Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Featherbrite's Tale ❯ chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: Metroanime 
Nathan Brazil, Chinese Amazon search parties, and Ranma's secret is revealed. All this and a vampire too.
Oh, and there's an omake.
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Fantasy | Type: The Bet | Uploaded On: 09.03.2002 | Pages: 12 | Words: 10.1K | Visits: 1.0K | Status: Completed
Nathan Brazil, Chinese Amazon search parties, and Ranma's secret is revealed. All this and a vampire too.
Oh, and there's an omake.
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Fantasy | Type: The Bet | Uploaded On: 09.03.2002 | Pages: 12 | Words: 10.1K | Visits: 1.0K | Status: Completed
Featherbrite's Tale, chapter 3
"We have to take the path we have to take." H. Tokai
"Where the hell am I now?!" R. Hibiki
"I knew I shoulda taken a right turn at Albuquerque!" B.Bunny
DISCLAIMER: Some of these characters (c) R.Takahashi. One by J.Chalker. Others by N.Takeuchi though this is not a crossover in anything approaching a traditional sense.
i have replaced Sash with Bai Na due to problems using an "Usagi as an Amazon" without permission. Bai Na is a cousin of Shampoo, looking a little like her but blonde.
Many char are being artworked, and some of these can be found at the Lost Library Of Florestica run by the talented Larry F and found at http://members.tripod.com/lwf58/index.htm
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If one were to look upon the sea of Japan one might be able to find a mid-sized fishing vessel known as the Myoo Na Maru registered to Japan. A battered vessel that had seen better days, nothing particularly remarkable or interesting about it that a casual observer could find at first glance. Which merely proved that casual observation often proved wildly inaccurate.
"Captain? Captain Fujii?"
Captain Fujii put aside her recently acquired copy of "Love's Fiery Embrace" and grumbled that this had better be good. She'd been waiting for the Japanese version of the romance novel for months.
"Radar contact. Something is coming up fast." The scruffy looking helmsman stuck his head in the doorway.
Fujii nodded. The werecat was a solid crewmember, she should have known it was something serious to get him to interrupt her reading. "What is it? Coast guard? Lesbian pirate slavers? Chinese Military? Please, don't it let be the damn Flying Dutchman again. I swear they must have a Hibiki navigating." Though normally most of the "ghost" ships wouldn't show up on radar, their equipment had some upgrades and enhancements that would have puzzled electricians and intrigued parapsychologists.
"Unknown, cap'n," the Hindustani grimaced at the thought of the ghost ship. They encountered it every so often. Too damn often by his standards. Of course, he considered adventure and excitement to be *bad* things and preferred things to remain simple. Unfortunately, he'd signed on to *this* ship for a five year contract. "Whatever it is, it's airborne and very small. Too slow to be a missle, though."
"Okay, that lets out *most* of our usual problems," admitted Fujii. The captain thought about it, nothing was on deck to indicate what their vessel really was, and unless you were familiar with the bizarre history of the ship designated in several port authorities as "That Damn Ship" or the "HMS Weirdness Magnet" by others you might think it was a normal fishing vessel.
"Well, let's see it." Fujii trailed after Neko-san, pausing only to nod at the male amazon at the controls. Talcum pulled a hidden switch and a few key preparations were made, just in case.
There was a hum felt through the deck as certain devices folded back into housings along the sides of the vessel.
Neko-san stared off to the West, trying to catch a glimpse of the object. His daylight vision was among the worst of the crew though, so he couldn't see them until they were almost alongside the vessel.
The dot became a shape, though they were only a few hundred yards away before Fujii could make them out. "Faeries?!?"
"Mark that," came the comment from Nathan as he slipped into place beside the Captain. "Looks like a wind faerie, and someone under an enchantment. That's probably her clothing they're carrying. Interesting... I didn't know there were any faerie left."
Fujii didn't ask. One of the unwritten rules aboard the Myoo no Maru was "Don't Ask Nathan How He Knows Something." It was like asking him about astronomy or history. The consequences could be horrible. He could tell you.
Nathan Brazil usually told his shipmates the truth. This was the horrible part.
-------
China:
"We wait here for vessel," said Sugar, practicing her Japanese so that they wouldn't be completely lost when they got to their destination.
"Time for a song?" Tigar whipped her guitar out of nowhere and looked hopeful.
"No!" Vanilla, Sugar, Spice, Dina, Shammi, and Bai Na insisted.
Tigar responded by going off to pout.
Vanilla started sharpening her knives. Because your knives could never be too sharp in her opinion.
"So what's with this ship anyway?" Dina asked. "We can't just swim across?"
"Only an idiot would try to swim the Sea Of Japan," said Spice. "It's too far."
"Bet I could do it," grumbled Dina.
"Besides, there are lesbian pirate slavers," added Spice.
Dina blinked. That was just crazy enough to be true. "OK. We wait for boat."
Shammi looked up from where she was preparing tea. "How we know when ship show, is not pirate?"
"Ship is old one make landfall. Three exile of Amazon on ship. We no attack or make trouble, our passage be much cheap," explained Sugar.
"Exile of Amazon? What they do?" Spice asked, thinking of Sugar's little sister who seemed to spend most of her time in trouble with the Elders.
"Not know, that not covered by talking from Elder," admitted Sugar.
Dina scowled. "Must be bad. Much dishonor be exile. Not allow to kill?"
"No, it is not allowed," said Bai Na, rubbing her hands gleefully. In a short time this ship would arrive and they would cross the sea to Japan. Japan, land of otaku! Where manga could be found paving the streets! Where anime merchandise was behind every corner! She could finally get a stuffed Totoro! It was all she could do not to give breath to a demented but triumphant laugh.
Dina hoped they had decent restrooms over there. Indoor plumbing was so neat!
Sugar and Spice compared notes about what stores they were going to hit, and in what order.
Tigar tuned her guitar and wondered what kind of music they had over there. Maybe she could meet one of the singers whose works she fancied. Chuck Berry would be cool. Or maybe the Beatles. Or even (dare she hope?) Elvis?!
Shammi finished making tea and started fixing the biscuits with some gravy left over from the previous night. It wasn't much, but as the foremost practitioner of Martial Arts Housekeeping, she could do a lot with very little! A thought made her pause. "Hey, you suppose any cute guy over there?"
---------
Japan:
Tatewaki Kuno slammed open the door to the classroom. "Cretin! How dare you try to use your engagement to that wanton witch to deflower the pure and tidy Akane Tendo?"
"Huh?" Ranma wasn't sure what the heck this was about. "Do who to what with which?"
"Thy Machiavellian plot to steal away the exquisiteness that rightfully belongs to Tatewaki Kuno by means of foul subterfuge!"
"Can you try that again in plain Japanese? Or English?" Ranma blinked innocently at the raging kendoist. "For that matter, couldn't it wait till after class?"
"The vengeance that the heavens demand cannot be put off by mortal agencies!" Kuno snarled at the boy. "Thy wallowing in evil perversity must needs be ended with all due haste!"
"Can someone translate for me? I can speak four languages but this guy ain't making no sense at all in any of 'em," complained Ranma.
Hiroshi stood and nodded to the teacher. "Oh, may I? I speak 'Deranged Babble'!"
Tatewaki Kuno stared. What were they talking about? Could it be that his noble speech was too refined for this lowborn knave to comprehend him? That must be it!
At a resigned nod from the teacher, Hiroshi eagerly began the laborious process of translating Kunospeak to Japanese. "What he's saying is that he thinks you are using your engagement to Nabiki in order to get close to Akane. That way you could seduce her without going through the whole 'beat on her to date her' challenge."
Tatewaki Kuno nodded. "Tis even as this peasant has declaimed that thou seekest to force thy way into her heart using filial piety. The heavens themselves do weep at such deception!"
Ranma blinked and turned back to Hiroshi.
"He said I've gotten the basics," translated Hiroshi.
Ranma thought, pondered, and thought some more. Finally he had to ask. "Why would I be trying to get close to Akane?"
Akane hmmphed. "Why would I let you get close to me?"
Hiroshi turned to Tatewaki Kuno, composing the question. "Nay, milord, for I am but a humble peasant and thy great musings be beyond my kenning. How come thou to such conclusion?"
Kuno blinked. Why in the world were they translating for him? "This Machiavellian cad can see that only one of the daughters Tendo be worth any man's attention - and that one is the fair Akane. Hence his attachment to the wretched wench with the fascination for matters pecuinary whilst secretly he doth seek to bed Akane! Surely such duplicity cannot be allowed to stand!"
Everyone turned to Hiroshi. Those who understood Kuno were waiting to see how Hiroshi translated that.
Hiroshi considered carefully. Ah. "He says the only reason you're engaged to the skanky Nabiki is to shag Akane."
"WHAT?!" Ranma and several others asked in a scream.
A textbook (oddly enough bearing the name N.Tendo) flew in from the hallway and bounced off of Tatewaki Kuno's head for no apparent reason.
"I hate you, you know," said Kuno to someone in the hallway.
"I can't let you talk about Nabiki like that," said Ranma, standing up. "Uhm, what's 'shag' mean?"
"Sex," supplied Hiroshi. "Sorry."
"Oh. Well, I can't let you talk about Akane like that either then," said Ranma, cracking knuckles. Class had been boring anyway.
"Uncouth blackamoor, what intentions have thee to dispute it?"
Hiroshi blinked. "He wants to know what you're going to do about it."
"This is not the place for a fight, follow me," said Ranma charging past the kendoist.
"That I shall!"
"And whoever wins gets to bed Akane!" *THWAM!* "ouch!"
"That isn't what he said," growled Akane.
------------
Faerie:
"Grink is dead."
"Well, that's how things go, the Mortal Realm is a dangerous place. Cold iron."
"Grink was killed by magic."
That brought the UnSidhe up short. Mortals wielding magic had not been very common in the past. For Grink to run into one that quickly might mean the number of magic wielders had increased. A gesture brought up an image of a village of women. "Contact the makai."
"The demon realm?" Yngvi wasn't too sure about that.
"They enjoy such things," said Gammon, one of Golderon's lieutenants. "Maybe a shikima. A village of women would interest such a one. Once the demon has been turned loose we will see either how much magic they have, or we will be owed a favor from a satiated shikima. Either way we come out ahead."
Yngvi nodded. No wonder Gammon hadn't been put on the stack with all the dead minions yet.
---------
Japan:
"Good thing there was a pool there," said one of the students as Ranma and Kuno continued to fall from the third floor of the school.
Ranma's yelp said otherwise.
"You idiot," grumbled Akane. "What, did you think you could fly as a boy too?"
"What did you say, Akane?" Hiroshi glanced at Akane, wondering what the heck THAT comment had meant. Not that he wanted to get hit again.
The waters of the pool erupting a moment later gave answer. Wings spread and with the sparkling glow that meant her self-control was currently shot, Ranma shot out of the pool.
"That idiot groped me!" Ranma shuddered in mid-air.
"RANMA! YOU IDIOT! Did you want everyone to know about your curse?!" Akane glared at this harbinger of trouble. Now that everyone knew he turned into something out of some magical girl series who knew what crap would be hitting her family?
Ranma blinked, realizing where she was. Also realizing all of the classmates were currently staring at Akane. Now at her. Now back to Akane. "Way to go," Ranma mumbled.
"Oops," managed Akane as she realized the same thing. "Well, it's your own fault!"
