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Disclaimer:
Megaman X character designs belong to Capcom. I'm just borrowing 'em,
guys. I'll have 'em power washed before I bring 'em back. Yeah, yeah, I'll
even hot wax 'em. Ranma characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I'm just
borrowing 'em, Rumiko-san. I'll have 'em power washed before I return 'em.
Yeah, yeah, I'll even hot wax 'em.
Flashfyre5 Presents
A Flaming Amarant production
In association with Digital Wizardry Studios, Minnesota
The Opening Bet
Chapter Three: Explosion! Ryoga Blasts Onto the Scene!
" " = speech
[ ] = panda board
< > = thought
/ / = written
* * * * * *
Akane pulled away from Ranma slowly, not quite sure how to feel. Ranma
herself was blushing furiously, even though she looked happy for Akane.
Somewhere in there, however, Akane could see the melancholy that had plagued
Ranma all day. Suddenly, Akane remembered that she was naked and, contrary
to appearances, Ranma was a boy. Blushing, she pulled away and hugged the
towel to her body.
"Thank you," Akane said quietly, looking in wonder at her toes. She'd
honestly never expected to see them again. Also, it had the side effect of
hiding her blush.
"'What're friends for?'" Ranma quoted her, a small, happy smile on her
face. Akane looked back up and returned the smile, then started to look
around the dojo, being careful not to let Ranma see any of her 'bits and
pieces.'
"I know that Dad keeps a spare gi or two around here somewhere," Akane
muttered, checking drawer after drawer.
"Umm... Akane? I already found it," Ranma said, holding up one of Soun's
spare gi. Akane got back up and walked over to Ranma. Holding the towel
tightly with one hand, she snaked her other out to grab the clothing. She
was about to ask Ranma to turn around so that she could change when a
delightfully evil thought occurred to her.
"Pervert," Akane suddenly said. "You just set this whole thing up so
that you could see me naked." Ranma, shocked, facefaulted with a loud
*crash* and lay there, twitching. Carefully, Akane prodded her with a foot.
When she didn't move, Akane smiled to herself and dressed while Ranma was
dead to the world. A few minutes later, Ranma regained her senses and sat up.
"Pervert?!" she exclaimed. "If I was a pervert, why'd I give you the
towel?"
"I know that you're not," Akane said, smiling. "I just wanted to change
while you weren't watching."
"You coulda just asked me ta turn around," Ranma said sourly, looking
away.
"Yeah," agreed Akane, "but that wouldn't have been as much fun." Ranma
looked back in surprise just as Akane gave her the red eye.
"Ooooh, you're gonna get in now," Ranma said, her voice on the verge of
laughter. Akane squealed and leapt out of the dojo, her feet slapping
against the paving stones as she ran. The sensation felt delicious. She
could hear Ranma's pursuing footfalls and laughter as she ran, but Akane
didn't care. She turned a tight corner around the side of her house, now on
the grass of the lawn, and hid about two inches out of sight. Just as Ranma
turned the corner, Akane stuck her foot out. Ranma tripped on it and went
tumbling to the ground, while Akane doubled back, her father's oversized gi
flapping against her smaller frame. Suddenly, Akane remembered Ranma's
injury, but Ranma just scrambled to her feet and followed, as if she were
completely fine. Putting on a burst of speed, Ranma closed the gap between
herself and Akane quickly, then tackled the bigger girl to the ground.
"Tease me, will ya?" Ranma said, her eyes gleaming. She pulled herself
up to straddle Akane's body at the waist. The larger girl squirmed beneath
her, but Ranma was just a bit too heavy for Akane to push off. With a mighty
effort, Akane twisted underneath Ranma, putting herself face up. "Eat this!"
Ranma cried, her hands darting downwards towards Akane's prone form. Akane
saw the attack, but was too slow to stop it as Ranma snaked her hands beneath
Akane's armpits. Akane clamped down her arms, trapping Ranma's hands, but it
was already too late, as Ranma began to mercilessly tickle Akane where she
had no defense. Squealing in laughter, Akane desperately squirmed underneath
Ranma, trying to escape.
"Umm, Ranma," Genma's voice suddenly intruded, ending their fun. Both
girls turned to see Ranma's father standing on the porch, staring at them.
"Who is this girl, and what on Earth are you doing?" he asked.
* * * * * *
"How much for this rice again?" asked Asuka, a fairly average housewife.
She cooked, cleaned, and cared for her husband and family, yet she got no
recognition for it. Sometimes she wondered why she even bothered, and yet,
every morning she got up and did the exact same thing.
