Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Polarity ❯ Quantum Detonation ( Chapter 15 )

In a swirl of displaced seconds Sailor Pluto stepped out on to the mist covered plain of the Gates of Time. Here, outside the bounds of time and space she was able to calm herself for a moment from the hectic pace of the last few days.

 

She allowed herself that moment, and even in the timelessness of the Gate it still wasn't enough.

 

Getting back to work she opened her mind to the impossible powers of the Gate and set in motion a search for the perverted grand master of the Anything Goes School. She was not thrilled with their need for Happosai, but she trusted Ranma's judgment. She knew that the boy would brave any terror to help his new friends, especially Makoto.

 

She let a fragment of her mind drift back to the present on Earth, intending to check in and make sure that the pigtailed boy was back with the downed Senshi. What she saw in the vision that came up was anything but reassuring as a large force gathered around Ranma, intent on doing him harm.

 

Instantly she scanned a dozen outcomes to this event, each worse then the last as the antagonistic forces of Nerima attempted to vent frustrations, soothe anger, or carry out misguided revenge on Ranma.

 

The young man was in a poor state of mind right now, and a mass melee was probably the worst thing for him at the moment as the future riot spun out of control. There was no way to stop it, and showing up in uniform to back him up would only make things worse on many fronts.

 

This called for a subtle approach, but aggressive none the less.

 

A chainsaw with a silk handle, as it were.

 

Haruka would do nicely.

 

 

Polarity

By Seth

Chapter 15

Quantum Detonation

 

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.

 

 

“How did I not see this coming?”

 

Ranma slapped away a punch as he mused on his current predicament. Soun Tendo was attacking him directly, using a smooth punch-kick combo to force the younger martial artist backwards into Genma Saotome's waiting trap.

 

It was a style the two had developed while slaving under the Master. It used Soun's precision and reach to force people into unfavorable positions against Genma's high speed and brute strength. But it wouldn't work here since Ranma had more precision, speed and strength than both men, as well as a great deal more stamina after countless do or die fights.

 

Ranma's problem was that he was also dodging the wild swings of a poetry spouting sword wielding lunatic at the same time.

 

And these three idiots were only the first wave of oncoming death.

 

“You know,” Ranma quipped, “this gets really old really quick. Don't you people have anything better to do?”

 

Genma growled from behind him, “Shut up, boy! It's because of your foolish actions that we are forced to these extremes. If you had simply done as you were told, none of this would be necessary.”

 

“I disagree,” Kuno shouted as he slashed at Ranma's knees. The pigtailed warrior jumped lightly, and then rotated in mid air to avoid another snap kick from Soun. “The foul sorcerer has needed to be dispatched since his arrival in this ward. The noble house of Kuno demands it so.”

 

“Get over yourself, Ferret Face,” Ranma shouted as he rolled under a grapple attempt by Genma and dodged to the side as Kuno thrust hard towards his midsection. “Your noble house must be inbred or something! Got a thing for banjos?”

 

Kuno gave an agonized shout and charged as Ranma run up a nearby wall, flipping over the kendoist and launching forwards into a dive as a Chinese mace flew threw the space he had just occupied.

 

“Airen be good boy and come with Shampoo now,” the newly arrived Amazon ordered as she bounded off the shoulders of a surprised Genma, forcing the big man face first into the ground. Ranma, still in mid-dive, went into a handspring and flipped again. Landing in a three point stance, he sprinted away from the oncoming Amazon, only to be blocked as a gnarled wooden staff imbedded itself in the pavement at his feet, forcing him to abruptly halt his retreat.

 

Cologne landed lightly on the tip of the staff and glared at the boy, “I have been patient with you, Son-in-law, but the time for these shenanigans is over. Three thousand years of Amazon tradition hangs in the balance, and I will not have your ego get in the way of destiny.”

 

“Bullshit,” Ranma said simply and side-slipped out of the way of Soun's elbow strike that would have landed on the back of his head. He then immediately bent in half to avoid a slash from the recovered Kuno that would have taken his head off.

 

Back flipping out of the way as Genma came in with a hard stomp followed by a knee lift; Ranma took in his opponents and evaluated his chances. Cologne was the most dangerous, but held back for the moment, waiting for him to tire against the fusillade. Genma and Soun had years of experience and uncanny teamwork, as well as every dirty trick in the book at their disposal. Shampoo was breed to be a warrior, pure, simple and deadly. As for Kuno…

 

Even idiots could get lucky every now and then.