Ranma glided to within a few feet of the open window. "I thought we settled that already! It's a curse, curses are not something you CHOOSE to get. Curses are inflicted. About the only thing this curse has going for it is this flying!" (Which is a bit of a rush, but that's beside the point.)
"Look at you," Akane wasn't quite yelling but it came close. How dare he argue with her! "Not only are you a pervert, you're a perversion! You're a freak!" He was calling attention to her, people would think SHE was a freak or something for associating with Ranma. Or, almost as bad, something out of a Clamp shojo manga or something - so they'd think she was an otaku. The horror, the horror.
The crowd looked from one to the other, not quite understanding what was going on but some of it was beginning to penetrate.
"So Ranma turns into some kinda elf girl, cause of some curse." Daisuke summed up for the even slower members of the crowd. "Least she's cute."
Both Ranma and Akane looked disgusted at this last observation.
Far below them, Tatewaki Kuno was making his own observations, staring up at the winged girl above him. A pig-tailed goddess, a waterborne sprite, a vision of otherworldly beauty. Now, how was he going to catch her? And where had that peasant Saotome gone?
--------
Sea Of Japan:
"There is a house...
in New Orleans,
and they call it the Rising Sun..."
"She's pretty good," said Nathan, not remembering catgirls the last time he'd been on Earth. Or Chinese Amazons with silly names. Or "Martial Arts Housekeeping"?! The song, "House Of The Rising Sun", was familiar. Most of the rest was not.
He was used to every Reset on the universe producing small changes caused by fractal patterns not quite meshing, but this one looked to have some pretty large changes on the local level.
"Bleeeurghhhhhh," exclaimed Dina in no uncertain terms expressing her dislike of sea travel.
"I'm surprised she still has anything to heave," pointed out Neko-san. "At least the rest of them aren't having much problems. Well, at this point."
"Earlier was a problem," Nathan agreed. "We can put the nets out now."
"What about the chubby one?" Neko-san pointed towards Dina.
"If you were to offer to throw her overboard and let her drown, I think she'd take you up on it." Nathan shook his head. "Ah well, 'mountain girl meets the ocean' and neither walk away unchanged."
"Yeah, but the ocean's recovering a lot quicker," replied Neko-san.
-------
Furinkan SHS, Japan:
Ranma sat back against the tree, watching the crowds, and sighed deeply. After the fight with Kuno had come repeated demands from faculty and students to see the curse operate again and again.
He'd been fondled, pinched, had a wing almost torn off, and had the school biology teacher waxing almost Kuno-esque about the possibility of a full biopsy.
Even as much as Akane disliked him, she had turned a bit green at some of the details that Mister Hisakawa had been expounding on.
Maybe it was just Akane's time of month.
Then something unexpected had started to happen. Two of Akane's friends had started running interference. So had that Hiroshi and Daisuke. That girl Miyo had been ready to rap knuckles at one point.
Though some people were obviously avoiding him while they figured out how to deal with it themselves. Nabiki among that number.
All of which brought Ranma here. At lunch, back against a tree, with nobody willing to talk TO him but almost everyone talking ABOUT him. Not really having an appetite, he took out his flute instead.
Featherbrite had given him another flute to replace the one she had made, bringing it from somewhere within the Faerie Realms. It looked like it was bamboo, but Genma's best efforts hadn't put a scratch in it. She said it was an old instrument crafted by a fellow named Kokopelli.
Ranma began to play in the manner that he had been taught by Featherbrite. He began with the tune "Greensleeves" but poured his feelings into it, and it became something entirely different.
He didn't consider that when a normally gifted musician puts all his heart into a piece, it can take on a sort of magic. When the musician in question was trained by one of the Faerie, and when the instrument being used was crafted and enchanted by a Lord of Magic, the results could be far-reaching.
The music spread over the campus, and as Ranma played the music, so the music played the listeners.
Sayuri cried as the music told of a child's loneliness as he was taken from his home and mother to wander the cold and the rain with an indifferent father. The flute spoke of constantly being on the move, and a father who equated affection with weakness. Insults and violence - that was Genma's method of maintaining the bonds of father and son.
Yuka grew angry as the flute told of how a child could be tortured for the sake of the Art, and of pain endured repeatedly and senselessly. Of a restless dark where eyes maddened by hunger gleamed. The Catfist, which had not been allowed to take place in its fullness, but had left its own scars nonetheless.
Hiroshi stared at nothing in particular as the flute skirled through brief passages of friendship found and eagerly accepted, then lost again and again as the open road called the father on to other places. Of keeping to the shadows to avoid entanglements with the law.
Daisuke knew exactly what the flute spoke of as it told of being alone in a crowd, of no one to call friend or kin or confidante. Of having to keep the world at bay rather than grow too close to anyone, rather than risk having one's heart rended by their loss.
The flute briefly broke into a bubbly happy tune that brought smiles to many faces, speaking of a friend found, one who didn't quite understand, but was there for him. Hikaru Gosunkugi felt he understood the loneliness, and longed for such a friend himself - someone who could touch his soul and bring the sun out of the darkness.
Tatewaki Kuno heard the flute sweep through a passage of despair as another friend left, of the feeling of sadness at having been challenged to a battle by one who had been deemed friend. He listened to the flute speak of life without a home, without a family, and felt unfamiliar feelings stir within his heart. But then, was the flute not a noble instrument? Many itinerant samurai were thought to have learned the instrument, so his own interest in such things were quite acceptable.
Nabiki stared out the window at the flautist and listened to the flute speak of days and nights without food or water, no bed or shelter. The song seemed to speak of a lifetime of poverty and privation, of times of such loneliness as one's heart seemed to be reduced to cold stone and ash and the bitter taste of it filled one's mouth. The images and feelings spoke directly to the mercenary Tendo - of having no possessions of one's own, of starving while one's father gorged himself, of having nothing but what one could keep hidden from that very father.
Akane flinched as the flute spoke of becoming cursed, of such a simple thing as one's body being taken and _twisted_ into a new form, without control, without any warning. The flute sang on about being overwhelmed as everything was thrown into chaos with a single careless moment.
Keiko Amano stopped her article in the school paper as the flute erupted into the joy of finding oneself able to fly, to leave behind the anchors to the ground and soar effortlessly through the clouds. For a brief shining moment, Keiko understood what it was like to be freed from trudging along the ground, and instead to twirl and dance along the winds themselves.
Both Akane and Nabiki winced as the flute spoke of new hope dawning, of extending one's hands and craving friendship, only to find disgust, distrust, dislike, and needless cruelty as others sought to distance themselves, rather than leave their own hearts vulnerable.
The flute finished, speaking this time of being an exhibit on display, of being judged unclean, of having the curse triggered repeatedly for no more than a moment's cruel entertainment. Again it spiraled, speaking of hardships endured, and still more loneliness and the horrors of being forced to endure further ostracism.
Ranma put the flute away, he always felt better after having played. As if a burden had been shifted. He ate the obento that Kasumi had prepared and wondered why everyone was looking in his direction.
The drama coach considered the scheduled midterm play "Romeo & Juliet" and considered switching it with "Midsummer's Night Dream."
The music teacher sniffled, reached for her third kleenex, and wondered if it would break the school budget to talk to Nabiki about having her iinazuke join up or would she settle for a percentage of ticket prices?
--Shinjuku, Tokyo---
Night crept over the Japanese islands. The Hunt began and ended as it always did, with the predator dropping now-lifeless prey down into its lair. Less than an hour had passed since nightfall.
The hunting was good in Tokyo. No one had any real faith, garlic was rare, and the real threats were all but nonexistant to someone who took reasonable precautions.
"Cursed One," came a voice where no one should be.
Hissing, the vampire examined the shadows with senses far more acute than those of a mortal. "Who dares?"
An armored knight seemed to form, the skull within the helm turned glowing eyes in his direction. "I dare. I merely tell you of a faerie in your territory."
"A faerie?" His nose up and sniffing, the vampire checked. Yes, there *was* an odd scent on the air tonight.
"A source of power for one such as you," explained the skeletal warrior. "Enough power that you might challenge the one who has wronged you."
"What do you know of *my* suffering, Knight? We have never met before and since I have embraced my undead status my power has grown immensely!"
The skeletal warrior considered the vampire briefly. "Yet it is not enough, is it? You still seek power because the Master Vampire who created you still wanders the Earth. You did challenge him once before, did you not?"
The vampire started forward only to run into some kind of invisible wall.
"There is fresh blood and victims and magic to be found, simply go and claim it. My purposes are served if you remove the Vampire Lord," said the skeleton, fading into the shadows.
The vampire sniffed the air again. Someone else who'd gotten pissed off at the old "Master." That was acceptable. He'd deal with that knight *after* dealing with Dimitri.
--------
China:
The tentacle demon could hardly believe its luck. That rumor had been correct. Here was an entire village of defenseless nubile young human women that it could slake its unnatural desires on.
It would take these young ladies, slime them up really good, then have an entire village of slaves! Tentacles began to writhe in anticipation.
"There's another one!"
"Squad A, DRAW! Aim! Release! Rapid fire now!"
The shikima looked up to see a rain of arrows. Literal as in a torrent of arcing black fletched arrows reaching their apex and starting down. "What the Hells?!"
"Javelin squad," barked Cologne. "Salt your weapons. Release!"
"IIiiiiiiiEEEEEEEE!"
Seeing the thing was wounded badly but still moving, Cologne decided to finish it off. She leapt in front of the thing, looking it straight in the eyes. Then she pulled her robe off in a single motion.
"AAAGGHHHHHHHH!!!! MY EYES MY EYES! AAAAAAAAAAA!"
Watching the shuddering mass of tentacles fading away, Azure turned to one of the other warriors there. "Even if they *are* evil demon-beasts, you have to kinda feel sorry for them."
With a final sob, the latest tentacle beast to find the village disappeared.
Grumbling about how it was undignified if effective, Cologne put her robe back on then added another chalk mark to the board.
---------
Faerie:
Holly was a hamadryad, and therefore higher in station than a "mere" dryad. Nonetheless she prostrated herself before someone higher in station than she was.
"Are you sure," said the bimbo-ish voice of the Princess, "no - of course you're sure. Otherwise you would not have brought this to me. You are entirely too fond of remaining away from the courts, Holly Hamadryad, to willfully associate with them now."
"I was not aware that one such as myself had come under scrutiny of the Courts," Holly said. The idea was rather disturbing.
"You are an old associate of Fabu Tear Bri'te of the Cor Mai Tal pixies, and she has somehow attracted the attention of no less a personage than the Queen." The Princess smiled momentarily at the way the hamadryad's back muscles started twitching.
"I see," said Holly, liking this even less. Titania's moods were as mercurial as any faerie. More so than some.
"The UnSidhe may be moving to and from the Mortal Realm in greater numbers, in which case we may need to do the same." The Princess' voice turned sad. If it came to open conflict, many faerie lives may be lost. Which was not a good thing at all considering that they were otherwise immortal. A few breeds, like farm ogres, had souls and mortal bloodlines - others did not and were especially vulnerable to certain dangers of the Mortal Realm.
Holly pushed off slightly and prepared to dive into a tree in order to link back to her grove. "I merely wanted to pass the warning along my Princess. I shall think long and hard of your concerns."
---------
Back to Japan:
"Excuse me, Ranma, what are these?" Nabiki fingered one of the paper slips hanging from the outer wall. "These almost look like spiritual wards." Except that they seemed faintly luminescent, for one thing. At least briefly, though they seemed to fade into the gloom shortly thereafter.
