Iria: Zeiram The Animation Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Right Path ❯ The Right Path 4 ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The Right Path
AceTalon

Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi
Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi
Iria Zeiram by Keita Amemiya

Chapter 4

Note: If anyone is wondering why Ranma's name is Ranma, even though this
is a helluva long time ago in the past, its to prevent confusion. That
and a lack of desire to be creative with names. It makes it easier on
me when I'm in a slump so I don't accidentally revert back to their
original names.


Zeiram looked down at the vast city, which radiated from the
center like a circular wave of spreading poverty. On the outskirts
were the backbone of the city, the workforce that labored under the
whip of society. They were the one who really kept cities afloat, as
did the middle class. But at the very base, the center where the circle
fanned out from, it was the pinnacle of stupidity, the rich and the
wealthy slobs that dominated life yet had little to offer to it. The
Zeiram didn't give a damn about that. They had the most time on their
hands to do the crap that high-lifestyle nobles do; still, they WERE
the best chances to find a particularly skilled recipient for his
attentions.

It was almost time to find new prey. Zeiram kept his unblinking
gaze towards the sky, waiting to feel the familiar pressence of one of
his own, meaning of course the spores he planted earlier. They should
be back at any moment now... and there they were, speeding toward his
hand with seemingly nothing to propel them forward but the air currents
alone.

He held his outstretched hand and allowed it to settle. The
spore melted into his hand, once again becoming one with Zeiram, giving
him the knowledge that it had acquired, giving him the visions that the
spore itself saw. Zeiram's red eyes flared, and he leaped into the air.
He now had his next target. And they would -not- live to see the next
day.



"Boy, I swear I'll leave you here if you don't get your ass in
gear." 'Bob' looked behind him at Ranma's collapsed form.

"S-sorry. Just gimme a sec." Ranma wasn't tired in the least.
He just couldn't believe this guy. His-name-is-BOB. At first he
didn't really think about it, but after a few moments, he just couldn't
stop grinning. Ranma was exerting all his willpower trying not to laugh.
He stood weakly, still facing away from Bob.

Bob rolled his eyes in disgust.

"Why do I have to get stuck with the weak ones?" He muttered
to himself. "They can't travel anywhere on foot. We've still got a
few days to go until I can sponge this kid off on someone else to
take."

Ranma shook his head to compose himself and hurried to catch
up.

The landscape was vastly different from on Mercury. Ranma had
left the cramped little room to enter a world of change. Tall,
green palm trees were everywhere. Jungle plants littered the ground
and clogged the nearly invisible path that Bob followed. The
temperature had to have shot up by at least sixty degrees as well.
Ranma shed his heavy coat and slung it over his shoulder, just
noticing how friggin hot it was. He ditched his gloves and scarf,
thinking that they'll never be needed anyways.

Bob ignored him and kept walking. He wasn't at all bothered by
the sudden change in temperature. He neither sweat nor grew tired.
His black outfit didn't seem to bother him in the least.

"How does he do that?" Ranma watched him curiously. Well, no
use pondering over it now.


After long hours of monotonous walking, with no sign of excitement.
Bob stopped moving. His face was expressionless as a slab of marble.
Ranma looked at bob quizzically, but Bob said nothing. He did nothing,
except to draw a funny looking shaped thing out of his pocket and hide it
under his cloak.

"Get back, boy." His tone brooked no argument. "We've got
company." Bob scanned the dense foliage, tensed and ready for anything.

Ranma backpedaled a few paces before trying to imitate Bob in
staring through the brush. He didn't know exactly what he was looking
for, but whatever it was it was enough to put Bob on his guard. Still,
Ranma could have probably seen it five times over and not even know
he'd seen it. There was always a chance.

After several tense moments, Bob visibly relaxed. He picked up
a rock and chucked it through the underbrush.

"Oiy." He called out. "Come out, Gren. I know your hiding
in there."


