[FFML] [C+C] Quantum Destinies 26

[DB Sommer]

*** Earth +2.615, -1.494

Perfume spent most of her time sighing happily as she watched the 
ceremony while clinging to the arm of her Airen. Occasionally, she 
stared daggers at the dark-haired Saotome girl. Once the wedding couple 
departed, the truce Kinagi had asked for would be done. Then Perfume 
would attack and try to finally end her rivalry with the shorter girl 
once and for all.

% Interesting juxtaposition.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

*** Heaven +2.615, -1.494

So intent was Belldandy on watching all aspects of the wedding that she 
did not sense the sudden intrusion into the datacore. A solitary figure 
slowly materialized next to one wall in the chamber, appearing in a 
swirl of amber light. It stood completely cloaked in dark robes, its 
head concealed from view behind a hood. Without hesitation, it strode 
over to one of the nearby consoles and stretched forth a gloved hand. 
Runes began to scroll across the display in a blur, the figure studying 
them very intently. As it did so, the face was finally revealed: the 
Shogun of the Dark.

The Shogun quickly found what he was looking for and paused the display 
to study the runes on the screen, frowning at what he was seeing. That 
damnable Washu had somehow managed to bring the equally irritating 
Doctor back to life and combined forces with him! It appeared the pair 
would stymie him once again on this iteration. After a few moments, he 
gestured at the display with one hand in disgust, and the console went 
back to its normal mode. Stepping away from the wall and turning around, 
his task completed, he halted for a brief time and watched the scene 
that the solitary goddess was watching, as well as Belldandy herself. 
While he did so, he idly recalled once brutally ending the young 
goddess’ life on a prior iteration and obtaining her access codes.

% Luckily access codes don't go from reality to reality.



It was promising to be the most interesting social event of the year.

% And interesting is what the decadent man desires.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



While at dinner, the two mothers had exchanged pleasantries briefly 
before Kenseiko had begun making a series of inquiries to Juri on her 
suitability for marriage into the Kunos. During that time, Kodachi had 
leaned over to him and mentioned in passing that the vision before him 
was reputed to be a swordswoman of great skill and that she had boldly 
rejected all previous suitors, for none were apparently able to match 
her ability with a blade. That had only inflamed his passions even more, 
for women of strength were his one admitted weakness.

% True.

However, now there was Juri Arisugawa in his life, one who combined so 
many of the features of his other true loves into a singular package of 
divine womanhood. She was clever like unto Nabiki Tendo, a fact she ably 
proved last night as she responded to his mother’s questioning. Yet her 
frame was strong and well-formed, and her gaze carried within it a 
fierce challenge that reminded him of the younger Tendo. Her face was 
the face of a goddess, framed by reddish, lustrous hair like that of the 
mysterious pigtailed girl, its fulsome fullness contained with clasps 
and worn straight down her back.

% Perhaps four wives would not be too many. One could never be sure.

How could one man love four women equally? Yet how could he restrain 
himself and claim only one? His heart burned for them all, each one 
arousing a unique form of passion within him. Perhaps, at the dance at 
Ohtori, he would inquire of the Arisugawa girl her feelings on his 
having mistresses. Although, as a precaution, he would ask his good 
friend Mikado Sanzenin for advice on the matter first.

% Oh, that should go down real good



That was the problem. Akane still only looked at Ranma on a physical 
level. That was the way her sister looked at every young man. The 
pigtailed boy was more than a body and more than merely his fighting 
skills. He had a brilliant future ahead of him someday in the Science 
Ministry or one of the corporations in the Empire, and he needed a wife 
who could guide him and advise him to achieve his maximum possible level 
of success.

% Heh. Not looking into his heart either, yet.



For once he had defeated her and beaten her unconscious, he would take 
her home. He would ravish that beautiful body of hers until he was 
sated, for the crime she had done to him, demonstrating the indomitable 
strength of his virility. And once he had satiated his lusts for the 
girl, he would bring her to a certain place he knew of, where the 
wealthy and the powerful played dark games of pleasure, vice and 
debauchery. There he would offer her to the Mistress of that place for 
proper training, to have her spirit broken and remade into a proper 
plaything for a man.