"Nabiki," Ranma flipped off the wall and stood before her, looking down at her with a faint smile. "What do you know of faerie magic?"
Kasumi answered from where she had been sitting, showing that while she might have just stayed in the background - she still observed things. "It's small scale things, isn't it?"
Nabiki shook her head when she saw that Ranma was still looking for an answer from her. "You tell me, Saotome, up until yesterday magic was something that didn't exist."
Akane settled back into the shadows, still not quite sure how to handle what she had seen and felt when Ranma had been playing that flute earlier. Had he cast a spell on her? Was that why she had felt like that? Why was everyone else so
trusting of him? He was a stranger, he dabbled in magic, he could easily be a demon or something.
Ranma turned back to the task but continued the conversation despite his obvious attention elsewhere. "Faerie magic isn't about demanding or forcing the universe to do anything. I know how to ask the pieces of the cup to come back together, or to convince them the break never happened. It's also about feeling, as the faerie are more emotional than intellectual."
Nabiki watched Ranma put two more of the wards in place. "So... you had a bad feeling?"
"Yeah," Ranma said with a nod. "Mind you, these aren't really strong, but I had to learn how to do this for trips into the Faerie Realms, there's things in there that you don't want to meet." Like bog fairies.
Nabiki considered that. She valued someone well-traveled, and trips into magical places would certainly qualify as unusual experiences. "Ranma."
"Yes, Nabiki?" Ranma looked hesitatingly back at his on-again/off-again iinazuke, trying to guess her mood from the swirl of colors around her.
"Could you play something on your flute again?" Nabiki didn't mention the recording equipment she'd hidden around the place. What he didn't know wouldn't bother him. "Something a bit happier than you played at lunch?"
Ranma nodded and finished the first set of wards. "I'd be happy to, Nabiki." This was looking up, she'd asked him to play for her. Akane's aura had less anger (though she was still radiating distrust as well as other things he couldn't identify), and Kasumi's was showing a little less of the barriers.
Definitely showing improvement.
--------
China:
"How many is that?"
"Forty three of the ones with all the tentacles, two of those ones with the horns, and five squirrels."
"I saw something moving, give me a break already!"
"Well, it's still better than what Mousse did."
"Yeah, Frost, at least you didn't burn down any buildings."
"Why he thought he could operate the Greek Fire Projector is anyone's guess."
"Darn it, I ran out of throwing knives."
"You could always go clean off the ones you've thrown."
"That would mean touching them. ICKY! I don't want to get any of that stuff on me!"
"What? Are you an Amazon or aren't you?! Get those weapons!"
"That isn't very sanitary you know."
"Hey, since Mousse managed to knock out Dowel while he was trying to operate the GFP, do you suppose that counts as a marriage proposal?"
"You know, Shampoo would certainly appreciate it if it WAS considered such."
--------
Japan:
Ranma settled onto a section of roof, aware of his father's disapproval and of Soun Tendo's vague agreement with his old friend. Though Soun was a little put off by how years of frustration had altered Genma. According to them: time spent playing music was time wasted that could have been spent on the Art.
Ranma felt there were different Arts, each having their own time and place. Featherbrite had quoted him some ancient song about this. "A time for war, a time for peace..." though in the original Aramaic it had an odd cadence.
Sometimes Ranma wondered about that. What it was like to be over 12,000 years old. To have a friend who would grow old and die almost within the blink of an eye compared to that sort of lifespan... How much of the faerie viewpoint was due to such a long lifespan? She had seen Empires rise and fall, mankind struggle up from stone knives and bearskins to some kind of civilization more than once by her own admission, and the Industrial Age that had caused most of her own kind to retreat to the Faerie Realms and other worlds.
Putting aside such considerations for the moment, Ranma felt the presence of Kasumi and Nabiki doing the dishes in the kitchen below. Akane was starting to fidget over algebra problems. Something lowkey, but Nabiki had requested something happy.
Featherbrite hadn't known the name of the piece that she had taught Ranma. It was just something she had heard once in Europe during the so-called Dark Ages. A peasant folk tune with brightly clothed dancers forgetting their problems for
a time to become lost in the restless energy of the dance. Again he did as he had been taught and threw himself totally into the music, this time without taking the liberties he had during his lunchtime concert. His foot tapped against the rooftiles to provide the beat.
Akane looked up, her homework forgotten for a moment as the melody came through her window. Seeing a strip of paper hanging over it, she pulled it down. Another spirit ward. Honestly, that boy was such so strange. If it turned out that this *was* some kind of trick, she would remain untouched by it.
Nabiki sped from the kitchen with her tape recorder and quickly set up where she could record the little serenade. She had mailers with the addresses of two recording studios ready. The smile on her face was only partly from the revenue, there seemed to be some infectious energy in the alien music.
Kasumi merely listened to the music and enjoyed. It was her way, just as looking for a profit was Nabiki's, and Akane MIGHT bring herself to enjoy it but wouldn't admit it. A brief image came to her, of brightly dressed gaijin dancing with frantic energy in the light of a campfire as a pair of farmers played.
Uncaring, Ranma finished the old dance tune and went on to something a little more modern. Only a little bit though. He wondered if Featherbrite had actually met Bach...
Kasumi looked up as the piping went into the "Ode To Joy" and marvelled again at her sister's iinazuke. Perhaps he was a bit immature, but he obviously was not as simple as she had first perceived him to be. There was some growing rift between
Ranma and Nabiki, and Kasumi considered the possibility that one one woman's trash might well be another's treasure.
Nabiki listened to the old piece played in a manner that the composer had probably never anticipated. She checked and made sure that the recorder was still running. The gleam in her eyes was a reflection of the money she stood to make.
-------
Azabu Juuban:
There came an odd chill in the air, as if it were hearkening back to winter for a brief time. People shivered at the sudden change, but mainly ignored it.
Animals reacted a bit differently. Dogs began barking, cats fluffed their fur had looked about them with discomfort, small herbivores and scavengers skittered away.
Animals tended to be sensitive to what modern society might consider supernatural. They knew better than the human populace. There were predators abroad that night.
A few glimpsed the image in reflective surfaces, to look wildly about and see no trace of the horrific visage other than that reflection. A samurai in tattered brigandine armor, the flesh reduced to a skeleton with red slashes for eyes.
Worse was the feeling that it was looking for something. Or someone.
Compared to *that* the huge bat was as nothing. Well, almost nothing.
The entire publishing department saw the skeletal knight briefly and there was an immediate panic and heading for the roof. At which point the bat was also sighted.
Half the department fainted, half swore off drinking in the afternoon, but the professionals among the two wondered how they could use this in a manga.
---------
Nerima:
Akane couldn't sleep. The reason for this was not the algebra homework she'd failed to complete, nor the English test the next day.
It was a jumble of emotions all beginning and ending with the same individual. Ranma Saotome. Nabiki's fiance.
*CRACK!*
Akane frowned as, for no apparent reason, a small charm she'd bought at a shrine came apart on one of her shelves. She'd have to fix that in the morning.
A sound at her window, like a tapping, brought Akane to full wakefulness. Akane rose from her bed, trying to figure out who could be up at this hour. Probably some annoying boy.
Akane found herself looking into eyes the color of fresh blood before she knew she was in danger.
---------
"Sasuke!"
"Here, Master Kuno!"
"Don't do that!" Kuno got his heart rate back under control with some effort. If he didn't know better, he'd have thought the bucktoothed ninja enjoyed popping out of nowhere and startling him.
"Sorry, Master Kuno." Sasuke *loved* doing ninja stuff. It was perhaps the only benefit of this job.
"Have you located what I have asked for?"
"I have had to request its manufacture, Master. It will be ready for tomorrow's battle!"
"Excellent." Kuno didn't even bother looking at his underling. He was too busy contemplating the glorious battle that lay before him tomorrow. "Tomorrow, my winged elf maid, tomorrow you shall be mine!"
Kuno's laugh echoed outside the Kuno Estate the way properly done maniacal laughter is supposed to.
-------------
Ranma was awake, and if he had been in yousei form would have been hovering near the ceiling in agitation.
The outer layer of wards were not very powerful. Imps or gremlins would be stopped, but otherwise it was just a warning system. Those warnings had gone off as Something broke through.
The wards outside the house itself were rather stronger and more specialized. These were specifically wards against supernatural evil. If something broke through those, there was some serious trouble. There wasn't the sensation of
some supernatural evil breaking through those, however.
Both the room Ranma occupied, and the room Nabiki occupied had another layer. This last layer was subtle, hidden, and only meant to give the occupant a few extra moments of warning.
It was this last layer that had gone off, a silent alarm that Something Wicked This Way Comes. That it had apparently bypassed the second layer was indicationto Ranma that this was not one of the mindless Thyngs of faerie, nor even a bog-imp such as the "spider" that had been ready to devour Featherbrite all those years ago. This was therefore Evil and Intelligent.
Ranma kicked his father awake then made a hand signal where the panda could see it. Genma immediately came awake without his usual grumpiness and far more quickly. He had been the one who had taught Ranma the shinobi hand signals years ago.
Danger. Intruder. Nearby. The hand signals were only meant to convey specific ideas, but this it did very well. Ranma's hands stopped as the door to the room began to slide open.
------
Nabiki awoke immediately at the sounds of a fight going on. Wondering what could be this bad at 3am, the groggy teenager stuck her head out her door and wondered if she were still dreaming.
Hissing like a monitor lizard, Akane hefted Genma in his giant panda form over her head and threw him down the stairs with no visible effort.
Ranma did a spinning kick to Akane's head that should have torn her younger sister's head off but just caused Akane to stagger slightly.
Ranma used the opportunity to apply an Octopus hold to the berserk teenager. "Nabiki," Ranma managed as Akane tried to dislodge him. "Get (urk) a spirit ward. (Ak) Hurry!"
Nabiki froze as she got a look at Akane's face. Maybe it was the bared fangs, maybe it was the glowing red eyes, maybe it was just the way she kept slamming the struggling Ranma into and through the walls. She didn't think that was her
sister after all.(1)
Nabiki just barely registered Kasumi moving forward and slapping something against Akane's forehead. Whatever it was had to be hot because smoke immediately started pouring up and Akane HOWLED.
It wasn't until after Akane had collapsed and a shaking Ranma was leaning against the wall that Nabiki saw what Kasumi had in her hand. A silver cross.
"WHAT was that?"
"Vampiric possession." Ranma tried to catch his breath.
"Vampires," Nabiki managed. "Well, I suppose if curses, faerie, and the like exist, I shouldn't be TOO surprised. Why did it come here? Why Akane?"
"I don't know," answered Ranma honestly. "Why Akane? I'm not sure, and speculating would be pointless. Oh, thanks, Kasumi."
"How do you know about vampires, anyway? Is this one who followed you?" Nabiki was shaking and scared and didn't like either condition.
"No. My faerie companion introduced me to one once during a night I was being music trained. He isn't a bad sort, though, and would NEVER do this sort of thing."
"A nice vampire?" Kasumi stated, apparently not noticing at how Ranma had stared at her nightgown before turning away flushed. It was just her way of repeating things to indicate that she understood.
"Yeah, whoever or whatever attacked, I'm sure it wasn't Geoffery. He's wandering Japan looking for a cure." Ranma sighed and looked at the damage. "Guess I better get started fixing all this."
Nabiki hesitated before kneeling down next to her sister. One hiss or gleam of red though, and she'd be doing a credible imitation of a gazelle. She brushed the hair back from Akane's neck and stared at the two wounds revealed there.