Ranma heard a soft curse muttered and a soft swish. Before he
knew it the world had turned upside down and a sharp pain flowed
straight to his ankle.

"Hey!" He cried out surprised and indignant. "What the hell
is this? Lemme down!"

Bob watched Ranma, slightly amused. Swishing gently back and
forth, the simple trap had caught Ranma's ankle and held him suspended
in the air. Ranma's grimace looked pretty ridiculous upside down, and
Bob even chuckled to himself a little.

"You'd be viewing the world in a new perspective too if you had
just taken another step, Bob," The voice remarked. The figure jumped
down from the tree right above Bob and picked up the simple .

Gren was a fairly tall guy. He wore beads in his
whiteish-blond hair and wore fairly unremarkable clothing, that Ranma
could see, aside from having so many pockets and many pouches around his
belt. Most of his clothes were covered by a large cloak as it was. Calm
and collected, The guy's demeanor practically shouted 'cool' by anyone who
saw him. Gren jerked a thumb at the upside down pissed off Ranma. "Who's
the squirt, anyways?"

"Who knows? I don't really care." Bob shrugged and holstered his
gun. Ranma took a good look at the weapon. What was it?

"Oh? Then where're you taking him?" Gren inquired.

"To 'them.'

"Really? I thought you were the one who said we weren't going
to get involved with 'them' and their affairs."

Bob rolled his eyes.

"It isn't as if I didn't know you already accepted a contract
from them without coming to me about it." Bob said this pointedly at
Gren, reminding him that Bob WAS the one who got him all his job
contracts.

Gren held his hands up halfheartedly in a warding motion.

"Hey, 'boss', you know I just can't help it when it comes to
people's lives. I'm not in this for any freedom revolution nonsense."

Bob snorted. Obviously he didn't really believe that.

"Hey...guys? You gonna help me down now?" Ranma, ignored,
was strangely calm for how irritated he was feeling. They were getting
pretty engrossed in their conversation there, he wasn't sure if they'd
remember anytime soon.

Without missing a beat, Gren whipped out a sword, sliced a rope
thinly disguised amonst the foliage, and returned the sword to its
proper place without missing a beat. Ranma plummeted to the base of the
tree, and there just happened to be a very, very large root sticking out
where his head was going to land.

*thud*

"Oww! That really hurt, you jerk!" Ranma said, spitting a curse,
sitting up and clutching his head in pain. He glared at the root.

"Get up, boy, you'll live," Bob said, giving Ranma only half his
attention. He continued his conversation with Gren. "Kind of a
coincidence, meeting you on Venus of all places. I don't suppose you were
waiting for your me, were you?"

"Don't get your hopes up, Bob. I'm supposed to be on the lookout
for some slave traders or something.

"How many slavers? Three or four?"

"Actually, its supposed to be about seven or eight. Heavily armed,
with a mage."

"They sent just you out to take out seven or eight slavers? Who was
the idiot that you got THIS contract from?" Bob looked at Gren with
disbelief.

"Don't remember. I wrote his name down somewhere," Gren replied,
shrugging casually.

"From the Furies?"

"Yeah."

"You hitting one of the main caravans of the season or something?
Since when do they ever send that many heavily armed men with slaves?

"This time I guess. You coming Bob?"

"Do you need to ask?" Bob slipped his hand into another pocket
and pulled out a half used cigarrete. Drawing a deep breath, he shook
his head as he exhaled. "You sure know how to pick em. Lets go."

"What about him?" Gren gestured towards Ranma.

"Oh, him." Bob turned to face Ranma. "Hey, Boy. Head east for
about 5 miles. Eventually you'll hit a town. Go to the 'Venus Flytrap'
inn and I'll pick you up. If anyone asks you anything, just shut up and
stay silent.

"..." The look Ranma gave Bob was a cross between irritation,
frustration, and just plain confusion.

"Ready, Bob?"

"No. Lets go."