"That's 3000 yen," the street vendor said in regard to a large bag of
rice that Asuka was trying to buy.
"3000?" Asuka asked. "Surely that's too much, Hiro. I know for a fact
that you sold a bag of the same size to Hitomi for almost half that."
"I did no such thing," the street vendor defended himself. "The price is
3000, take it or leave it." Nodding, he looked away, down the street.
"Please, sir, I only have 2500. Could you do me a favor just this once?"
Asuka pleaded, hoping to appeal to his pity where shame had failed. He got a
wide-eyed, frightened look in his eyes.
"Look, lady, I'll sell for 2000 if you just get outta here," he said, his
voice carrying a note of panic. Asuka smiled and ignored it.
"That's much better," she agreed, handing over the money. He grabbed it
and ran, taking his rice cart with him. Asuka smiled and hefted the big,
fifty-kilo bag of rice and slung it over her shoulder. Suddenly, a shadow
fell over her. She turned slowly, suddenly remembering the panic in the
street vendor's voice.
Standing behind her was a metal behemoth. It stood well over eight feet
tall, and was painted in earthy, brown tones. It had golden trim, and small
ruby spheres embedded in its body. Instead of the head of a human, a great,
shaggy boar's head erupted from the thing's shoulders. Its hands were
ridiculously oversized, and it was obvious that one could easily crush a
boulder with one. Or a human head. Attached to its back was a large
backpack, which was connected by a snaking metal tube to a cylinder on the
robot's right wrist. Its armor, from head to toe, was hard-edged, and shaped
in various geometric shapes. It's eyes, a deep green in color, were cold and
hardened by hatred. In one smooth motion, it bent down and drew a deep, long
breath through its snout as it touched on Asuka's face. She was frozen with
fear.
"You smell traveled," the boar-robot rumbled in a deep, masculine voice.
"Do you know where Tokyo is in relation to here?" Dumbly, Asuka nodded, not
quite sure what else to do. "Where?" he asked, looking up.
"Fifty miles," Asuka choked out, pointing her arm Southward. "That way."
"Thank you," the boar-robot rumbled, following the direction of her
pointing. With great strides, it set off in the direction that she pointed.
"Now, Ranma, you will pay for the Hell you've put me through," Asuka heard
him say to himself as he walked away. She didn't know anybody named Ranma,
and was glad that she didn't. She had a sneaking suspicion that if she did,
she wouldn't for very much longer. His strides ate up distance like a shark
does fish.
* * * * * *
"Umm, Ranma," Genma's voice suddenly intruded, ending their fun. Both
girls turned to see Ranma's father standing on the porch, staring at them.
"Who is this girl, and what on Earth are you doing?" he asked.
"Err..." Ranma stuttered, not sure how to answer.
"I'm Akane," Akane cut in. "Ranma gave me some Nyanniichuan as a
thank-you present," she explained, seeing the confusion on Genma's face.
That confusion turned to grave understanding at Akane's confession.
"I see...," he said, looking hard at Ranma. "You've decided to stay
half-human for the rest of your life, then, Ranma?" he asked his
son-turned-daughter. Ranma winced when her father said 'half human.'
"Yeah," she replied, standing up off of Akane. "If it weren't for Akane,
I prolly wouldn't be alive to use it anyway. 'Sides, she likes being a girl
a lot more than I do."
"That Nyannichuan was my greatest hope for the future of the School,"
Genma growled, shaking his fist. "Without it, the slightest bit of hot water
could kill any child that you might one day carry." Ranma's face suddenly
paled in remembrance.
***Two weeks earlier***
"Ranma," Genma said sagely, sitting across from his... child. "With
your... condition, I have decided that I can no longer consider you the heir
to the Saotome School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts."
WHAT?!" Ranma exploded, jumping up. "I trained my whole goddamn life,
and you decide to take it all away 'cuz one of YOUR stupid training ideas
backfired?!"
"Training or no, I am the master of our School, and as far as the martial
arts are concerned, my word is law!" Genma declared, rising to meet his
daughter's height. "If you were merely a woman, I might consider it.
Considering the fact that you are not even human half the time, it is
absolutely out of the question. You may no longer practice martial arts,
especially not the family school's." A dead, cold silence followed Genma's
proclamation as the two glared at each other.
"There's gotta be a deal," Ranma finally said. "You never do something
like this without there being a deal to get out of it. What're the
conditions this time?" Genma thought a minute before responding, more to
provide effect than to actually consider what to say. He'd planned this out
hours earlier.