"I'll need to reinforce the wards, and if Kasumi can buy extra garlic, we can keep this from going any further." Ranma's gaze met Nabiki's over the prone Akane.
"Oh dear," summed up Kasumi.
--------
Vladimir entered his lair and scowled at the surroundings. So close, he'd been so close. If he could drink the blood of a faerie, and use the wings and body in the Dark Arts, then his long plan could be completed.
"Soon, soon, I shall have my vengeance against you, Dmitri Maximov!"
The vampire entered his coffin to rest. Tomorrow he had to feed again on Akane Tendo, and then he'd be able to get past the wards and get the blood and body of the faerie.
He didn't realize how much like his ancient foe he had become.
------------
The ship crossing the waters in night was used to pirates, the Flying Dutchman, and a number of other perils.
The large reptile landing on the deck was none of the above.
"You ssshall take me to the place known as Japan, in return, I ssshall make your deathsss relatively painlesssss," suggested the wyvern.
Five amazons got up. Nathan checked his gun. The exiled three stood ready. A werecat shifted fully into hybrid.
"Foolissh mortals, I sshall feed on your liversss!"
Guns spoke. Martial arts ranged weapons struck.
"Go for the eyes, Boo, go for the eyes! AAAAAAA!"
Including some strange attacks.
Brief silence.
"BReeaauughhh," said Dina over the side of the ship. Getting excited really hadn't helped.
----------
Nerima:
Kasumi was up, as was usual, before the sunrise. She'd gotten a little less sleep than normal, undead showing up in the middle of the night having that effect, and was hoping the rest of the day was calm enough that a nap could actually be
scheduled.
A six inch faerie entering through an open window dispelled that idea.
Kasumi hoped that Ranma would be able to put together that mixing bowl again.
Featherbrite noted that this girl's eyes were tracking her, and allowed herself to be drawn from the reunion with Ranma.
"Oh, you must be Ranma's imaginary friend." Kasumi remembered Genma's talks about that. Ranma denied that the friend in question was imaginary. Genma insisted that she was. If she could see the little creature, then Ranma obviously had a very good imagination.
Featherbrite used her abilities to pass through the young woman's almost nonexistant mental defenses and gave a sigh that would have been accompanied by a big sweatdrop if she weren't so tiny. A couple of temporary fixes seemed to be indicated. This girl was so polite that she just accepted what that horrible Genma had told her, almost without a second thought.
The faerie checked and found that this girl actually found Ranma attractive! Not that she'd ever do anything about it because of some odd barriers she'd put over her behavior, and some other things the faerie wasn't exactly sure about. Ranma insisted that tweaking someone's mind was wrong, but surely a few corrections here and there would be ok.
"Genma is mistaken. He is not very clever." Featherbrite put a little extra power into the words. "I am invisible to many. You can see me."
Kasumi nodded. Yes, she had noticed that Mister Saotome was missing a few bricks from the load. A few donuts shy of a dozen. The elevator didn't quite reach the top floor, in his case at least.
Featherbrite looked this girl over, inside and out, and immediately labelled her "Candidate #2" as far as THAT went. She'd find Ranma first, then get a sleeping Shampoo off the roof. The sooner she got someone to start sleeping with Ranma, the sooner she'd be able to get the damn panda's influence over Ranma diluted.
Finding Ranma asleep, Featherbrite decided that this was a VERY good idea and found her own place to sleep.
------------
"Okay Saotome," Nabiki licked nervous lips. "I'm ready." Silently she added that she _hoped_ she was ready.
Ranma scooped Nabiki up in her arms. "Okay, what first?"
"How high up can you go?" Nabiki tried not to think about the stomach flipflop sensation of freefall. They were only a foot above the ground, and she had a squeeze bottle of cold water in case (somehow) they ran into hot water during the flight.
"What are you two doing?" Akane came out, holding her head and looking like she'd just gone two rounds with a world class martial artist.
"I'm going for a ride, Akane. He's my iinazuke, after all, and it's only fair to find out what all he can do. Even if he's a she at the moment." Nabiki turned to look at Ranma. "Now, Ranma, let's find out."
Akane watched as the two figures shot up into the air, quickly becoming specks in the distance. "Baka..." Akane's voice broke on the last syllable. She wasn't sure if she was referring to Nabiki or Ranma. Not that she was jealous, mind
you. She had vague memories of the previous night filtering in, but they didn't make much sense at the moment.
Kasumi dried a plate and looked skyward at the dot that was her sister and her fiance. She wondered if she could get a ride later. It could be very convenient for shopping. "How nice. Do you suppose Ranma's little friend is still asleep in his room?"
Akane gave Kasumi an odd look. "Little friend? Kasumi, are you feeling all right? Mister Saotome said that it was all just Ranma's imagination."
"Mister Saotome is a few cards short of a full deck." Kasumi continued to watch as the tiny speck made a ninety degree turn and passed behind a cloud. "He's a few fries short of a Happy Meal. Not running on all cylinders. A few holes under
par."
Akane stared and wondered exactly what was going on. Deciding she was too tired to care at this point, Akane went back into the house to finish getting ready for school.
Kasumi merely felt a pang of envy, quickly suppressed, and decided to see if Ranma's little friend was ok.
---------------
Nabiki decided she would not squeal, she would not faint, she would NOT do anything to indicate that she was viewing the entire experience as anything but a scientific experiment. She was admittedly having a very hard time with this.
After looking down at teeny-tiny roads and the tops of clouds, Nabiki had realized that they had stopped climbing in altitude because the air was getting thin. Not that Ranma-yousei's wings beat or had anything like a surface to air ratio that would have supported them. Because much further up would have been difficult to breathe.
As far as speed went, she had trouble figuring out the details. Her watch indicated that they had traveled the one kilometer from the ice cream parlor to Furinkan high in less than ten seconds. That indicated, Nabiki did the numbers in her head, 6km per minute or a top speed via Air Ranma of roughly 360kph.
While part of her mind was busy cataloguing and analyzing, part of it was registering the cinnamon smell of Ranma-chan. Of the realization that, female form at the moment to the side, that it was her iinazuke holding her safe as they raced among clouds and chased the wind. Part of her wanted to analyze profit potentials. Part of her wanted to giggle and urge Ranma on - faster, higher! To see the dawn from the clouds above Fuji, to skim the waves of the beach at high speed, to dance along the light of day, and cruise slow along the Milky Way.
Nabiki noticed she was getting poetic and ruthlessly stamped that down. For now.
She noted that while weightless and blithely ignoring several important physical laws, it was NOT effortless. When the two of them arrived at Furinkan, Ranma was quite winded.
Regaining her footing, Nabiki nodded at Ranma. "Well, that was interesting. I think that I might have a few ideas how we can make use of that flight talent of yours."
"Whatever you say, Nabiki. I need to find some hot water before classes start."
Lots of staring, as one might expect from having people *fly* to school in the morning. Some looks were envious, others startled, and a few disbelieving.
The reaction of the crowd wasn't quite what Ranma had expected. She nodded at a few requests for some music at lunch, until Nabiki started in on the crowd about ticket prices at least.
Akane arrived and looked around. Everyone was paying attention to Nabiki and Ranma? Nobody had noticed that she was here? It wasn't like she felt well this morning anyway. She decided to be happy about this turn of events and get to class on time, rather than resent the way everyone was ignoring her arrival.
"Ah, winged goddess, how your presence shines like the morning sun itself. Truly, you must be a wild spirit. Let my heart tame you, that you may accept the jesses of my love."
Almost everyone was staring at Kuno.
"Uh, Kuno. What the heck are you talking about?"
"I come prepared to capture your heart, with this." Kuno pulled the manriki-gusari out and threw it in one motion.
Nabiki stared in horror, the moment seeming to be in slow motion as she noted the steel had sleeves of some dark metal on the links.
"What kind of lame attack is this," Ranma asked as she reached out to snatch the weapon out of the air.
-------
(1)- based on scenes from TOS, Nabiki is not what one would call a morning person. It takes her awhile to bring the higher functions on line.
Next: Another New Complication. we'll see you there.
Exe, a cute young Asgardian member of the Goddess Relief Office, pondered the pool. "What about changing the age of Jusenkyo?"
Batt, another cute young Asgardian member of the Goddess Relief Office, pondered her colleague."What about it?"
"What kind of effect would *that* have?" Exe wondered aloud.
"Already been done," said a girl of about their age, wearing Pernese dragonriding gear. The only thing out of place in her ensemble was her violet eyes and the Silence Glaive she had laid across her lap. "Check RN-JP 401811."
"Display RN-JP 401811," said Com, the third of the young goddesses, who didn't say much since her stocks had just gone bust.
----------
WHAT IF RUMIKO TAKAHASHI LIKED TO DRAW DINOSAURS?
"Uhm, wrong title. Try again," said Exe.
WHAT IF JUSENKYO WAS A WHOLE HECKUVA LOT OLDER?
"Better," proclaimed Batt. "Oh by the way, this is just an omake for general amusement, so don't get your panties in a wad about it, okay?"
-----------
"Honestly, engaging us to some guy you don't even know?!" Akane humphed.
"I hope he's cute," said Nabiki.
"I hope he's older," said Kasumi.
"How depressing, a boy," mumbled Akane.
---------
One old man pushed a pawn two spaces forward. "We're from Nerima. We ain't phased by much."
"Gronk!" "Rrrrragghhhh!" "Brahhhhhh!"
The other old man paused. "Hmmmm. That there looks a thoroughly P.O.ed velociraptor which is chasing a giant sloth which is being chased itself by an anklyosaurus. Hmmmph. Don't see that every day. Reminds me of the time I was at Seoul."
The first old man chortled. "Well, that was what you got for monkeying with me' still, Beej! Asides, that there ain't no velociraptor. It's a Utahraptor. Velociraptors are those little ones about the size of a medium dog or so."
"Reckon you're right, Hawkeye." Beej watched the odd procession go by. "Looks like that there anklyosaur done got lost."
"Must have the direction sense of a Hibiki," agreed Hawkeye. "Hah! Lets see ya get out of *this*!"
---------
"They'll be here any moment," said Soun.
"You've been saying that for the past three hours, Daddy." Nabiki stood up. "I'm going to change."
"...any moment," repeated Soun.
Akane was smiling. No boys! Yayyyy!
--------
"Gronk!" "ch-ch-ch-ch-chk. Rragh!" "Where the hell am I NOW?!"
"Aiyah! Ranma! Sash is here! You no run away! You give Sash magical powerup item just like in Rayearth, yes?!"
"RAAAAK!" "Gronk!" "Ah! It's that crazy Amazon chick!"
-------
A multi-millionaire sat back, enjoying the atmosphere of a small Japanese okonomiyaki restaurant. Now if he could just think of the next Big Gimmick. Something he could use to entertain the masses, capture the imaginations, and make himself a hefty profit.
"Here ya go," said the Kansai accented bishonen behind the portable grill. "Deluxe beef okonomiyaki, by the greatest okonomiyaki chef around."
The multimillionaire ate a piece and nodded. "It *is* great! Sorry, but I'm just trying to figure out where to get the next great idea. I'm toying around with theme park concepts, but what theme to use."
The bishonen shrugged.
"GRONK!" A huge furry beast ran by, going remarkably fast. Somehow leaving with most of a deluxe beef okonomiyaki.
"Ch-ch-ch-chk!" A reptillian creature of teeth, claws, scythe like BIG claws, and scales ran by.