The two of them disapeared, leaving Ranma alone. There was a
small pouch left on the ground. Ranma picked it up tenatively, eyeing
its contents. Now he wasn't totally broke.

"...jerks," He muttered. Well, at least Bob had left him some
money. Maybe he could rent a room or something.


-Sometime much later-

"Welcome to the Venus Flytrap! How may I serve you?" The lady
gave Ranma a big smile and winked at him. She eyed his goods, as they
seemed to be on display, with a strange sort of disconcerting hunger.

The town was a medium sized, quaint type of town. To Ranma's
eye, there wasn't much to it besides a slew of houses and buildings.
Nothing stood out, and nothing piqued his interest. Even the building
itself, though well kept and in good repair, was just begging
to be ignored and left in the shadows.

To add to the ungodly amount of time Ranma spent just trudging
towards the town, he spent a good sized portion of his afternoon
wandering the town to find the Venus Flytrap. To top it off, this planet
was intensely hot. After reaching the town, Ranma couldn't take it and he
took off everything he could possibly leave behind without attracting
attention. When he was done, all he had on was an undershirt, shoes, and
his pants. He dropped the coat, since he'd probably never need it.

Ranma's eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped as be backed up against
the wall, trying to control his breathing. He stared at the room, his eyes
darting around, as if trying to make sense of such a foreign setting. His
brain failed miserably at that and he just stood there, gaping, looking her
over up and down several times in disbelief.

"Is there something wrong?" The woman, who must have been a waiter of
some sorts, looked at Ranma curiously.

"E-excuse me, I'll be right back." With these words, he opened the door
and slammed it behind him.

"What the hell is wrong with that guy!?" Ranma thought to himself.
"Bob sent me to an S&M parlor!"

All the women were dressed in weird leather outfits that looked somewhat
like leather leotards with a lot of straps along with strange leather boots
that practically went up to the knees. There were candles everywhere, whips
on the walls, and all the ladies were wearing platform shoes and high heels.

A couple who passed by gave him a disgusted look.

"Oh...your one of those perverts interested in 'that'." The girl said
acidly. The guy wrapped his arm around her shoulder protectively and glared
at Ranma as he hurried by.

"Huh, what? Hey, I'm not...!" Ranma gave up even trying; the couple
had already left.

"Th-that bastard!" Ranma thought viciously. "He probably did this on
purpose just to embarass me." Ranma was turned around and toyed with the
idea of walking away right there and then. He had no dying reason to royally
embarass himself by going in that place and staying, nor had he earned the
dirty looks of the people that passed by.

Then Ranma thought about his situation a little more. He had no where
else to go. He was a wanted man- boy according to Bob- on an unkown planet
in what could be a hostile environment. It wouldn't take too much effort on
his part to lose himself in the wilderness. He could just as easily lose
himself in the town as well. Bob's instructions were his only key to doing
something. Anything. If he passed it up, there's no telling where he'd end
up. And Ranma hated that uncertainty much more than he hated the thought of
being embarassed. What else could he do?

With a sigh of resignation, Ranma turned on his heel and pushed the
door open. If he could ever look at Bob on an equal footing, there would
definitely be hell to pay.

"Welcome back, how may we serve you?" The hostess smiled.

"Yeah...Ineedaroom..." Ranma kept his eyes averted from the strange
costume, determined not to stare at it.

"I'm sorry? I can't hear you very well." She leaned in closer to
hear what he said.

"I s-said I need a room." Ranma arm was shaking slightly at his side
as he tried to maintain his fight to keep his eyes lowered; whoever this
woman was, she definitely wasn't afraid to invade a guy's personal space.

"Alright!" She stepped back and beamed. "My name is Steph and I'll be
the one serving during your stay for today."

"S-s-serving?!" Ranma stuttered. She didn't mean...no, she couldn't,
could she? That she'd...do something that he'd rather not know? He was edging
towards the door, to hell with an uncertain future. There's no way he'd-

"Come to this counter and ring the bell when you have need of me.
Our services include making the beds, bringing you meals, giving baths if
you wish, and everything else on the list that is provided in your room."