 

Ranma broke into a run. He needed to get out of the confined space of Nerima's side streets and into an open area where he would have more room to maneuver. It would also help to lessen the property damage when he was forced to let out some of his more destructive techniques.

 

His evasions were short lived however as a string of explosions went off in the road ahead. Ranma skidded to a halt and covered his face, protecting it from debris, but this left him open as Mousse jumped through the smoke created by the detonations brandishing a pair of Chinese broadswords.

 

“You think you can entice Shampoo with some old legends?! I can see through all your lies, Cassanova,” screamed Mousse as he slashed at Ranma, cutting open his red silk shirt as the young warrior retreated from the assault.

 

Ranma countered, “You have to be kidding me! I don't want anything to do with the Amazons! You want Shampoo, go ahead!”

 

“So you cast her aside just like that,” Mousse growled. “Is there no end to your evil? Destroying a young maiden's heart like that?!”

 

Leaping up and back Ranma let out a frustrated cry, “What the hell is in the water in this town?!”

 

**********

 

Haruka let out a sigh as she put the kick-stand down on her bike. Pulling off her helmet she looked over to the empty space in the garage where her prized sports car used to sit. It was empty now, and would be for some time. The insurance agent that had come told her quite frankly that the car was a write off, and the agency did not cover damage committed by giant tiger.

 

No matter how weird this town was.

 

With a grunt she headed into the house where plastic and ply board greeted her in the living room where the massive hole stood in silent testament to the power of her new teammate. She felt a brief flare of anger, but the look on Ranma's face when she cradled Makoto in her arms put an end to that.

 

Haruka had felt that before as well, two years ago.

 

A quick memory of a cathedral, Michiru's pale body, and the smug Witch that had blasted out her Pure Heart Crystal came forth in her mind. She repressed it quickly, however, before she remembered her own fingers closing on the trigger of that extractor to join her love.

 

She shivered and got back to what she came here for.

 

Michiru wanted her violin to play and calm herself down, but had forgotten it in the rush of activity after the attack. Since then they had been busy talking to contractors and insurance agents, and could only now spare the time to go back to the house and get the instrument.

 

Michiru had scolded the sandy blond when she had suggested an alterative way to release tension, and Haruka had chuckled when Michiru had turned it right around and told her that she needed to keep her fingers nimble for that, and the violin was good practice.

 

“I have got to marry that girl,” Haruka smiled as she headed upstairs to retrieve the instrument.

 

Just as she was about to reach the top of the staircase, a burst of energy released and Setsuna stood before her, a worried look on her face.

 

“You need to get to Nerima as quickly as you can. Here, take this.” Setsuna was to the point and pushed a sheathed sword into Haruka's hands, almost pushing her back down the stairs.

 

“What the hell?”

 

Setsuna continued, “Ranma's in trouble with the locals and outnumbered badly. He needs backup.”

 

“Ok then, let's transform and back him up.”

 

“No,” the Time Guardian said, “If a bunch of magical girls showed up to fight with him it would only make things worse. You are the only front line fighter without being transformed right now. He'll be along the canal when you get there, now go!”

 

“But what about…”

 

“I have to find Happosai and hope he can help Makoto. It's up to you to get to Ranma. Now…GO!”

 

**********

 

Ranma jumped high, delivering a kick to Genma's head and using him as a springboard to gain momentum. Twisting in mid air he caught Mousse with a spinning heel kick that knocked the half blind Amazon boy away long enough for him to land and slide forward to deliver a pair of rabbit punches to Kuno.

 

Shampoo came at him, swinging her maces hard to connect, and Ranma was forced into a back flip as the metal spheres clanged together. The back flip turned into a roll as Soun attempted to hit Ranma while he was inverted and the pigtailed boy almost crashed back into Genma.

 

“Ah, crap.”

 

Scrambling quickly, Ranma dodged a hard stomp from his father and jumped back to his feet, ready for another round.

 

What he was not ready for was hundreds of cold steel throwing knives aimed at him as Mousse recovered and started wildly swinging his arms. The blades came by the dozen out of the boy's billowing sleeves, and with Genma, Soun and Kuno blocking any retreat Ranma had no way to avoid them all. He crossed his arms and got ready to take the brunt of the attack.

