Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ A Very Scary Bet ❯ My Women From To-kay-oh ( Chapter 3 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Metroanime 
Sash meets Ryouga.
Ami remembers the days of the mystery solving martial arts Meal Machine.
Kasumi's curse
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Comedy / Martial Arts | Type: The Bet | Uploaded On: 11.07.2002 | Updated On: 11.08.2002 | Pages: 10 | Words: 7.7K | Visits: 1.4K | Status: Completed
Sash meets Ryouga.
Ami remembers the days of the mystery solving martial arts Meal Machine.
Kasumi's curse
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Comedy / Martial Arts | Type: The Bet | Uploaded On: 11.07.2002 | Updated On: 11.08.2002 | Pages: 10 | Words: 7.7K | Visits: 1.4K | Status: Completed
A Very Scary Bet, Rough
part 3: My Women From To-Kay-Oh?!?!
by greggsharp, various people own the various char. no trademark infringement is intended.
much thanks for my pre-readers who have helped enormously.
this is written for enjoyment, distributed for others to enjoy, and should not be confused for even a picosecond as Great Literature.
----------------------------------------------------
"Beryl."
Queen Beryl, Dark Mistress of a Dark Kingdom, flinched. "Metal'la?"
"I am not amused, Beryl."
"But I..."
"Things have progressed beyond where I can trust you to resolve them on your own." The voice sounded irritated. "Your generals might be able to handle it, if it were just the Inner Senshi. However, there is a gathering storm that threatens to rend the darkness."
"Tell me, great Metal'la! Tell me, and I shall..." Beryl stopped, feeling a telekinetic pinch of her windpipe. Not enough to permanently close that tube, but enough to remind Beryl of her place in this chain of command.
She was not at the top rung. She was just the highest rung that would normally be visible to casual scrutiny.
"Step aside for the moment, O foolish Queen. Rather than let the allies gather, one of my own colleagues has come up with...an idea."
"Yes, great Metallica."
"THAT'S METAL'LA, YOU STUPID BIMBO! Call me that once more and I'll force you to watch Barney videos until the NEXT Millenium. Ready your forces and attack here." A vision of a high school appeared. "You will be going after an area and an opponent quite different from your ancient enemy, the Senshi."
"But, Great One!" Beryl stopped as she felt Metal'la's gaze sweep over her. "Yes, Great One. Where is this place?"
"It is in Okayama. Not far in mortal distances. There is a suitable weak point between dimensions for you to access it. Your forces will dispatch and end the threat of another of this world's defenders.
"Do not worry about the Senshi. One of my colleagues will send one of his own generals to deal with them."
Beryl was briefly glad none of her subordinates were nearby. It would be a pain to recruit and break in new ones.
----------------------------------------------------
Class stopped abruptly with the sound of splashing water, and Kuno's voice crying out "Pony Tailed Girl!"
"Excuse please, teacher." Shampoo stood and glared towards the doorway. "This something Shampoo needs to take care of RIGHT NOW."
"What could possibly be so important, Miss Shampoo, that you would further disrupt class?"
Shampoo sighed as the sound of some woman screaming faded into the distance with the occasional broken prose fragment indicating Kuno's pursuit. She was reluctant to speak, but figured that when everyone understood the danger, they'd step back.
"Some time ago, Kuno, Shampoo, Ranma, boy name Ryouga, and traveler name Doctor go many places. Kuno pull trick on Ranma one time, use device make Ranma act strange if use right 'trigger'."
"Some sort of hypnosis," mused the teacher. "Hypnotic triggers?"
"Yes. That word Doctor use. Airen learn how to do...things...under hyp-no-sis. Many problems. Kuno do one thing. Many problems result. Very dangerous. Get him engaged once already."
"Engaged?" Akane and Ukyou managed to say in unison. Vanilla merely shook her head.
Shampoo nodded. "Is tragic terrible story. Girl try to kiss Ranma to see what like. Reflexes take over, taught by machine. He kiss back. Very terrible. He no can help, usually very unhappy when hyp-not-ic tri-gger let go." Shampoo frowned as she realized anew that she'd relied way too much on the TARDIS' translation effect.
"He's a terrible kisser?" Akane shrugged. "Big deal."
"No," Shampoo said solemnly. "Is terrible because of how good airen is at kissing." She didn't want to say this in front of everyone, but pride in her airen kept her talking. (1)
"Oh...really?" Ukyou almost purred, speculating. She failed to notice the same look of speculation in more than one classmate's face.
Yuka and Sayuri pulled out the booklets that Nabiki had sold them that morning about the complete hunk they'd seen earlier. Since the school had also witnessed Akane turning into a rhino, and the hunk turning into a girl, they had no reason to doubt the accuracy of the less fantastic sections.
"He promise Shampoo be very next one he kiss, though Shampoo see what happen to last girl and think maybe even Shampoo not ready for that."
---------------------------
Ranko masked her presence as best she was able, running from the hentai who kept trying to grope her.
Stupid boy. Even after the curse had been explained and demonstrated right in front of him, he still didn't get it.
"Pony tailed girl! Where are you, my love?"
Ranko waited as the samurai passed beneath the ceiling panel. She was also distressed by getting her clothes all dusty.
"This really sucks," Ranko muttered under her breath.
---------------------------
"This really sucks." Well, that was what Ryouga had thought. What came out was merely a distressed sounding "Piiiiiika."
He'd found the Amazon village and found something truly amazing out. His cursed form had some sort of inertial compass ability. He KNEW which way was North. He KNEW where the nearest electrical line was. He KNEW where the Guide had kept his batteries (the tall cabinet by the door.)
"Ohhhhhhh. How cute!"
Ryouga scampered back as he saw a vision of loveliness step before him. His little yellow jaw dropped. "Piiika PI!"
It was just well that the Amazons didn't understand what Ryouga had just said.
"What is it, Sash?" Another woman came into Ryouga's view. This one was at least as breathtaking as the first one.
"Look, it's a little yellow Mokona!"
The second girl looked Ryouga over with a slight frown. "Isn't that the little white critter in those Japanese comic books you get? It looks kinda stupid to me."
"No," Sash switched to Japanese as this just seemed appropriate since it was a scene right out of one of her beloved Japanese manga. They were hard to get, but Sash had discovered a mail order service. "This is DESTINY!"
"It kinda looks like a rodent. Or maybe a koala with Hepatitis."
"No, Lufa, this is MY DESTINY! All those Japanese comic books were actually to prepare me for my mission in life!" Sash put one foot up on a convenient rock in order to pose just like various characters in those same stories. Her eyes shone as she pictured the glorious possibilities ahead of her.
"Probably got a lot of fat on it. Wouldn't even taste good." Lufa was a bit more pragmatic than Sash.
"Soon, I'll be granted the ability to transform into some Magical Princess by some item of power my advising mascot character will give me. Just like RAYEARTH! Then I can defend the Amazon way of life from evil Myrhh warriors and remnants of some demonic civilization."
Lufa looked thoughtful. "I got downwind of some Myrrh warriors once. I agree that they SMELLED
positively demonic."
"Hah!" Sash went over to pick up the startled looking animal. "You just watch me!"
As he felt the woman's hands close around him, Ryouga panicked. He felt his body react by doing
SOMETHING.
"Ai-ai-ai-aiyaaaaaaaa," Sash managed as 1,200 volts went through her body.
"What do you know, it IS a magic critter. It's not supposed to do that though, is it?" Lufa looked
down at her nice but slightly weird and currently smouldering friend. "Would it spoil this moment for you, if I put out that patch of hair which is on fire?"
Ryouga ran from the scene, mentally apologizing to the girl with the lightly charred brown hair.
------------------------------------------
Moe and Larry had been joined by their brother Curly after Curly had finished putting his globular casing
together and retracting his servo-arms.
Curly being of somewhat higher intelligence than a toaster oven, had immediately determined that the woman watching this display was not a threat to his programmed objectives. The phrase "oh, he's so cute" was duly noted and determined not to be a command for further tasks to be accomplished.
That had left assisting Moe and Larrye as tasks in the little workbot's list of assignments. A brief line of
transmission indicated that the two other workbots were in the process of building the underground hangar and access tunnel.
Sending a brief acknowledgment signal, Curly had quickly begun using lasers to heat and fuse the rocks
and dirt into an outer wall.
------------------------------------------
Ranko got to the bathroom, ran the hot water, then Ranma realized he was in the GIRL'S bathroom. He
did the natural thing and fled.
Of course, by now he was late for his next class.
Tatewaki Kuno saw him and ran forward with his bucket.
Ranma decided to be pro-active. A flying circle kick knocked the samurai out, but water splashed everywhere again.
Ranko returned to the restroom in search of hot water.
------------------------
The Machine Club (formerly the Chem Club until a fair amount of money crossed hands) prepared to commit their evil deeds.
Not that they thought that there was anything particularly bad involved. Etchi, yes. Bizarre, definitely. Dishonest, certainly. But in their quest for Akane Tendo and Ukyou Kuonji (and maybe those two cute foreign students) no sacrifice was too great or mecha too complicated!
The Photography Club (in an arrangement by one Nabiki Tendo) had already sold them wall poster sized photographs of the various girls. Unlike the other various purchasers, these had various tags attached to them.
Each had their name and homeroom displayed at the bottom. A largely blank sheet to the left noted their weak points. A more complete form to the right listed their observed skills.
Each member planned on assisting (for large sums of money) Tatewaki Kuno in his quest by building powerful mecha to capture one or more of the girls in question.
What they planned on doing afterwards was eliminating Tatewaki Kuno and going ahead with their own agenda, of course.
They were villains, after all. Betrayal and hidden agendas were part of the territory.
For what came afterwards, each had their own little plans. Akira Fumiya even planned on going after the woman who'd sold them their "So You Want To Be A Mad Scientist Villain?" handbook.
The large stack of hentai manga and lemon tapes were (ahem) research of course.
Not that their first design worked all that well, but they already had new designs ready to go!
Akira gave a maniacal laugh, picturing what he would do to a helpless Akane Tendo.
This got him hit by an eraser thrown by his teacher, as he hadn't exactly been paying attention to the class he was currently in.
-------------------------
Sasuke sighed and began the laborious task of cleaning the old domicile. Working for the Kuno family, well, it was often interesting, you could say that.
