And now for the rest of it....
Usagi turned towards where Makoto and Ranma had previously lain
and found that they were both conscious. The words left her mouth
before she could think of them.
"Mako-chan, how could you say such a thing! Even if he _does_
like to read Fushigi Yuugi, Mamo-chan's still a man! That is, I mean,
Tuxedo Mask is still a man! As for you, Ranma, you should let go of me
right now. It's not right for us to be doing that in public, you know."
Usagi blinked, rubbed her eyes, then looked at Ranma again.
Sure enough, he was holding her close to him while she ground her body
lewdly against his side. Her voice trembled as she asked her question.
"Who are _you_?"
The girl in Ranma's arms gave Usagi the answer she feared the
most. "Me? I'm Usagi of course!"
Usagi turned to Ami, who had chosen to use the break in
fighting to put bandages on her wounds.
"Ami-chan, I don't understand! If she's me, and I'm over there,
then who am I?"
Ami used her visor to look at the girl grinding herself against
Ranma, reminding herself to think non-sexual thoughts as she did so. A
brief glance was enough to inform her of the girl's true identity.
"That's not you, Usagi. That's Lilith, the girl we were
fighting before."
After hearing Ami's words, Lilith pouted and changed back into
her true form. "Well, that was fun. I'm ready for my meal now, Ranma!"
"Of course, Mistress Lilith."
Ranma held Lilith's face in his hands, tilted her head up to
his, and kissed her. Hard. Ami absently raised her hand to the side of
her visor and pressed 'record'.
"Hey, stop that! You're behaving like delinquents! Happo no Yen
Coin Return!"
Hinako let loose with a huge burst of energy, enough to level
an entire building on contact. She never did feel comfortable watching
public displays of affection. The projectile headed towards Lilith and
Ranma at amazing speed, promising to inflict huge amounts of pain on
them.
"Supreme Thunder!"
Right before Hinako's attack connected, it was canceled out by
a field of electricity from Makoto, who had jumped between the kissing
couple and the projectile.
"I won't allow you to hurt Master Ranma!"
Usagi's mouth fell open in shock. She couldn't understand what
was happening. Not only was Makoto behaving strangely and calling
Ranma her master, she had also managed to transform into her senshi
form almost intantaneously. What was going on? She turned to Lilith,
who had just finished kissing Ranma.
Lilith smiled cutely at the assembled people before talking.
"Mmmm... very nice. Thanks for the save, Mako-chan. I'm much better
now, everyone. Look at this!"
Lilith raised her right hand and a burst of energy shot out
from her palm, exploding into a shower of colored light when it hit
the ceiling.
"Shadow Blade!"
Nabiki quickly turned towards the woman called Urd, and
found her avoiding an attack from another woman. She had never seen
the new arrival before, but the woman had wings similar to the ones
Lilith had. Their hair was also similar, though the new arrival's
locks were longer than Lilith's. She looked older than Lilith as
well. Perhaps they were sisters?
The woman had lunged at Urd with a bladed wing, but Urd dodged
the attack with ease. The woman's attack hit thin air as she passed
through Urd's previous location. She continued running, jumped high
into the air, flipped several times, and landed beside Lilith.
"Good evening, everyone. Morrigan Aensland, pleased to meet
you all."
Urd sneered at Morrigan as she spoke. "If you thought that
your sister's little display would distract me enough for that
pathetic attack to actually connect, then you've got another thing
coming."
Electricity passed between the two women's eyes as they stared
each other down. Mamoru chose this brief lull in speech to voice what
was on his mind.
"Before I beat you all up and make you fall in love with
me, I would just like to say that I do not see why reading Fushigi
Yuugi would not be an indication of manliness. Nuriko was hot!"
Nabiki burst out laughing at Mamoru's words, then grew quiet
when she saw that everyone was staring at her. Setsuna tapped the
Time Staff on the floor, gaining the attention of everyone.
"If everyone has already arrived, I propose that we get this
fight over with. I have plenty of activities planned for myself and
Ranma and I want to get started before the evening is over if that's
alright with you." Setsuna paused and turned towards Usagi. "Usagi,
will you be joining the battle? You didn't look too good when I
arrived."
Usagi looked expectantly at Ami, who gave her a thumbs up. She
turned back towards Setsuna. "We're in."
Setsuna turned towards the rest of the people. "Does anyone
else want to say anything before we start?"