"There are a number of ways that you can regain your status as my heir,"
Genma started, drawing it out. He liked to have his... child's full
attention. "First, you may replace your female side with a male one. You
may also become fully a woman. I will train a half-man, but not a
half-woman."
"What if I can't?" Ranma asked, already thinking about Jusenkyo. Genma
was silent again, this time actually thinking.
"If you provide the family with an heir, I will allow you to practice the
School, but not be the heir to it," Genma finally said. "You are a woman
half the time. You have the 'equipment' to do it. In any case, until such a
time as you've accomplished one of these three things, you may no longer
practice martial arts of any kind, except in self-defense. As the patriarch
of the Saotome clan, I deem this a matter of Giri." This final statement,
that of Giri, or family honor, finally broke Ranma where starving cats, a
lifetime of crime, a curse, and a grotesque bodily mutation failed to.
For the first time in ten years, Ranma broke down and sobbed, the turned
and ran from the camp. Genma wouldn't see her for three days.
* * * * * *
Ranma stared at the Nyanniichuan, the cursed pool reflecting his
mechanical form back at him. This was the only pool, out of all one hundred
and twenty-seven at Jusenkyo, that he could approach. Whenever he tried to
get near any of the others, he'd encounter an invisible barrier about three
feet away from the pools. All except for this one.
His hopes of ever being a man again, even a half-man, were shattered by
the Jusenkyo Guide. He'd told Ranma flatly that it was impossible for a
newly cursed individual to approach any spring other than the one he or she'd
been cursed by. Even if Ranma returned years later, there was no guarantee
that the Nanniichuan would work at all, and there was a serious risk that the
curses would mix instead of the new canceling the old. Even if the Spring of
Drowned Man did work, it would wear off eventually, and Ranma knew that he'd
never be able to afford more than one trip to China. Naturally, all this was
considering that the spring could actually be found; the Guide had no idea
which was which.
Sighing, Ranma decided that he couldn't bear to become a woman full-time.
As much as he hated it, his robotic body was male in design, and was
somewhat of a comfort to him. Idly, he rubbed the first two fingers and
thumb of his right hand together, knowing that they were in contact, but
feeling nothing. It still felt odd to him. Finally, he stood up, resolved,
and dug around in his backpack. Pulling out a water bottle, he dumped the
contents on himself, changing to his female, and more importantly, human
form. Grabbing a stick, she carefully dunked the bottle under the surface of
the spring, filling it with the cursed waters of Jusenkyo, planning to save
it for the day that she would have the nerve to use it.
***Present***
"You know the conditions of the deal, Ranma. You made your choice,"
Genma said in a sad, regretful tone. "I will go tell Soun. He'll be
overjoyed." With that, Genma retired to the Tendo house.
"What deal, Ranma?" Akane asked, looking at her friend. Ranma did not
respond. "Ranma? What's wrong?"
"The water I gave you," Ranma said quietly, her voice trembling ever so
slightly. "Was my ticket to being able to be the heir to the Saotome School.
Pop said that he would never train a half-human woman, and he made it a
matter of Giri that I couldn't practice martial arts anymore, 'cept in
self-defense. If I'd used it on myself, Pop woulda made me his heir again."
"Ranma..." Akane breathed, suddenly understanding why Ranma had been so
melancholy all day. "I'm so sorry. Maybe we can still get enough off the
dojo floor..." she offered, hoping.
"Nah," Ranma replied. "I knew all o' this when I gave you the water. It
was my decision, and I'd do it again if I had the choice. Now go inside;
your family's waiting to meet their human daughter again." Ranma smiled at
her friend, then turned and started to walk away.
"Ranma, where are you going?" Akane asked, worried.
"I dunno," Ranma replied, not turning around. "I just wanna go clear my
head. I'll see you tomorrow morning." With that, she hopped up and over the
perimeter wall of the Tendo compound and disappeared from sight. Akane stood
stock still in the courtyard for a moment before she turned and walked in her
home. The subsequent celebration lasted until midnight, with food, music,
and general happiness. Despite her enjoyment of being able to taste things
again, and to hear music without having to interoperate it electronically,
all evening Akane wondered where Ranma had gone.
* * * * * *
Ranma hopped down off the fence that she'd been strolling upon. She'd
arrived at a bridge over the local canal, and decided to see what was
underneath it. Swinging down, Ranma discovered that it was uninhabited, and
devoid of graffiti. The underside was flat for a few feet before falling
into the canal, while the far end of the bridge's foundation angled upwards,
following the hill, to meet with the bridge itself. Ranma decided that she'd
stay here a minute or two, for some reason that she couldn't pinpoint.
