Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Total Shock ❯ Horizon ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Author Roy
Ryoga learns a new technique that makes him impossibly fast. Ranma figures out a way to stall for time, so as to find out how Ryoga does this...

Disclaimer: None of the series, characters, or locations mentioned in this story are owned by the author of this story unless stated otherwise.

Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Martial Arts / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 04.21.2006 | Updated On: 10.30.2006 | Pages: 10 | Words: 15.5K | Visits: 2.9K | Status: Work In Progress

This is my first try at a serious, plot-based story, so bear with me. The quality may not be what you would expect from several other people. It's also just started, which means that it might get better (If circumstance allows me to write).
 
Note: This is a cross-over between many different series that many of you may not have even heard of.
I will for the most part try to keep a steady plot as well as different Arcs, although I've never really planned ahead for any fics I've written before (I usually just write as I go) But this time I have to take into consideration future events that I've planned for the story.
Also, try to excuse any OOCness for this chapter and constructive criticism is welcome
I have no beta-readers, so please excuse any mistakes…
___
Somewhere in Nerima, Ranma Saotome sat on the roof of the Tendo residence. It was typical ending to a typical day. Wake up sopping wet and cold, beat up Kuno, be late to class, ambushed at lunch time, malleted by Akane…If he was lucky, everyone left him alone after that. If he was unlucky, either Akane cooked dinner, or his mom showed up with her honor blade to ask about his and his father's progress. Almost nothing in his life was the way it should be. Every time he was sure it couldn't get worse, it did. He stared up at the night sky wondering absently if there would ever be a change to the constant chaos…there had to be some way to fix this mess. It just kept going on and on, in a vicious circle, and Ranma knew even he couldn't last forever.
“Hey…what's that?” He peered up at an incredibly fast moving light in the sky. “What the heck?” He tried to get a closer look. Unfortunately, it was already gone before he could make it out. “Airplanes don't move that fast,” He said to himself. He shrugged and left, climbing down into the nearest window.
He already knew that whatever it was, it was going to have a direct effect on his already messed up life.
---
In Juuban, A certain green haired woman looked up at the sky. “..?”
---
Elsewhere, in a pocket dimension, a certain diminutive, red haired scientist looked at the readings her computer gave off. “Eh? What's this? Someone just entered the atmosphere…” she resolved to have Ryoko find who or whatever it was later. Right now, she had more important things to do…
---
In Fukuoka, a tall, attractive man dressed in a lab coat stares at a computer screen. “Something entered the atmosphere at that speed? Interesting…” He turned to a small girl who was currently doing somersaults around the room. “Ropponmatsu, did you get a scan of that Unidentified Flying Object?”
---
At a certain boarding school, a certain young boy looks up at the sky in time to see something peculiar. “Wha…?” he looks up and stops walking.
“What are you looking at?”
“It was moving…so fast…” he muttered to himself. “Uh, nothing Asuna-san. Let's keep going,” He said.
---
Chapter 1
---
Ranma was sitting in the Furinkan High cafeteria eating his bento alone for once. Daisuke and Hiroshi appeared at his side after a few minutes. “Oh. Hey, you two,” He said boredly.
“Ranma, did you hear?”
“There was a UFO sighting last night!”
Ranma didn't even look up at them. “Oh really…?”
“Yeah, but the government hasn't confirmed it.”
“But you know, it's got to be real,” Daisuke said. “Residents from different cities all over the country all say they saw it at about the same time. If that's true, then it was moving far too fast to be a plane or satellite.”
Ranma looked up at his friends. “Huh…ya think it coulda' been aliens?” He asked.
“Well…Maybe,”
“If they were, they're probably coming here for me,” Ranma sighed.
Ryoko stared at Washu. “You want me to what?”
“Go check out these coordinates,” Washu repeated. “I'm sure you've heard of the UFO sighting, recently?”
“Well yeah, but…you don't mean to tell me it was real this time, do you? I mean, Earth is just some backwater mud-ball, no one would come out here…”
Washu stared at Ryoko.
“…And not be after us. I mean, it was so far away, but whatever…” Ryoko took off for her destination.
---
The sailor senshi were in the middle of a meeting, discussing recent events. “Alright. So everyone knows what happened last night?”
“Uhhh…what happened?” Usagi asked.
“It's been all over the news! The UFO!”
“Oh, that? Well, I'm sure it can't be that serious, I mean there are UFO sightings everyday, right?”
“Well, what can we do? We don't know where it landed,” Rei said. “And besides, it's not like we could just walk up and say `Hi, welcome to Earth.' It's not like they speak Japanese,”
“We still don't know if it's real or not,” Makoto interjected.
“The Mercury computer's scans picked up a residual energy. The energy signal was different from any I've ever seen before; I was going to look it up in the database before this meeting was called,”
“Well that seems to confirm its existence,”
“Can you pinpoint where it landed? Maybe we can find something if we go to it,”
“Okay,”
----
Ranma sat down, watching TV. For once, the news was more interesting than Martial Arts Anime (That, and it was reruns anyway).
“Wow. Aliens.” Ranma stated, matter-of-factly.
“Heh, with your luck, they're here after you,” Nabiki smirked. Ranma stared at her for a brief moment then turned back to the TV.