Ranma gave a silent sigh of relief. This place wasn't an S&M
establishment.

"Or, if you prefer our more exotic services, we will have to charge
extra. Call forme personally if that's what you wish." She winked and blew
him a kiss. This kid was pretty cute, not to mention his body was pretty
much on display, and she liked what she saw. She could do far worse than him.

"..." Ranma didn't know what to say; all he could do was stare. Maybe
his first misconception hit closer to home than he thought. Though his face
was slightly red fromhis trek and the heat he was unused to, it was nothing
compared to the scarlet red he felt from his embarrassment.

She led him up some stairs, which led down a corridor with doors on
each side. She opened a door and led him in.

"Here's your room key. The number is on the key in case you get lost.
You can pay once your stay is over, or pay now." She handed him a key,
which Ranma accepted and mumbled his thanks. "By the way," she continued
in a sultry voice, pushing up against him, the leather showing off her...curves
nicely. "Would you like some company for today?" She drew a circle on his
chest with her finger.

Ranma nearly blacked out as he held his nose.

"N-n-no, I think I'm uh, fine for today. Yeah," He stuttered, moving
back slowly.

"Are you sure? Its on the house for today." She looked at him in a
very seductive, way for which Ranma shut his eyes. His face felt like it
was on fire.

"Yeah...I'm...okay...for...now." He collected himself with a deep,
shuddering breath. "I'll..b-be sure to call you if I want some company."

"Oh, alright." Steph was clearly disapointed, but she left him by
himself.

Ranma let out long sigh he didn't know he had been holding back.

"Well, at least the room itself is normal, unlike the rest of the
place," he thought to himself somewhat tiredly. "Though just why they would
have two beds here I don't know..." He flopped on the bed and just stared
at the ceiling. Everything was happening so fast. What had happened to him
could have just as well occurred over a week, maybe two. For Ranma, he hadn't
even had a day to figure out just what was going on. What _was_ going on?
What was that weird creature that had chased him here? Why wasn't Bob
even surprisedto see it? And just why was it so godawfully hot on this
planet? Mercury was a helluva lot cooler than this planet!

With all this to dwell upon, Ranma closed his eyes as he allowed the
darkness overtake him. The last thought that drifted into his mind was
about how those women walked around wearing that much leather in this heat.


"You finished over there, Gren?" Bob called out, placing his foot on
the brigand's back and using it as a foothold to help him tighten the ropes.
The brigand cursed and muttered inanely as he stared at Bob with fury.
There were several wagons, but few guards. The two of them had pulled off this
job so easily that Bob wondered if he should have even worried that Gren
couldn't handle it. The slavers themselves were the most inexperienced he'd
seen yet. It took a scant second or two AFTER the slavers fell into the
trap for them to realize they had been caught. Traveling the road, laughing
loudly and bantering ceaselessly, they never saw it coming.

"Yeah, no problems here," he called out as he walked through the mass
of huddled people meticulously slicing the ropes that bound them. Most of the
freed people ran out immediately to escape the confines of the wagons that
carried them, free to do as they please, but a few did stop by to thank him
before they left.

"Thank you kind sir!" The woman said, thanking him. "And I hope that
the Goddess give you her blessings!" She bowed to him, as did her husband,
and ran off.

Gren snickered. He needed no deity's blessing except for lady luck,
and if she deigned not to give him any, then so be it. He's be damned
before he'd let any higher power take control of his life. He did, however
accept the folder that the husband gave him. before they left. That man was
the main reason for this rescue, most likely. And the folder, the information
that the group he accepted the contract from wanted. That was one problem
Gren hated about these contracts was that they never mentioned the true
objective of the mission. The contractors just assume that those who
complete the contract would finish it without truly knowing. Gren was
almost surprised that the papers weren't taken away by theguards.

