Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Polarity ❯ Lines of Force ( Chapter 2 )

“Your life kinda sucks, you know?”

 

Ranma cast a long look at Hiroshi as he and Daisuke sat down with him at lunch. His two classmates were smirking at him and his expression of misery didn't help to lessen their mirth.

 

He sighed, “Is there something new or is it the same old crap I usually have to deal with?”

 

Daisuke answered with a grin, “Nabiki is selling videos of the riot at the wedding.”

 

“Any chance one of you could just kill me now,” Ranma deadpanned. “It was bad enough that I had to live through that. Now it's a freaking media franchise.”

 

“She said that next month will be the extended edition with commentary,” Hiroshi added, his smile never faltering.

 

Ranma wanted to cry, or scream, or just run away and hide. But he couldn't do any of that. Part of it was that his shmuk of a father had pounded it into him for the bulk of his life that emotion was a weakness. Part of it was his loon of a mother was still holding a contract over his head, and at the first sign of `unmanliness' she would lop it off.

 

His head, that is.

 

But most of it was the simple fact that he was tired. The fiancées, the rivals, the fiancées, his parents, the fiancées, the lunatic school staff.

 

Did we mention his fiancées?

 

Ranma sat quietly while his classmates ate lunch. Slowly he let the chatter die down in his mind, and he drifted into a light nap in a vain attempt to store enough energy to stay awake through class.

 

It wasn't that he was lazy, or even uninterested in some of the classes. It was a matter of not being able to sleep a full night. Between his father, his fiancée, and his enemies attacking him at all hours he hadn't seen a full nights sleep over a year now, and it was starting to show.

 

As he napped, his mind spun and Ranma found himself surrounded by mist. He felt it was a dream but didn't fully grasp the idea, as if he were only peripherally aware of it. In an instant the mist lifted away, and Ranma discovered that he was in his female form. This was pushed aside quickly when Ranma realized that she was falling rapidly.

 

The mist above her had been a cloud, and now she was plummeting towards the Tendo compound, a view she was all too used to thanks to Akane and her temper. She braced herself for impact, but instead passed right through the house. She saw the Tendos, his parents, fiancées, rivals, and hundreds of other people crowded around the living room table where the impossibly large numbers of people were playing a board game.

 

Risk: Ranma's Life Edition.

 

Passing through the floor Ranma continued to fall through the sky, dropping towards another place. A dead landscape stretched out below her and she blinked as she saw a pristine road sign that declared `Welcome to Ranma's Future/Past. Population: zero, nada, nill, they're all dead Jim.'

 

That got Ranma's attention.

 

This time when Ranma hit ground level she let out a silent scream as she fell into a lava flow. The painful heat was suddenly replaced by a cold chill as she fell into a single, crystal like light.

 

A ghostly voice echoed in her head. It was a whisper of her own voice, filled with loss, hope, joy and despair.

 

“Sorry about this.”

 

 

Polarity

By Seth

Chapter 2

Lines of Force

 

Note: Ranma and Sailor Moon are owned by their respective creators and distributors. I use them without permission or gain, but with respect to the work done before me.

 

 

Setsuna didn't really want to open her eyes, but the insistent beeping of her alarm clock dragged her slowly from her slumber. It was one of the few pleasures she had allowed herself over the long years since The Fall, and she was always reluctant to give up a comfortable bed.

 

Her slender arm snaked out and slapped the snooze button, then slowly drifted over her nightstand to take hold of her PDA that sat within easy reach.

 

She loved the little gadget, almost as much as post-it notes. When it had come out she had snapped one up and put it to very good use. She charted out the days ahead on it as either Stay Awake days or Sleep In days. Now, if she put effort into thinking in these few moments after the alarm she wouldn't need it.

 

But who really wants to think that much before the first coffee of the day?

 

Pulling the handheld computer under the sheets, Setsuna tapped the screen and saw a smiling face with `Go back to sleep!' written underneath and sighed with joy. Dropping the PDA to the floor she snuggled deeper into her comforter and let herself drift back into slumber.

 

“Setsuna-mama, you have to see this!”

 

The voice of young Hotaru called out and ruptured Setsuna's rest. Hearing the girl call out like that was enough to shake the Time Guardian out of bed and charge into the living room of the house she shared with the other Outer Senshi.

 

What she saw was Hotaru watching TV, and a helicopter view was what looked like a war zone. The text on the screen declared the view to be of the `Nerima Incident' and the announcer was surprisingly calm about it.

 

“What you see before you is the remains of a riot that occurred today in the Nerima district. According to eye witnesses a fight broke out at the local high school and spilled out into the streets. The fight gained the attention of several people and seemed to grow rapidly into a riot. The police have reported the use of explosives of an unidentified type and the theory has been put forward that the riot was a cover for a terrorist attack.”