“You know, things have been really calm lately. Ryoga hasn't been by in a week, the old ghoul, Shampoo and Mousse are still in Fukuoka at that food rally, Akane's spending the night at Yuka's and Pops and Mister Tendo haven't tried anything stupid recently…” He trailed off and found himself staring at Nabiki. She stared back. This continued for a long moment until she abruptly stood up and ran to her room.
He sighed and sitting back and watching the television. Experts had yet to pinpoint where it could have landed (If it had landed). There was currently no concrete evidence, other than the fact that more three quarters of Japan saw it. He flipped through the channels, thinking he may as well go practice his kata so he would be prepared for any attacks until he found the food channel. It was live from Fukuoka; the convention the Old ghoul was at was on television. It was an all day event. “Maybe I'll see them,” He thought, watching.
------
Fukuoka
Excel smiled cheerily as she served the next patron a bowl of Ramen. Hyatt was on the floor spewing her bodily liquids and Elgala was complaining about cramps. Everything was as it should be…well, almost everything. She glared at the competition next to them. The old lady serving up the Ramen had to have been putting narcotics in the stuff; people were lining up and buying it in ridiculous quantities. The woman seemed to know she was being watched and turned to Excel, smiling. Excel turned away and scowled. If only there was some way of making their competition disappear… a glint came to her eyes and she looked at Hyatt; she knew just the way…
------
Nerima
Apparently, Granny wasn't doing too badly. So well, actually, that she was being interviewed during her break.
“So…Ku Lon, was it?”
“Yes,” the withered old woman replied.
“How long have you been in the restaurant business?” the man asked, interested.
“Hmm, well, It's only been a few months, actually,” She said. “When I came to Japan, I needed a way to support myself and my charges,” she said.
“You're originally from China, right?”
“That is correct,”
“Wow, it must have been expensive to come out here. Why did you come to Japan, then?”
“Oh, quite a few reasons, actually. My great-granddaughter has aspirations in Japan, and I'm her guardian. You know, there are a lot of things in Japan open to her that would never be found in China,” She smiled at the camera.
“I can imagine,” the man nodded.
“Well, break is almost over, and I must get back to the stall,” the elder stated.
“One more question if you will,” the man asked. “How long do you plan on staying in business?”
“Well, that's undecided,” she said. “It depends on certain things,”
“Oh? Like what?”
“My granddaughter's future, among other things,” She looked the man in the eye.
“I see,” He said. They nodded to each other and the camera focused on the reporter. “That's Ku Lon of the Cat Café that can be found in Nerima, Tokyo.”
---
Fukuoka
Excel smiled again as she handed the bowl to the last patron. She glanced to the side to watch her competition. So far, so good. Old lady hadn't noticed. That was when, all of a sudden…
“Oh…my god…” Several people moaned and groaned and suddenly fell over in front of Excel's stand.
Excel was baffled. “Huh? What! What's going on?” She looked at Elgala. “What did you do to the broth?”
“Me? All I've been doing is washing the bowls!”
Excel glared at the stall to her right. The old woman smiled at her and turned away from her. They had sold out.
“What…but…how…”
---
Ranma stood up and turned the television off. He looked at a nearby clock. It was about 10 PM…He sighed and walked up to the guest room where his father was already snoring his ass off. He took off his shirt and lay down on his futon. He looked out the window at the night sky.
Moments later, he was asleep.
----
Ranma awoke to the familiar sensation of cold water in his nostrils and all around his body. He almost literally flew out of the pond and landed on Genma. `At least things are starting to look normal now,' he thought.
After the session with Genma, he ate his breakfast and started walking to school. He jumped atop the fence and started walking along it when all of a sudden, there was a blur accompanied by a Sonic Boom that almost knocked him off, He stared ahead at Furinkan high, then shrugged. “Whatever,” He continued walking until he made it to Furinkan and stopped at the gate. “Eh? No Kuno?” He wondered aloud. “Is Akane already here then? I might not be late for once,”
Kuno moaned on the ground. There were footsteps all over his back. “What sorcery…was that…”
---
“Class, we have a new student today.” The teacher motioned to a young man standing in the doorway. The boy nervously walked over to the sensei and bowed to the entire class. “Uhh, hello. My name is Touya Watanabe, but my friends call me Sonikku,” He said politely. He was a nice looking young man about 5'8 with green eyes. His appearance was exotic in that his hair was long, but it was all spiked out. What grabbed everyone's attention was that it was blue. But hey, this is Nerima…
A random student raised his hand. “Uh, Watanabe-san,” The boy asked. “Are you here to take revenge on Saotome Ranma?” While most of the students laughed, Ranma and the sensei both prayed to whatever gods existed that the answer was no. Watanabe just looked nervous.
“Um…No,” He said. “I've never heard of him. Is he famous?”
“He's a martial artist,” The boy said.
“If that is all,” the sensei interjected. “Watanabe-san, If you could please take a seat, so that we might get started,” Watanabe sat down in the empty seat next to Ranma. The sensei began his lesson and Ranma stared at the new student next to him. `His chi levels are higher than average. I'll have to ask him about that.' Ranma made a mental note to do this later.
Ranma turned to look out the window and sighed. Looks like another boring day…
---
Ranma looked around for the new kid during lunch. “Has anyone seen Watanabe-san?” several people pointed at the track. “Thanks,” he walked to the track and looked around for Touya. He spotted the boy running head to head with several of Furinkan's fastest track team members.