% Lao would enjoy breaking her in.

The next to fall would be the fools pursuing Kodachi, such as that 
miserable, low-born cur, Ranma Saotome. As to Miki Kaoru, he was hardly 
an impediment, coming from an old but faltering noble family, one whose 
business interests would be fatally damaged if the Sanzenins so much as 
looked crossly in their direction. Once those two were removed from the 
picture, Kodachi would surely become his. He would see to it that his 
father made a significantly larger proposal of money and political 
capital for Kodachi this time, perhaps even offering his thuggish 
younger sister in marriage to Tatewaki to further cement their two noble 
families together in a solid alliance, a proposal that Tatewaki’s sire 
would be an utter fool to turn away.

The thought of his future victory made his blood sing within him. It 
would be inevitable. Feeling his libido invigorated by his plans, he 
then turned his full attentions to the vile but exquisitely beautiful 
Asuka, enjoying her womanly charms to the fullest. She responded with 
proper eagerness, even if she adamantly refused to cede him control of 
their encounter.

It was good to be Mikado Sanzenin.

% Ain't it, though?


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Ah, yes, he remembered this one now as he read through the file. The boy 
had responded quite well to the introduction of the symbiote to his 
body. Unfortunately, while it had increased his natural abilities in 
strength, endurance and, to a lesser extent, intellect, it had done 
nothing to cure the genetic trait of direction dyslexia suffered by his 
family. It had been in hopes of removing that inherited curse that had 
encouraged his parents to enroll him in the Project.

% And proof the symbiote is not perfect.

The boy had grown up in a remote region of the Empire, but the Project 
administrators had made sure that his home village’s school was given a 
series of instructors who would inculcate the boy with a broad spectrum 
of knowledge. He read through their reports and nodded. While he wasn’t 
quite the genius that the Saotome boy was, he more than made up for it 
in physical abilities. Even at his present age, the boy’s strength was 
phenomenal, far beyond that of any other Adam in the Project and able to 
lift nearly a metric ton of mass.

% While intellect and physical prowess are increased it doesn't make 
them all off the chart.

Fuyutsuki pondered how best to keep the boy around campus. He finally 
decided that an implanted tracking chip in Ryoga was probably the least 
obtrusive method to avoid his wandering off for extended periods of 
time. The boy could live in the dormitories with the other students who 
had families in more distant regions of Japan. Perhaps until Ryoga had 
settled himself, he would assign Nabiki Tendo to make sure the boy 
learned and understood the rules, and she could assist him to get to his 
classes and take him off-campus with a minimum of fuss. He had no doubts 
that Ryoga could pass even the Academy’s entrance exams. His instructors 
had given him consistently high marks in scholastics.

% They could always fake the exam results as well, if it came to that

Leaning back in his chair and picking up the telephone, he felt quite 
pleased at this development. He dialed the Security Directorate and 
requested Ryoga be picked up and delivered to him as soon as possible. 
After the boy received his tracking chip, he could simply notify them 
whenever Ryoga went beyond the boundaries of Nerima, and they could 
retrieve him. Yes, that would deal nicely with the boy’s direction problems.

It would be nice to have another Adam on campus. Ranma could use a bit 
more male competition.

% True


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


“Ranma, I’ve known a lot of high-end Arena fighters who couldn’t keep up 
with me like you’re doing now,” Lee commented, his facial expression one 
of puzzlement. “And I’m not talking your speed alone, but also your 
flexibility, reflexes, endurance and bodily strength. So, if it wasn’t 
that you were holding back, why are you so much better now?”

The pigtailed boy shrugged. “It’s... difficult to explain.”

“Try me.”

% Yeah, he'd better. You don't want Bruce Lee pissed at you.



“All right.” The pigtailed boy sat down next to Lee. “This is going to 
be a long story.”

% 26 chapters, give or take.



“You remind me of someone I once knew when I was younger, who had the 
opposite curse to yours.”