Tatewaki Kuno, the young Master, had come home one day ranting and raving about many truly strange and wondrous things. Well, he'd always been a bit eccentric.
The strange thing had been that young Master Kuno had acted a bit different thereafter. Where he had delighted in samurai epics and been entranced by them, he now savagely ripped them apart for inaccuracies and details missed.
Before, his view had been that he was born a samurai and therefore pedestrian concerns were beneath him. Afterwards, kendo, the matches and tournaments that he excelled at, seemed to bore him. Instead, he added Art to his portfolio and actually seemed to have some talent.
Before, technology had been one of those pedestrian concerns. Now...
The Furinkan Chem Club was ONE source, but Sasuke had observed that they weren't quite as effective as
one would hope. That brought him to the current spread of magazines that he had gathered.
Tokyo Beat. Popular Mecha. The Mishima Heavy Industries Military catalog. Daitokuji Electronics Spring
catalog. The Army Surplus store flyer. A flyer for some place called Spells R Us. A place called "The Cursed Antique Shop" over on Osoroshiisa Street.
Any of these might have what the young Master required to gain victory in his current endeavors.
Sasuke looked at the clock, decided he still had an hour before the young Master would show up, and picked one at random to investigate.
-------------------------
"Saotome-kun, you should join our Kempo Klub!"
"Saotome-san! For the pride of our school, join the Science Club!"
<Splash!> "Saotome-chan! You could be a big help to us if you join the Cooking Club!"
Ranma directed a glare towards Nabiki, knowing who was selling the little dossiers with the glossy photos
and vital statistics.
"Shampoo-chan! Vanilla-chan!"
Hot water splashed into Ranko, who again became Ranma. He gave a grateful glance to Shampoo.
"Airen. You promise you kiss Shampoo. Before stupid stickboy catch you, you should make good on your promise!" Shampoo looked quite nervous. Not that she wouldn't face the most fearsome foe, or back down before an opponent. However, this was airen, the airen she had hurt so terribly while under the Master's mind control that he had spent an entire week in the nutrient bath of the healing chamber. What if...what if he couldn't...
Ukyou wondered what had happened to Shampoo. Stepping close to the Amazon, she spoke just loud enough for the other girl to hear. "Hey girl, what's wrong? You remember when we shared blood and salt back in China before we came over to Japan? You're my blood-sister, remember, talk to me."
Shampoo nodded and realized she was trembling. "Talk to Ukyou later."
"I don't know about this, Shampoo." Ranma eyed the crowd now surrounding them, waiting to see the (scandalous) display of public affection.
A number of the crowd were arguing with a lot of the other members of the crowd. It seemed like half the boys didn't want Shampoo's lips to be claimed, while the other half wanted to see this special technique demonstrated so they could find some girl later on in the interest of "practicing."
Vanilla watched without blinking, curious as to how this would develop.
Akane idly popped her knuckles. "What's the big deal? A kiss is just a kiss. A sigh is just a sigh." She blushed a little as she considered Ken and wondered what it would be like to kiss a real man like him.
Nabiki, never one to spend productive time idly gawking, started taking bets as to whether or not Ranma would kiss Shampoo or if something would interrupt.
Shampoo watched Ranma as he was glancing nervously about and decided to take matters in her own hands. Slipping her arms around him, she drew him in for a kiss.
Ukyou watched as Ranma's startled expression gave way to something else and she remembered the talk
about "programmed responses" and the like. Ranma drew Shampoo in the rest of the way and gave a tentative brush of the lips followed by a firm passionate kiss.
Shampoo squeaked and the squeak gave way to a broken moan that could be heard quite clearly through
the liplock. Ukyou could see how flushed the Amazon was getting and the way the girl's limbs began twitching. For long moments they held that pose. Finally, they parted and Shampoo slid to the ground, staring at Ranma with tear filled eyes.
The watching crowd went from stunned silence to rapid speculation.
"Aaaaah. No! Shampoo, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! It...I...Aaaaaah!" Ranma's arms were waving around, he was shaking his head, and looked ready to bolt at any moment. "I just _knew_ this was gonna happen..."
Shampoo tried to lift herself, quite obviously couldn't get the knees working, and (shocking the heck out of almost everyone who knew her) broke out into song. Ranma fled at high speeds by the second line.
Vanilla and Nabiki were able to follow the softly spoken Mandarin, Nichieju dialect, and both were surprised at the depth of emotion as Shampoo's voice trailed off.
Nabiki waved her hand in front of Shampoo's face, noting the complete lack of reaction.
"Kuonji-san, your assistance." Vanilla went to Shampoo and lifted her arms.
"Call me Ukyou, Vanilla." Ukyou lifted Shampoo's legs and noticed that the other was unusually limp.
The three had gone perhaps a block before Vanilla glanced down at her fellow Amazon and began speculating. Shampoo's grin was still in place and she still showed every sign of being limp and unresisting.
Vanilla began to speculate on this "kissing" thing. As she was a fiancee of Ranma (she even had her membership card), was she not also entitled to such a thing?
Ukyou was already working out scenarios. (3)
Unfortunately, so was fully half of the female population of Furinkan High School and two spies that had watched the whole thing.
-------------------------------------------------------------
(1)- Since some readers didn't get it: the label of
"Advanced Marital Arts Techniques" that Kuno
thought was a typo, WAS spelled correctly.
(2)- No trademark infringement intended on this either.
(3)- No i'm not planning on writing a lemon sidestory
to this.
A Very Scary Bet, Rough version
part 3b: My Women From To-Kay-Oh?!?!
by greggsharp, metroanime@mindspring.com
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com
var ious people own the various char. no trademark infringement is intended.
this is written for enjoyment, distributed for others to enjoy, and should not be confused for even a picosecond as Great Literature.
-------------------^_^----------------------------
"We're on TV again?"
"Face it, Usagi, it was only a matter of time before SOMEONE got pictures of the Senshi at work," Ami
sat back and watched her computer continue to crunch the data.
"What the heck was that anyway? Could it be Jadeite has returned?" Makoto played absently with something in her hands. "Or is this a new menace?"
"Did you mean the youma or the flying oversized recreational vehicle," Rei drummed her fingers against the table. "I still don't trust this guy."
"Well..." Ami and Makoto began.
"You're right, Rei! This might be another Dark Kingdom trick!" Luna nodded, then paused when she noticed the dark expressions on two faces.
"I don't think so. There was no indication of anything other than a high technology level on my sensors," Ami said after a moment. "I... Makoto-san!"
"Huh. What is it, Ami?"
Ami hesitated, then pulled a card similar to the one in Makoto's hands out of a book.
Makoto blinked. "No way. You too?"
"What? What? What?" Usagi looked from one card to the other rapidly.
"What the? 'Ranma No Iinazuke Official Membership Card'?" Minako's eyes went wide. "What kind of club is this?"
"It was years ago," said Makoto with a sigh. "I first met my sempai, Ranma Saotome..."
<p>--insert wavy lined flashback effect here--------------</p>
"Ahhhh-ta!" The little boy flipped and leapt about, seeming to defy gravity as he went.
"A-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!" One of the boy's opponents threw playing cards that embedded themselves in an arc on the tree where the boy had been a moment ago.
Makoto Kino stood next to her father and marvelled at the intricate dance taking place between three girls and a boy. Another two girls were busy with the okonomiyaki cart and deftly serving up one okonomiyaki after another with nearly as much flash as the martial arts demonstration managed.
The card thrower flipped back and beamed at the audience. "Saotome School of the Anything Goes Style of Indiscriminate Grappling. Sample lessons cheap."
"Daddy?" Makoto looked up at her father, newly fascinated by this martial arts stuff. She wondered if she could ever move that easily, as if gravity and inertia were concerns for lesser beings.
Makoto's father grimaced, having already lost a bit of money on the shell game that the short haired girl had been running.
The short haired girl noticed and winked. "For you, since you've been such a good sport, I'll throw in a discount for your daughter!"
--------------end---flashback----------------
"...and so I went there for almost three months until they moved again." Makoto sighed, a faraway look in her eyes.
"THAT'S IT!" Ami pounced, thankfully not in a literal fashion, on Makoto. "The pink and green jumpsuit!"
There were a few shudders at that color combination, and Makoto looked embarrassed. "Yes, well, it wasn't MY choice. Waitaminute. Ami? You?"
Ami looked strangely satisfied. "The one with too much starch in her gi."
"Aaaahh!?" An eerie chorus from three humans and two cats.
"Ami, you too?" Makoto tried but couldn't remember the other students well at all.
"Almost exactly the same circumstances," Ami said with a nod. "The boy was kind and gentle, and quite obviously not the one in charge. If anything, it was...Nabiki. That was her name. Nabiki Tendo."
"Nabiki Tendo, eh?" Rei glanced around the table. "Well, that at least gives me something I can do a fire reading on."
"So, as interesting as..." Luna stopped her eyes widening as she read the kanji on Makoto's little
red and black card, hearing the words from earlier echo in the room. "Wait. 'Saotome final technique?' 'Ranma Saotome?' That boy?"
"You're fiancees to a guy who flies around in a heavily armed recreational vehicle?" Minako stared at the card in Makoto's hands. "Oh, well, you know what they say. 'It's an ill wind that blows well.'"
Artemis picked himself up from a feline facefault. "That's 'it's an ill wind that blows no good.'"
Ami's fingers flew across her keyboard and she was thankful for the typing course she'd taken. One
computer search after another flew out across the web. Searches for a Ranma Saotome came up blank, but a link to school registries DID give the location of one Nabiki Tendo at Furinkan SHS. She'd contact Makoto after the meeting and the two of them could check it out in a few days. It was still a bit of a longshot, Tendo was not that uncommon a name.
"Whatever. These membership cards give Ami and Makoto the perfect cover to go investigate this guy and find out if he works for the Dark Kingdom or not." Minako smirked, hoping to tag along. The Senshi of Love had a mission.
"Waitaminute," Ami stopped the meeting's dispersal by holding up a hand. "My earlier search routine for Ranma Saotome pulled up a hunter."
"He's a sportsman?" Minako shrugged, must mean he had money.
"No, a search in the International Databases flagged some security measure and it attempted to trace
the link. Hang on." Ami's hands flew across the keyboard for a few minutes. "Hmmmm."
"Yes?!" Luna, Usagi, and Minako all but shouted.