 

A staccato of clangs met his ears as he looked up to see long brown hair done up in a low ponytail, and beyond that an oversized metal baker's peal that had faithfully blocked all the implements of death.

 

“Ukyo?”

 

“Sorry about the last minute save there, Ranchan,” the young chef said over her shoulder. “Trying to keep up with these loonies was not easy.”

 

Ranma blinked, carefully moving a small distance away from his one-time friend, “What are you doing here?”

 

“Trying to make amends,” Ukyo said as she eyed the other combatants. “I screwed up big time, but we'll talk about my faults later. It looks like this bunch is going a little overboard, don't ya think?”

 

Cologne chided from the back to the group, “This does not concern you, child, or any of these barbarians for that matter. This is an Amazon affair.”

 

“NO!” Genma made his feelings known, “Ranma has obligations he must uphold.”

 

“Yes,” added Soun, “now more then ever we need to join the schools.”

 

Kuno also made his case, “For too long you have all let this demon in human skin run free! I will allow his corruption no more!”

 

“Airen go back to China now,” Shampoo put her two yen in.

 

Mousse let a pair of spiked chains uncoil from his robes, “I actually agree with the delusional swordsman for once. Saotome has gone unpunished for far too long. I will end him today!”

 

Ukyo looked over her shoulder at Ranma and said in a pleading voice, “Please tell me I'm not as bad as these nuts?”

 

Ranma could only shrug noncommittally and Ukyo gave off a heavy sigh, “I could have been a normal girl, gotten a nice office job or gone into voice acting or something. But no, my old man had to get a hate on for your old man, strip me of my gender, train me like a nut and sick me on you. I'm gonna need LOTS of therapy after this crap is settled.”

 

“Get in line,” Ranma joked as he moved back into a combat stance, “my eyebrow hasn't stopped twitching in the last six months. So, it's two on six then”

 

Mousse shouted, “Like that will help you!” Another barrage of throwing knives was airborne, but halfway to Ranma and Ukyo they were neatly knocked out of the air by expertly thrown kunai. Ukyo took this opportunity to throw a group of her own projectiles, sharpened throwing spatulas, and drive back the attacking group, giving her and Ranma a little more breathing room.

 

“Actually it's three on six,” Ukyo said simply

 

There was a small flash of smoke and a shapely form garbed in battered shinobi tangs, with a single flower held in long black hair, was suddenly standing next to Ukyo, with a ninja-to held in delicate hands.

 

“Kunoichi Konatsu Kenzan, in the service of Lady Ukyo, has arrived.”

 

Ranma blinked and took in the somewhat odd ninja, “Good entrance, as usual man. Sure you want in on this?”

 

The beautiful young man nodded once, “Where Lady Ukyo leads, I follow. As she feels she owes you a debt, then I will gladly help repay it by aiding you.”

 

“Then you misguided fools share in this cur's fate,” Kuno shouted as he charged, meeting to genius kunoichi in a clash of swords as madness driven wood met gracefully wielded steel. This seemed to break the respite that had fallen and the melee was resumed.

 

“Sorry about this Sugar,” Ukyo said as she attempted to deliver the flat of her blade to Shampoo. The Amazon girl blocked with one of her maces and turned inside the young cook's guard.

 

“You always been obstacle. That end now!”

 

Bringing her off hand mace around, Shampoo attacked. Quickly Ukyo shifted her grip, levering against Shampoo's great strength and blocking the second mace with the long handle of her battle spatula. Pushed back hard, the brunette let momentum carry her away as she shifted her axe like weapon again, freeing one hand to dart to the bandolier across her chest and retrieve another brace of throwing spatulas.

 

Close in she knew that she would have trouble with the blue haired girl's power, but at range she had dozens of options open to her. She threw her blades as a distraction and then threw a small bag at the Amazon that exploded into a fireball.

 

“Flour bombs work every time,” she said simply. But as the smoke cleared she saw Shampoo still standing.

 

The two rivals locked eyes, and in a flash they resumed fighting.

 

Ranma could only take this in for a second as his ally's started their fights. He could spare no more attention as he was once more set upon by Soun, Genma and Mousse. Once more he began an acrobatic evasion as he vaulted off a spear that Mouse swung at him only to tighten into a ball to evade a jumping attack by Genma.