Ranma-chan blinked. “Uh, what was her name?”

“Yumi Kuonji,” he said with a smile. “She was quite a woman.” He paused 
and considered. “And man, for that matter.”

“Funny you should mention her...” Ranma-chan said after a moment.

% Small world indeed.




He got in and buckled his seatbelt, and a moment later the car was off, 
weaving its way into traffic as Kasumi worked the clutch and shift like 
a master. Godai saw his life flash before his eyes for a moment as she 
maneuvered in between cars,

% Once rode with a taxi driver that was on crack or something. Traveling 
about a ninety miles an hour on the highway leading from the airport, 
weaving in and out of traffic with one hand while furiously scratching 
the back of his neck and head with his other while talking non stop. My 
life did not flash before my eyes, but rather I was calm, despite the 
fact a wreck would almost certainly have been fatal.


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After Master Lee called and informed Nodoka that training was running 
late for Ranma that evening, Ranma-chan and the man arrived outside the 
Yu-chan just as the dinner crowd was getting heavier. They went inside, 
following a pair of salarymen. As the door closed, Yumi and Master Lee 
caught each other’s gaze.

A couple of seconds later, there was a sudden, brief commotion inside 
and then Yumi came sailing straight out through the door without it 
being opened first in an explosion of wood and glass. Master Lee came 
bounding out right behind her, catching up just as she landed on her 
feet on the pavement.

% Hmm. Apparently he didn't tell Ranma everything.


Ryoga was proving himself to be quite a ladies man, Ranma-chan decided 
sourly. He first showed up with Ryoko in tow. He had a past with Ukyo. 
He was pretending to be Kodachi’s pet pig, and he had been suspiciously 
nice towards Nabiki. The combination was all very suspect when he 
thought about it a bit. Maybe this version of Ryoga wasn’t quite the 
painfully shy with girls, muscle-bound oaf his analogs were.

% Well, he's partially right.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


However, he had nearly lost when she had done something amazing. She 
gave him a grin in the middle of the match and then a second Ryoko had 
suddenly appeared. The two of them came at him as a pair, and he had a 
hard time of it for a while. Fortunately, the two of them were not a 
perfect team, and he was able to defeat them eventually.

% Yeah,that would be a fairly unique thing.


Ranma started to speak, but then Genma suddenly said, “The first wife 
will be Nabiki. There is already an engagement agreement in place with 
the Tendo family.”

Ryoko’s right eyelid twitched for a few moments at that, and her enmity 
for the middle Tendo daughter suddenly surged to new heights. The edge 
of the table gripped in her hands began to powder.

% Yeah, that would be a fairly bad thing.


Genma began babbling in terror at the sight, confessing to the three 
engagements he had put into place with the other fathers. Achika handed 
Nodoka a bokken when she held out her hand, as if they had practiced 
such a move together. The scene that followed was one of simply amazing 
brutality.

% Well, he did have it coming.


“Uh, that’s okay,” he said suddenly. He bowed to the two of them as the 
carnage finally came to an end. “Thank you for the match, Ryoko. Maybe 
we can do it again sometime.”

% Got out of one of them, at least.


“I guess my time’s about up, bookworm. I’m not sure how much of me is 
going to continue on in you, since you’ve got quite a lot filling your 
head already, but try and remember me.” He leaned in closer to whisper, 
“And kiss a few of the girls already, will you? Tough little Ukyo and 
sweet, dreamy-eyed Kodachi are waiting for you to be a man with them, 
not to mention Nabiki. Show that Tendo girl who’s the man between you 
two, okay? Heck, speaking of Tendo girls, even that psycho Akane chick 
might be a lot of fun in the right circumstances. And if you ever run 
into Shampoo on your world, don’t screw it up, okay? She’s been a good 
wife to me, and she’s just incredible in the sack. Take it from me, I 
never had better.”

The other Ranma faded even more as he flashed a thumb up and grinned.

“Now go be a man, bookworm.”