"British based agency known as UNIT, they're based in England but officially part of the United Nations. They fill the same role as the FBI's X-files group does in the US." Ami continued to type, directing her supercomputer to evade the hunter by laying out a false trail that led to the Saint Hebereke computer room. Considering that the hackers club of Saint Hebereke School For Girls was known as harmless pranksters, this ought to deflect a few suspicions.
"What do they do?" Usagi asked when it became apparent no one else would.
"Men in Black." Rei said, mysteriously.
"Oh!" Usagi nodded. "Alien busters. That explains the ship."
"We'll have to see, won't we?"
---------------------------------------------
"Ranma ? Big brother?"
"No, Akane!"
"Please? Pretty please?"
"Akane, you haven't even driven a motorcycle before. And it isn't safe to go from Nerima to Los Angeles
on a hovercycle."
"Oh. Well, how about..."
"Later, Akane." Ranma stopped in mid-kata. "Though that's an idea in itself. We could all get together and go visit America. We could drop you off in LA, then the rest of us could go visit some of the places I've heard about."
"Spring break?" Akane's eyes sparkled.
"Yeah, sounds good."
Akane smiled as she entered the house, she had a chance now. She might have to transfer to an American
school, but she had a chance.
--------------------------
Moe, Larry, and Curly-bot continued their task.
A borehole became a tunnel, the tunnel became an accessway. Dirt was lasered into rock. Rocks were lasered into walls, walls were smoothed and prepared.
They were nearly tireless, working off of internal batteries that slid out of housings, to be placed in
the chargers while fresh packs were loaded.
They were workbots, after all.
Unfortunately, after having watched "Snow White & The Seven Dwarves" they had this unfortunate
tendency to break out into song while working.
A tune was one of the few things that they couldn't carry.
Perhaps it was fortunate that they were at the prescribed depth and the three workbots could not be heard.
--------------------------------------------
Ukyou placed her palm against the door sensor, wondering if she should do this. Not only if it were right to do this, but who knew what sort of security measures Ranma had put into the thing.
Everyone else was busy. Ranma doing katas, mainly to keep in shape. Since tonight was the first full moon, Kasumi was getting things ready for a night as the "mysterious unicorn" seen running through
the streets of Nerima.
Nabiki was off making bets as to where the unicorn would appear. Akane was getting lessons from Shampoo in how to drive a hovercycle for some strange reason.
As for Vanilla, Ukyou wasn't quite sure what to make of the albino. The last Ukyou had seen, Vanilla was studying.
Nodoka was moving back to her old house, satisfied that her son was manly, and concerned that he have the opportunity to be manly.
Ukyou hadn't seen Ranma for years, and when he did show up again, he was almost completely different from the impulsive boy she had known.
The answers, she felt, were in here. In this lab that he had built.
The door didn't open, not having had her data input as an authorized user yet. Ukyou paused when a pale hand shot past her and palmed the switch.
As the door hissed open, Ukyou glanced back at the unsmiling visage of Vanilla. Once again, Ukyou realized she didn't know what to make of the Amazon.
"Why?"
"The same as you. To know."
Ukyou entered and the internal lights came on. She was peripherally aware of the door hissing closed behind Vanilla.
Vanilla moved past Ukyou as the chef took in the cramped cockpit with its chairs, displays, and massive toolkit near the back.
Ukyou watched Vanilla move to a console and begin typing away at a keyboard.
"That's English, isn't it?" Ukyou studied the display on the screen. The smiley faces and scrolling chibi-dragons were kind of strange.
"Yes," Vanilla said simply.
Not for the first time, Ukyou wondered if the albino was a Vulcan. No pointed ears, so maybe she was half-
Vulcan? "So, uhm, what are you doing?"
"I am attempting to learn more of my origins. We are here for the same thing, though different directions,
are we not? I am seeking my past, you are seeking your future." Vanilla studied the screen. "Unfortunately,
the computer's database does not appear to cover either."
"Oh," Ukyou replied, not really understanding. "Does it at least cover Ranma's past?"
"I would expect so. The majority of information here deals with the future world this vehicle is from. There is also a personal log, but it is protected by a password function."
"Oh." Ukyou repeated.
"You do realize that the current betting by Nabiki places you within the top two probabilities for
being Ranma's wife." Vanilla's voice was as calm as ever.
"Don't count yourself out of the race yet," Ukyou grumbled as she studied the rows of text on
the computer. "Shampoo relates more to all this tech stuff, Nabiki's sexier, and you're a better fighter and have that exotic look to you. Ranma hardly knows I exist."
"Nabiki has told me of your adventures with Ranma while you were children." Vanilla brought up a different page and blinked at the odd giant robots pictured there. "The time you investigated that
pesky poltergeist in Shinohara only to reveal that it was an inheritance scam."
"Well, yeah," Ukyou colored slightly at the memory. Her and Ranchan trapped at the bottom of the well for long hours. It had been kind of...nice.
"Or the Headless Houseguest, or the Gambling King, or the Glitterrock Ghost, or the Flatulence Phantom." Vanilla frowned ever so slightly on that. Nabiki's retelling of that adventure had been disquieting.
Ukyou's head snapped up. "Waitaminute. How big is this password?"
"Seventy four characters."
"There was something that always struck me as odd. Whenever we figured out what the scam was and uncovered it, and after we hid Kodachi when she joined us, they always said the same thing. Lemmee
see the keyboard."
Ukyou's fingers flew over the keys, translating from Japanese to English. "I'd have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids."
Vanilla watched without expression as the screen blinked a few times then changed to display some sort of hidden file. "Well, it's not his journal, but you've gotten something."
---------------------------------
Nodoka sighed and took the picture from the wall to look at it again.
They had been a happy bunch, her various sorority sisters and herself. One night the beer and the sake had flowed like water, and close friends had made an agreement between themselves.
If Nodoka Saotome's son HAD become a daughter, then that would have complicated things enormously. Oh yes, it would have been a mess. Not for some seppuku pledge.
The agreement that would have joined the houses by having son marry daughter. And each and every one of those sorority sisters had gone and had sons. At least of the ones that had not vanished. The ones that kept up some communication all had boy children.
There had been the hope growing when those two boys had shown up, speaking of her daughter, that perhaps she would be able to meet that agreement after all. She had almost dared to hope that Genma HAD been unfaithful just to meet the dictates of honor. Or perhaps as in that one book's story of the Cursed Tunnel the curse changed mind and soul to match the new body.
Well, it sounded as if Mrs. Moroboshi had enough problems, and while Achika was dead and her son had turned out quite well by all accounts, there was little point in engaging Ranma to Tenchi.
No, however, if things were to change...
Nodoka put the picture back onto its peg, and wore a curious half-smile as she went into her reading room to consult her copy of "Lurker's Guide To Jusenkyo and Related Curses." A little light reading sounded like just the thing before bed.
------------------------------------------
Kasumi's clothes hit the ground as the transformation hit, drawing gasps from Ranma and Shampoo. The rest of the audience had seen it all before.
"Where Ukyou? Where Vanilla? Wanted Vanilla see this."
"Hmmm. Oh, they're in my lab, Shampoo. They snuck in there forty minutes ago and they're trying to navigate my database."
Nabiki looked slyly over at him. "You knew they'd try this?"
"Actually, I thought you'd be the first one to try it." Ranma watched the white-furred, golden maned, mythic beast step daintily out of the yard to begin her run around the neighborhood.
Nabiki saw the look of concern and hurried to assure Ranma. "She does this every full moon. She tried just sticking to the backyard but apparently there's a compulsion to run wild and free that's part of the curse. Or at least not all fenced in."
"Yeah, well, I worry. Maybe I ought to get a tracker or something, or some kind of panic button she can hit in that form." Ranma frowned. "After all, there's gonna be those who want to either capture or kill the unicorn, others who'll want to take the horn, and others who will just exploit her."
Nabiki didn't blink until that last comment, then she winced.
Unnoticed by any of them, and so concealed that even the Winnebago's passive sensors didn't detect it, a small flying crab extended a camera and began to follow the progress of the unicorn.
================================
A Very Scary Bet part 3c: My Women From To-Kay-Oh?!?!
by greggsharp, metroanime@mindspring.com
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com
var ious people own the various char. no trademark infringement is intended.
this is written for enjoyment, distributed for others to enjoy, and should not be confused for even a picosecond as Great Literature
.
-------------------^_^----------------------------
United Nations Intelligence Taskforce Headquarters, London England.
"Sir, we've traced the search for data on 'Ranma Saotome' to a Japanese senior high school. The 'Saint Hebereke's School For Girls- Junior Hackers Club' appears to be the source."
Pursing his lips, the Colonel seemed to try to recall something, then finally gave up after a few moments. "I just came on shift. Exactly who is 'Ranma Saotome'?"
"One of the Doctor's associates, sir. Bit of a martial artist, quite the mechanic too. Did a nice upgrade on the EMP gun. Worked with Q over in Her Majesty's Secret Service during that bit with the viral encoding messages in the Guinness Stout."
"Ah," the Colonel said with a frown. Tampering with one's stout. QUITE unBritish. Glad that was over and done with. And this lad had helped to save the stout? "Well, then, send an investigative unit out to check out this 'Saint Hebereke's' and see exactly what they've got on our ally. It might be quite innocent, eh?"
"Yes sir," the Corporal said seriously. He'd had to go for three days without a drop of beer during that incident. The boys in the force were quite anxious to help pay the Ranma boy back for resolving the situation so swiftly.
-------------------------------------
The class was boring beyond belief, at least as far as Ranma was concerned. Simple math. Bah.
Almost as if in answer to the prayer from a dozen students, the sky opened up outside Furinkan.
"Look at that!"
"Sit down, Mister Aida!"
"Monsters?!"
Shampoo woke up. "Monsters?"
Vanilla raised an eyebrow as she looked at all the vaguely manlike figures dropping out of the rip.
"Why are they HERE?!" Ukyou asked, curiously. "Isn't this the sort of thing that happens in Juuban all the time?"
Akane just grinned and cracked her knuckles. "Why ask why?"
The teacher adjusted his spectacles and looked outside at the soldier drones. "All right, don't anyone panic. They'll leave you alone if you leave them alone."
The class watched as a student was beaten into submission, drained of all energy, folded up and thrown into a trash receptacle.