Silently, she sat down, her back against the sloping hill of the concrete
rise, and stared upwards at the cold asphalt of the bridge above her. Her
thoughts were not on the bridge, though. They were on a certain black-haired
girl named Akane Tendo. She remembered both of Akane's forms, and idly
wondered which was better looking. They were so different, her face and
wild, ankle-length hair being the only similarities between the two.
<Strange,> Ranma thought. She knew instinctually that someday, Akane'd
make some guy really happy. And, as glad as she was to have a friend as good
as Akane, it gnawed at her that she'd never be that guy. She'd never be a
guy, period, which meant no martial arts.
Slowly, a single tear slid down Ranma's face. It was soon joined by
others, as Ranma began to cry softly. Ranma thought as a dull ache grew in
her belly. <That means no wife, no martial arts, an' no kids. Damn, I wish
I coulda had a kid. Woulda been really nice to teach a kid the Art.> With
that thought, Ranma finally broke down and started to sob. She sobbed,
curled into a fetal ball, for hours as she thought about all the dreams and
hopes she'd given away with that bottle of Nyanniichuan. Around one in the
morning, she finally ran out of tears, self-pity, and misery. Slowly, she
stood, her legs trembling.
<Maybe I can't have any of my old dreams,> she finally thought, <But
maybe I can have new ones.> With that, she left the canal and returned to
the Tendo house, to catch a quick five hours of sleep.
* * * * * *
Akane lay awake in her bed, staring at the ceiling. It was the first
time in weeks that she actually needed sleep, but she just couldn't drift off
to that particular place of thought that would allow her sleep. She was
worried.
"Ranma, where are you?" she wondered aloud, sighing. Almost as if
summoned, Akane heard the front door of her home open, then close. Knowing
that it must be Ranma, she got up and walked to her own door. As she opened
it, she could hear soft footsteps ascending the stairs, so Akane walked over
to the top of the stairwell. Just as she'd suspected, a tired and disheveled
Ranma had just returned home.
"Ranma, where have you been?" she asked, stepping down onto the top step.
Ranma looked up, surprised.
"Akane? What are you doing up this late?" Ranma returned, ignoring her
question.
"I couldn't sleep. I was worried about you," Akane answered, trying to
see Ranma's face more clearly in the dim light of the stairwell. This
statement caused the redheaded girl to smile, appreciating Akane's concern.
"Thanks for your worry, but I just had to take care of a coupla things,"
Ranma said, her trademark smirk appearing on her face. It also altered her
face's positioning just enough for Akane to see something that surprised her.
"Ranma, you've been crying!" Akane exclaimed softly. She descended the
two steps separating them. "What's wrong?"
"It's okay, really," Ranma waved her off, embarrassed.
"Ranma," Akane said, her tone serious. "What's bothering you?" Ranma
searched for a quick lie, but then discarded the idea; she knew perfectly
well that she had a horrible poker face.
"You know how if you have a really good cry, then everything seems
better?" Ranma asked.
"Yeah," Akane said, looking a little thoughtful.
"It's kinda like that," Ranma explained, edging around Akane and
continuing up the stairs.
"Does it hurt that badly to talk about it?" Akane asked softly. Ranma
froze, one of her feet on the upper level, the other on the last step.
"Yeah, it does," Ranma answered. "It's why I hate Pop so much, it's why
I gave you the damn water, it's why I can't even go to my real home!" Ranma
ranted, her newfound peace of mind deserting her. "It hurts so damn much
that I can barely get outta bed each morning, just knowing that everything I
ever wanted, ever dreamed for aint never gonna happen!" Ranma continued,
turning around to face Akane. "Look at me! I'm a man who got turned into a
robot that's cursed to turn into a girl! People are afraid of my robot half
and try to hit on my girl half! All I ever wanted was to teach in a dojo
somewhere, but now I can't even practice martial arts cuz of my stupid Pop!"
Ranma shouted. Akane could hear the sounds of people rousing in their rooms,
but didn't even try to stop her friend. A short silence fell between the two
as Ranma looked imploringly into Akane's eyes. "Look at me," she said
softly, barely above a whisper. "All of my dreams are gone, shattered.
Everything I ever wanted is outta my reach. Maybe I can make a new life for
myself. Maybe. Right now, I don't really care." After that, Ranma's
shoulders sagged, as if she were exhausted. Without another word, Ranma
turned and walked the rest of the way to her room, then shut the door.
Akane, shocked, simply stood on the stairwell, hurting for her friend.
"Geez," Nabiki muttered, sticking her head out of her bedroom door. "I
wonder what that was all about."
* * * * * *
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