When the last of the refugee's left, Gren cracked his neck and leaned
against a tree.


"Well, that takes care of this group. Should we leave them here to
rot?" Gren jerked his thumb uncaringly at the tied up posse.

"Your call Gren. It was your contract."

"Huh, yeah. But hell, I really don't feel like dragging their sorry
asses through the jungle."

"Then don't. How far away would you say the nearest town is? Two miles
north?" Bob looked at the sky, mentally tracing a path in the air.

"Yeah, about two miles, almost straight north." Gren nodded.

"Tch. Close enough. Tie them to the wagons, and make sure they drag
behind. They aren't getting a free ride here."

"You gonna do what I think you're going to do?" Gren inquired,
tightening the rope that held them to the wagon. He made sure they couldn't
swing their legs up onto the wagons.

"Of course." Bob did pull out a paper detailing the slaver's orders
and stuck it into the floor of the wagon with a knife. "This should be enough
evidence to get them a life sentence.

"Hiyah!" He shouted, slapping the horse. The horse promptly sped
forward, ignoring the helpless, hapless cries of its passengers. He watched
the horse disapear off into the distance in a cloud of dust.

"So...what about the other two wagons?"

"Take the horses. Leave the wagons. Some else will probably pick em
up. I've got to finish my own job. You coming?"

"Is there some reason I wouldn't?"

Gren and Bob unhitched the other horses from their restraints and saddled
up. After a moment of silence, Gren spoke up.

"Bob, I can't believe you told the boy to go to the Venus Flytrap," Gren
remarked as he prepared his own horse for riding.

"If he doesn't learn about that sort of thing now, he'll be in for a shock
later. As much as I would like to be there to see that, it was the closest safe
place I could think of for him." Bob said this all with a conviction that Gren
almost believed him. If Gren hadn't known Bob for years, he'd be an instant
believer.

"You've got a sadistic sense of humour, Bob. I almost thought you really
meant that." Bob just snorted

"Bah, what do you know? Besides, Iria is going to be there. She's
going to meet us at the Flytrap." Bob mounted his horse, as did Gren. "I did
mention to her I was bringing you anyways."

"You told her that? You didn't even know you would see me here," Gren
said with disbelief.

"It was just a ploy to get her to give me a hand, or she would mope around
your place until you did come back. She adores you more than anything else in
this galaxy, you know."

"..." Gren just rolled his eyes, exhasperate. "Whatever. Lets go."


"I'm sorry, Ranma..."

Ranma opened his eyes, only to find the scenery from a nighmare to
await his vision. What they beheld was war in its infinite terror, its
terrible entirety. He couldn't close his eyes. For some reason, he just...
couldn't close his eyes. Everyone there, all those that were slaughtered,
he couldn't make out distinct facial features. Everyone rushed by him, as
if he didn't exist. The distinction between opposing forces was dim. The
uniforms themselves were too blurred, their clear cut edges that he should
have seen were blurred as if everything was out of focus.

"I'm sorry Ranma..."

He heard that voice again! From where? Ranma's eyes darted around the
battlefield, trying to pick out where that voice came from in this abstract
world. He moved slowly. Though no one seemed to make contact with him, the
sounds, the voices were frighteningly real. It was almost overwhelming. He
still couldn't pick out that voice or where it came from...

"I'm sorry Ranma..."

Ranma froze. The voice...it was right behind him. Trembling, he turned
around. Someone was crouched over a body. They whispered something, but this
time Ranma was close enough to hear it.

"I'm sorry Ranma, but I broke my promise."

"You! You aren't supposed to be here!"

Ranma whirled at the new, solid voice.

The newcomer was just as blurred as everyone else. However, her, Ranma
decided the voice had a definite feminine tone to it, voice was just as clear
as if she was speaking directly into his ear.

"I told you once! I'm not going to tell you another time. Leave now or
face the consequences!" She spoke in a low tone, very softly, yet very
threatening.