The other boys were already panting and dripping sweat, but “Sonikku” looked like he could go on for hours. `Well, that's nothing. I can do that,' Ranma thought to himself. He walked over to the starting line and waited for the boy to finish up his race. The boy spotted Ranma and smiled, running over to him.
“Ah, you're Saotome-San, right?” Touya stood at his full height and stared at Ranma.
“So you're a runner?”
“Yep, fastest guy in the world as a matter of fact,” Touya smirked.
Ranma frowned. “Do you practice any martial arts at all?”
“Some, but from what I've heard, I'm not nearly a good as fighter as they say you are,” He chuckled and scratched the back of his head.
Ranma nodded. “Well if you ever wanna learn the art, you can come to the Tendo Dojo.” He said.
Touya nodded. “I'll do that sometime,” He said. He turned back to the track and started jogging at a light pace. Ranma walked away from the track and back to the building.
---
The rest of the school day was uneventful. Shampoo and the Old Ghoul were in Fukuoka for two more days, and Kami knows where Ryoga is…Ranma Roof hopped around different places in Nerima, until that is something below caught his attention…a blue-blur moving at ridiculous speeds sped through the city below him, stirring up powerful winds in its wake. “What the hell is that? That was the second time I've seen that,” He said. He shrugged and made his way to the Tendo Dojo.
When he arrived, a familiar voice yelled “SAOTOME RANMA! PREPARE TO DIE!” Ranma landed and immediately took up a stance.
“P-Chan, there you are,” He said dodging Ryoga's umbrella swing from behind to the side. He turned to face the snarling boy and snickered. “I was actually starting to worry. Couldn't stay away from Akane too long, though, could you?” He continued dodging Ryoga's attacks with more difficulty than before. He had to give Ryoga credit - wherever he'd been, he'd been increasing his speed.
Ryoga snarled at his opponent. “Shut up and fight me, Ranma!” he lunged with a quick thrust of the umbrella and feinted to the left. Ranma's years of training allowed him to see past the simple ploy and he was well prepared for the right hook that came not a second later. He ducked under the next swing and roundhouse kicked his rival in the chin. The fight was escalating as Ranma had to acknowledge a notable skill increase on Ryoga's part.
He knife handed Ryoga's abdominal muscles and vertical punched his solar plexus. The lost Boy's toughness actually hurt Ranma's knife hand but his chest was still a soft spot. The lost boy tried to sweep his legs from under him, but only managed to open himself up to an attack, namely an aerial spin kick. It knocked him back a bit and he had to roll to get to his feet. He jumped up and slammed Ranma towards the ground with a powerful spike and then fell towards his opponent. Ranma rebounded off the ground and into Ryoga's gut with his fist. They both separated and stared at each other.
Their eyes met and both smirked.
---
Touya jumped over an obstacle, and swerved through traffic. He ran over several of the cars, and jumped up, onto a fence. Leaning at an angle he was able to grind the fence as if he was on a board; Touya's shoes seemed to be designed to allow him this special movement. He somersaulted off the fence at a speed that made him leave after images in the air as he landed. He left skid marks as he attempted a sudden stop at unbelievable speeds. He stopped in front of a moderately sized house and walked up to the door.
It opened before he knocked.
“Everything's a race with you, isn't it?” Another boy about his height stood at the door. The boy had long, spiky hair like Touya's, but it was black with red streaks.
“You know me, fastest thing on Earth, all that jazz,” He walked in past the boy without an invitation and looked around the house. “Wow, It's not as dark as I expected. Letting you furnish the place wasn't such a bad idea after all.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“That your taste in fashion and style have improved,” Touya snickered as he left took his shoes off before running to what could be the equivalent of a living room. “Western Décor, I like,” Touya sat down on the couch and turned a large, flat screen television on. The other boy grumbled and shut the door with an audible slam and walked over to join the other teen. He sat in a recliner and picked up a book.
“So, Shadow, did you find anything?”
“Oh I found a lot, which I'm sure is more than what you can say,”
“Oh really? Like what?” `Shadow' put the book down.
“This part of town is full of strange creatures, and in response a local vigilante group has risen to the task of exterminating them. They're known as the Sailor Senshi. They're fairly powerful, but none of them could stand up to a Chaos Spear,”
“You've seen them in action?”
“Twice,”
“Oh. Well, I found a potential carrier,” Touya added. “Several, actually. Nerima's a crazy place,”
“We'll have to investigate it then,” Shadow said before returning to his book. “Keep an eye on them.”
“I will.”
---
Touya followed the other boy in the mall. They were going from store to store buying things like clothes, and books.
“I don't know why we're paying for all this stuff. We could just make it disappear,”
“Idiot. I'm not going to steal from the place that I work for,” Shadow said. He elbowed Touya in the nose.
“Kenji! What's up?” a young woman said from behind the counter.
“Yeah, just showing my little brother around,” Shadow said. “Touya, this is Genji Mikami,” He motioned to the girl behind the counter. Touya just blinked and stared. “Kenji” Elbowed him again and he bowed politely.
“It is nice meeting you for the first time. My name is Watanabe Touya,” the boy said politely.
“It's nice meeting you too, Watanabe-kun,” The girl giggled and went back to her job. They left the store after buying their merchandise. They were headed to the food court when a something caught their attention.
“Hey, Shadow, you get the feeling we're being watched?”