 

As Hotaru continued to watch the news she asked over her shoulder, “Is that right, or is it another yoma attack? The others have seen things like this before.”

 

“No,” Setsuna said in a puzzled voice, “as far as I could see we were clear of attacks for the time. After everything that has happened we were able to get a rest during this time.” She thought for a moment, her mind now wide awake. “This wasn't supposed to happen today.”

 

Behind her Haruka asked with amusement, “The riot, or running out here in the buff?”

 

Setsuna paused, and then looked down. She was indeed nude. The rush of finding out what had caused the usually quiet Hotaru to call out like that had causer her to forgo much of her morning routine, like putting on a robe.

 

She gathered her dignity around her like a cloak and turned smoothly, walking without hurry back to her room. Thankfully, Haruka's cat call was cut short when her lover, Michiru, put her elbow in Haruka's stomach.

 

After she was back in her room, Setsuna retrieved her PDA. Just to check her memory she looked at the day's major events and saw that nothing like this was ahead.

 

It wasn't the first time in history her foresight had been wrong. But every time it had events seemed to spiral out of control and do a great deal of damage.

 

She hoped that this time wouldn't be as bad.

 

**********

 

“How could things possibly get worse?”

 

Ranma's agonized grumble was received with silence. He was alone in the dojo after the fight had finally wound down, and he was trying to figure out how it had all happened. Everyone had simply blamed him, and he just couldn't fathom how that was.

 

“A nap. I was only taking a freaking nap,” he growled out.

 

And that was how it started. He had been shaken out of his nap by the dream just in time to be hit by Akane's mallet. She had seen him thrashing in his sleep in response to the burning sensation of the dream lava, and assumed that Ranma was molesting one of his `floozies' in his dream.

 

Hiroshi and Daisuke were long gone as he came to, but Ukyo had quickly shown up to find out what Akane was going off about now. It hadn't helped when she heard Akane's explanation and Ukyo only blushed and smirked.

 

“It's only natural for Ranchan to have those kinds of dreams about his cute fiancée.”

 

Oh yeah, that really helped things.

 

After Akane had whomped him a second time, she and Ukyo started into a yelling match. Ranma took the distraction as a sign to get the hell out of Dodge, but he hadn't taken two steps before Kuno blocked his way.

 

“Ho dare you defile the pure Akane Tendo with thy base delusions! For the sake of Akane Tendo and the Pig Tailed Girl, HAVE AT THEE!”

 

Oh he just had to put in his two yen, didn't he?

 

Of course, Shampoo had shown up at that point, along with Kodachi coming in from another direction. As soon as they found out what was going on they had each claimed that Ranma would only have naughty dreams about them.

 

Ryoga and Moose had dropped by after that and began immediately attacking for subconsciously taking advantage of Akane and Shampoo respectively. Akane heard this and yelled at Ranma about how he was a pervert for having dreams about multiple girls and started swinging her mallet again.

 

Ms. Hinako then came by and heard the gist of the argument, and started blasting away with her chi vampire abilities and calling them delinquents, and Principle Kuno came along and started to attack Moose's `offensively' long hair.

 

That's when things started to get a touch out of control.

 

It seemed like every…well, every asshole with an ax to grind had shown up all gunning for Ranma. The fight got bigger, people got in each other's way, and more fighting broke out as the various parties tried to determine who would be the one to punish/kill/maim/make hurt really bad one Ranma Saotome.

 

Ranma sighed, “Hiroshi was right. My like kinda sucks.”

 

Dropping into a kata and flowing into forms he had learned by heart, Ranma began the process of clearing his mind. His movements were like a salve for him, and it allowed him to go over the events of the day with a detached mindset. It was something he found himself doing more and more often, and he had found that it didn't help as much as he liked. He could see events more clearly, but still had no real way to deal with them.

 

One thing that was painfully clear was that Akane was still not giving him an inch of leeway. He had done so much for the girl, but she still wouldn't look him in the eye with anything but anger.

 

Ok, he hadn't exactly been prince charming, even he could see that. But after a year he wasn't even really willing to try anymore. Of course none of the other girls really gave him a chance either. He supposed that in some way he had been leading them on for a while now, but it was the first time he had ever been wanted.

 

He just wished he was wanted by more stable people.

 

“Boy?”

 

Ranma had to concentrate to keep the kata flowing smoothly when he heard his father's voice. If there was anyone that needed a beating it was his old man. But no, that wouldn't be right. Ranma wanted to show he was in control this time, so he simply ignored the elder Saotome.