"Or maybe not."
Akane was through the window before the teacher had finished speaking. "Time for me to do what I'm best at!"
Ukyou ducked out a moment later, "sorry Teach, I gotta go save the school or something!"
Vanilla sighed and flipped down to the ground similarly.
"Shampoo head hurt from all this. Good fight just what Shampoo need to unwind."
From the third floor, two others came running down, intent on the same thing.
"Nabiki Tendo, get to safety, this is a job for MEN!"
"Want to place a bet, Kuno-baby? I'll bet two okonomiyaki lunch specials that I get a higher body count than you do!"
Ranma shrugged, turned on his wristcomp, and set it on automatic to analyze the big rip that these
opponents were coming out of.
Ranma found himself wishing he'd unpacked the BFG. Not that he could have kept it away from Shampoo
once she found out he'd packed it.
In the meantime he could get some practice in himself.
---------------------------------------
Usagi looked at the little package and was immediately surrounded by little floating hearts. "A package
from my Mamo-chan! Thank you! WAIIIII!"
The courier closed the door, smiled, and the air shimmered around him. Now wearing his customary wizard's robes, he took out his clipboard.
"Sailor Moon, Brownies with nuts - Check.
Sailor Mercury, VR harem girl computer disc mislabelled
as VR Library of Alexandria. Check.
Sailor Venus, cursed box of 'sample' dumplings. Check.
Sailor Mars, cursed shojo manga. Check.
Sailor Jupiter, cursed recipe book. Check.
Tuxedo Kamen, Baby Ruth bar. Check."
The Spells R Us evil wizard nodded, satisfied. Venus had already had one of the dumplings and now weighed three hundred pounds. "Lets see her try to wear her fuku now."
A grin passed over his face as he felt Usagi's cursed brownie take effect. If that weren't enough the sound of a five year old child screaming in the room he'd just left was sufficient indicator that Usagi Tsukino was now no longer a concern.
Mamoru Chiba would be turned into a helpless baby girl. Rei Hino would get sucked into her manga and end up in the "Rose of Versailles" as Marie Antoinette. Makoto Kino would just flip through the book, then be compelled to fix one of the recipes after another. It would be interesting to see what curses she'd end up with. Ami would find herself locked into the VR world with no apparent exit within the program, and if she exited the program improperly...
The wizard teleported. He had to get back to his shop. He could watch from there, anyway. Then he could find the four Senshi who weren't currently aware of their status.
---------------------------------
"HA DO KEN!" A fireball slammed into a faceless minion, lifting it up and carrying it into an impact with the school gates.
"BLACKJACK!" Card shuriken sliced into another faceless minion, which dissolved immediately thereafter.
"Eeeeeeek!" Ukyou said, being lifted off her feet and being carried away by two of the faceless minions.
Vanilla drew her sash and used the Iron Cloth manuever to make it a sword that slashed through the arms
holding Ukyou. "I'm really sorry," she said in a quiet voice. "I don't happen to have a battle cry."
Shampoo grinned and drew out a little something her airen had made for her on that desert world when she'd lost her favorite katana. He'd copied the very same weapon that had cut the katana in half, as best Ranma could. The flashlight hummed and an energy blade appeared at one end. "Shampoo CHOP!" Shampoo spun and leapt and swung her light sabre about in great swooping arcs, giggling and generally quite happy with how events were turning out. This beat doing that algebra stuff at least.
Tatewaki Kuno finished off one of his own opponents only to see the Big Momma coming. "Ah, the master youma. This then, is my chance to truly prove my skill against a worthy opponent."
Slapping aside the kendoist and looking about at all the martial artists, the waxy looking giant finally settled on the most dangerous appearing of its opponents.
"HA DO KEN!" Akane fired off a quick fireball, then sprinted forward. She intended to perform a Shoryuhau.
"HA DO KEN!" The giant mimicked, features reforming into a 12ft tall version of Akane. "HA DO KEN!"
Watching Akane get slammed with two of her own fireballs, everyone else went still for a moment.
Akane picked herself out of a crater. "Think you're so tough? You should try sparring with Ryu, you wimp!"
"Got it!" Ranma smiled, made an adjustment to a blocky looking gun, then fired a shot at the rip in the sky.
The rip sealed itself, leaving some bewildered looking youma behind.
"Arrrrrrrrgghhh!" The giant Akane leapt into the air, slamming down over the original version.
Shampoo, without further ado, cut off the wax Akane's head with a single strike. She was rewarded by the sight of the giant melting like hot wax. "Ah, some day is good to be Amazon."
Ukyou stepped past Shampoo, stuck her spatula underneath the molten blob, and began the task of freeing the original Akane.
"I just hate waxy buildup," Akane grumbled as soon as she had finished gasping for air.
"Oh, it's not so bad, sis," Nabiki offered, "look the stuff just peels right off."
*<b>RIIIIiiiiiiiiiPPPPPPP!</b>*
"Uhm. Oh dear. Sorry about that."
-----------------------------
Sasuke looked up from the postcard, eyes beginning to glimmer with tears. "Oh...how glorious. Dare I believe it?"
"Dear Father, Brother, Sasuke:
Have completed my studies abroad. Am enroute to rejoin all of you and should be there in a few days. Will speak to you then.
Hugs & Kisses, Kuno Kodachi - Fist of the Black Rose."
Sasuke was sure to put the postcard where his master would be sure to see it. Soon Kodachi would be returned to them!
-------------------------------
Kiima held her head in her hands. "But you take Amazons all the time!"
"Not the same." Nathan Brazil flicked an ash off of his cigar and regarded the winged woman. "Have an agreement with the Amazons. Don't have one with Phoenix Mountain."
"But I'm too tired to fly across to Japan!" Kiima frowned. If she couldn't get a ride there, how could she cross? She'd have to rest a day and then fly across.
"What do you want in Japan, anyway? Last I heard Phoenix Mountain had retreated from the world and pulled the tunnels in after them."
"One of the Doctor's Companions is in Nerima. I'm engaged to him." Kiima flushed a little, wondering what It was like with a normal human. She'd heard stories of course.
"The Doctor?" Nathan frowned a little. Last time he'd run into the old coot, he'd been trying to avoid capture by some Cybermen. Could something be going on in a Tokyo suburb that was unusual even for his life?
--------------------------------------------
A door slammed open and a tall 17 year old girl gave a disgusted sigh as she saw that she was indeed too late.
"C'mon, Usagi, we gotta get you cleaned up." Makoto led the child away from the toys. She knew that only she and a few others would ever remember Usagi as being older than the little girl in the pink jumper.
"Mako-chan. Am kid! No fair."
"They couldn't have seen through our disguise fields," announced Luna. "Even with that videotape. So
how did they know who we were?"
"Magic," said Makoto with a shrug. "C'mon, I got Ami and Minako over at Rei's shrine. I'll drive you over."
"Drive?!" Luna exclaimed. "Say what happened to you, anyway?"
"I fixed a recipe with wine that had been aged three years. Found myself aged three years as soon as I
had some. We can probably get Usagi a little older with it. Minako has to be shoved through doors now, she's terribly overweight. Ami's eighteen years old now, and...well." Makoto seemed reluctant to say anything further in that regard.
"Oh no. What about Mamoru?"
"Well, Ami seems OK to take care of her."
"'Her?!'" Usagi started bawling. "Mamo-chan's a girl?! Waaaaaaaaaaaa!"
"She's also a baby," said Makoto, flinching when this escalated Usagi's wail.
------------------------------------------------
Qu een Beryl stalked forward, manifesting her presence as if she were 20ft tall.
The Spells R Us wizard was not terribly impressed.
"How could you let them live? I have heard reports that you have left the Senshi helpless. Why are they then still alive!"
The wizard held his arm out, flicked his hand around, and pulled a sheaf of papers out of nowhere. "It's in my contract. Check it out, page two. While I am to remove the Sailor Senshi and their immediate allies from interfering with the various competing Dark Kingdoms, the contract specifically states that they be allowed a chance, no matter how slim, to regain their natural forms. Killing them would invalidate that."
Beryl took the papers with a grumble. "Who insisted on this clause anyway?"
"I did." The old man shrugged and leaned against a wall that wasn't there. "Look, I do work for you Dark Kingdom types, I do work for the Infernal Revenue Service, I do work for the Divine Justice & Retribution people. I freelance. I kill off the Senshi or ANY group of true heroes and I can kiss the DJR jobs goodbye.
Likewise, the truly evil I can't do anything too permanent to without there being a CHANCE for the
individual to recover.
"Not only losing the odd jobs, but as long as I'm working both sides, neither is going to interfere in my little fun. Unless, of course, I make a mistake and get someone who is under either Divine or Infernal protection. As soon as I find out about that, I back off. Same principle. Got it?"
Beryl considered drawing her power around her and lashing out at this worm who dared to mock her. A moment later and she was doing so.
The wizard smirked. "You really shouldn't play out of your league, you know."
-----------------------------------------------
"T here, all done." Kasumi put the shears away and regarded her handiwork.
"Looks kinda cute that way, Akane."
"I've got shorter hair than Ken does, Ukyou." Akane sighed. "At least it isn't shorter than Ryu's."
"Where's Ranma when you need a male opinion?" Ukyou looked around, then noticed the hovertruck was missing.
"Oh, Ranma was going to investigate some of those odd power readings. He said that there were similar attacks like at Furinkan, but at several different locations." Kasumi walked around Akane before nodding that she was satisfied.
"Where's everyone else?"
Ukyou shook her head and fingered her own long hair. Maybe she should consider a different look. "Shampoo and Vanilla are sparring. Nabiki is working with some Amazon magic potion stuff."
"Hmmmm. I thought she was making dinner," Kasumi said with a sigh. "Tonight's another full moon, so
I've got to get ready for the second night of my three night cycle. Who _is_ cooking tonight?"
"Me," Ukyou said. "Don't worry, Kasumi, I've got extra lettuce for you for after you've transformed.
Just try not to go past the Kuno estate again. They get really freaked out."
=============================================
end chapter 3.
preview chapter 4:
"Hi, is Ranma in? My name's Makoto Kino and
this is my good friend Ami Mizuno. May we come in?"
Nabiki chuckled evilly as she checked the drinks.
Yes, everything was in place. Ranma couldn't escape THIS
time!