“Yes, but it's probably nothing to worry about. More than likely it's the hair, Sonic.” They kept walking towards the food court. A short distance away, a group of girls sat staring at the two.
The senshi were at the mall, resting from a recent shopping spree. They didn't have any more money to spend, so the rest of the day was going to be spent window-shopping.
“Man, I could go buck wild for some beef right now…” Usagi thought aloud.
“Hey, is it me or do they look familiar?” Rei asked.
“Who?” Usagi asked, looking around.
“Those two guys with long hair that look like they just came from an anime convention,”
“Yeah, but from where? Can't place it…”
“Hmm…” Amy got out her Mercury computer.
“Who? Where?”
“Right over there, you idiot! They're so obvious,” Rei muttered something about an incompetent leader.
“Take that back!” Usagi whined. “I'm not an idiot,”
“There's something strange about those boys. The Mercury computer is having a hard time decoding their information.”
Rei frowned. “What do you mean?”
“It's like an invalid file type. The computer…needs new software.”
Everyone stared at her. The only people who didn't get the significance of what was happening were Usagi and Minako. They were both looking confused.
“New software?”
“For the Mercury computer?”
“It's strange, I know, but…” Ami shook her head. “I'll have to analyze this data later.”
“Wait a minute, Ami. Do you think…they could be from that UFO?”
“…It's possible. I hadn't considered that possibility,” Ami said. “That doesn't change anything, though. They're still anomalies that I can't identify right away, which makes them potentially dangerous.”
“Hey, I just remembered something,” Usagi said.
“That you're an idiot?” Rei asked.
“No! That boy was the one we saw when,” Usagi's voice suddenly dropped to a whisper. “Those creatures yesterday, remember? The one with black hair was there alone, watching us. When we were done, he was gone.”
Everyone suddenly sat back and digested the information. “You think they're the source of those strange new creatures?” Makoto suggested.
“Why wouldn't they just fight us instead of sending those creatures?”
“Who knows? Maybe it gets them off,” Rei said.
“I honestly doubt that,” Ami frowned. “Just because they were there doesn't mean they were the source. Any one of the people in this building could have been there, and could be the source. Any one.”
“But I thought Pluto said there would be no more threats to Crystal Tokyo?” Usagi suddenly asked, serious. “It's been two years but…”
“This is something we'll have to ask her about. It could be something her future self hid from her.”
“And it could be that the time gates aren't absolute,” A voice suddenly said from behind Usagi. Usagi screamed and fell back in her chair. Setsuna raised a brow at the girl.
“Setsuna, what can you tell us about those two?”
“Straight to the point, I see.” Setsuna pulled a chair next to Rei and Usagi, who had just picked herself up. “Those two appeared in the Time Gates four days ago,”
“The UFO?” Minako asked. Setsuna shook her head.
“No, that's something else entirely…and the Time Gates still can't sense it. It's as if it never happened.”
“What do you mean?” Usagi asked. “Can't the time gates see every possibility?”
“I think she means,” Ami answered for Setsuna. “That whatever that Unidentified flying object is, the Time Gates never knew it would come in any possibility and still don't know it's there. Like some sort of time cloaking device.” Setsuna nodded.
“What about those two? Are they dangerous to Crystal Tokyo.”
“They have…potential. For both good and…not so good,”
“What do you mean? You mean evil, right?”
“That's the thing- they and their companions aren't evil. They're all trying to do what's best for humanity, and unless everything works out perfectly to show them Crystal Tokyo is the best possible outcome, they'll stop it from occurring,”
“Don't you mean, try to stop it?”
Setsuna didn't say anything.
“…How do we convince them that Crystal Tokyo is best? I mean, it's the perfect society, isn't it?”
“I still have to look into that,” Setsuna said.
Silence reigned at the table for a good minute.
“Setsuna,” Usagi closed her eyes. “What enabled those two to stay hidden for so long?”
Setsuna frowned. “Chaos.”
---
Shadow looked around nervously. “Sonic, can you feel that? There's that energy again,” he said.
“Yeah, I feel it, Shadow.”
Shadow shuddered. “So much like a chaos emerald…yet so…wrong…”
“Let's get away from here. It's just making me uncomfortable,” Sonic said. They both left the building as quickly as possible without causing a commotion.
---
Tendo Dojo, Nerima
---
Ranma wiped some blood from his face. Just how the hell did Ryoga get this fast! It was impossible. He was moving so fast he was a blur; one spot one moment, then another the next. Ranma's consciousness was testament to his unmatched skill in the Art. `If I can figure out a pattern, I might just be able to stop him,' Ranma thought to himself.
Ryoga suddenly blurred over towards Ranma again and threw a powerful uppercut. “What's the matter Ranma? Too fast for you now?” He was smiling in earnest; He was finally going to defeat his hated rival! He was going to be the first martial artist in months to best Ranma Saotome. `Even a god lost to this man,' he thought. `And here I am, defeating him with ease!'
Before, Ryoga was a Tank; his hide was tougher than boulders and he could grind one into dust with just one hand. His breaking point training made him impervious to most if not all physical damage.
Now he was like a demon; His toughness and strength combined with the mind-boggling speed he had somehow reached was enough to overwhelm even the most skilled of foes, as was proving now.