Ranma shook his head helplessly. He didn't know where he was! How was
he supposed to leave?"

The unknown speaker paused, but only for a second, before drawing a
long, very deadly looking double bladed staff. She literally flew over the
ground as she charged Ranma's immbile form.


"I warned you!"

Ranma felt a crushing pain in his skull and groaned in pain. He
clenched his eyelids shut and shoved the pillow over his head. Dammit, who
was that harrassing him? It must have been past midnight!"

"Go way!" He muttered angrily from beneath the pillow. "You know what
time it is?"

"Hey, I warned ya, buddy. Its time for you to get yourself outta my
room!"

Ranma felt a pair of fairly strong arms press against the side of his
body and shove him hard, dumping him to the ground.

"Hey!" He protested loudly, sitting up and glaring blearily at the
newcomer. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Getting some freeloader bum out of my room, that's what I'm doing."
The faintly outlined figure walked over to a small desk and fumbled around
in the dark. After a few moments of silence, the sound of a match and the
light of a candle illuminated the area. Once the light was lit and Ranma's
eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, his jaw dropped at the newcomer.

She was a semi tall brunette with short cropped hair with a small
number of beads holding a few strands of hair clumped together at the side
of her face. Though she had a well worn cloak that covered her whole body,
Ranma caught the glimpse of a bodysuit and some white-ish looking armor.
She carried a stance that spoke of a confidence in herself, yet in a
feminine sort of way. She didn't have the happiest expression at the moment
either.

"So are you going to leave, or am I going to do things the hard way?"
She inquired, cracking her knuckles for emphasis.

"Wh-what are you talking about? This is MY room!" Ranma stated,
pointing at the door. While normally he probably wouldn't have minded and
asked for another room, it was late and he was tired. He couldn't remember
was he was dreaming about, but it was an odd dream. Ranma didn't have many
of those. The pain in his head was another reminder that this...somewhat
wild-looking woman was probably violent as well.

"Oh really?" She folded her arms across her chest and looked at him.
"Then why did the clerk give me the key to this room then?" She held up a
small key attached to a ring.

"How should I know? Lemme sleep..." Came the muttered reply as Ranma
dragged himself to the other bed. "_My_ key is over there." He waved behind
him at the general area of the desk.

"What are you talking about? There's no key there."

"Wha?" Ranma turned around. Nope, no key. "Aw just great," he
grumbled. "That crazy chick out there in the leather forgot to gimme my key."
He rubbed his head and sighed. All he wanted was to go back to sleep.

"Uh huh. Ok. Who was 'that person' anyways?" The cloaked newcomer
sat on the bed and watched Ranma, amused.

"Steph or something like that."

"Ah, I suspected as much." She tapped her chin lightly.

"Suspected as much? Why?"

"She was the one who gave me the key."

"...!"

"What's your name?"

"Ranma."

"Hello, Ranma. I'm Iria. Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, nice to meet you too." He shook hands with her and smiled
weakly. "What's up with this Steph person then?"

"She's an old friend of mine." Iria chuckled to herself slightly.
"I'm sure she did that just to get a kick out of it."


"Hey Steph, I need a room. Any free?" She had asked. Steph was
working the counter. She smiled at her old friend Iria and shuffled around
in the key compartment.

"'Lo, Iria. Sorry, but-," Steph had looked surprised when she
reached into the key compartment and pulled out one, then smiled to herself.
"Oh, nevermind. It seems we do have one open. That's the room with..."
She nodded to herself. Steph handed the key to Iria and winked. "Sleep
well, and good luck!"

"I wondered what she was talking about," Iria thought idly. "What
a nosy little..."

"This whole place is weird," Ranma muttered.

"Huh? What was that?"

"This isn't...you know...like one of _those_ kinds of places, is it?"

"Run that by me again?" Iria asked him somewhat tiredly.

"Well, you know...the way they're dressed and all..."