"Airen fix power armor?! Shampoo happy! Want
BFG hooked up as soon as you can. Stupid helicopter 'Poison
One' keep trying to attack Shampoo. Shampoo want clear
superiority in firepower. Is only right for Chinese Amazon!"
"Ken? Is that you?! I was...just thinking about
you."Akane checked her hair, momentarily forgetting that
he couldn't see through the telephone.
part 3: My Women From To-Kay-Oh?!?!
by greggsharp, various people own the various char. no trademark infringement is intended.
much thanks for my pre-readers who have helped enormously.
this is written for enjoyment, distributed for others to enjoy, and should not be confused for even a picosecond as Great Literature.
----------------------------------------------------
"Beryl."
Queen Beryl, Dark Mistress of a Dark Kingdom, flinched. "Metal'la?"
"I am not amused, Beryl."
"But I..."
"Things have progressed beyond where I can trust you to resolve them on your own." The voice sounded irritated. "Your generals might be able to handle it, if it were just the Inner Senshi. However, there is a gathering storm that threatens to rend the darkness."
"Tell me, great Metal'la! Tell me, and I shall..." Beryl stopped, feeling a telekinetic pinch of her windpipe. Not enough to permanently close that tube, but enough to remind Beryl of her place in this chain of command.
She was not at the top rung. She was just the highest rung that would normally be visible to casual scrutiny.
"Step aside for the moment, O foolish Queen. Rather than let the allies gather, one of my own colleagues has come up with...an idea."
"Yes, great Metallica."
"THAT'S METAL'LA, YOU STUPID BIMBO! Call me that once more and I'll force you to watch Barney videos until the NEXT Millenium. Ready your forces and attack here." A vision of a high school appeared. "You will be going after an area and an opponent quite different from your ancient enemy, the Senshi."
"But, Great One!" Beryl stopped as she felt Metal'la's gaze sweep over her. "Yes, Great One. Where is this place?"
"It is in Okayama. Not far in mortal distances. There is a suitable weak point between dimensions for you to access it. Your forces will dispatch and end the threat of another of this world's defenders.
"Do not worry about the Senshi. One of my colleagues will send one of his own generals to deal with them."
Beryl was briefly glad none of her subordinates were nearby. It would be a pain to recruit and break in new ones.
----------------------------------------------------
Class stopped abruptly with the sound of splashing water, and Kuno's voice crying out "Pony Tailed Girl!"
"Excuse please, teacher." Shampoo stood and glared towards the doorway. "This something Shampoo needs to take care of RIGHT NOW."
"What could possibly be so important, Miss Shampoo, that you would further disrupt class?"
Shampoo sighed as the sound of some woman screaming faded into the distance with the occasional broken prose fragment indicating Kuno's pursuit. She was reluctant to speak, but figured that when everyone understood the danger, they'd step back.
"Some time ago, Kuno, Shampoo, Ranma, boy name Ryouga, and traveler name Doctor go many places. Kuno pull trick on Ranma one time, use device make Ranma act strange if use right 'trigger'."
"Some sort of hypnosis," mused the teacher. "Hypnotic triggers?"
"Yes. That word Doctor use. Airen learn how to do...things...under hyp-no-sis. Many problems. Kuno do one thing. Many problems result. Very dangerous. Get him engaged once already."
"Engaged?" Akane and Ukyou managed to say in unison. Vanilla merely shook her head.
Shampoo nodded. "Is tragic terrible story. Girl try to kiss Ranma to see what like. Reflexes take over, taught by machine. He kiss back. Very terrible. He no can help, usually very unhappy when hyp-not-ic tri-gger let go." Shampoo frowned as she realized anew that she'd relied way too much on the TARDIS' translation effect.
"He's a terrible kisser?" Akane shrugged. "Big deal."
"No," Shampoo said solemnly. "Is terrible because of how good airen is at kissing." She didn't want to say this in front of everyone, but pride in her airen kept her talking. (1)
"Oh...really?" Ukyou almost purred, speculating. She failed to notice the same look of speculation in more than one classmate's face.
Yuka and Sayuri pulled out the booklets that Nabiki had sold them that morning about the complete hunk they'd seen earlier. Since the school had also witnessed Akane turning into a rhino, and the hunk turning into a girl, they had no reason to doubt the accuracy of the less fantastic sections.
"He promise Shampoo be very next one he kiss, though Shampoo see what happen to last girl and think maybe even Shampoo not ready for that."
---------------------------
Ranko masked her presence as best she was able, running from the hentai who kept trying to grope her.
Stupid boy. Even after the curse had been explained and demonstrated right in front of him, he still didn't get it.
"Pony tailed girl! Where are you, my love?"
Ranko waited as the samurai passed beneath the ceiling panel. She was also distressed by getting her clothes all dusty.
"This really sucks," Ranko muttered under her breath.
---------------------------
"This really sucks." Well, that was what Ryouga had thought. What came out was merely a distressed sounding "Piiiiiika."
He'd found the Amazon village and found something truly amazing out. His cursed form had some sort of inertial compass ability. He KNEW which way was North. He KNEW where the nearest electrical line was. He KNEW where the Guide had kept his batteries (the tall cabinet by the door.)
"Ohhhhhhh. How cute!"
Ryouga scampered back as he saw a vision of loveliness step before him. His little yellow jaw dropped. "Piiika PI!"
It was just well that the Amazons didn't understand what Ryouga had just said.
"What is it, Sash?" Another woman came into Ryouga's view. This one was at least as breathtaking as the first one.
"Look, it's a little yellow Mokona!"
The second girl looked Ryouga over with a slight frown. "Isn't that the little white critter in those Japanese comic books you get? It looks kinda stupid to me."
"No," Sash switched to Japanese as this just seemed appropriate since it was a scene right out of one of her beloved Japanese manga. They were hard to get, but Sash had discovered a mail order service. "This is DESTINY!"
"It kinda looks like a rodent. Or maybe a koala with Hepatitis."
"No, Lufa, this is MY DESTINY! All those Japanese comic books were actually to prepare me for my mission in life!" Sash put one foot up on a convenient rock in order to pose just like various characters in those same stories. Her eyes shone as she pictured the glorious possibilities ahead of her.
"Probably got a lot of fat on it. Wouldn't even taste good." Lufa was a bit more pragmatic than Sash.
"Soon, I'll be granted the ability to transform into some Magical Princess by some item of power my advising mascot character will give me. Just like RAYEARTH! Then I can defend the Amazon way of life from evil Myrhh warriors and remnants of some demonic civilization."
Lufa looked thoughtful. "I got downwind of some Myrrh warriors once. I agree that they SMELLED
positively demonic."
"Hah!" Sash went over to pick up the startled looking animal. "You just watch me!"
As he felt the woman's hands close around him, Ryouga panicked. He felt his body react by doing
SOMETHING.
"Ai-ai-ai-aiyaaaaaaaa," Sash managed as 1,200 volts went through her body.
"What do you know, it IS a magic critter. It's not supposed to do that though, is it?" Lufa looked
down at her nice but slightly weird and currently smouldering friend. "Would it spoil this moment for you, if I put out that patch of hair which is on fire?"
Ryouga ran from the scene, mentally apologizing to the girl with the lightly charred brown hair.
------------------------------------------
Moe and Larry had been joined by their brother Curly after Curly had finished putting his globular casing
together and retracting his servo-arms.
Curly being of somewhat higher intelligence than a toaster oven, had immediately determined that the woman watching this display was not a threat to his programmed objectives. The phrase "oh, he's so cute" was duly noted and determined not to be a command for further tasks to be accomplished.
That had left assisting Moe and Larrye as tasks in the little workbot's list of assignments. A brief line of
transmission indicated that the two other workbots were in the process of building the underground hangar and access tunnel.
Sending a brief acknowledgment signal, Curly had quickly begun using lasers to heat and fuse the rocks
and dirt into an outer wall.
------------------------------------------
Ranko got to the bathroom, ran the hot water, then Ranma realized he was in the GIRL'S bathroom. He
did the natural thing and fled.
Of course, by now he was late for his next class.
Tatewaki Kuno saw him and ran forward with his bucket.
Ranma decided to be pro-active. A flying circle kick knocked the samurai out, but water splashed everywhere again.
Ranko returned to the restroom in search of hot water.
------------------------
The Machine Club (formerly the Chem Club until a fair amount of money crossed hands) prepared to commit their evil deeds.
Not that they thought that there was anything particularly bad involved. Etchi, yes. Bizarre, definitely. Dishonest, certainly. But in their quest for Akane Tendo and Ukyou Kuonji (and maybe those two cute foreign students) no sacrifice was too great or mecha too complicated!
The Photography Club (in an arrangement by one Nabiki Tendo) had already sold them wall poster sized photographs of the various girls. Unlike the other various purchasers, these had various tags attached to them.
Each had their name and homeroom displayed at the bottom. A largely blank sheet to the left noted their weak points. A more complete form to the right listed their observed skills.
Each member planned on assisting (for large sums of money) Tatewaki Kuno in his quest by building powerful mecha to capture one or more of the girls in question.
What they planned on doing afterwards was eliminating Tatewaki Kuno and going ahead with their own agenda, of course.
They were villains, after all. Betrayal and hidden agendas were part of the territory.
For what came afterwards, each had their own little plans. Akira Fumiya even planned on going after the woman who'd sold them their "So You Want To Be A Mad Scientist Villain?" handbook.
The large stack of hentai manga and lemon tapes were (ahem) research of course.
Not that their first design worked all that well, but they already had new designs ready to go!
Akira gave a maniacal laugh, picturing what he would do to a helpless Akane Tendo.
This got him hit by an eraser thrown by his teacher, as he hadn't exactly been paying attention to the class he was currently in.
-------------------------
Sasuke sighed and began the laborious task of cleaning the old domicile. Working for the Kuno family, well, it was often interesting, you could say that.
Tatewaki Kuno, the young Master, had come home one day ranting and raving about many truly strange and wondrous things. Well, he'd always been a bit eccentric.
The strange thing had been that young Master Kuno had acted a bit different thereafter. Where he had delighted in samurai epics and been entranced by them, he now savagely ripped them apart for inaccuracies and details missed.