Ranma had finally found a pattern, or flaw in Ryoga's speed. `He's moving in spurts. His natural speed is the same but he uses some sort of energy boost to move that fast. The same way I do with the Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken,' He thought. `But how? His Chi goes down when he starts moving, but by the end it's back up to where it was before…'
Ryoga sped towards Ranma once again. Ranma shouted, “Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken Revised; Wind rush!” Ranma used the last bit of his chi to blast towards Ryoga. His speed was the same as Ryoga's; and with this, Ryoga stopped in surprise. It wasn't enough, as he threw a roundhouse to Ranma's head, sending the boy to the ground. Ranma groaned loudly in pain as his face met the floor.
“Come on, get up,” Ryoga jeered. “Is that it? Are you done already?” Ranma slowly stood up and prepared to meet his foe one more time with a new plan.
“I think you should know something about that technique,” Ranma said.
“Oh? And what's that?” Ryoga decided to humor him.
“Come at me and I'll show you.”
“Well if that's what you want…” Ryoga sneered. He sped over to Ranma, but to his shock, the boy wasn't there. Suddenly, a heavy fist crashed into the back of his head sending him to the ground.
“You can only move horizontal, parallel to the ground,” Ranma said. “Not once have you changed altitude while using that speed,”
“Is that what you think?” Ryoga chuckled. “Is that all you can come up with, Ranma? I thought you were better than that,” Ranma put a defiant glare on his face and jumped into the air to prepare a Chi blast. “Come on, then, let's see what you can do!”
“With PLEASURE!” Ryoga jumped at Ranma using his incredible speed. To his shock, Ranma used his own Chi to rocket downwards instead of attack him. When he realized Ranma's plan, it was already too late.
He was going…going…going…gone.
Ranma stared up at the sky at his long time Rival and friend (Or so he considered him to be) and whistled. The lost boy's incredible speed wasn't perfect; Ryoga couldn't stop himself when he used it, no, instead he used gravity and his feet as some sort of braking maneuver whenever he used it at the ground. When he aimed at the air, he had no hope of stopping himself. His starting speed was so high that his momentum carried him on for kilometers. Ranma was sure it would be something like riding Akane Air.
Satisfied with his victory, Ranma walked to the Tendo home so he could take a relaxing bath and maybe figure out how Ryoga was using this incredible speed, and even make it better.
---
Ranma sighed as she stood up from the crater she made upon landing. Akane wasn't in a good mood and it showed as when he tried to use the furo, when she was just getting out, she malleted him to the next city. And it just happened to be raining earlier too. The crater she made pooled all the water and trapped him, now her in his cursed form. She recognized this area; it was a suburban area of Juuban. If she was correct this was Konoko-San's house. The house's shape was right, but the house wasn't painted baby blue and the lawn was recently mowed (She was the only person she knew of that mowed her lawn as her worthless son would never show up for the job as he was too busy doing whatever it was salary men did) but the address was right. `Oh well, may as well pay the nice old lady a visit and ask for some hot water. She might talk a lot but she's not all that bad.'
When he knocked on the door, an unfamiliar face answered.
“Touya?” She asked. “Why is your hair all black?” She raised a brow as he noticed something else was off. “Your eyes are red…”
“I'm not Touya, you ignoramus,” The black haired boy said. That much was obvious; he had a more muscular build and looked to be a few years older. Then there were the things she noticed at first. “Touya! Get your lazy ass over here, you've got company,” He said in English, walking away.
`That was kinda rude,' Ranma thought. `Is this who he lives with? It's no reason he's so…impolite. But at least it's not this bad.'
“Umm…Hello? Is there something I can help you with?” Touya asked.
“Uh…not really,” Ranma looked around at the interior of the house. It was all repainted and refurbished. “Uh, you've been living here for a while, haven't you?”
“No, actually. We just bought it yesterday,” Touya said. “I mean, we moved in yesterday,”
Ranma stared at him for a long while before asking. “Oh. Do you know what happened to the previous owner?”
“I heard she died,” Touya said. “Her son was the one who was selling the house.”
“Really?” Ranma asked, clearly disturbed a bit. “How did she die? Did that bas- I mean, did he tell you?”
“Yeah, it's funny really. Said she was found dead a few days—I mean, weeks ago. She suffocated while trying to call the police. Probably had a heart attack then tried to call someone but fell unconscious face down in her pillow and suffocated. That's how they found her, anyway.”
Ranma's eyes narrowed. It didn't sound right at all. The woman was healthy as could be and was quite fit for her age. That she had died so suddenly was a surprise to say the least…and a heart attack? Not likely at all. Poor woman had just turned 64 last month. Only people who remembered were Ranma and a couple'a neighbors. “Well…that's too bad,” she sighed.
“You knew her? Wow, are you by chance Ranma?” Touya.
“Uhh…People call me Ranko,” Ranma said. Touya obviously didn't know about his curse, and didn't need to.
“Oh? Well then, my mistake. Do you know a Ranma?”
“Yeah,” She said cautiously. “He and I both helped Konoko-san with chores,”
“Well, if you see him, tell him to go next door, she left him something in the will and our new neighbors have it for him.”
“Okay, thanks,”
“Oh yeah! You never told me who you were or why you were here?” Touya said. “Lemme guess. You were looking for the previous tenant,” Touya said, kind of sad. When Ranma nodded, Touya saw his chance. “Well why don't you come inside and we can talk about it?”
There was a certain gleam in his eye that made Ranma want to punch him in the face and scream while running away at top speed but she restrained herself. “No thanks, I have to be somewhere,” She said. “It was nice meeting you, though,” She turned and walked away.
