[FFML] [xover][Ranma][MKR] Fire in the Water, Act 3 (draft complete)

[The Eternal Lost Lurker]

> > Three men sat in a circle on the floor of a barn in the eastern plains
of
> > Cephiro.
>
> Hm. Though I get the imagery, I'm not sure I'd use "in a circle," but
rather
> "facing each other." Minor nit, though.

I chose to use 'circle' deliberately. You know why. ^_^

> > assembling small piles of metal, charcoal, and other assorted objects on
> > the
> > crisp, moon-white parchments they had each received--the parchments
which
> > had opened their eyes and changed their lives.
>
> As I understand it, the parchments contain the "method," so to speak, and
> they're made in advance so that the insurgents could just gather the
> ingredients and use them without any additional knowledge. What did they
get
> from the book?

Translation. The parchments, as you say, have completely self-operating
transmutation circles. However, the instructions for their use are written
in Autozam's language. :)

> > "You want to feel useful," Fuu finished. "It's alright, Ferio-san. We
> > understand."
>
> Heh. From the way he spoke, I thought his true feelings were that he was
> being saddled with babysitting the group, and he resented it.

That too, but he'd never admit it. Especially to Fuu. ;)

> > Ferio smiled. "I knew you would." With a grunt, he smacked his palms
> > together, rubbing his hands vigorously.
>
> ..........
>
> (Oh you KNOW what that action brings to mind :P)

Perv. :P

> > "Too bad thre's not anything we can do about it," Akane sighed.
>
> That "e" in "there" lost its sense of direction and wandered off with
> Ryouga.

Ack! >.<

> > The Magic Knights stood at Emeraude's bedside, staring quietly at her
> > too-pale, lesion-riddled, swaddled and bandaged form. Hikaru's head was
> > bowed, and fresh, hot, silent tears spilled down her cheeks.
>
> I'm thinking she's in her true form, rather than the Child Empress mode.

I'm pretty sure the "Child Empress" IS her preferred true form. The
Matsumoto ripoff form from when she fought the Magic Knights is, IMHO, her I
Am Very Pissed Off form.

Besides...it's Cephiro, it doesn't really matter either way, yada yada...in
any event, she is, as far as the writer's mind is concerned, in her usual
childlike empress form. :)

> > The blue-haired girl sighed. "No. I don't suppose you could, even
> > after..."
>
> "...although Zagato bears most of the blame on that one."

Hikaru won't even hate HIM, it's just not in her nature.

> > "We're martial artists, yeah," Ranma replied from where he floated,
> > motionless, alongside the table.
>
> "Marti-what?"
>
> "Martial artists. And Ranma, stop drooling ectoplasm all over the food.
Ew."

*snrk*

> > Ryouga coughed. "What kind of martial arts do you practice here in
> > Cephiro,
> > Ferio-dono?" he asked.
>
> O_o "-dono"? Heh.

I made a judgement call on this one. Ryouga isn't quite as rough with his
speech as Ranma is, and kind of has an old-world, roaming rounin sensibility
to him. As such, it seems logical to me that he would refer to a prince with
the "-dono" honorific.

> > The pink-haired woman shrugged. "Hey, I'm a dancer, hon. It's just that
> > sometimes dancin' can be like fightin'."
>
> *pictures Caldina doing Capoeira*
>
> @_@

Indeed.

> > "Then what would you suggest? A demonstration?"
>
> It's a Ranma crossover. Of course there should be a demonstration! :D

Anything-Goes Martial Arts Weedwhacking!

> > "It couldn't hurt, though," Ryouga added. "I mean, armor, I don't really
> > need, and my bandanas and umbrella are all the weapons I need, but..."
>
> "...hey, you have any boulders? I can use boulders. I like boulders,
they're
> comfy and easy to hurl."

XD)))

> > "I
> > kinda don't have any of my spatulas with me." She rubbed the back of her
> > head sheepishly.
>
> Shock! She didn't bring any spatula? Not even the small one she uses to
flip
> people over?

Well, when all this started, they were just looking for Umi and Fuu at Tokyo
Tower. They weren't expecting to get into a fight, let alone...this.

> > In less than three minutes, the four teenagers had effortlessly reduced
> > Clef's golems to rubble.
>
> The Nerima Wrecking Crew lives up to its name!

^_^

> > "Their earlier tales of their exploits no longer seem quite as
> > far-fetched,"
> > Fuu commented.
>
> I was kinda expecting her to state the obvious, somehow. ^_^

Fuu not stating the obvious would be like Keanu Reeves not saying "Whoa."

> > "That's right," Ranma said in a sage tone. "An' 'til you're done with
it,
>
> o_O

Well, how else would he have put it?

> > "Um...okay..."
>
> And then Hikaru went SD and grew cat ears and tail. Ranma didn't bother
them
> again for another week.

