorted.
"Its different when a woman sees a man!"
Akane
answered, not sounding very logical.
"They're already a perfect couple!" Soun
declared.
"We're not a couple," Akane snapped at the
old
men. "We're fighting! As for you..." Ranma was
already leaving when she turned to face him.
"Ah forget it!" Ranma snapped.
"Where are you going, boy?" Genma asked
narrowly.
"You know where!" Ranma snapped back. "This
ain't no time to be getting married."
"By the way," Ranma turned toward Akane,
venting frustration at the sudden loss of his new
friend. "You took a pretty good look at me, too.
Besides, it ain't like you got anything I don't got,
and better besides." It was true, she was just
built
that way, all the better for survival. Ranma turned
her back on the growling priestess and crossed her
hands behind her head. Then the table flattened him
to the ground.
"Now that he had coming," Genma said sagely.
Kasumi and Nabiki looked on in frustration. Kasumi
pouring tea onto the ground where a cup used to sit,
and Nabiki spilled onto the ground.
******
Ranma crawled into consciousness, blinking
her
eyes open. Then snapped her head from the pillow
underneath it.
"Ah!" Kasumi declared. "She's awake!"
"Oooo," Ranma sighed, gripping his head.
"Are you okay, we healed as much as
possible,"
Kasumi continued. "But you seemed to be resisting
the
spells. Please don't think too badly of Akane.
She's
really a very sweet girl. She's just a violent
maniac."
"He should have guessed that from the goddess
she follows," Nabiki hmphed.
*******
~Why that...that...that,~ Akane growled as
she
prepared for her delayed bath. ~Make a fool of me,
eh?~ She recalled the "and better besides."
comment,
not to mention earlier when the jerk had implied
women
were a different species. ~That...that...man!~
*******
"Owwww!" Ranma moaned irritably. ~It still
smarts, Auntie at least has a sense of humor.~ The
redhead walked into the changing room outside the
hotspring and began to disrobe.
~Friends she says, so much for friends when
she
found out I can be a man! No way she'd like me as I
really am!~ She started for the door to the hot
spring when it suddenly slid open revealing a
surprised Akane.
Akane suddenly started growling low as Ranma
cringed, grabbing a towel to cover herself.
"Uh. Uh. Uh oh," Ranma whimpered.
"Why you..you...you..." Akane stammered
angrily. Then the Tendo monastery rang with the
sound
of a slap.
*******
"So she's got spunk," Ranma's father told his
again male child. "That just makes a fiancee
cuter."
"But you were both girls, right?!" Nabiki was
saying in the next room. "That makes it okay!"
"Okay/Cute is not the word," two voices said
together.
"I'm going to go stretch my," Ranma paused.
"Legs." He stood up and started walking for the
outerwall. Nabiki heard and narrowed her eyes in
curiousity.
*******
The last thug dropped to the ground in a
drained heap, as Ranma released him. The little
redhead sighed as she relished the drained energies
of
the accumulated thugs. It was always so much easier
to get a meal as a woman.
"Don't try any extrenuous activity for a few
days," she told the crumpled thugs sweetly. The
half-demon stretched her wings out and yawned,
revealing a pair of sharpened canines. "That tasted
good."
"Well," a new voice added as Ranma left the
area. "Aren't we full of surprises." Nabiki stepped
out of hiding to watch her family's guest took
flight
into the sky. She glanced at the four bodies,
normally masked, sprawled across the alley. She
kicked at one of them and, upon recieving no
response,
reached down to check his pulse.
"Still alive," she said and picked up one of
the thugs by the hair. The young thug, his fox mask
up over his head, stared off into space with a goofy
grin on his face.
"What a kiss," he muttered before Nabiki let
his head fall back to the ground.
"How pathetic," Nabiki sighed and looked up
into the sky. "Interesting...person."
=====
"Caffeinated Kender? What's that, a berserk spell?"
-
Tribble, Kender Warrior of the Celestial Kingdom
"God has to have a sense of humor, it's the only
explanation for sex." - my father
"I have to write a how-to paper for class, so I'm
writing a paper on how to be psuedo-evil." - my
brother
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