% Hmm. Interesting addition to the folksin Ranma's head. I wonder how 
many sets of memories you have to absorb before you stop being what you 
originally were and simply become an amalgamation.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Ranma swallowed his food. “Utena invited me to a big dance at Ohtori 
tonight. I told you last week.”

“Oh, that’s right.” She smiled at him and got up for a few minutes. She 
came back with a small stack of yen notes and set them in front of him. 
“You show Utena a good time tonight.”

% And he's not even engaged to that one.




“Yes.” Kyoko’s voice was tight. She could only imagine what sort of 
sordid things the Kisaragi woman was enticing Godai into. She hoped he 
was strong-willed enough to resist.

“Well, since he’s not here, could I interest you in an afternoon out 
playing tennis and maybe an early dinner?” He gave her a dazzling smile 
as cherry blossoms seemed to swirl in the air around them.

Kyoko, startled, looked at him for several moments and then nodded.

% A classic case of timing, MI was. Had Kyoko met Mitaka first, they 
would have been together.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Yohko smiled as she sat with Kyosuke in the very back of the movie 
theater, his arm around her, and her fingers entwined with his as they 
held hands and watched the film. She leaned her head on his shoulder and 
gave out a very quiet sigh of contentment. She felt so lucky to have a 
boyfriend like him in her life, finally feeling free of her past bad 
luck with men. They had been dating for a few months now, without him 
becoming possessed, seeing something ‘Man Was Not Meant To Know’ and 
going totally insane, or dying in some bloody, horrible fashion.


% Yep, poor Yohko. Some things never change no matter wht universe you 
are in.


She was about to lean up and start kissing him along the underside of 
his jawline when there was a sudden noisy commotion from the front area 
of the theater. Several people were running, scrambling away as best 
they could and screaming as a large ball of energy materialized right in 
front of the screen and quickly transformed itself into a four-armed 
demon with leprous skin and a pretty serious set of dental work. And the 
less said about his other accoutrements, the better. What was it that 
made most demons perverts too? Didn’t they get enough satisfaction 
ripping people’s intestines out through their nostrils?

“FOOLISH MORTALS! RUNNING SHALL DO YOU NO GOOD! FOR I AM THE DEMON LORD 
PAIN-INNA-REER, AND I COME TO FEAST UPON YOUR BLOOD AND SOULS!”

% I think he's about to have a bad day.


Anthy and Wakaba sat on the bed and both smiled at the sight of her. 
Ranma was coming to pick Utena up for dinner before the dance, so she 
was getting ready a bit early. She didn’t want him to have to wait.

%Which shows she's been impersonating a guy, as most women want to make 
men wait for them.


Kodachi paused in the doorway, suddenly feeling a bit shy, dressed in a 
fine silk dress in light green. She had decided in the end to go for 
something more risqué than demure. The dress was backless, dipping down 
to her derriere.

%There seems to be a lot of that going around




Back in the house was a letter that had arrived just today, an official 
notice delivered by courier pouch from the Imperial Court. Soun Tendo 
had been selected to be the next Minister of Security for the Empire. As 
part of his ascension to that post, he would be required to submit to a 
telepathic scan by someone from the Mobius Institute to ensure his 
loyalty to the Emperor. While she was confident her real father would 
pass, the false Soun would likely be found out. Her father had worked 
too long and hard, sacrificed too much, to get this far in his career.

% Yeah, that could be a problem.

“Nabiki!” shouted Soun from within the house. “Where are you at,


“Y-you look really good, U-Utena,” Ranma managed to stutter out.

% I'd just say 'stuttered out' since it's obvious he managed it.


Wakaba dropped her jaw. The guy had gone from nervous and shy to this 
suavely smooth young man in a single moment of time. She remembered how 
he had seemed to her before, cute but not really confident with girls. 
Now he seemed to be radiating self-assurance. Not quite up there with 
the likes of Touga Kiryuu, but not too far behind it either.