“Well okay,” He said. “I hope we meet again soon! See ya!” He waved to her back and closed the door.
Moments later she found herself at the next-door neighbor's door. She knocked and looked down at the little girl who answered. “Oi, Chibi-Usa, where's Odango-Atama?”
“She's on her way back,” The pink-haired girl answered, walking away to allow him into entrance into the house. “Why don't you go ahead and use the bathroom to get some hot water?” She added. “Don't mind the shower, I was just getting ready to use it,”
“Thanks,” Ranma said, closing the door behind her as she walked in. Chibi-Usa waited patiently for the screams and yelling. They came and she snickered as Ranma was literally thrown from the bathroom.
“PERVERT!”
“YOU LIED!” Chibi-Usa laughed at Ranma's red hand printed face.
---
“I'msosorry! Ididn'tknowitwasyou!” Usagi repeated herself more than once. Ranma was glaring at Chibi-Usa who had only a content grin plastered on her face.
“Yeah yeah, that's over and done with,” Ranma said. He sighed and everyone became silent. “So when's the funeral?”
“Funeral? Are you joking? Her son's not paying for anything fancy like that. It may as well just be a burial. That man, he might even just put her in a cardboard box and send her off to some university for research,” She said, sadly.
“Yeah, she doesn't deserve that. She was a good person…but I didn't know your children had to pay for your funeral. I'll remind my father,” To which they all laughed.
“Oh yeah! Ranma, she left you something,” Chibi-Usa stood up and ran to get something.
“While we're waiting, how did entrance exams go?” Ranma asked Usagi.
“I don't even know…I just know I did horrible…”
“Well don't worry, if you have to go ronin you still have all those friends and that part time job,”
“That's not very encouraging,” The girl whined.
“It wasn't meant to be,” He snickered. “So what about your new neighbors? They the neighborly type?”
Usagi took on a thoughtful look. “They're pretty strange,” She said. “They bought the place yesterday but it's already completely different.”
“I thought they moved in yesterday?”
“They moved in earlier today, actually. Weirdest part is they're the only people who've been there all day, and one of them left early this morning to go to school, and didn't come back until a while ago…” Usagi realized something. “I saw them both at the mall too.”
“Well, maybe they have a martial art for decorating. That wouldn't be so impossible, one of them goes to my school,”
“Your school? You mean Furinkan? In NERIMA?” Usagi was surprised.
“Yeah, I know, that's strange…Hey, maybe it's speed?”
“Speed?”
“Yeah, the one that goes to my school—he beat the Track team no sweat today at lunch,”
“Well that would certainly explain how they were able to decorate,” Usagi added. `But it doesn't explain why Ami couldn't get a read on them. There's still a chance…'
“…able to beat me.” Usagi looked up at Ranma and Chibi-Usa who had returned seconds ago.
“What!” Chibi-Usa asked. “That mean old Ryoga beat you up? How? Was he cheating?”
“He was faster than even my Chestnuts roasting over an open fire technique,” The boy said. “First thing tomorrow, I'm challenging Touya to a race. If he's as fast as I think he is, maybe I can ask him how he does it…”
“Why don't you right now?”
“My clothes, He'd recognize them at what `Ranko' was wearing,” the boy said.
“Oh, please tell me you did not use that persona on him,”
“I did,” Ranma admitted.
“What did I tell you about that? The more you lie, the worse their response when they find out! And you're just a horrible girl,”
“Yeah but…I… I was just…”
“You were trying to save your pride again, weren't you? You need to get over that curse, Ranma. It's not that big a deal,”
“I don't know how you can say that. Before this curse, magic was something I'd never even thought of, let alone experienced. If you told me I would one day become a girl, I would have laughed and told you you were crazy or beaten you up for insulting me,”
“And, just how is that an insult?” a vein popped in Usagi's forehead. “Is being a girl so bad that it's insulting?”
“Yes! It's so horrible! These things on my chest that bounce when I run, and it hurts so much afterwards…and…and…” Ranma shuddered. “That unspeakable thing, down…There,” she said. “It's a nightmare! I don't know how you can deal with it so easily,” Ranma finished his rant and stared at the ground. Usagi and Chibi-Usa were silent.
“I…you…” She stuttered several times. “Well, it might be scary Ranma,” She started carefully. “But it's still mean to say what you did,”
“I know, and I'm sorry, but sometimes…it's just…distressing,” Ranma muttered something under his breath.
“What was that?”
“Nothing, Usagi. You were right, that was mean,” He said.
Silence reigned for all of sixty seconds. It was then Chibi-Usa noticed the time. “Uh, Ranma,” she said. “It's almost eight thirty,”
“WHAT?” Ranma looked up at the clock. “EIGHT THIRTY?” He stood up and ran away, forcing the door open. “I'm late!” He screamed all the while.
“That boy,” Usagi said. “All he needs is a bit of grooming. If I didn't have my Mamo-chan, I would take him from that awful situation he's in,” She sighed and walked away to go watch TV.
Chibi-Usa sighed. “You would just add to the situation, tubby,” She closed the door and leaned on it for a few moments. “But I…”
----
Ranma snuck in through the window of the kitchen quietly as possible using the cloak of the Umi-Senken. He walked up the stairs being careful not to make a sound and looked around, seeing no one. He walked over to the guest room and opened the door before walking in and quickly replacing his clothes with his usual T-Shirt and boxers and slipped into his Futon. Tommorow would be the day Ku Lon came back, the day he challenged Touya…and maybe even defeated Ryoga. If the lost boy would show himself.