Before, his view had been that he was born a samurai and therefore pedestrian concerns were beneath him. Afterwards, kendo, the matches and tournaments that he excelled at, seemed to bore him. Instead, he added Art to his portfolio and actually seemed to have some talent.
Before, technology had been one of those pedestrian concerns. Now...
The Furinkan Chem Club was ONE source, but Sasuke had observed that they weren't quite as effective as
one would hope. That brought him to the current spread of magazines that he had gathered.
Tokyo Beat. Popular Mecha. The Mishima Heavy Industries Military catalog. Daitokuji Electronics Spring
catalog. The Army Surplus store flyer. A flyer for some place called Spells R Us. A place called "The Cursed Antique Shop" over on Osoroshiisa Street.
Any of these might have what the young Master required to gain victory in his current endeavors.
Sasuke looked at the clock, decided he still had an hour before the young Master would show up, and picked one at random to investigate.
-------------------------
"Saotome-kun, you should join our Kempo Klub!"
"Saotome-san! For the pride of our school, join the Science Club!"
<Splash!> "Saotome-chan! You could be a big help to us if you join the Cooking Club!"
Ranma directed a glare towards Nabiki, knowing who was selling the little dossiers with the glossy photos
and vital statistics.
"Shampoo-chan! Vanilla-chan!"
Hot water splashed into Ranko, who again became Ranma. He gave a grateful glance to Shampoo.
"Airen. You promise you kiss Shampoo. Before stupid stickboy catch you, you should make good on your promise!" Shampoo looked quite nervous. Not that she wouldn't face the most fearsome foe, or back down before an opponent. However, this was airen, the airen she had hurt so terribly while under the Master's mind control that he had spent an entire week in the nutrient bath of the healing chamber. What if...what if he couldn't...
Ukyou wondered what had happened to Shampoo. Stepping close to the Amazon, she spoke just loud enough for the other girl to hear. "Hey girl, what's wrong? You remember when we shared blood and salt back in China before we came over to Japan? You're my blood-sister, remember, talk to me."
Shampoo nodded and realized she was trembling. "Talk to Ukyou later."
"I don't know about this, Shampoo." Ranma eyed the crowd now surrounding them, waiting to see the (scandalous) display of public affection.
A number of the crowd were arguing with a lot of the other members of the crowd. It seemed like half the boys didn't want Shampoo's lips to be claimed, while the other half wanted to see this special technique demonstrated so they could find some girl later on in the interest of "practicing."
Vanilla watched without blinking, curious as to how this would develop.
Akane idly popped her knuckles. "What's the big deal? A kiss is just a kiss. A sigh is just a sigh." She blushed a little as she considered Ken and wondered what it would be like to kiss a real man like him.
Nabiki, never one to spend productive time idly gawking, started taking bets as to whether or not Ranma would kiss Shampoo or if something would interrupt.
Shampoo watched Ranma as he was glancing nervously about and decided to take matters in her own hands. Slipping her arms around him, she drew him in for a kiss.
Ukyou watched as Ranma's startled expression gave way to something else and she remembered the talk
about "programmed responses" and the like. Ranma drew Shampoo in the rest of the way and gave a tentative brush of the lips followed by a firm passionate kiss.
Shampoo squeaked and the squeak gave way to a broken moan that could be heard quite clearly through
the liplock. Ukyou could see how flushed the Amazon was getting and the way the girl's limbs began twitching. For long moments they held that pose. Finally, they parted and Shampoo slid to the ground, staring at Ranma with tear filled eyes.
The watching crowd went from stunned silence to rapid speculation.
"Aaaaah. No! Shampoo, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! It...I...Aaaaaah!" Ranma's arms were waving around, he was shaking his head, and looked ready to bolt at any moment. "I just _knew_ this was gonna happen..."
Shampoo tried to lift herself, quite obviously couldn't get the knees working, and (shocking the heck out of almost everyone who knew her) broke out into song. Ranma fled at high speeds by the second line.
Vanilla and Nabiki were able to follow the softly spoken Mandarin, Nichieju dialect, and both were surprised at the depth of emotion as Shampoo's voice trailed off.
Nabiki waved her hand in front of Shampoo's face, noting the complete lack of reaction.
"Kuonji-san, your assistance." Vanilla went to Shampoo and lifted her arms.
"Call me Ukyou, Vanilla." Ukyou lifted Shampoo's legs and noticed that the other was unusually limp.
The three had gone perhaps a block before Vanilla glanced down at her fellow Amazon and began speculating. Shampoo's grin was still in place and she still showed every sign of being limp and unresisting.
Vanilla began to speculate on this "kissing" thing. As she was a fiancee of Ranma (she even had her membership card), was she not also entitled to such a thing?
Ukyou was already working out scenarios. (3)
Unfortunately, so was fully half of the female population of Furinkan High School and two spies that had watched the whole thing.
-------------------------------------------------------------
(1)- Since some readers didn't get it: the label of
"Advanced Marital Arts Techniques" that Kuno
thought was a typo, WAS spelled correctly.
(2)- No trademark infringement intended on this either.
(3)- No i'm not planning on writing a lemon sidestory
to this.
A Very Scary Bet, Rough version
part 3b: My Women From To-Kay-Oh?!?!
by greggsharp, metroanime@mindspring.com
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com
var ious people own the various char. no trademark infringement is intended.
this is written for enjoyment, distributed for others to enjoy, and should not be confused for even a picosecond as Great Literature.
-------------------^_^----------------------------
"We're on TV again?"
"Face it, Usagi, it was only a matter of time before SOMEONE got pictures of the Senshi at work," Ami
sat back and watched her computer continue to crunch the data.
"What the heck was that anyway? Could it be Jadeite has returned?" Makoto played absently with something in her hands. "Or is this a new menace?"
"Did you mean the youma or the flying oversized recreational vehicle," Rei drummed her fingers against the table. "I still don't trust this guy."
"Well..." Ami and Makoto began.
"You're right, Rei! This might be another Dark Kingdom trick!" Luna nodded, then paused when she noticed the dark expressions on two faces.
"I don't think so. There was no indication of anything other than a high technology level on my sensors," Ami said after a moment. "I... Makoto-san!"
"Huh. What is it, Ami?"
Ami hesitated, then pulled a card similar to the one in Makoto's hands out of a book.
Makoto blinked. "No way. You too?"
"What? What? What?" Usagi looked from one card to the other rapidly.
"What the? 'Ranma No Iinazuke Official Membership Card'?" Minako's eyes went wide. "What kind of club is this?"
"It was years ago," said Makoto with a sigh. "I first met my sempai, Ranma Saotome..."
<p>--insert wavy lined flashback effect here--------------</p>
"Ahhhh-ta!" The little boy flipped and leapt about, seeming to defy gravity as he went.
"A-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!" One of the boy's opponents threw playing cards that embedded themselves in an arc on the tree where the boy had been a moment ago.
Makoto Kino stood next to her father and marvelled at the intricate dance taking place between three girls and a boy. Another two girls were busy with the okonomiyaki cart and deftly serving up one okonomiyaki after another with nearly as much flash as the martial arts demonstration managed.
The card thrower flipped back and beamed at the audience. "Saotome School of the Anything Goes Style of Indiscriminate Grappling. Sample lessons cheap."
"Daddy?" Makoto looked up at her father, newly fascinated by this martial arts stuff. She wondered if she could ever move that easily, as if gravity and inertia were concerns for lesser beings.
Makoto's father grimaced, having already lost a bit of money on the shell game that the short haired girl had been running.
The short haired girl noticed and winked. "For you, since you've been such a good sport, I'll throw in a discount for your daughter!"
--------------end---flashback----------------
"...and so I went there for almost three months until they moved again." Makoto sighed, a faraway look in her eyes.
"THAT'S IT!" Ami pounced, thankfully not in a literal fashion, on Makoto. "The pink and green jumpsuit!"
There were a few shudders at that color combination, and Makoto looked embarrassed. "Yes, well, it wasn't MY choice. Waitaminute. Ami? You?"
Ami looked strangely satisfied. "The one with too much starch in her gi."
"Aaaahh!?" An eerie chorus from three humans and two cats.
"Ami, you too?" Makoto tried but couldn't remember the other students well at all.
"Almost exactly the same circumstances," Ami said with a nod. "The boy was kind and gentle, and quite obviously not the one in charge. If anything, it was...Nabiki. That was her name. Nabiki Tendo."
"Nabiki Tendo, eh?" Rei glanced around the table. "Well, that at least gives me something I can do a fire reading on."
"So, as interesting as..." Luna stopped her eyes widening as she read the kanji on Makoto's little
red and black card, hearing the words from earlier echo in the room. "Wait. 'Saotome final technique?' 'Ranma Saotome?' That boy?"
"You're fiancees to a guy who flies around in a heavily armed recreational vehicle?" Minako stared at the card in Makoto's hands. "Oh, well, you know what they say. 'It's an ill wind that blows well.'"
Artemis picked himself up from a feline facefault. "That's 'it's an ill wind that blows no good.'"
Ami's fingers flew across her keyboard and she was thankful for the typing course she'd taken. One
computer search after another flew out across the web. Searches for a Ranma Saotome came up blank, but a link to school registries DID give the location of one Nabiki Tendo at Furinkan SHS. She'd contact Makoto after the meeting and the two of them could check it out in a few days. It was still a bit of a longshot, Tendo was not that uncommon a name.
"Whatever. These membership cards give Ami and Makoto the perfect cover to go investigate this guy and find out if he works for the Dark Kingdom or not." Minako smirked, hoping to tag along. The Senshi of Love had a mission.
"Waitaminute," Ami stopped the meeting's dispersal by holding up a hand. "My earlier search routine for Ranma Saotome pulled up a hunter."
"He's a sportsman?" Minako shrugged, must mean he had money.
"No, a search in the International Databases flagged some security measure and it attempted to trace
the link. Hang on." Ami's hands flew across the keyboard for a few minutes. "Hmmmm."
"Yes?!" Luna, Usagi, and Minako all but shouted.
"British based agency known as UNIT, they're based in England but officially part of the United Nations. They fill the same role as the FBI's X-files group does in the US." Ami continued to type, directing her supercomputer to evade the hunter by laying out a false trail that led to the Saint Hebereke computer room. Considering that the hackers club of Saint Hebereke School For Girls was known as harmless pranksters, this ought to deflect a few suspicions.