 

Genma continued, “I understand that there was a bit of a problem with those other girls today. Akane was quite upset; you should comfort your fiancée in this time of need.”

 

“No I shouldn't,” Ranma said calmly while maintaining the flow of his kata. “The fight today was started by her when she started yelling at me for no reason.”

 

Genma shook his head, “She must have had a reason, Boy. What were you doing to upset her?”

 

“Taking a nap,” Ranma answered, “during lunch. I wasn't breaking any rules. None of the other girls were there. I was as close to inert as possible, and she still got pissed at me.”

 

“You should go and apologize to her anyway,” Genma said, trying to sound wise.

 

“Why? That girl gets everything she wants, and anytime she doesn't I get pounded flat. Why do I have to apologize for doing nothing wrong?”

 

Again sounding serious Genma responded, “Because that is what real men do.”

 

“Oh yeah,” Ranma said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “That makes a lot of sense.”

 

**********

 

“This makes absolutely no sense,” Setsuna said with a sigh as she sat back in her office chair.

 

Across from her Ami Mizuno sat calmly, looking through the paper Setsuna had just given her.

 

“It is odd,” the blue haired girl said, “but I'm not sure what I can do for you. I don't know much about the magic involved in the Gates of Time, and quantum theory isn't something I've studied. I want to be an M.D., not a Ph.D., remember.”

 

“I know, I know. I just need a fresh perspective on this.” Setsuna leaned back further and sighed, “My foresight is clouded. Michiru's Deep Aqua Mirror seems to be confused as well. I'm even going over to the shrine after classes and see if Rei can't help me. I wanted to fill you in because you have a knack for finding the details other miss.”

 

Ami smiled lightly, “The first thing I notice is that you're bothered by this more then I'd expect. Aren't we supposed to be free of trouble for the time being?”

 

“Technically, yes,” Setsuna said. She sat upright and locked eyes with Ami, “The trouble is that time is no where near as linear as people think. It's all wibbly-wobbly with possibilities floating off in random directions all the time. There are almost countless permutations on events that will lead us to Crystal Tokyo. Whole thing gives even me a headache if I think about it too much. It's only that a large percentage of them, about ninety eight, were problem free from now on.”

 

Ami blinked and asked, “And the other two percent?”

 

Keeping a straight face Setsuna answered, “Anything from a minor hiccup to a total pooch screw.”

 

“Oh,” Ami said, flustered by the unexpected language from the normally composed Guardian of Time. “How do you define, ahem, `total pooch screw'?”

 

“The planet becomes a burnt cinder in space and darkness spreads across the universe consuming all life.”

 

“Ah.” Ami and Setsuna sat in silence for a time as the young warrior of Mercury took this in.

 

Finally she spoke up, “I really don't have enough information right now, so I don't know what to tell you. So far you're using what assets we have access to, and until we find more information we really can't account for a time discrepancy like this.” She paused and continued, “I could do a little investigating about the incident that started this. It could be a new enemy popping up in Nerima, or it could be terrorists like the news said. It could be nothing, and it could be the easiest thing to eliminate as a factor.”

 

“Thank you, Ami,” Setsuna answered. “Your clear head is very useful at times like this.”

 

**********

 

“Your fat head is totally useless at times like this.”

 

Ranma winced, “Why thank you ever so much, Nabiki. Do you think maybe we could stop pointing out how stupid I am for a minute and maybe you could just tell me why Akane is on the warpath this time?”

 

“Five thousand yen please,” Nabiki smirked and held her hand out.

 

Ranma glared, “No thanks, I'll just live in ignorance after all.”

 

Turning away, Ranma stormed out of Nabiki's room and proceeded downstairs. He was headed out the front door when his father moved to block him. But before Genma could get a word out, Ranma fixed him with a cold gaze. At first the older Saotome brushed off the hard look in his son's eyes, but in less then a second a wave of frosty air, killer intent, and raw power washed over him.

 

Frozen in place, Genma could do nothing as his son brushed past him, put on his slippers and walked out to clear his head.

 

Genma turned and watched Ranma leave the grounds, a worried look on his face.

 

Soun walked up behind him and asked, “Is your son straightened out, old friend? We need to get those two children ready for the next wedding attempt.”

 

Genma lowered his gaze, not turning to look at Soun, “I don't know, Tendo. Ever since he returned from that last trip to China…it's been like a great weight has settled on his shoulders.”

 

“You said his battle was hard,” Soun said slowly, “he was forced to take a life out there. It may be hard for someone who is so pure in the art. Perhaps that still troubles him.”