Makoto shyly tugged on Ranma's shirt, then whispered something
into his ear. Ranma raised his hand shortly afterwards.
Setsuna turned towards him. "Yes?"
Ranma waved his hand at the devastated apartment around them.
"Mako-chan wants to ask if we could move this to the school's field.
It doesn't look like the walls will hold out for much longer."
Setsuna looked at the rest of the group. "Any objections? No?
Very well."
Setsuna tapped her staff twice on the ground, and a bright
green light emanated from it. The would-be combatants were all
enveloped in it. Moments later, the light died down. It left behind
the remains of a wrecked apartment and a dazed Nabiki. She looked
around her, then started walking towards the school.
"Geez, she could have at least taken me with her!"
*****
Deep inside a secret underground facility, an unknown man
sat behind his desk and pressed a button on a small keyboard located
on one of the desk's corners. A large screen flickered to life in
front of him. The image of a cloaked female figure appeared on the
screen, her cloak's shadow obscuring her face.
"The occupants have left the building. Target: Ranma Saotome
was positively identified. Mission incomplete. Fighting data gathered
was insufficient for analysis. Requesting permission to follow target
and conduct further observation."
The man nodded slowly. "Very well, permission to follow is
granted. Physical contact with the target is to be avoided if
possible. If he exhibits sufficient fighting ability, initiate
capture sequence 32-A."
"My... pretties...."
The man paused briefly before speaking. "What was that?"
The view on the screen changed as the cloaked figure trained
her camera on the prone figure of Happosai. The old pervert was lying
unconscious on the ground, twitching from time to time.
"Cover compromised by contact with subject. Subject exhibits
ninety percent similarity to previously catalouged fighter: Happosai.
Combat was initiated to preserve cover."
The man nodded once more. "I see. Have you sustained any
injuries?"
The cloaked figure appeared on the screen once more. "Minor
bruising was sustained as subject attempted intimate contact."
The man shook his head. "Was he able to get a look at your
face? Will he be able to recognize you in the future?"
The cloaked figure shook her head. "Negative. Subject's pupils
were directed at my chest for the duration of the battle."
The man sighed. Happosai's fighting ability was among the
highest ever observed, but his skills were compromised by his lecherous
ways. "If you are confident that he cannot identify you, then you need
not dispose of him. For now, I want you to follow Ranma Saotome and
gather his fighting data."
The cloaked figure nodded briskly. "As you command."
*****
Author's Notes
Took a while, ne? I actually had to take a long break from
writing in order to concentrate on my thesis. I'm finally finished with
it, and I'll be graduating soon. After graduation, I plan to go for a
master's degree. Wish me luck!
Aside from my studies, I also slowed down because I spent
unbelievable amounts of time searching for places to download Naruto
episodes (I've got 1-24 so far), Azumanga episodes (I've got 2-8 so
far) and Hanaukyo Maids episodes (I've got 1-15). I also wasted a lot
of time looking for Boku no Seinen volume five and Saigado's new
Guilty Gear dojin.
Anyone who could point me to where I can download scans of
Boku no Seinen vol. 5 or the GG Saigado dojin, or even scans of the
Hanaukyo Maids manga will be my friend for life. (unlike some other
people, I appreciate the fact that you can appreciate the fanservice
in Hanaukyo Maids without worrying about the storyline. Mahoro has
nothing on Mariel)
I've also started work on watching my incredible backlog of
anime episodes that I have on CD but have neglected to watch. The
remaining episodes that I need to watch are Great Teacher Onizuka 12
-36, Gatekeepers, Sakura Wars 9-25, DNA^2 8-15, Star Ocean EX, Full
Metal Panic, the second season of Mahoromatic, and the whole Onegai
Teacher series.
The final reason for my delay was the fact that it took me
forever to get all the endings for Gloria, Seasons of the Sakura, and
Kana Little Sister.
I would like to thank Nathan Diederich, Egan Mandreck, Tracy
Poff, Vex, Tonyloco, Shade, Kevin Henry, Chester, Takeki Kagato, and
Griever for all the help they have given me for this chapter.
Please send C&C to ukyo_rulz@edsamail.com.ph
Visit my homepage (www.geocities.com/ex_fuk) for new chapters.
_______________________________________
EDSAMAIL. Internet the way YOU WANT IT.
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