"RANMA SAOTOME! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! BECAUSE OF YOU (pant pant) I HAVE SEEN THE TRIASSIC PERIOD!"
The businessman paused and handed over a wad of yen. "Aw hell. Gimmee another."
"Right," said the guy behind the grill.
"RANMA SAOTOME!" A very pretty and buxom girl with two long blonde ponytails bounced by. "YOU COME BACK! SASH KNOW YOU MAGICAL MASCOT!"
The businessman paused. "A dinosaur chasing a pleistocene beast through the streets of Tokyo?" There was the sudden sound of a cash register opening somewhere in the background.
The okonomiyaki chef turned "his" grill off. "She said 'Ranma Saotome'?!" A large spatula was pulled from concealment.
A large number of young girls with strange colored hair ran past. "AIREN!" "LOVER!" "DINOSAURS SO COOL!" "RYOUGA DARLING!" "ARE WE THERE YET?!" "WANT TO RIDE RANMA, AND SUGAR NOT MEANING IN HENTAI SENSE!"
"AFTER THEM!" Businessman and chef declared as one.
----------------
"Any moment now," said Soun. "Any moment."
"Good grief, it's 11:00! Good night, Daddy."
--------------
The giant sloth sped up as dawn crested the horizon. There it was, the Tendo home. Yes. He'd be safe there.
Genma glanced over his shoulder as best a giant sloth could do. There was Ranma, still snapping at his tail, apparently very unhappy about the engagement still. There was Ryouga, who hadn't even noticed in his anklyosaur form that he had fifteen Amazons sitting on his back. Plus some Japanese businessman, a small grill, and some guy making okonomiyaki up there. Hmmm okonomiyaki. Yum.
Oh and behind that was the policecars, the animal control van, the MiB people, the news vans, and a couple of helicopters. He wondered if those were JSSDF copters, or were they from a news station? Or maybe it was that wacked out paleo- palilio- that weirdo from the University?
Genma turned his head back in the direction he was heading and realized he was about to impact the front door of the house. No wait! Soun was opening it! His old buddy Soun Tendo would hide him!
---------
Soun still had his toothbrush in his mouth when he opened the front door and looked out. The ground had a tremor in it, but he'd been through worse earthquakes. Though what were all the sirens and...
Soun had a moment to contemplate the fact that there was a giant ground sloth, followed by two dinosaurs, several cars and vans, all heading directly for him at high speeds.
Taking the pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, he tossed them aside. Clearly he'd gotten a pack with some of the "funny" additives. Showed him for buying Lucky Strike Yakuza cigarettes. Oh well.
*SCREECH!* *CRASH!* *THUD!* *THWAM!* *BAM!* *SMASH!* *tinkle!* *TRAMPLE!* "Gronk?" *CRUNCH!* "SPLASH!*
It was like a traffic accident. Only more so. The horrible sounds continued on for some time.
Kasumi stepped out of her kitchen, noticing the trail of destruction forming a tunnel through the house. Starting with the front door, going out the back, and ending up in this thorough mess in what remained of the koi pond and the dojo.
Kasumi thought carefully. "Oh my" didn't seem really appropriate for events of this magnitude. "Oh dear." Well, that was a little better.
Nabiki came down the stairs and for once in her life woke up inside a half hour. "What the?!"
Akane came down more slowly, more cautiously, and with her favorite shinnai. "Did I miss breakfast?"
-----------
Soun laughed to himself. "So you turn into a large carnivorous reptile with large slashing claws and a strong bite? Well, your problem isn't so bad. Now which of my daughters will be your new fiancee?"
"None of the above?" Ranma's tone was hopeful.
"Akane would seem the wisest choice," said Kasumi.
"Couldn't agree more," agreed Nabiki.
"ARE YOU NUTS?!" Akane disagreed.
"Well, Akane, you hate boys," pointed out Nabiki.
"So one splash of cold water, and you've got a dinosaur instead of a fiance. What would be more perfect?" Kasumi concluded.
"Where in the world did you get *that* definition of perfect?!" Akane demanded.
"Hmmm," Nabiki hmmed. "She's got a point, Daddy. Both Ranma and his dad mass greater than human. Ranma's cursed form has to weigh three times what his human form is, and Saotome-san has to tip the scales at over three tons. Do you think there'll be much left of the house if they stay here?"
"I'm sure you're exaggerating, Nabiki," said Mister Tendo.
"RANMA! DIE!" Ryouga charged forward, splashing across the fish pond as he did. "Ruuuuunnnnnn!"
"Watch that tea!" Ranma exclaimed just before he and his father got splashed. "Tk-tk-tk-tk-tk-tk-TK!"
"Gronk!"
"My kitchen!"
"Our house you mean! Do something, Daddy!"
"Gronk!" "Hsssssaaaaaa!" "Runnnnnnnnn!"
One of the Amazons pointed something out. "If deal was to get dojo, dojo currently flattened. Dojo go bust, deal go bust. Is darn pity, yes?"
"SAOTOME!"
"Excuse me, but my name is John Hammond. Can we talk?"
---------
"Greeakkkk?!"
"The contract is for five years," explained Nabiki. "Until then - no hot water during any time the park's open. It's in the contract and legally binding. The Amazons can work security and the food booths. I, of course, am one of the main ticket collectors, and we all know how lucrative this dinosaur theme park concept could be."
"Greak-kk. HONK!"
"Well, you couldn't expect them to open a theme park with only TWO dinosaurs and a giant sloth, could you Akane?"
=====
possibilities:
Ranma Saotome: Utahraptor
Genma Saotome: Giant Ground Sloth
Ryouga Hibiki: Anklyosaur
Mousse: Stegosaurus
Akane Tendo: Triceratops
Soun Tendo: (offer him some money?) Emu
villains:
big game hunters/poachers
environmentalist extremists
religious sect leaders who want to kill the "beasts"
religious sect leaders who want to worship the "beasts" (you *know* they'd have to kidnap Akane for this)
Cruella DeVille types (just think of the suitcases we could make out of that triceratops!)
etc.
Alternate ending provided by SHADE:
*$*$*$*$*$*
The storm had come and gone, and taken the island's state of the art security system with it.
"Eh.h-heheh... you do know there was nothing personal about this? Right Ranma?"
Nabiki backed away nervously from the coldly staring raptor.
Where was everybody else?! Her father had said he was going out to try and get the power back, and hadn't come back yet. Kasumi had exited the control room in order to cook some dinner. So now here she was, all alone with someone she'd exploited, imprisoned, and condemned to a life of having to deal with her sister Akane on a 24-7 basis with *no* way to get away from her.
She'd signed off on the paperwork herself as Ranma's legal agent, with the park open 24-7 he'd be unable to change back. For that matter Akane and all the others introduced to the Jusenkyo cursed waters.
*Tik* *tik* *tik*
Ranma exposed a lot of *very* sharp teeth in what might have passed for a grin.
*Cough*
And then spit out what looked like the torn and stained sleeve of a brown gi.
"DADDY?!"
*Hrough*
A white hair ribbon.
"KASUMI?!!"
*Putooie*
The various rings, earrings and a solid gold rolex that Hammond had been wearing almost went unnoticed.
"Wait! Can't we make a deal--AAAAAHHHH!!!....."
The sounds of a satisfied raptor continued for some time after.
-Epilouge
A slightly plumper Ranma stuck his head out in the morning sun.
He bobbed his head, today would be a good day.
*Tik* *tik*
A second smaller raptor joined him as he stepped out.
They needed to make a nest soon.
Ukyo was already close to laying her first clutch...
-Fin...perhaps.
"We have to take the path we have to take." H. Tokai
"Where the hell am I now?!" R. Hibiki
"I knew I shoulda taken a right turn at Albuquerque!" B.Bunny
DISCLAIMER: Some of these characters (c) R.Takahashi. One by J.Chalker. Others by N.Takeuchi though this is not a crossover in anything approaching a traditional sense.
i have replaced Sash with Bai Na due to problems using an "Usagi as an Amazon" without permission. Bai Na is a cousin of Shampoo, looking a little like her but blonde.
Many char are being artworked, and some of these can be found at the Lost Library Of Florestica run by the talented Larry F and found at http://members.tripod.com/lwf58/index.htm
------
If one were to look upon the sea of Japan one might be able to find a mid-sized fishing vessel known as the Myoo Na Maru registered to Japan. A battered vessel that had seen better days, nothing particularly remarkable or interesting about it that a casual observer could find at first glance. Which merely proved that casual observation often proved wildly inaccurate.
"Captain? Captain Fujii?"
Captain Fujii put aside her recently acquired copy of "Love's Fiery Embrace" and grumbled that this had better be good. She'd been waiting for the Japanese version of the romance novel for months.
"Radar contact. Something is coming up fast." The scruffy looking helmsman stuck his head in the doorway.
Fujii nodded. The werecat was a solid crewmember, she should have known it was something serious to get him to interrupt her reading. "What is it? Coast guard? Lesbian pirate slavers? Chinese Military? Please, don't it let be the damn Flying Dutchman again. I swear they must have a Hibiki navigating." Though normally most of the "ghost" ships wouldn't show up on radar, their equipment had some upgrades and enhancements that would have puzzled electricians and intrigued parapsychologists.
"Unknown, cap'n," the Hindustani grimaced at the thought of the ghost ship. They encountered it every so often. Too damn often by his standards. Of course, he considered adventure and excitement to be *bad* things and preferred things to remain simple. Unfortunately, he'd signed on to *this* ship for a five year contract. "Whatever it is, it's airborne and very small. Too slow to be a missle, though."
"Okay, that lets out *most* of our usual problems," admitted Fujii. The captain thought about it, nothing was on deck to indicate what their vessel really was, and unless you were familiar with the bizarre history of the ship designated in several port authorities as "That Damn Ship" or the "HMS Weirdness Magnet" by others you might think it was a normal fishing vessel.
"Well, let's see it." Fujii trailed after Neko-san, pausing only to nod at the male amazon at the controls. Talcum pulled a hidden switch and a few key preparations were made, just in case.
There was a hum felt through the deck as certain devices folded back into housings along the sides of the vessel.
Neko-san stared off to the West, trying to catch a glimpse of the object. His daylight vision was among the worst of the crew though, so he couldn't see them until they were almost alongside the vessel.
The dot became a shape, though they were only a few hundred yards away before Fujii could make them out. "Faeries?!?"
"Mark that," came the comment from Nathan as he slipped into place beside the Captain. "Looks like a wind faerie, and someone under an enchantment. That's probably her clothing they're carrying. Interesting... I didn't know there were any faerie left."
Fujii didn't ask. One of the unwritten rules aboard the Myoo no Maru was "Don't Ask Nathan How He Knows Something." It was like asking him about astronomy or history. The consequences could be horrible. He could tell you.
Nathan Brazil usually told his shipmates the truth. This was the horrible part.
-------
China:
"We wait here for vessel," said Sugar, practicing her Japanese so that they wouldn't be completely lost when they got to their destination.
"Time for a song?" Tigar whipped her guitar out of nowhere and looked hopeful.
"No!" Vanilla, Sugar, Spice, Dina, Shammi, and Bai Na insisted.
Tigar responded by going off to pout.
Vanilla started sharpening her knives. Because your knives could never be too sharp in her opinion.
"So what's with this ship anyway?" Dina asked. "We can't just swim across?"
"Only an idiot would try to swim the Sea Of Japan," said Spice. "It's too far."
"Bet I could do it," grumbled Dina.