% Hmm. I'd have him switch back and forth at least some of the time, for 
if he's too easy going with women that takes some of the fun out



As if on cue, the final actors for tonight


% And that feels to much like a narrator speaking to the audience. I 
recommend changing the wording somewhat


Clinging a bit tightly to his arm, feeling it touching the side of her 
breast, Utena was already having a wonderful time. She had enjoyed 
talking with Ranma at dinner, finding herself unable to look away from 
him as he told her tales of places he had been, and she had shared a few 
stories of her own. A pleasant tingling ran through her body at his 
nearness, and she was idly wondering if he might like to spend the night 
in her room, if things went late tonight. She justified that in her mind 
as repayment for her being allowed to stay at his home weeks ago. That 
was all it was. Really.

% Yep. really

Nabiki caught sight of Ranma first, followed quickly in turn by the 
others noticing everyone else who had arrived, except for Juri, Kuno, 
Nanami and Utena, who were all too pre-occupied with their dates to look 
at anyone else. Frowns began appearing on faces. Fists began clenching 
at sides.

% Let's see if it hits the fan or not


Seeing her fiancé defying her will (and very clear instructions) one 
more time, his unexpected appearance with the Tenjou girl caused 
Nabiki’s right eyebrow to twitch and a vein suddenly popped up on her 
forehead. Absently realizing that her situation appeared bad as well in 
comparison, she held her place and seethed silently instead. Her grip on 
Touga’s arm tightened a slight amount. Her gaze shifted over to see that 
her debutante rival was taking this about as well as she was, 
paradoxically making her feel a little better.

% Misery loves company


His attention split, Mikado glanced back and forth between Kodachi and 
Ranma. His gaze was dark and filled with loathing as he looked at the 
pigtailed boy. After only a short time under Nanashi’s training, he was 
already better than he had been since his last encounter with his rival, 
but he still felt he needed an edge if he tried something tonight. 
Feeling the flask of rum in his jacket, one he had decided to bring if 
the date with the Kiryuu girl grew too agonizing to take without 
something to dull the pain, an idea occurred to him.

% Ah, this should be good

Miki eyed Ranma in an unfriendly fashion, and he felt Kodachi’s arm 
suddenly tighten on his. He absently patted her hand to comfort her. He 
felt the flask in his jacket under his other arm, one filled with a 
sweet but potent liqueur. He and Touga would be there to rescue their 
dates when the Saotome boy made an asinine fool of himself after he 
drank a few cups of spiked punch. He smiled in anticipation of Kodachi’s 
gratitude.

% Real good.

Standing at Nabiki’s side and enjoying her nearness, Touga spotted his 
nemesis

% I don't know why he thinks of Ranma as a nemesis, unless it's Nabby's 
attention at him.



“So, you and that Touga guy, are you two childhood friends?” Ranma

% Nabiki: No, we just met and I was thinking about some hot and sweaty 
sex with him.


Ranma turned to see Mikado standing there, looking at him with a wicked 
smile on his lips. The other boy waggled a flask and then put it back 
into his jacket. While he was standing there, suddenly seeing two of 
Mikado for a moment, the other boy attacked.

% Hmm. Seems a bit blatant for him to do that in publc. Might want to 
say he had a bit of punch before spiking it, not realizing it was 
already spiked


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Things were going much better than Mikado had hoped. He had noticed the 
two Ohtori cadets giving spiked cups of punch to Ranma earlier that 
evening.

% Never mind then, and I see he immidiatelty took the fight outside, I 
thought it was happening in front of everyone




Meanwhile, on one of the verandas, Kuno and Juri Arisugawa were taking a 
break from dancing. They stood close together and watched the stars. No 
words were spoken between them, but he was holding her hand as they 
stood at the railing.

Juri was smiling and feeling warm inside.

% Hmm. Maybe Kuno will realize there can be only one.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



“Can I count on your assistance in getting Ranma away from them?” She 
smiled at the pair. “I mean, since they aren’t right for him.”

Miki and Touga looked briefly at each other and suddenly both boys wore 
matching smiles. They nodded to each other in silent agreement.

“In speaking for Miki and myself, we’d be quite happy to assist you in 
getting them apart, Utena my dear.”

% Ah, a conspiracy it is. Technically none of them are bad matches, though.