 

Landing, Ranma danced around a series of open hand strikes that a focused Soun executed.

 

Ranma looked for any weakness in his three opponents while keeping an eye on Cologne. The old woman had yet to really enter the fray, and that worried him. He would be worn out fighting these three, and he needed everything he had to battle the Amazon Matriarch if she took this seriously.

 

From behind he heard the continuing clash of Kuno and Konatsu as they battled. Ranma knew that Konatsu could wipe the floor with the kendoist, but was not going full out right now. The pigtailed martial artist had to smirk at that, the kunoichi suspected, as did Ranma, that this would be a drawn out fight. He probably didn't want to go full out because if the pretty young man used his full power then Kuno would simply be dead.

 

Ranma had to respect that restraint, even if he was starting to lose his.

 

**********

 

A prismatic light show was reflected in Sailor Pluto's eyes as she fell deep into the trance needed to activate the higher powers of the Gates of Time. Scanning the time stream for one person was normally impossible, but with the amount of energy that this Happosai was supposed to have the eldest of the Senshi had hope.

 

Of the billions of people in the world at this time she could limit it down to thousands. Martial artists, spiritualists, heroes, mages, and other unique individuals all had high energy levels. After that it was only a matter of scanning through them. That act would normally take days, but being pressed for time was never a problem here, where time was bent to the will of the Gates.

 

Fortunately the Gates were being cooperative today, and Sailor Pluto soon found the man she was looking for.

 

Accessing the wardrobe she kept here, Setsuna chose a short black cocktail dress with a plunging neckline that would allow her to fit in at her target's location. Putting the dress on, she mentally prepared herself for dealing with the perverted martial arts master, praying that the seriousness of the situation, and the plea from his self declared heir would be enough to convince him to help.

 

Stepping through a knot of time, Setsuna landed in a shadowed corner of the lawn of a mansion. It was late night here but the party was in full swing as music pumped out of speakers and hundreds of people danced, drank, chatted, and mingled. Moving gracefully through the crowd, Setsuna did let a small portion of her awareness drift over the people.

 

Happy celebrities in designer clothes were all around her, and a critical eye quickly evaluated every cut, material and stitch on them. After so long the Senshi of Time was not only a clothes horse, but a very good fashion critic, and this was a buffet to her.

 

It was after she had passed a group of women in extremely well made lingerie that she heard her target's voice and changed direction to intercept him.

 

“I'm telling you Hef, those extracts are working better for you then they ever did for me.”

 

Another man answered, “Come on, Happi. You still have a few centuries on me.”

 

“That's just my point. I was already going down hill at your age. You seem to be able to metabolize it better then me, especially with its effects on the pretty ladies.”

 

“That's just charm, my friend. Maybe if you didn't come on like a horny water buffalo you'd have better luck with the ladies.”

 

“Ah well. I am what I am.”

 

“DesCartes?”

 

“Popeye.”

 

Setsuna interrupted, “Excuse me, would you happen to be Master Happosai?”

 

The little old man turned and saw the exotic green haired, long legged woman that had asked for him by name. Mentally he ran down a list of people he had pissed off, and she was not among them so he gave her a large smile.

 

“For you Sweetie, I'll be anyone you want.”

 

Setsuna game a small frown, but forged ahead, “I'm here with word from your disciple, Ranma. Someone he is close to has suffered a form of ki poisoning, and you are his last hope of curing her.”

 

Now it was Happi's turn to give a small frown. To his senses she was obviously powerful, but she did not move like a martial artist. Yes, she had been trained to be a warrior but hand to hand was not her primary concern. She was also very beautiful, and if she was associated with Ranma, then…

 

“Are you a new fiancée he found?”

 

Setsuna let her smile return at that, “Co-worker, actually. However, the young lady that is injured is of some importance to him, and I as well. I would be very grateful for your help.”

 

Happosai's frown increased, “Cologne wouldn't help?”

 

“No,” Setsuna said simply. “There has been a development with the amazons, and they are now less then willing to help Ranma in any way without very large concessions.”

 

“Like going back to China on the next boat.”

 

“Exactly.”

 

The other gentleman sitting with Happosai joined in, “Seems pretty straight forward, Happi. You've been crowing about this Ranma since you got here. If this girlfriend of his needs help, then you should.”