"Besides, there are lesbian pirate slavers," added Spice.
Dina blinked. That was just crazy enough to be true. "OK. We wait for boat."
Shammi looked up from where she was preparing tea. "How we know when ship show, is not pirate?"
"Ship is old one make landfall. Three exile of Amazon on ship. We no attack or make trouble, our passage be much cheap," explained Sugar.
"Exile of Amazon? What they do?" Spice asked, thinking of Sugar's little sister who seemed to spend most of her time in trouble with the Elders.
"Not know, that not covered by talking from Elder," admitted Sugar.
Dina scowled. "Must be bad. Much dishonor be exile. Not allow to kill?"
"No, it is not allowed," said Bai Na, rubbing her hands gleefully. In a short time this ship would arrive and they would cross the sea to Japan. Japan, land of otaku! Where manga could be found paving the streets! Where anime merchandise was behind every corner! She could finally get a stuffed Totoro! It was all she could do not to give breath to a demented but triumphant laugh.
Dina hoped they had decent restrooms over there. Indoor plumbing was so neat!
Sugar and Spice compared notes about what stores they were going to hit, and in what order.
Tigar tuned her guitar and wondered what kind of music they had over there. Maybe she could meet one of the singers whose works she fancied. Chuck Berry would be cool. Or maybe the Beatles. Or even (dare she hope?) Elvis?!
Shammi finished making tea and started fixing the biscuits with some gravy left over from the previous night. It wasn't much, but as the foremost practitioner of Martial Arts Housekeeping, she could do a lot with very little! A thought made her pause. "Hey, you suppose any cute guy over there?"
---------
Japan:
Tatewaki Kuno slammed open the door to the classroom. "Cretin! How dare you try to use your engagement to that wanton witch to deflower the pure and tidy Akane Tendo?"
"Huh?" Ranma wasn't sure what the heck this was about. "Do who to what with which?"
"Thy Machiavellian plot to steal away the exquisiteness that rightfully belongs to Tatewaki Kuno by means of foul subterfuge!"
"Can you try that again in plain Japanese? Or English?" Ranma blinked innocently at the raging kendoist. "For that matter, couldn't it wait till after class?"
"The vengeance that the heavens demand cannot be put off by mortal agencies!" Kuno snarled at the boy. "Thy wallowing in evil perversity must needs be ended with all due haste!"
"Can someone translate for me? I can speak four languages but this guy ain't making no sense at all in any of 'em," complained Ranma.
Hiroshi stood and nodded to the teacher. "Oh, may I? I speak 'Deranged Babble'!"
Tatewaki Kuno stared. What were they talking about? Could it be that his noble speech was too refined for this lowborn knave to comprehend him? That must be it!
At a resigned nod from the teacher, Hiroshi eagerly began the laborious process of translating Kunospeak to Japanese. "What he's saying is that he thinks you are using your engagement to Nabiki in order to get close to Akane. That way you could seduce her without going through the whole 'beat on her to date her' challenge."
Tatewaki Kuno nodded. "Tis even as this peasant has declaimed that thou seekest to force thy way into her heart using filial piety. The heavens themselves do weep at such deception!"
Ranma blinked and turned back to Hiroshi.
"He said I've gotten the basics," translated Hiroshi.
Ranma thought, pondered, and thought some more. Finally he had to ask. "Why would I be trying to get close to Akane?"
Akane hmmphed. "Why would I let you get close to me?"
Hiroshi turned to Tatewaki Kuno, composing the question. "Nay, milord, for I am but a humble peasant and thy great musings be beyond my kenning. How come thou to such conclusion?"
Kuno blinked. Why in the world were they translating for him? "This Machiavellian cad can see that only one of the daughters Tendo be worth any man's attention - and that one is the fair Akane. Hence his attachment to the wretched wench with the fascination for matters pecuinary whilst secretly he doth seek to bed Akane! Surely such duplicity cannot be allowed to stand!"
Everyone turned to Hiroshi. Those who understood Kuno were waiting to see how Hiroshi translated that.
Hiroshi considered carefully. Ah. "He says the only reason you're engaged to the skanky Nabiki is to shag Akane."
"WHAT?!" Ranma and several others asked in a scream.
A textbook (oddly enough bearing the name N.Tendo) flew in from the hallway and bounced off of Tatewaki Kuno's head for no apparent reason.
"I hate you, you know," said Kuno to someone in the hallway.
"I can't let you talk about Nabiki like that," said Ranma, standing up. "Uhm, what's 'shag' mean?"
"Sex," supplied Hiroshi. "Sorry."
"Oh. Well, I can't let you talk about Akane like that either then," said Ranma, cracking knuckles. Class had been boring anyway.
"Uncouth blackamoor, what intentions have thee to dispute it?"
Hiroshi blinked. "He wants to know what you're going to do about it."
"This is not the place for a fight, follow me," said Ranma charging past the kendoist.
"That I shall!"
"And whoever wins gets to bed Akane!" *THWAM!* "ouch!"
"That isn't what he said," growled Akane.
------------
Faerie:
"Grink is dead."
"Well, that's how things go, the Mortal Realm is a dangerous place. Cold iron."
"Grink was killed by magic."
That brought the UnSidhe up short. Mortals wielding magic had not been very common in the past. For Grink to run into one that quickly might mean the number of magic wielders had increased. A gesture brought up an image of a village of women. "Contact the makai."
"The demon realm?" Yngvi wasn't too sure about that.
"They enjoy such things," said Gammon, one of Golderon's lieutenants. "Maybe a shikima. A village of women would interest such a one. Once the demon has been turned loose we will see either how much magic they have, or we will be owed a favor from a satiated shikima. Either way we come out ahead."
Yngvi nodded. No wonder Gammon hadn't been put on the stack with all the dead minions yet.
---------
Japan:
"Good thing there was a pool there," said one of the students as Ranma and Kuno continued to fall from the third floor of the school.
Ranma's yelp said otherwise.
"You idiot," grumbled Akane. "What, did you think you could fly as a boy too?"
"What did you say, Akane?" Hiroshi glanced at Akane, wondering what the heck THAT comment had meant. Not that he wanted to get hit again.
The waters of the pool erupting a moment later gave answer. Wings spread and with the sparkling glow that meant her self-control was currently shot, Ranma shot out of the pool.
"That idiot groped me!" Ranma shuddered in mid-air.
"RANMA! YOU IDIOT! Did you want everyone to know about your curse?!" Akane glared at this harbinger of trouble. Now that everyone knew he turned into something out of some magical girl series who knew what crap would be hitting her family?
Ranma blinked, realizing where she was. Also realizing all of the classmates were currently staring at Akane. Now at her. Now back to Akane. "Way to go," Ranma mumbled.
"Oops," managed Akane as she realized the same thing. "Well, it's your own fault!"
Ranma glided to within a few feet of the open window. "I thought we settled that already! It's a curse, curses are not something you CHOOSE to get. Curses are inflicted. About the only thing this curse has going for it is this flying!" (Which is a bit of a rush, but that's beside the point.)
"Look at you," Akane wasn't quite yelling but it came close. How dare he argue with her! "Not only are you a pervert, you're a perversion! You're a freak!" He was calling attention to her, people would think SHE was a freak or something for associating with Ranma. Or, almost as bad, something out of a Clamp shojo manga or something - so they'd think she was an otaku. The horror, the horror.
The crowd looked from one to the other, not quite understanding what was going on but some of it was beginning to penetrate.
"So Ranma turns into some kinda elf girl, cause of some curse." Daisuke summed up for the even slower members of the crowd. "Least she's cute."
Both Ranma and Akane looked disgusted at this last observation.
Far below them, Tatewaki Kuno was making his own observations, staring up at the winged girl above him. A pig-tailed goddess, a waterborne sprite, a vision of otherworldly beauty. Now, how was he going to catch her? And where had that peasant Saotome gone?
--------
Sea Of Japan:
"There is a house...
in New Orleans,
and they call it the Rising Sun..."
"She's pretty good," said Nathan, not remembering catgirls the last time he'd been on Earth. Or Chinese Amazons with silly names. Or "Martial Arts Housekeeping"?! The song, "House Of The Rising Sun", was familiar. Most of the rest was not.
He was used to every Reset on the universe producing small changes caused by fractal patterns not quite meshing, but this one looked to have some pretty large changes on the local level.
"Bleeeurghhhhhh," exclaimed Dina in no uncertain terms expressing her dislike of sea travel.
"I'm surprised she still has anything to heave," pointed out Neko-san. "At least the rest of them aren't having much problems. Well, at this point."
"Earlier was a problem," Nathan agreed. "We can put the nets out now."
"What about the chubby one?" Neko-san pointed towards Dina.
"If you were to offer to throw her overboard and let her drown, I think she'd take you up on it." Nathan shook his head. "Ah well, 'mountain girl meets the ocean' and neither walk away unchanged."
"Yeah, but the ocean's recovering a lot quicker," replied Neko-san.
-------
Furinkan SHS, Japan:
Ranma sat back against the tree, watching the crowds, and sighed deeply. After the fight with Kuno had come repeated demands from faculty and students to see the curse operate again and again.
He'd been fondled, pinched, had a wing almost torn off, and had the school biology teacher waxing almost Kuno-esque about the possibility of a full biopsy.
Even as much as Akane disliked him, she had turned a bit green at some of the details that Mister Hisakawa had been expounding on.
Maybe it was just Akane's time of month.
Then something unexpected had started to happen. Two of Akane's friends had started running interference. So had that Hiroshi and Daisuke. That girl Miyo had been ready to rap knuckles at one point.
Though some people were obviously avoiding him while they figured out how to deal with it themselves. Nabiki among that number.
All of which brought Ranma here. At lunch, back against a tree, with nobody willing to talk TO him but almost everyone talking ABOUT him. Not really having an appetite, he took out his flute instead.
Featherbrite had given him another flute to replace the one she had made, bringing it from somewhere within the Faerie Realms. It looked like it was bamboo, but Genma's best efforts hadn't put a scratch in it. She said it was an old instrument crafted by a fellow named Kokopelli.
Ranma began to play in the manner that he had been taught by Featherbrite. He began with the tune "Greensleeves" but poured his feelings into it, and it became something entirely different.
He didn't consider that when a normally gifted musician puts all his heart into a piece, it can take on a sort of magic. When the musician in question was trained by one of the Faerie, and when the instrument being used was crafted and enchanted by a Lord of Magic, the results could be far-reaching.
The music spread over the campus, and as Ranma played the music, so the music played the listeners.
Sayuri cried as the music told of a child's loneliness as he was taken from his home and mother to wander the cold and the rain with an indifferent father. The flute spoke of constantly being on the move, and a father who equated affection with weakness. Insults and violence - that was Genma's method of maintaining the bonds of father and son.
Yuka grew angry as the flute told of how a child could be tortured for the sake of the Art, and of pain endured repeatedly and senselessly. Of a restless dark where eyes maddened by hunger gleamed. The Catfist, which had not been allowed to take place in its fullness, but had left its own scars nonetheless.
Hiroshi stared at nothing in particular as the flute skirled through brief passages of friendship found and eagerly accepted, then lost again and again as the open road called the father on to other places. Of keeping to the shadows to avoid entanglements with the law.
Daisuke knew exactly what the flute spoke of as it told of being alone in a crowd, of no one to call friend or kin or confidante. Of having to keep the world at bay rather than grow too close to anyone, rather than risk having one's heart rended by their loss.