XD!

> > "Your armor will respond to your will. However, it still has not
> > completely
> > evolved. You must continue your original quest to awaken the Mashin, in
> > order to complete your growth as the Magic Knights."
>
> IOW, go out and kill local wildlife for another six hours, level up, and
> check back with him.

*snrk*

> > "Mokona-san remembered our clothing from the last time," Fuu commented.
>
> Umi: I don't know if that's considerate or really, really creepy.
>
> Fuu: Mokona-san did watch us change into and out of our uniforms when
going
> to bed...

Mokona: Thoughtful provider, or pervy god-creature with a taste for underage
girls? On the next Cephiro Investigates!

> > "Ugh. No thanks, I've seen Ranma in a skirt. You don't wanna go there."
>
> Oh, but the armor will go there anyway :P

Again, not necessarily. :P

> > Akane pinched the bridge of her nose.
>
> People do that a lot around here :D

It's more effective in narrative than the usual otaku standby cliches.

> > A pillar of warm, golden light engulfed Ryouga, chunks of dirt and stone
> > rising in the updraft that stirred his clothes and hair.
>
> "Thing Rings, do your thing!"

*GROAN* BAD. :P

> Umi: ...did we look like that when we got magic too?
>
> Clef: Do you mean being engulfed by your elemental magic?
>
> Umi: I meant the floating naked thing!

XD!

> > When the light shows dissipated, the other three wore similar,
understated
> > armor; each of them looked down at their own hands in wonder.
>
> Save for the pillar of rock and stone that stood in the middle of the
room,
> shaking violently and shouting "Get me outta here!"

Heh!

> > "I...I don't get it," Akane said, looking somewhat let-down. "I didn't
get
> > any magic?"
>
> I think you scared it off.

Akane: ;_;

> > "I definitely felt it just then." He gazed up at her through his bangs,
> > expression curious. "She might be a Summoner."
>
> ...this is where you quote the Hymn of the Fayth, Retranslated Version,
> isn't it?

No, but feel free to sing it to yourself as you read. ^_^

> > "I must caution you: the four of you are not Magic Knights, so your
armors
> > will evolve differently than theirs," Clef warned. "They may not evolve
at
> > all, or may evolve seemingly at random.
>
> "...and we still haven't figured out how this 'Happiness evolution' method
> really works..."

*SNRK*

> > Presea's armory was quite as full of every conceivable form of melee
> > weapon
> > as usual, as well as being full of the slim blonde woman's exuberant
> > presence
>
> And a giant siege cannon aimed at the door, let's not forget that.

Presea is crazy. XD

> > The master smith nodded, turning to face the group, face serious. "You
> > three, Magic Knights--and you, ghost-boy...please stand back." The
> > indicated
> > four shuffled/floated to the rear of the room,
>
> I'd change the slash for an "or."

I admit that it kind of violates narrative rules, but in this instance, it
really felt like it called for a slash.

> > "This ore is called Exterra,"
>
> :D I likes.

Took me a while to decide on a car name that sounded enough like a magical
metal.

> > The group stepped back, joining the others at the rear wall. Presea
> > reached
> > up and unfastened her apron, shedding it and her dress to stand before
> > them
> > in the gossamer white veils of her crafting robes.
> >
> > Ryouga nearly fainted.
>
> She was wearing her robes under her regular clothes? O_o How did they FIT?

Hell if I know. I just figure she does the Ninja Costume Change thing.

> > Presea moved gracefully in a fast, fluid dance, the tails of her veils
> > swirling around the Exterra, caressing and embracing the magical ore.
>
> And giving Ryouga all the wrong ideas.

Or all the right ones. h.h

> Ryougar: The Legendary Adventure

XD

> > Ukyou ponderously folded and unfolded a massive, gleaming white metal
fan.
> > The blades made a satisfyingly loud ratcheting sound as she collapsed
and
> > expanded them, and there was no denying the sharpness of the weapon. She
> > took a few test swings with it, and nodded, satisfied.
>
> I'd have expected these two to trade ^_^

Nah, Shampoo's good with polearms, and Ukyou...well, she's from harisen
country. ^_^

> > The short-haired girl looked down forlornly at her new weapon.
> >
> > "I got a bell."
>
> XD Said in the tones of Charlie Brown's "I got a rock."

That's EXACTLY what I was thinking when I wrote this part. XD

> > Akane gave the bell a halfhearted ring. It sang out a clear, pure tone,
> > but
> > did little else.
> >
> > "Well, sound pretty at least," Shampoo observed.
>
> Heh! From Shampoo, that's downright friendly. :P I'd have expected her to
> deliver a scathing or sarcastic remark.

Eh, Shampoo's not in 24/7 bitch mode. She CAN be nice to Akane and Ukyou
from time to time.