He absently wondered how he would handle Konoko-san's generous gift as well. It was a lot to consider.
Yes, tomorrow would come full blast.
---
Much earlier, the same day
---
Fukuoka
“You want us to WHAT?” Misaki stared at the man before her.
“Investigate this area, just outside of Fukuoka city limits,” Dr. Kabapu said. “Shiouji detected something strange last night and estimates it to have landed somewhere outside of Fukuoka.”
“Landed?” Watanabe. “You wouldn't happen to be talking about the UFO everyone's been talking about, now would you?” He asked carefully.
“That is to be seen,” The man said with certain gleam in his eyes. “But if you've got something better to do, by all means, go ahead.”
“Ugh…” They were about to leave when he added one more thing.
“If you find any…visitors, detain them and have Ropponmatsu take them to Shiouji's lab.”
---
Ranma jumped atop the fence and started walking along it when all of a sudden, there was a blur accompanied by a Sonic Boom that almost knocked him off, He stared ahead at Furinkan high, then shrugged. “Whatever,”
---
Elsewhere
---
Ryoko sighed as she flew over the area. It was a grassy plains area, completely devoid of anything resembling a sentient species. “This is so boring. What the hell was Washu thinking? It was probably just a meteorite,” She said flying up more to get a better view before leaving. She looked around and finally noticed something worthwhile.
It was a crater. A very large one too; it wouldn't go unnoticed by the general public for long. She flew down to it but made sure she stayed above it. That was when a voice called out to her.
“Hey! You! Down there!” a female voice called out. There were several other people with her. Ryoko looked up at group. There were five people; a heavyset man, a skinnier, healthier looking man, an attractive woman and two androids—no, one of them was a Cyborg.
“Yeah?” Ryoko called back.
“Are you an alien?” they asked again, as if it was the most normal thing to ask someone.
“Uh…yeah,” Ryoko said again.
“Do you speak Japanese?”
“Yes,” she said, realizing she was repeating herself. “I do. I learned it a long time ago.”
The people conversed for a few minutes before they came to a conclusion. “Hey, can you come here for a moment?” Ryoko shrugged. Sure, why not?
---
“Yes, I do. I learned it a long time ago.”
“Long time ago?” Watanabe whispered.
“Maybe they teach Japanese in space!” Iwata suggested. “Or maybe Japanese people aren't from earth, but instead colonized the planet a long time ago and mated with the natives, and she's from the original species!”
Misaki shook her head with her hand on her face. “With everything that's been going on these past few days, that wouldn't surprise me,” She sighed. She looked at the `Alien.' “Hey, can you come here for a moment?” The girl shrugged before vanishing and reappearing before them. She stared at them intently for a moment as a few of them took a step back.
“So what's your name?”
“Uhh…Ryoko. Why, you wanted something?” the alien girl asked. It was more obvious now that she was an alien; the teleporting, the ears, the eyes, clothes…and tail. Everything screamed `INHUMAN.'
“Yeah, Ryoko-chan,” Misaki said, revealing the laser that Kabapu had given her. “Welcome to Earth.” She fired the gun without a moments hesitation and in Ryoko's surprise she wasn't even able to dodge. The blast hit her head-on point-blank range, and Misaki wondered for a moment if she should have done that. Her worries were assuaged however when the smoke cleared and Ryoko's unconscious form was lying prone on the ground.
“Huh. It worked.”
“Is she dead?” Iwata asked. He poked her boob with a stick. No reaction.
Watanabe sighed. “Well, let's take her Shiouji,” he said.
---
Excel was walking alone as she noticed something familiar whiz by. “Heyy…that's the van! The one with that crazy scientist!” She ran after it full speed and jumped on the back. “Hey, you crazy van!” The van swerved several times in an effort to throw her off.
---
Inside…
“What the hell are you doing?” Gojyou Shiouji asked his van.
“Master, a human female has latched onto the back of the vehicle. I am attempting to get rid of her,”
Shiouji looked out the back window and saw a familiar face. “Huh? What's she doing?” The girl's mouth was moving but it was to no effect as the windows were sound proofed. He shrugged and looked down at the unconscious girl sitting in his chair. Unconscious alien girl. “Just what will happen next?” He asked. Just then, it flipped over to it's side from a tight turn it made.
---
Excel let go of the side of the car and walked around to the motor. She started kicking it some angrily. “Yeah! That's what you get, you evil, possessed automobile!”
“I assure you. It is not possessed. Although I will have to readjust the personality matrix,” Gojyou said as he stood up. The door opened and he was able to stand up. Fortunately, he was unharmed by the ordeal. He hefted the alien over his shoulder and took a step out of the van to assess the damage. “This thing…Maybe I should just fly from place to place,” He said. “Hmmm…a hover craft…” He made a mental note to review any notes he had on anti-gravitational power. He sighed and started walking to the Research institute where he lived.
Excel blinked and looked at him. “Aren't you going to do something about this?”
“We're on my property. No one's gonna care,” He said as he walked into the research institute. “You may want to call a cab.” He said.