The flute briefly broke into a bubbly happy tune that brought smiles to many faces, speaking of a friend found, one who didn't quite understand, but was there for him. Hikaru Gosunkugi felt he understood the loneliness, and longed for such a friend himself - someone who could touch his soul and bring the sun out of the darkness.
Tatewaki Kuno heard the flute sweep through a passage of despair as another friend left, of the feeling of sadness at having been challenged to a battle by one who had been deemed friend. He listened to the flute speak of life without a home, without a family, and felt unfamiliar feelings stir within his heart. But then, was the flute not a noble instrument? Many itinerant samurai were thought to have learned the instrument, so his own interest in such things were quite acceptable.
Nabiki stared out the window at the flautist and listened to the flute speak of days and nights without food or water, no bed or shelter. The song seemed to speak of a lifetime of poverty and privation, of times of such loneliness as one's heart seemed to be reduced to cold stone and ash and the bitter taste of it filled one's mouth. The images and feelings spoke directly to the mercenary Tendo - of having no possessions of one's own, of starving while one's father gorged himself, of having nothing but what one could keep hidden from that very father.
Akane flinched as the flute spoke of becoming cursed, of such a simple thing as one's body being taken and _twisted_ into a new form, without control, without any warning. The flute sang on about being overwhelmed as everything was thrown into chaos with a single careless moment.
Keiko Amano stopped her article in the school paper as the flute erupted into the joy of finding oneself able to fly, to leave behind the anchors to the ground and soar effortlessly through the clouds. For a brief shining moment, Keiko understood what it was like to be freed from trudging along the ground, and instead to twirl and dance along the winds themselves.
Both Akane and Nabiki winced as the flute spoke of new hope dawning, of extending one's hands and craving friendship, only to find disgust, distrust, dislike, and needless cruelty as others sought to distance themselves, rather than leave their own hearts vulnerable.
The flute finished, speaking this time of being an exhibit on display, of being judged unclean, of having the curse triggered repeatedly for no more than a moment's cruel entertainment. Again it spiraled, speaking of hardships endured, and still more loneliness and the horrors of being forced to endure further ostracism.
Ranma put the flute away, he always felt better after having played. As if a burden had been shifted. He ate the obento that Kasumi had prepared and wondered why everyone was looking in his direction.
The drama coach considered the scheduled midterm play "Romeo & Juliet" and considered switching it with "Midsummer's Night Dream."
The music teacher sniffled, reached for her third kleenex, and wondered if it would break the school budget to talk to Nabiki about having her iinazuke join up or would she settle for a percentage of ticket prices?
--Shinjuku, Tokyo---
Night crept over the Japanese islands. The Hunt began and ended as it always did, with the predator dropping now-lifeless prey down into its lair. Less than an hour had passed since nightfall.
The hunting was good in Tokyo. No one had any real faith, garlic was rare, and the real threats were all but nonexistant to someone who took reasonable precautions.
"Cursed One," came a voice where no one should be.
Hissing, the vampire examined the shadows with senses far more acute than those of a mortal. "Who dares?"
An armored knight seemed to form, the skull within the helm turned glowing eyes in his direction. "I dare. I merely tell you of a faerie in your territory."
"A faerie?" His nose up and sniffing, the vampire checked. Yes, there *was* an odd scent on the air tonight.
"A source of power for one such as you," explained the skeletal warrior. "Enough power that you might challenge the one who has wronged you."
"What do you know of *my* suffering, Knight? We have never met before and since I have embraced my undead status my power has grown immensely!"
The skeletal warrior considered the vampire briefly. "Yet it is not enough, is it? You still seek power because the Master Vampire who created you still wanders the Earth. You did challenge him once before, did you not?"
The vampire started forward only to run into some kind of invisible wall.
"There is fresh blood and victims and magic to be found, simply go and claim it. My purposes are served if you remove the Vampire Lord," said the skeleton, fading into the shadows.
The vampire sniffed the air again. Someone else who'd gotten pissed off at the old "Master." That was acceptable. He'd deal with that knight *after* dealing with Dimitri.
--------
China:
The tentacle demon could hardly believe its luck. That rumor had been correct. Here was an entire village of defenseless nubile young human women that it could slake its unnatural desires on.
It would take these young ladies, slime them up really good, then have an entire village of slaves! Tentacles began to writhe in anticipation.
"There's another one!"
"Squad A, DRAW! Aim! Release! Rapid fire now!"
The shikima looked up to see a rain of arrows. Literal as in a torrent of arcing black fletched arrows reaching their apex and starting down. "What the Hells?!"
"Javelin squad," barked Cologne. "Salt your weapons. Release!"
"IIiiiiiiiEEEEEEEE!"
Seeing the thing was wounded badly but still moving, Cologne decided to finish it off. She leapt in front of the thing, looking it straight in the eyes. Then she pulled her robe off in a single motion.
"AAAGGHHHHHHHH!!!! MY EYES MY EYES! AAAAAAAAAAA!"
Watching the shuddering mass of tentacles fading away, Azure turned to one of the other warriors there. "Even if they *are* evil demon-beasts, you have to kinda feel sorry for them."
With a final sob, the latest tentacle beast to find the village disappeared.
Grumbling about how it was undignified if effective, Cologne put her robe back on then added another chalk mark to the board.
---------
Faerie:
Holly was a hamadryad, and therefore higher in station than a "mere" dryad. Nonetheless she prostrated herself before someone higher in station than she was.
"Are you sure," said the bimbo-ish voice of the Princess, "no - of course you're sure. Otherwise you would not have brought this to me. You are entirely too fond of remaining away from the courts, Holly Hamadryad, to willfully associate with them now."
"I was not aware that one such as myself had come under scrutiny of the Courts," Holly said. The idea was rather disturbing.
"You are an old associate of Fabu Tear Bri'te of the Cor Mai Tal pixies, and she has somehow attracted the attention of no less a personage than the Queen." The Princess smiled momentarily at the way the hamadryad's back muscles started twitching.
"I see," said Holly, liking this even less. Titania's moods were as mercurial as any faerie. More so than some.
"The UnSidhe may be moving to and from the Mortal Realm in greater numbers, in which case we may need to do the same." The Princess' voice turned sad. If it came to open conflict, many faerie lives may be lost. Which was not a good thing at all considering that they were otherwise immortal. A few breeds, like farm ogres, had souls and mortal bloodlines - others did not and were especially vulnerable to certain dangers of the Mortal Realm.
Holly pushed off slightly and prepared to dive into a tree in order to link back to her grove. "I merely wanted to pass the warning along my Princess. I shall think long and hard of your concerns."
---------
Back to Japan:
"Excuse me, Ranma, what are these?" Nabiki fingered one of the paper slips hanging from the outer wall. "These almost look like spiritual wards." Except that they seemed faintly luminescent, for one thing. At least briefly, though they seemed to fade into the gloom shortly thereafter.
"Nabiki," Ranma flipped off the wall and stood before her, looking down at her with a faint smile. "What do you know of faerie magic?"
Kasumi answered from where she had been sitting, showing that while she might have just stayed in the background - she still observed things. "It's small scale things, isn't it?"
Nabiki shook her head when she saw that Ranma was still looking for an answer from her. "You tell me, Saotome, up until yesterday magic was something that didn't exist."
Akane settled back into the shadows, still not quite sure how to handle what she had seen and felt when Ranma had been playing that flute earlier. Had he cast a spell on her? Was that why she had felt like that? Why was everyone else so
trusting of him? He was a stranger, he dabbled in magic, he could easily be a demon or something.
Ranma turned back to the task but continued the conversation despite his obvious attention elsewhere. "Faerie magic isn't about demanding or forcing the universe to do anything. I know how to ask the pieces of the cup to come back together, or to convince them the break never happened. It's also about feeling, as the faerie are more emotional than intellectual."
Nabiki watched Ranma put two more of the wards in place. "So... you had a bad feeling?"
"Yeah," Ranma said with a nod. "Mind you, these aren't really strong, but I had to learn how to do this for trips into the Faerie Realms, there's things in there that you don't want to meet." Like bog fairies.
Nabiki considered that. She valued someone well-traveled, and trips into magical places would certainly qualify as unusual experiences. "Ranma."
"Yes, Nabiki?" Ranma looked hesitatingly back at his on-again/off-again iinazuke, trying to guess her mood from the swirl of colors around her.
"Could you play something on your flute again?" Nabiki didn't mention the recording equipment she'd hidden around the place. What he didn't know wouldn't bother him. "Something a bit happier than you played at lunch?"
Ranma nodded and finished the first set of wards. "I'd be happy to, Nabiki." This was looking up, she'd asked him to play for her. Akane's aura had less anger (though she was still radiating distrust as well as other things he couldn't identify), and Kasumi's was showing a little less of the barriers.
Definitely showing improvement.
--------
China:
"How many is that?"
"Forty three of the ones with all the tentacles, two of those ones with the horns, and five squirrels."
"I saw something moving, give me a break already!"
"Well, it's still better than what Mousse did."
"Yeah, Frost, at least you didn't burn down any buildings."
"Why he thought he could operate the Greek Fire Projector is anyone's guess."
"Darn it, I ran out of throwing knives."
"You could always go clean off the ones you've thrown."
"That would mean touching them. ICKY! I don't want to get any of that stuff on me!"
"What? Are you an Amazon or aren't you?! Get those weapons!"
"That isn't very sanitary you know."
"Hey, since Mousse managed to knock out Dowel while he was trying to operate the GFP, do you suppose that counts as a marriage proposal?"
"You know, Shampoo would certainly appreciate it if it WAS considered such."
--------
Japan:
Ranma settled onto a section of roof, aware of his father's disapproval and of Soun Tendo's vague agreement with his old friend. Though Soun was a little put off by how years of frustration had altered Genma. According to them: time spent playing music was time wasted that could have been spent on the Art.
Ranma felt there were different Arts, each having their own time and place. Featherbrite had quoted him some ancient song about this. "A time for war, a time for peace..." though in the original Aramaic it had an odd cadence.
Sometimes Ranma wondered about that. What it was like to be over 12,000 years old. To have a friend who would grow old and die almost within the blink of an eye compared to that sort of lifespan... How much of the faerie viewpoint was due to such a long lifespan? She had seen Empires rise and fall, mankind struggle up from stone knives and bearskins to some kind of civilization more than once by her own admission, and the Industrial Age that had caused most of her own kind to retreat to the Faerie Realms and other worlds.
Putting aside such considerations for the moment, Ranma felt the presence of Kasumi and Nabiki doing the dishes in the kitchen below. Akane was starting to fidget over algebra problems. Something lowkey, but Nabiki had requested something happy.
Featherbrite hadn't known the name of the piece that she had taught Ranma. It was just something she had heard once in Europe during the so-called Dark Ages. A peasant folk tune with brightly clothed dancers forgetting their problems for
a time to become lost in the restless energy of the dance. Again he did as he had been taught and threw himself totally into the music, this time without taking the liberties he had during his lunchtime concert. His foot tapped against the rooftiles to provide the beat.
Akane looked up, her homework forgotten for a moment as the melody came through her window. Seeing a strip of paper hanging over it, she pulled it down. Another spirit ward. Honestly, that boy was such so strange. If it turned out that this *was* some kind of trick, she would remain untouched by it.
Nabiki sped from the kitchen with her tape recorder and quickly set up where she could record the little serenade. She had mailers with the addresses of two recording studios ready. The smile on her face was only partly from the revenue, there seemed to be some infectious energy in the alien music.