"What do they do?" Usagi asked when it became apparent no one else would.
"Men in Black." Rei said, mysteriously.
"Oh!" Usagi nodded. "Alien busters. That explains the ship."
"We'll have to see, won't we?"
---------------------------------------------
"Ranma ? Big brother?"
"No, Akane!"
"Please? Pretty please?"
"Akane, you haven't even driven a motorcycle before. And it isn't safe to go from Nerima to Los Angeles
on a hovercycle."
"Oh. Well, how about..."
"Later, Akane." Ranma stopped in mid-kata. "Though that's an idea in itself. We could all get together and go visit America. We could drop you off in LA, then the rest of us could go visit some of the places I've heard about."
"Spring break?" Akane's eyes sparkled.
"Yeah, sounds good."
Akane smiled as she entered the house, she had a chance now. She might have to transfer to an American
school, but she had a chance.
--------------------------
Moe, Larry, and Curly-bot continued their task.
A borehole became a tunnel, the tunnel became an accessway. Dirt was lasered into rock. Rocks were lasered into walls, walls were smoothed and prepared.
They were nearly tireless, working off of internal batteries that slid out of housings, to be placed in
the chargers while fresh packs were loaded.
They were workbots, after all.
Unfortunately, after having watched "Snow White & The Seven Dwarves" they had this unfortunate
tendency to break out into song while working.
A tune was one of the few things that they couldn't carry.
Perhaps it was fortunate that they were at the prescribed depth and the three workbots could not be heard.
--------------------------------------------
Ukyou placed her palm against the door sensor, wondering if she should do this. Not only if it were right to do this, but who knew what sort of security measures Ranma had put into the thing.
Everyone else was busy. Ranma doing katas, mainly to keep in shape. Since tonight was the first full moon, Kasumi was getting things ready for a night as the "mysterious unicorn" seen running through
the streets of Nerima.
Nabiki was off making bets as to where the unicorn would appear. Akane was getting lessons from Shampoo in how to drive a hovercycle for some strange reason.
As for Vanilla, Ukyou wasn't quite sure what to make of the albino. The last Ukyou had seen, Vanilla was studying.
Nodoka was moving back to her old house, satisfied that her son was manly, and concerned that he have the opportunity to be manly.
Ukyou hadn't seen Ranma for years, and when he did show up again, he was almost completely different from the impulsive boy she had known.
The answers, she felt, were in here. In this lab that he had built.
The door didn't open, not having had her data input as an authorized user yet. Ukyou paused when a pale hand shot past her and palmed the switch.
As the door hissed open, Ukyou glanced back at the unsmiling visage of Vanilla. Once again, Ukyou realized she didn't know what to make of the Amazon.
"Why?"
"The same as you. To know."
Ukyou entered and the internal lights came on. She was peripherally aware of the door hissing closed behind Vanilla.
Vanilla moved past Ukyou as the chef took in the cramped cockpit with its chairs, displays, and massive toolkit near the back.
Ukyou watched Vanilla move to a console and begin typing away at a keyboard.
"That's English, isn't it?" Ukyou studied the display on the screen. The smiley faces and scrolling chibi-dragons were kind of strange.
"Yes," Vanilla said simply.
Not for the first time, Ukyou wondered if the albino was a Vulcan. No pointed ears, so maybe she was half-
Vulcan? "So, uhm, what are you doing?"
"I am attempting to learn more of my origins. We are here for the same thing, though different directions,
are we not? I am seeking my past, you are seeking your future." Vanilla studied the screen. "Unfortunately,
the computer's database does not appear to cover either."
"Oh," Ukyou replied, not really understanding. "Does it at least cover Ranma's past?"
"I would expect so. The majority of information here deals with the future world this vehicle is from. There is also a personal log, but it is protected by a password function."
"Oh." Ukyou repeated.
"You do realize that the current betting by Nabiki places you within the top two probabilities for
being Ranma's wife." Vanilla's voice was as calm as ever.
"Don't count yourself out of the race yet," Ukyou grumbled as she studied the rows of text on
the computer. "Shampoo relates more to all this tech stuff, Nabiki's sexier, and you're a better fighter and have that exotic look to you. Ranma hardly knows I exist."
"Nabiki has told me of your adventures with Ranma while you were children." Vanilla brought up a different page and blinked at the odd giant robots pictured there. "The time you investigated that
pesky poltergeist in Shinohara only to reveal that it was an inheritance scam."
"Well, yeah," Ukyou colored slightly at the memory. Her and Ranchan trapped at the bottom of the well for long hours. It had been kind of...nice.
"Or the Headless Houseguest, or the Gambling King, or the Glitterrock Ghost, or the Flatulence Phantom." Vanilla frowned ever so slightly on that. Nabiki's retelling of that adventure had been disquieting.
Ukyou's head snapped up. "Waitaminute. How big is this password?"
"Seventy four characters."
"There was something that always struck me as odd. Whenever we figured out what the scam was and uncovered it, and after we hid Kodachi when she joined us, they always said the same thing. Lemmee
see the keyboard."
Ukyou's fingers flew over the keys, translating from Japanese to English. "I'd have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids."
Vanilla watched without expression as the screen blinked a few times then changed to display some sort of hidden file. "Well, it's not his journal, but you've gotten something."
---------------------------------
Nodoka sighed and took the picture from the wall to look at it again.
They had been a happy bunch, her various sorority sisters and herself. One night the beer and the sake had flowed like water, and close friends had made an agreement between themselves.
If Nodoka Saotome's son HAD become a daughter, then that would have complicated things enormously. Oh yes, it would have been a mess. Not for some seppuku pledge.
The agreement that would have joined the houses by having son marry daughter. And each and every one of those sorority sisters had gone and had sons. At least of the ones that had not vanished. The ones that kept up some communication all had boy children.
There had been the hope growing when those two boys had shown up, speaking of her daughter, that perhaps she would be able to meet that agreement after all. She had almost dared to hope that Genma HAD been unfaithful just to meet the dictates of honor. Or perhaps as in that one book's story of the Cursed Tunnel the curse changed mind and soul to match the new body.
Well, it sounded as if Mrs. Moroboshi had enough problems, and while Achika was dead and her son had turned out quite well by all accounts, there was little point in engaging Ranma to Tenchi.
No, however, if things were to change...
Nodoka put the picture back onto its peg, and wore a curious half-smile as she went into her reading room to consult her copy of "Lurker's Guide To Jusenkyo and Related Curses." A little light reading sounded like just the thing before bed.
------------------------------------------
Kasumi's clothes hit the ground as the transformation hit, drawing gasps from Ranma and Shampoo. The rest of the audience had seen it all before.
"Where Ukyou? Where Vanilla? Wanted Vanilla see this."
"Hmmm. Oh, they're in my lab, Shampoo. They snuck in there forty minutes ago and they're trying to navigate my database."
Nabiki looked slyly over at him. "You knew they'd try this?"
"Actually, I thought you'd be the first one to try it." Ranma watched the white-furred, golden maned, mythic beast step daintily out of the yard to begin her run around the neighborhood.
Nabiki saw the look of concern and hurried to assure Ranma. "She does this every full moon. She tried just sticking to the backyard but apparently there's a compulsion to run wild and free that's part of the curse. Or at least not all fenced in."
"Yeah, well, I worry. Maybe I ought to get a tracker or something, or some kind of panic button she can hit in that form." Ranma frowned. "After all, there's gonna be those who want to either capture or kill the unicorn, others who'll want to take the horn, and others who will just exploit her."
Nabiki didn't blink until that last comment, then she winced.
Unnoticed by any of them, and so concealed that even the Winnebago's passive sensors didn't detect it, a small flying crab extended a camera and began to follow the progress of the unicorn.
================================
A Very Scary Bet part 3c: My Women From To-Kay-Oh?!?!
by greggsharp, metroanime@mindspring.com
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com
var ious people own the various char. no trademark infringement is intended.
this is written for enjoyment, distributed for others to enjoy, and should not be confused for even a picosecond as Great Literature
.
-------------------^_^----------------------------
United Nations Intelligence Taskforce Headquarters, London England.
"Sir, we've traced the search for data on 'Ranma Saotome' to a Japanese senior high school. The 'Saint Hebereke's School For Girls- Junior Hackers Club' appears to be the source."
Pursing his lips, the Colonel seemed to try to recall something, then finally gave up after a few moments. "I just came on shift. Exactly who is 'Ranma Saotome'?"
"One of the Doctor's associates, sir. Bit of a martial artist, quite the mechanic too. Did a nice upgrade on the EMP gun. Worked with Q over in Her Majesty's Secret Service during that bit with the viral encoding messages in the Guinness Stout."
"Ah," the Colonel said with a frown. Tampering with one's stout. QUITE unBritish. Glad that was over and done with. And this lad had helped to save the stout? "Well, then, send an investigative unit out to check out this 'Saint Hebereke's' and see exactly what they've got on our ally. It might be quite innocent, eh?"
"Yes sir," the Corporal said seriously. He'd had to go for three days without a drop of beer during that incident. The boys in the force were quite anxious to help pay the Ranma boy back for resolving the situation so swiftly.
-------------------------------------
The class was boring beyond belief, at least as far as Ranma was concerned. Simple math. Bah.
Almost as if in answer to the prayer from a dozen students, the sky opened up outside Furinkan.
"Look at that!"
"Sit down, Mister Aida!"
"Monsters?!"
Shampoo woke up. "Monsters?"
Vanilla raised an eyebrow as she looked at all the vaguely manlike figures dropping out of the rip.
"Why are they HERE?!" Ukyou asked, curiously. "Isn't this the sort of thing that happens in Juuban all the time?"
Akane just grinned and cracked her knuckles. "Why ask why?"
The teacher adjusted his spectacles and looked outside at the soldier drones. "All right, don't anyone panic. They'll leave you alone if you leave them alone."
The class watched as a student was beaten into submission, drained of all energy, folded up and thrown into a trash receptacle.
"Or maybe not."
Akane was through the window before the teacher had finished speaking. "Time for me to do what I'm best at!"
Ukyou ducked out a moment later, "sorry Teach, I gotta go save the school or something!"
Vanilla sighed and flipped down to the ground similarly.
"Shampoo head hurt from all this. Good fight just what Shampoo need to unwind."
From the third floor, two others came running down, intent on the same thing.