Iria stared at him, confused as to exactly what the hell Ranma was
implying. Then she laughed. She laughed hard enough that she had to sit
down as her legs grew weak. "Bwahaha! You think this is a pervert's dream,
do you? S&M? Ahah, that's rich!"

"I guess that's a no," He deadpanned, giving her a flat stare. He
sat down on the bed on the opposite side and ran his hand through his hair.
"Thank god, I thought this was just some cruel twist of fate."

"Nah," She chuckled and pulled up a chair, straddling it and draping
her arms over the backrest all in one smooth motion. Ranma watched her,
impressed at just how graceful she seemed. He shook his head and turned away,
blushing slightly. She might think he was a pervert or something if he
stared. Iria, who saw his slight pause, kept a small smile to herself.
"Though if you're here without a purpose, it could be. What are you doing in
here, anyways? No one comes to the Venus Flytrap without reason."

"Lets just say the Goddess decided that I needed to be punished, and
here I am." Ranma looked out the window. He thought of his parents. Though
he didn't really think about it as it happened, it really hurt that his
parents would give him up so easily. The pain was fresh too, not even a week
had passed since it happened. Sure, he didn't always appreciate their advice
or their constant badgering, but they were his parents. They raised him and
cared for him. For them to toss him to the wolves so easily made him wonder
just how much they really cared about him.

"Punished? How so?" Iria rested her head on her arm and looked at him.

"Lost my family, lost my life, lost everything on Mercury. Lost it all
only to be picked up by some annoying ass that only calls me 'boy' after
magiking me to his inferno planet. I don't even know why I lost it all!"
Ranma clenched his fist and shook his head. "Then Bob scares me to death
when-"

"Wait, Bob? You're talking about Bob?"

"Well, yeah. Why, you know him?"

"Fairly tall guy, has a small ponytail, dark skin? Wears a cloak
like mine?" She gestured to the large cloth that wrapped around her entire
body.

"Yeah, that's him."

"I see." Iria sat back on the bed and looked at him curiously. To
her, he looked rather plain. He was kind of cute, but nothing about him
really stood out to her. He was like anyone she could find off the street.
Though it didn't look like he did much hard work, he was fit, from what she
could see. He could use a new haircut though, that look just didn't fit
him...

Ranma, aware of the intense scrutiny he was under, shifted in his seat
uncomfortably.

"What are you doing?" He asked her nervously.

"Hmm?" She looked up after giving him the up and down look over. "Oh,
nothing. Just wondering about something." (Wondering just what Bob was
planning on doing with you) she thought.

As interesting as he might have been, sleep was a much better
alternative. "Go back to sleep." She waved her hand halfheartedly before
getting into her bed.

"That was _my_ bed," Ranma grumbled under his breath, slipping under
the sheets of the other bed and putting the light out. "Crazy woman, just
thinks she can take my bed..." He yawned, remembering that he HAD been woken
up in the middle of the night. He was too brain dead at the moment to think
about anything else besides sleep.


The scholar set his pens and pencils down and sighed, content. He stood
up and stretched his muscles long accustomed to being hunched over a book in a
cramped office. But not for much longer. His work on the "Social tendencies
of the Silver Millenium" would surely win him the prized position as a member
of the guild. He had found some truly interesting facts during the last
hundred years. His findings were safe in the thick leatherbound volume that he
kept with him, always. Very shortly, it would be published and distributed
among. It would bring him riches, fame, chicks, things that a bookworm like
himself might never know of. "Yes," he thought as he sighed again. He was
near finished. But now, it was time to talk a walk.

He closed the door, locking carefully making sure to lock the door
tightly as he whistled to himself cheerfully. He was so preoccupied with
thinking about the future that he paid no attention to the present, no
attention to the dark form that sat in the alley next to his house, no
attention to the plant-like tentacles that shot out to wrap around him,
dragging his screaming body into the alley where he would never be seen
again.