 

“No argument there, Hef. But the problem with ki poisoning is that the longer it takes to fix it the more damage it does. Even if I were to catch a plane right now there's no way of knowing if I'll be in time.”

 

“If it helps, Ranma has been fighting the infection himself. He says it has slowed down the spread considerably, but he can't reverse it,” the Time Guardian clarified. “In addition, I have the means of getting us back to Tokyo faster then a commercial flight.”

 

The old master considered this for a moment. Ki poisoning was a nasty fate, one he would not wish on anyone. And if Ranma was involved it would only escalate, the boy had a knack for making little matters into epic confrontations.

 

“I walked out too early,” Happosai muttered to himself, “Ranma isn't near ready enough for everything out there. But he'd try and take it all on anyway. It's his nature.”

 

“Popeye again,” the gentleman asked with a small smile.

 

Happosai nodded and jumped out of his chair, “All right, Pretty Lady. Let's get this show back on the road!”

 

**********

 

Ukyo was being pushed, hard, and there was little she could do about it. Shampoo had always been stronger then her, but that was to be expected from her upbringing. Now the baker girl was using every iota of skill to stay just ahead of the attacking Amazon.

 

She was just a hair slow and couldn't block the strike that would hit her square in the head.

 

This would most likely be her last fight.

 

There was a rush of air and she found herself on the ground, the form of Konatsu between her and Shampoo's weapon. The male kunoichi's sword trembling as he blocked the mace, his toes gripping the pavement, looking for any purchase.

 

Looking past him, Ukyo saw that Kuno was pinned to a nearby wall by dozens of kunai and shuriken. She then looked back up to see the fierce look in her ninja waitress' face.

 

“You will not harm Lady Ukyo,” Konatsu said simply.

 

Shampoo was about to reply when she was hit by a thrown projectile the size and mass of Genma Saotome. This was due to the large man being kicked hard in that direction by Ranma.

 

The young man was in the middle of a jumping spin kick to clear out some space around him and had caught the round martial artist under the chin, sending him reeling into Shampoo and giving him a moment to redirect his attacks on Soun and Mousse. Before he could do more then lure Soun Tendo into a faint Ranma had to jump back to avoid a cluster of Mousse's exploding eggs that detonated hard on the Tendo patriarch as Ranma moved behind him.

 

“Are you nuts, Mousse” he called over the thunder of the explosions, “you could kill someone!”

 

“That's what I was planning to do!” Mousse was pulling out a Chinese broadsword and followed Ranma. The two slid down an embankment and came to a halt near the river.

 

They were soon followed by Konatsu who had leapt high into the air with Ukyo in his arms. The two landed by Ranma and quickly regrouped as Shampoo came over the edge of the embankment after them along with an irate looking Genma.

 

The male Amazon made ready to charge, shouting out, “Now you can all die!”

 

He was drowned out suddenly be the whine of a high performance engine as a red blur shot off the bridge behind him and landed without slowing, charging right for him. It quickly resolved into a racing bike of some kind, barreling right at Mousse.

 

The young warrior turned to face this new arrival, sword held ready, but the bike showed no intention of slowing. At the last second Mousse readied his strike at the bike's rider, but with precision the rider shifted weight and hammered on the front brakes. The front tilted forward as the rear tire lifted off the ground, and with the skill of a pro stunt rider the bike pivoted on its front wheel, smashing its tail into Mousse's head and sending the blind Amazon flying into the river.

 

The bike landed back on two wheels again and skidded to a stop near Ranma, where the rider dismounted and pulled a sheathed cutlass out of the motorcycle's frame.

 

The rider pulled off its helmet revealing sandy blond hair and a sarcastic smile.

 

“Starting a rumble without me? That's just rude, Ranma,” Haruka said as she fell in line with her old rival and teammate.

 

“Friend of yours Ranchan?” Ukyo asked.

 

“For a few days or a thousand years, take your pick,” the pigtailed boy answered as Shampoo and Genma got ready to attack. Behind them Cologne landed and finally got off her staff, her eyes narrowing as she took up a fighting stance of her own.

 

“Now things are getting interesting,” the pigtailed boy said.

 

 

To be continued…

 

 

Endnote: Behold the formation of TEAM TRANSVESTITE! Next time, Happi faces a hard choice and Ukyo tells her side. In addition we see just how far Cologne is willing to go for three thousand years of Amazon history. Until next time, peace through superior bunny slippers!