> > Akane sank to her knees, throwing her head back and letting out a roar
of
> > frustration. "What the hell am I supposed to do with a BELL?" she cried.
>
> She always did have a bellicose disposition...

OUCH. BAD. No biscuit.

> > Akane sighed. "I...alright." She sniffled. "Thanks." She stood and
walked
> > away from the master smith, muttering under her breath, "don't really
need
> > a
> > weapon anyway..."
>
> Look at it this way: It's still a blunt object. :)

*snrk*

> Wow, I'm thinking she took offense at Akane's outburst, if she's herding
> them out like that. :P

Well, wouldn't you? :P

> > "Yep," Ryouga replied in an uncharacteristically chipper tone. "A really
> > long chain, looks like, and it's connected tight." He grinned, fangs
> > protruding. "I've already got a hell of a lot of ideas."
>
> "Like... hurling it."
>
> "And?"
>
> "Tossing it!"
>
> "Besides that?"
>
> "Sling it."
>
> "I'm sensing a theme here. Anything else you can do?"
>
> "...um, stand behind it and take cover?"

XD)))))))))))

> > Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu looked at one another, shrugged, and turned to
follow
> > him.
>
> "You guys know him?"
>
> "First time in my life I ever see him."
>
> "I have a feeling we may have met Innova-san in another life..."

Heh.

> > "You too, Hikaru!" Ranma replied.
>
> Should Ranma always be excluded whenever the Knights are summoned away? I
> mean, he should know what Hikaru's up to in his body, at least... (and I'm
> surprised he can project himself away from Hikaru for so long, and so far
> away.)

Ranma's willpower is VERY strong. As such, he can (and usually WILL) be
wherever the hell he wants to be. He's not chained to his body. This will
become important later.

> > As the three girls navigated their way back to where the others were,
Umi
> > cast odd glances back in the direction of Innova's office, scowling.
"What
> > the heck is with that guy? What an attitude!"
>
> You mean his lack thereof? :P

Lack of an attitude is still an attitude.

> > "More to the point, it is possible Innova-san IS Cephiro's intelligence
> > agency."
>
> That explains the CIA badge on his chest.

*snrk*

> > Umi shook her head. "First time I've ever seen him."
> >
> > "We have not encountered Innova-san previously, no."
>
> Jinx! XD
>
> (Creepy that I almost anticipated the exact same line for Umi, though o_O)

Eh, great minds think alike :P

> > "It would seem we have little choice," Fuu replied. "I would, however,
> > prefer to ask Clef-san that very question, to be absolutely certain we
are
> > not being led astray."
>
> Clef: He's not a stray. He's a dog.
>
> Umi: A wha?
>
> Clef: A dog made of lightning that Emeraude-- you know what? Nevermind.

*snrk*

> "Shishi. Hokodan."
>
> "Wait! No! Not that! AAAAAAaaaargh...!"

*snrk*

> > Akane, by contrast, was accomplishing little except breaking out in a
> > sweat
> > and threatening to permanently tint her face purple.
>
> Any more concentration and she's going to release some wind magic of her
> own.

Eeeeewwwwww.

> > Ascot mounted his floating rock again and hovered over to Akane.
>
> XD I have this mental image that he WAS standing on his rock, but Akane's
> tirade blew him off it.

Heh! That's a fun mental image.

> > "What is it, Ascot?" Clef asked, striding over to study the object which
> > seemed to cause the young summoner distress. He frowned. "It's a bell."
>
> "It goes 'tinkle'."
>
> *tinkle tinkle*
>
> "Thank you, Akane."

Clef wants to see Akane go tinkle? What?

> > "I...I never thought the smartest and most powerful mage in Cephiro
> > wouldn't..." Ascot said, his voice a harsh whisper.
>
> Ouch. XD

Yeah, Ascot just kind of put his foot in it there.

> > Clef frowned. "A Caller? I'm unfamiliar with this term."
>
> Yes, that's the plight of the Caller.
>
> *runs, runs so far away*

*bounces Ranko off the back of your head*

> > "Possibly. Every discipline of magic has its own obscure lore, which
often
> > is known only to those who study that discipline exclusively." Clef
> > inclined
> > his head. "Such as yourself, of course. Please continue."
>
> Fuu: Oh! That must mean Ascot-san has mastered the Summoner job!
>
> Oh, wait, Fuu's not here for this scene. Damn.

Just as well. I don't think Fuu's obvious-fu (Obvious-Fuu?) would help this
situation any.