"Nabiki Tendo, get to safety, this is a job for MEN!"
"Want to place a bet, Kuno-baby? I'll bet two okonomiyaki lunch specials that I get a higher body count than you do!"
Ranma shrugged, turned on his wristcomp, and set it on automatic to analyze the big rip that these
opponents were coming out of.
Ranma found himself wishing he'd unpacked the BFG. Not that he could have kept it away from Shampoo
once she found out he'd packed it.
In the meantime he could get some practice in himself.
---------------------------------------
Usagi looked at the little package and was immediately surrounded by little floating hearts. "A package
from my Mamo-chan! Thank you! WAIIIII!"
The courier closed the door, smiled, and the air shimmered around him. Now wearing his customary wizard's robes, he took out his clipboard.
"Sailor Moon, Brownies with nuts - Check.
Sailor Mercury, VR harem girl computer disc mislabelled
as VR Library of Alexandria. Check.
Sailor Venus, cursed box of 'sample' dumplings. Check.
Sailor Mars, cursed shojo manga. Check.
Sailor Jupiter, cursed recipe book. Check.
Tuxedo Kamen, Baby Ruth bar. Check."
The Spells R Us evil wizard nodded, satisfied. Venus had already had one of the dumplings and now weighed three hundred pounds. "Lets see her try to wear her fuku now."
A grin passed over his face as he felt Usagi's cursed brownie take effect. If that weren't enough the sound of a five year old child screaming in the room he'd just left was sufficient indicator that Usagi Tsukino was now no longer a concern.
Mamoru Chiba would be turned into a helpless baby girl. Rei Hino would get sucked into her manga and end up in the "Rose of Versailles" as Marie Antoinette. Makoto Kino would just flip through the book, then be compelled to fix one of the recipes after another. It would be interesting to see what curses she'd end up with. Ami would find herself locked into the VR world with no apparent exit within the program, and if she exited the program improperly...
The wizard teleported. He had to get back to his shop. He could watch from there, anyway. Then he could find the four Senshi who weren't currently aware of their status.
---------------------------------
"HA DO KEN!" A fireball slammed into a faceless minion, lifting it up and carrying it into an impact with the school gates.
"BLACKJACK!" Card shuriken sliced into another faceless minion, which dissolved immediately thereafter.
"Eeeeeeek!" Ukyou said, being lifted off her feet and being carried away by two of the faceless minions.
Vanilla drew her sash and used the Iron Cloth manuever to make it a sword that slashed through the arms
holding Ukyou. "I'm really sorry," she said in a quiet voice. "I don't happen to have a battle cry."
Shampoo grinned and drew out a little something her airen had made for her on that desert world when she'd lost her favorite katana. He'd copied the very same weapon that had cut the katana in half, as best Ranma could. The flashlight hummed and an energy blade appeared at one end. "Shampoo CHOP!" Shampoo spun and leapt and swung her light sabre about in great swooping arcs, giggling and generally quite happy with how events were turning out. This beat doing that algebra stuff at least.
Tatewaki Kuno finished off one of his own opponents only to see the Big Momma coming. "Ah, the master youma. This then, is my chance to truly prove my skill against a worthy opponent."
Slapping aside the kendoist and looking about at all the martial artists, the waxy looking giant finally settled on the most dangerous appearing of its opponents.
"HA DO KEN!" Akane fired off a quick fireball, then sprinted forward. She intended to perform a Shoryuhau.
"HA DO KEN!" The giant mimicked, features reforming into a 12ft tall version of Akane. "HA DO KEN!"
Watching Akane get slammed with two of her own fireballs, everyone else went still for a moment.
Akane picked herself out of a crater. "Think you're so tough? You should try sparring with Ryu, you wimp!"
"Got it!" Ranma smiled, made an adjustment to a blocky looking gun, then fired a shot at the rip in the sky.
The rip sealed itself, leaving some bewildered looking youma behind.
"Arrrrrrrrgghhh!" The giant Akane leapt into the air, slamming down over the original version.
Shampoo, without further ado, cut off the wax Akane's head with a single strike. She was rewarded by the sight of the giant melting like hot wax. "Ah, some day is good to be Amazon."
Ukyou stepped past Shampoo, stuck her spatula underneath the molten blob, and began the task of freeing the original Akane.
"I just hate waxy buildup," Akane grumbled as soon as she had finished gasping for air.
"Oh, it's not so bad, sis," Nabiki offered, "look the stuff just peels right off."
*<b>RIIIIiiiiiiiiiPPPPPPP!</b>*
"Uhm. Oh dear. Sorry about that."
-----------------------------
Sasuke looked up from the postcard, eyes beginning to glimmer with tears. "Oh...how glorious. Dare I believe it?"
"Dear Father, Brother, Sasuke:
Have completed my studies abroad. Am enroute to rejoin all of you and should be there in a few days. Will speak to you then.
Hugs & Kisses, Kuno Kodachi - Fist of the Black Rose."
Sasuke was sure to put the postcard where his master would be sure to see it. Soon Kodachi would be returned to them!
-------------------------------
Kiima held her head in her hands. "But you take Amazons all the time!"
"Not the same." Nathan Brazil flicked an ash off of his cigar and regarded the winged woman. "Have an agreement with the Amazons. Don't have one with Phoenix Mountain."
"But I'm too tired to fly across to Japan!" Kiima frowned. If she couldn't get a ride there, how could she cross? She'd have to rest a day and then fly across.
"What do you want in Japan, anyway? Last I heard Phoenix Mountain had retreated from the world and pulled the tunnels in after them."
"One of the Doctor's Companions is in Nerima. I'm engaged to him." Kiima flushed a little, wondering what It was like with a normal human. She'd heard stories of course.
"The Doctor?" Nathan frowned a little. Last time he'd run into the old coot, he'd been trying to avoid capture by some Cybermen. Could something be going on in a Tokyo suburb that was unusual even for his life?
--------------------------------------------
A door slammed open and a tall 17 year old girl gave a disgusted sigh as she saw that she was indeed too late.
"C'mon, Usagi, we gotta get you cleaned up." Makoto led the child away from the toys. She knew that only she and a few others would ever remember Usagi as being older than the little girl in the pink jumper.
"Mako-chan. Am kid! No fair."
"They couldn't have seen through our disguise fields," announced Luna. "Even with that videotape. So
how did they know who we were?"
"Magic," said Makoto with a shrug. "C'mon, I got Ami and Minako over at Rei's shrine. I'll drive you over."
"Drive?!" Luna exclaimed. "Say what happened to you, anyway?"
"I fixed a recipe with wine that had been aged three years. Found myself aged three years as soon as I
had some. We can probably get Usagi a little older with it. Minako has to be shoved through doors now, she's terribly overweight. Ami's eighteen years old now, and...well." Makoto seemed reluctant to say anything further in that regard.
"Oh no. What about Mamoru?"
"Well, Ami seems OK to take care of her."
"'Her?!'" Usagi started bawling. "Mamo-chan's a girl?! Waaaaaaaaaaaa!"
"She's also a baby," said Makoto, flinching when this escalated Usagi's wail.
------------------------------------------------
Qu een Beryl stalked forward, manifesting her presence as if she were 20ft tall.
The Spells R Us wizard was not terribly impressed.
"How could you let them live? I have heard reports that you have left the Senshi helpless. Why are they then still alive!"
The wizard held his arm out, flicked his hand around, and pulled a sheaf of papers out of nowhere. "It's in my contract. Check it out, page two. While I am to remove the Sailor Senshi and their immediate allies from interfering with the various competing Dark Kingdoms, the contract specifically states that they be allowed a chance, no matter how slim, to regain their natural forms. Killing them would invalidate that."
Beryl took the papers with a grumble. "Who insisted on this clause anyway?"
"I did." The old man shrugged and leaned against a wall that wasn't there. "Look, I do work for you Dark Kingdom types, I do work for the Infernal Revenue Service, I do work for the Divine Justice & Retribution people. I freelance. I kill off the Senshi or ANY group of true heroes and I can kiss the DJR jobs goodbye.
Likewise, the truly evil I can't do anything too permanent to without there being a CHANCE for the
individual to recover.
"Not only losing the odd jobs, but as long as I'm working both sides, neither is going to interfere in my little fun. Unless, of course, I make a mistake and get someone who is under either Divine or Infernal protection. As soon as I find out about that, I back off. Same principle. Got it?"
Beryl considered drawing her power around her and lashing out at this worm who dared to mock her. A moment later and she was doing so.
The wizard smirked. "You really shouldn't play out of your league, you know."
-----------------------------------------------
"T here, all done." Kasumi put the shears away and regarded her handiwork.
"Looks kinda cute that way, Akane."
"I've got shorter hair than Ken does, Ukyou." Akane sighed. "At least it isn't shorter than Ryu's."
"Where's Ranma when you need a male opinion?" Ukyou looked around, then noticed the hovertruck was missing.
"Oh, Ranma was going to investigate some of those odd power readings. He said that there were similar attacks like at Furinkan, but at several different locations." Kasumi walked around Akane before nodding that she was satisfied.
"Where's everyone else?"
Ukyou shook her head and fingered her own long hair. Maybe she should consider a different look. "Shampoo and Vanilla are sparring. Nabiki is working with some Amazon magic potion stuff."
"Hmmmm. I thought she was making dinner," Kasumi said with a sigh. "Tonight's another full moon, so
I've got to get ready for the second night of my three night cycle. Who _is_ cooking tonight?"
"Me," Ukyou said. "Don't worry, Kasumi, I've got extra lettuce for you for after you've transformed.
Just try not to go past the Kuno estate again. They get really freaked out."
=============================================
end chapter 3.
preview chapter 4:
"Hi, is Ranma in? My name's Makoto Kino and
this is my good friend Ami Mizuno. May we come in?"
Nabiki chuckled evilly as she checked the drinks.
Yes, everything was in place. Ranma couldn't escape THIS
time!
"Airen fix power armor?! Shampoo happy! Want
BFG hooked up as soon as you can. Stupid helicopter 'Poison
One' keep trying to attack Shampoo. Shampoo want clear
superiority in firepower. Is only right for Chinese Amazon!"
"Ken? Is that you?! I was...just thinking about
you."Akane checked her hair, momentarily forgetting that
he couldn't see through the telephone.