 

Genma shook his head, “I spoke with him about that a few nights later. It does bother him, but this is different. There is more disappointment then anything else. Not over the fight, but something that happened there. He just won't tell me what. It's like he doesn't trust me.”

 

In fact, for once Genma was right. As Ranma walked he was considering the very problem that he wouldn't tell Genma about. The problem wasn't one that Ranma was prepared for. As a Martial Artist Ranma had spent his entire life for the next challenge; the next fight. None of it, nothing of what he knew helped him deal with a simple fact.

 

He had said he loved Akane.

 

On top of Mt. Phoenix after the worst battle of his life he had yelled out that he loved her. The pain of it was that once he had admitted it, to the world and himself he had expected things to get better.

 

He had stopped picking on Akane and had even gone along with the last second wedding that he had been hijacked into. He had avoided the other girls as much as humanly possible. He even stayed away from Ryoga when he could.

 

Not that any of that mattered.

 

Akane had been on the verge of death, and Ranma could only keep urging her not to close her eyes. He had won the battle, a war of primal forces, but in the end she lay in his arms, all but dead. He had said it, and she had heard him.

 

He was convinced that his life would turn around, that everything would be better. But after the failed wedding it had all gone back to normal. Akane blamed him for the fiasco, even if it was her own sister that had made sure every nut in Japan had been there. And so they were back to square one, with one minor difference.

 

Ranma.

 

Now as he found himself at his `Thinking Spot' under the canal bridge he looked into the water and saw his distorted reflection. His life was out of control, like the ripples along the back of the river.

 

His love life was decided for him, it had been for years. His future was set in stone, run a dojo. His attitude had been crafted for him, be a man or die. His sanity had almost been destroyed when he was a child. His gender had been stripped from him by Jusenkyo. His honor had been chipped away by people he had considered friends.

 

Now as he looked into his reflection he considered the question that no one ever asked.

 

What did he want?

 

**********

 

“So what do you want?”

 

Rei was grumpy. She had had a rough day at school; three pop quizzes tend to do that. Then she had come home to find her grandfather trying to get a peek up the skirt of Setsuna of all people. After she had swiped the old letch away with a broom she found that the eldest of the Senshi had come to her with an annoyingly vague problem.

 

“I just want to know if you have noticed anything strange in your readings as of late,” Setsuna asked. “It may be big, or it could seem inconsequential. I just want to know if there has been anything odd.”

 

Rei closed her eyes to think for a moment and was about to dismiss the matter out of hand. Then she felt a tingle go up her spine and remembered minor eccentricities from the fire that had appeared in the last few days. They seemed to be nothing more then the chaotic nature of fire itself, but Setsuna asked for anything odd, and the Time Guardian never asked for anything without reason.

 

The shrine maiden turned to face the fire and began clearing her mind. She felt Setsuna settle down a short distance as the woman understood that Rei had taken her request seriously.

 

Low chanting filled the room as Rei tossed a small log on the fire and made a series of hand seals. As the chanting ended Rei opened her eyes, but her vision was not in the room where her body was.

 

Heat clashed with cold. An angry fire unlike any she had felt raged with overwhelming force against a knot of intense, determined ice. In the end the power of the fire was washed away when the ice lanced through it in a twisting, final strike. For an instant Rei felt her chest almost crushed by an intense weight and anguish, and for a heartbeat she saw a wavering sigil.

 

She fell out of her trance, gasping for air as the pressure was withdrawn from her. Setsuna came over quickly to check her, but Rei waved her off and regained her composure.

 

She began quietly, “Two power waged war. I haven't seen anything like it outside of Usagi…using the Crystal.” She paused and took in Setsuna's reaction. The Senshi of Pluto hid her surprise quickly and nodded of Rei to continue. “Fire burned ice, and the ice fought back with an intensity that chilled me to the bone. The ice was weaker, but it won in the end, except, it lost something too. That's about all I felt. I was very indistinct.”

 

“So,” Setsuna said thoughtfully, “do you think this is a possible future?”

 

Rei shook her head, “No. This was the past. Not too long ago. But the symbol I saw felt even older.”

 

“Symbol?”

 

Rei nodded and traced a shape in the air, “A circle, with a line though it.”

 

Setsuna was rocked back, and a litany of blasphemous language almost escaped her lips on sacred ground. Then a smile formed on her face.

 

Finally she would be able to set things right with her old friend. Finally she would be able to make up her lack of foresight to herself and her Princess.

 

She would have to warn the others, especially Makoto and Haruka.

 

Their old drinking buddy would be back soon.

 

 

To be continued…

 

 

Endnote: The stages are set, the players in place. Next time the wrecking ball comes in to play its part and let a disenchanted soul meet some enchanted people. Until next time, be excellent to each other.