> > brow, deep-set, beady eyes, and a surly, resentful expression on its
> > small,
> > blunt face. It glowered at all of them, then shuffled off to a corner of
> > the
> > atrium, muttering to itself.
>
> *dies*

^_^

> > "Oh, shut up, you jerk!" Akane growled. The little creature in the
corner
> > glowered at Ranma and made a rude gesture with its stubby fingers.
> >
> > "Hey, your critter flipped me off!"
>
> *dies harder*

^_^

> > "Akane," Clef asked, "what emotions were you experiencing when you
> > performed
> > the calling?"
>
> Either surly and despondent, or like an Oompa Loompa.
>
> I'd rather think it was the former.

Heh!

> > "I get it!" Ukyou cried, laughing. "It summons something that's the same
> > as
> > whatever she's feeling when she rings the bell!"
>
> And, suddenly, Ranma felt a very cold shiver run down his noncorporeal
back.

XD

> > Akane glowered darkly at the chef. Suddenly, the orange creature darted
> > across the atrium, shuffled to a stop in front of Ukyou, and viciously
> > kicked her in the shin.
>
> XD
>
> She's gonna have FUN with this.

When she's over feeling like an idiot because of it, perhaps...

> > "So I'm stuck with that creepy thing?" Akane asked.
> >
> > "For now anyway, yeah."
> >
> > Akane sighed. "Perfect."
>
> "Um... you, uh, go away! Un-call! Back to wherever you came from!"

And cue the Imp doing that face-stretching raspberry animation from Chrono
Trigger...

> > The Magic Knights entered the atrium several minutes later, after Clef
had
> > finally restored order.
>
> It took several bolts of lightning and summoning Fyula, but at last they
had
> settled down.

Heh.

> > The girls blinked. Umi tilted her head. "What, is he--"
> >
> > "Extremely devoted to his master," Clef cut across her, smirking
slightly.
>
> Not that there's anything wrong with that.

>:)

> > "You succeeded in awakening Selece-san once," Fuu pointed out. "I have
no
> > doubt that your heart is strong enough to awaken him once more."
> >
> > "Mm."
>
> I have to wonder, though: without any external foes to defeat (Ascot,
> Innova, Zags) how do Mashin go about testing their charges?

That's a very good question. A VERY good question. Which is why I've decided
to pull a DexM and make it a moot point. :P

> > The Magic Knights' eyes widened in horror.
> >
> > It was a gun.
>
> o_O
>
> Fortunately, she had forgotten to make bullets.

That'd be a bit embarassing, wouldn't it?

> > The woman fought the urge to swallow, and feebly tossed the gun to the
> > floor. Fuu quickly stood and carefully retrieved it, holding it by the
> > butt.
>
> No! You'll leave your fingerprints all over it!

Luckily, Cephiro doesn't have forensic science.

> > "How the hell did she get a GUN?!" Umi demanded. "They don't even HAVE
> > guns
> > here!"
>
> "Well, there's Presea-san's cannon..."
>
> "That's different! She's nuts!"

Heh!

> > "Yes, it does look like an antique revolver," Fuu agreed.
> >
> > "Tell me everything you know about this weapon," Zagato demanded.
>
> "And everything you know about these... 'cow-boys.'"

*snrk*

> > of parchment from the work surface, reading it over critically, and
smiled
> > darkly. "Yes, I believe you are exactly right. This list has quantities
> > listed of iron sand, charcoal, sulfur...everything you named."
>
> Uh-oh. He's not thinking of making more himself...?

No, I just figure Zagato only knows how to smile two ways: grimly and
darkly.

> > And she would be there, on the arm of the Marquis, his highest soldier,
> > laughing.
>
> Had to reread that twice. You mean that she is the Marquis' highest
soldier?
> I'd suggest an "as" between the comma and "his," but that changes the
> meaning slightly :/

Yeah, it's one of those things where it's correct as is, and changing it at
all would change the meaning, but sometimes it takes a double-back look.

> Hm. Does the fact that it's blue, whereas the two others were gold, have
any
> ulterior significance (as those colors had in the source material)?

Not really. I was just tired of writing "golden light". :P (And the
blue/yellow thing isn't as significant as some people think it is. Really.)

> She really does like standing on top of enormous tools of destruction.

That's Alcyone for ya. She loves to be on top.

> > opened its top hatch, and
> > descended into its control pit. "Gather your weapons and mounts. It is
> > time."
>
> I'm surprised she's doing the driving herself, though.

It'll be explained in the next act, but she's pretty much the only one who
CAN drive it. It has a...somewhat strange engine.

> Eeek. Makes one wonder what'll happen when they decide to do away with
> efficiency and create an Autozam mecha instead.

Well, by the point at which it gets to mecha battles, they'll just be
bringing them directly from Autozam :P

> Well, didn't find any major corrections to make other than the few
nitpicks,
> so now let's bring on part 4. :D

Hee. Give it...oh, two weeks tops. :)

Thanks for the C&C!

================================
"Sheik Protein? He's a mean ol' ass, Cid."
              ~~*~~
The Eternal Lost Lurker
www.lurkerdrome.com