“Huh?” She looked around. “Where am I?” She ran after Shiouji, but found he was gone. She looked around and saw a closing door, and ran towards it. She stopped when a thought occurred to her. “What am I doing here? Why did I even get on his van?” She looked around but couldn't see anything. The door was shut.
---
“MOTHER! That's all wrong! I did NOT Kidnap this girl! She's valuable research material!” Shiouji yelled.
“Oh, my son, a pervert,” Miwa Shiouji cried.
“Like mother, like son,” Gojyou muttered. “Look,” He said, holding up Ryoko's Tail. “Does this look like girlfriend or even rape victim material to you? What about these?” He said, rubbing her ears. The girl made some moaning noises about some guy named Tenchi rubbing all the right spots. He quickly let go of her ears and looked at them in disgust; they were probably elongated to initiate the mating ritual of her species he guessed as well as heightened hearing. He set her down on a table and quickly vacated the room. He was back in a few seconds with a syringe filled with tranquilizer.
Miwa walked into the room behind him and checked out the girl on the table. “Where did you find her?”
“I didn't, Kabapu's motley crew did. They found her, possibly it or he where I told them to look.”
“You mean that UFO?”
“Yes, exactly,” He said carefully.
“Well this is strange. I didn't expect to come back and find an extra terrestrial visitor,”
“Oh I'm sure Japan has several of those,” He said, thinking of a few people he knew, one of them within close proximity of his person at the moment.
---
Excel blinked as she watched the sleeping alien. She seemed to fit the description, although she was built no differently than any other human female, she had several extra appendages she would never expect/hope to find on a human. Not even Hyatt.
“I must report this to Lord Ill Palazzo,” She said. “Right now, I have to look for a way out,” She turned around and noticed and oddly dressed girl. “Why is that girl dressed in a red shirt and black pants? And her hair is in a pig-tail…”
“Umi-Kun…” Shiouji said walking into the room. “…” He stared at her for a good ten seconds before he remembered what it was he was going to say. “Prepare some tea. We may have…a visitor soon,” He said.
“Ugh…” a voice said behind Excel. She turned to see the girl waking up from her sleep. “That was a good nap…”
---
Ryoko yawned as she tried to remember how she had gotten there. She was feeling kind of mellow, but couldn't remember for the life of her…anything. At all. Not even her name or anything like that. She stood up and looked around. “Where am I?” She asked no one in particular. Excel did her best to stay hidden and froze up when the girl started staring in her direction.
“Excuse me, miss,” Gojyou said as he walked into the room. “Ryoko, right?” He asked.
Ryoko assumed that was her name and looked at the man. She blinked several times.
“How are you feeling?”
“Um…Kinda' tired, sluggish, really…mellow,” She said. “Who are you?”
“My name is Shiouji Gojyou. Do you know where you are?”
“Um…” She paused again. “Your house?”
“The planet, I mean,” He said.
“Uhhh…no,” She answered. “Not really. I don't even know who I am,”
Silence reigned after that last comment. Gojyou sat down and stared at his hands. It was enough to take down several men but apparently it was just making her tired. If she had amnesia from Misaki's blast, there was no telling what she could have done, destroyed in her anger if he hadn't. He bet she could kill him without even trying at that very moment.
Yes, the tranquilizer was a very good idea.
“You don't know who you are, what planet you're on or anything like that?”
“Nothing at all, except your name and what you've told me my name is…does this mean I'm an alien?” She asked. “All these weird questions you're asking me,”
“…My…co-workers were ordered to investigate a crash site and they found you…unconscious,” he said. “We couldn't find any ship of any kind, and my employer is covering up the situation as we speak. No one else will know you are here,” He said, not believing his own words…
“Whoa. That sounds uber-cool,” she said. “So…Um…”
It was quiet again.
“…Excuse me,” Shiouji said. He left the room, leaving the girl to herself.
Ryoko looked at her hands.
---
---
Ranma woke up the next day looking up at the ceiling of the guest room. `I'm not wet?' He sat up and looked around the room. Pops was still sleeping, Mr. Tendo was probably reading the weekly newspaper, Kasumi was likely cooking breakfast, Nabiki was probably counting money, and Akane could be heard outside breaking bricks with her fists. `Oh yeah…today is Sunday. Well that changes things; I can't count on meeting Touya at school today. I'll just have to find a way to leave…'
He dressed in his blue Chinese suit and walked down the stairs to find his earlier assessment to be correct; Kasumi was busily toiling away in the kitchen while the father was reading the newspaper, Akane's loud grunts and the smashing of bricks could still be heard, Nabiki was in her room working on something,
Ranma decided to eat when he got back, and walked outside of the Tendo's house. He jumped onto a nearby fence and from there jumped the roof of another house. He ran across to get a good momentum and jumped again, rolling upon landing when an idea occurred to him. He suddenly slowed down and started sending Chi to his feet, when all of a sudden, the world slowed down around him. He looked around seeing things around him had more or less frozen. He felt the chi in his legs stop building and prepared to jump. Time sped up again and he was gone.
Up in the air, Ranma couldn't believe what he was doing. He looked below himself and saw several clouds. He hoped he was going in the right direction, as he couldn't tell from his current position. It didn't last too long, though as he found himself flying towards the ground. The friction in the air from his speed was finally starting to get to him, and he bit his tongue to keep from screaming at the pain. The ground kept coming faster, at a speed he never thought he would ever travel, until it was too close. Darkness.