Kasumi merely listened to the music and enjoyed. It was her way, just as looking for a profit was Nabiki's, and Akane MIGHT bring herself to enjoy it but wouldn't admit it. A brief image came to her, of brightly dressed gaijin dancing with frantic energy in the light of a campfire as a pair of farmers played.
Uncaring, Ranma finished the old dance tune and went on to something a little more modern. Only a little bit though. He wondered if Featherbrite had actually met Bach...
Kasumi looked up as the piping went into the "Ode To Joy" and marvelled again at her sister's iinazuke. Perhaps he was a bit immature, but he obviously was not as simple as she had first perceived him to be. There was some growing rift between
Ranma and Nabiki, and Kasumi considered the possibility that one one woman's trash might well be another's treasure.
Nabiki listened to the old piece played in a manner that the composer had probably never anticipated. She checked and made sure that the recorder was still running. The gleam in her eyes was a reflection of the money she stood to make.
-------
Azabu Juuban:
There came an odd chill in the air, as if it were hearkening back to winter for a brief time. People shivered at the sudden change, but mainly ignored it.
Animals reacted a bit differently. Dogs began barking, cats fluffed their fur had looked about them with discomfort, small herbivores and scavengers skittered away.
Animals tended to be sensitive to what modern society might consider supernatural. They knew better than the human populace. There were predators abroad that night.
A few glimpsed the image in reflective surfaces, to look wildly about and see no trace of the horrific visage other than that reflection. A samurai in tattered brigandine armor, the flesh reduced to a skeleton with red slashes for eyes.
Worse was the feeling that it was looking for something. Or someone.
Compared to *that* the huge bat was as nothing. Well, almost nothing.
The entire publishing department saw the skeletal knight briefly and there was an immediate panic and heading for the roof. At which point the bat was also sighted.
Half the department fainted, half swore off drinking in the afternoon, but the professionals among the two wondered how they could use this in a manga.
---------
Nerima:
Akane couldn't sleep. The reason for this was not the algebra homework she'd failed to complete, nor the English test the next day.
It was a jumble of emotions all beginning and ending with the same individual. Ranma Saotome. Nabiki's fiance.
*CRACK!*
Akane frowned as, for no apparent reason, a small charm she'd bought at a shrine came apart on one of her shelves. She'd have to fix that in the morning.
A sound at her window, like a tapping, brought Akane to full wakefulness. Akane rose from her bed, trying to figure out who could be up at this hour. Probably some annoying boy.
Akane found herself looking into eyes the color of fresh blood before she knew she was in danger.
---------
"Sasuke!"
"Here, Master Kuno!"
"Don't do that!" Kuno got his heart rate back under control with some effort. If he didn't know better, he'd have thought the bucktoothed ninja enjoyed popping out of nowhere and startling him.
"Sorry, Master Kuno." Sasuke *loved* doing ninja stuff. It was perhaps the only benefit of this job.
"Have you located what I have asked for?"
"I have had to request its manufacture, Master. It will be ready for tomorrow's battle!"
"Excellent." Kuno didn't even bother looking at his underling. He was too busy contemplating the glorious battle that lay before him tomorrow. "Tomorrow, my winged elf maid, tomorrow you shall be mine!"
Kuno's laugh echoed outside the Kuno Estate the way properly done maniacal laughter is supposed to.
-------------
Ranma was awake, and if he had been in yousei form would have been hovering near the ceiling in agitation.
The outer layer of wards were not very powerful. Imps or gremlins would be stopped, but otherwise it was just a warning system. Those warnings had gone off as Something broke through.
The wards outside the house itself were rather stronger and more specialized. These were specifically wards against supernatural evil. If something broke through those, there was some serious trouble. There wasn't the sensation of
some supernatural evil breaking through those, however.
Both the room Ranma occupied, and the room Nabiki occupied had another layer. This last layer was subtle, hidden, and only meant to give the occupant a few extra moments of warning.
It was this last layer that had gone off, a silent alarm that Something Wicked This Way Comes. That it had apparently bypassed the second layer was indicationto Ranma that this was not one of the mindless Thyngs of faerie, nor even a bog-imp such as the "spider" that had been ready to devour Featherbrite all those years ago. This was therefore Evil and Intelligent.
Ranma kicked his father awake then made a hand signal where the panda could see it. Genma immediately came awake without his usual grumpiness and far more quickly. He had been the one who had taught Ranma the shinobi hand signals years ago.
Danger. Intruder. Nearby. The hand signals were only meant to convey specific ideas, but this it did very well. Ranma's hands stopped as the door to the room began to slide open.
------
Nabiki awoke immediately at the sounds of a fight going on. Wondering what could be this bad at 3am, the groggy teenager stuck her head out her door and wondered if she were still dreaming.
Hissing like a monitor lizard, Akane hefted Genma in his giant panda form over her head and threw him down the stairs with no visible effort.
Ranma did a spinning kick to Akane's head that should have torn her younger sister's head off but just caused Akane to stagger slightly.
Ranma used the opportunity to apply an Octopus hold to the berserk teenager. "Nabiki," Ranma managed as Akane tried to dislodge him. "Get (urk) a spirit ward. (Ak) Hurry!"
Nabiki froze as she got a look at Akane's face. Maybe it was the bared fangs, maybe it was the glowing red eyes, maybe it was just the way she kept slamming the struggling Ranma into and through the walls. She didn't think that was her
sister after all.(1)
Nabiki just barely registered Kasumi moving forward and slapping something against Akane's forehead. Whatever it was had to be hot because smoke immediately started pouring up and Akane HOWLED.
It wasn't until after Akane had collapsed and a shaking Ranma was leaning against the wall that Nabiki saw what Kasumi had in her hand. A silver cross.
"WHAT was that?"
"Vampiric possession." Ranma tried to catch his breath.
"Vampires," Nabiki managed. "Well, I suppose if curses, faerie, and the like exist, I shouldn't be TOO surprised. Why did it come here? Why Akane?"
"I don't know," answered Ranma honestly. "Why Akane? I'm not sure, and speculating would be pointless. Oh, thanks, Kasumi."
"How do you know about vampires, anyway? Is this one who followed you?" Nabiki was shaking and scared and didn't like either condition.
"No. My faerie companion introduced me to one once during a night I was being music trained. He isn't a bad sort, though, and would NEVER do this sort of thing."
"A nice vampire?" Kasumi stated, apparently not noticing at how Ranma had stared at her nightgown before turning away flushed. It was just her way of repeating things to indicate that she understood.
"Yeah, whoever or whatever attacked, I'm sure it wasn't Geoffery. He's wandering Japan looking for a cure." Ranma sighed and looked at the damage. "Guess I better get started fixing all this."
Nabiki hesitated before kneeling down next to her sister. One hiss or gleam of red though, and she'd be doing a credible imitation of a gazelle. She brushed the hair back from Akane's neck and stared at the two wounds revealed there.
"I'll need to reinforce the wards, and if Kasumi can buy extra garlic, we can keep this from going any further." Ranma's gaze met Nabiki's over the prone Akane.
"Oh dear," summed up Kasumi.
--------
Vladimir entered his lair and scowled at the surroundings. So close, he'd been so close. If he could drink the blood of a faerie, and use the wings and body in the Dark Arts, then his long plan could be completed.
"Soon, soon, I shall have my vengeance against you, Dmitri Maximov!"
The vampire entered his coffin to rest. Tomorrow he had to feed again on Akane Tendo, and then he'd be able to get past the wards and get the blood and body of the faerie.
He didn't realize how much like his ancient foe he had become.
------------
The ship crossing the waters in night was used to pirates, the Flying Dutchman, and a number of other perils.
The large reptile landing on the deck was none of the above.
"You ssshall take me to the place known as Japan, in return, I ssshall make your deathsss relatively painlesssss," suggested the wyvern.
Five amazons got up. Nathan checked his gun. The exiled three stood ready. A werecat shifted fully into hybrid.
"Foolissh mortals, I sshall feed on your liversss!"
Guns spoke. Martial arts ranged weapons struck.
"Go for the eyes, Boo, go for the eyes! AAAAAAA!"
Including some strange attacks.
Brief silence.
"BReeaauughhh," said Dina over the side of the ship. Getting excited really hadn't helped.
----------
Nerima:
Kasumi was up, as was usual, before the sunrise. She'd gotten a little less sleep than normal, undead showing up in the middle of the night having that effect, and was hoping the rest of the day was calm enough that a nap could actually be
scheduled.
A six inch faerie entering through an open window dispelled that idea.
Kasumi hoped that Ranma would be able to put together that mixing bowl again.
Featherbrite noted that this girl's eyes were tracking her, and allowed herself to be drawn from the reunion with Ranma.
"Oh, you must be Ranma's imaginary friend." Kasumi remembered Genma's talks about that. Ranma denied that the friend in question was imaginary. Genma insisted that she was. If she could see the little creature, then Ranma obviously had a very good imagination.
Featherbrite used her abilities to pass through the young woman's almost nonexistant mental defenses and gave a sigh that would have been accompanied by a big sweatdrop if she weren't so tiny. A couple of temporary fixes seemed to be indicated. This girl was so polite that she just accepted what that horrible Genma had told her, almost without a second thought.
The faerie checked and found that this girl actually found Ranma attractive! Not that she'd ever do anything about it because of some odd barriers she'd put over her behavior, and some other things the faerie wasn't exactly sure about. Ranma insisted that tweaking someone's mind was wrong, but surely a few corrections here and there would be ok.
"Genma is mistaken. He is not very clever." Featherbrite put a little extra power into the words. "I am invisible to many. You can see me."
Kasumi nodded. Yes, she had noticed that Mister Saotome was missing a few bricks from the load. A few donuts shy of a dozen. The elevator didn't quite reach the top floor, in his case at least.
Featherbrite looked this girl over, inside and out, and immediately labelled her "Candidate #2" as far as THAT went. She'd find Ranma first, then get a sleeping Shampoo off the roof. The sooner she got someone to start sleeping with Ranma, the sooner she'd be able to get the damn panda's influence over Ranma diluted.
Finding Ranma asleep, Featherbrite decided that this was a VERY good idea and found her own place to sleep.
------------
"Okay Saotome," Nabiki licked nervous lips. "I'm ready." Silently she added that she _hoped_ she was ready.
Ranma scooped Nabiki up in her arms. "Okay, what first?"
"How high up can you go?" Nabiki tried not to think about the stomach flipflop sensation of freefall. They were only a foot above the ground, and she had a squeeze bottle of cold water in case (somehow) they ran into hot water during the flight.
"What are you two doing?" Akane came out, holding her head and looking like she'd just gone two rounds with a world class martial artist.
"I'm going for a ride, Akane. He's my iinazuke, after all, and it's only fair to find out what all he can do. Even if he's a she at the moment." Nabiki turned to look at Ranma. "Now, Ranma, let's find out."
Akane watched as the two figures shot up into the air, quickly becoming specks in the distance. "Baka..." Akane's voice broke on the last syllable. She wasn't sure if she was referring to Nabiki or Ranma. Not that she was jealous, mind
you. She had vague memories of the previous night filtering in, but they didn't make much sense at the moment.
Kasumi dried a plate and looked skyward at the dot that was her sister and her fiance. She wondered if she could get a ride later. It could be very convenient for shopping. "How nice. Do you suppose Ranma's little friend is still asleep in his room?"
Akane gave Kasumi an odd look. "Little friend? Kasumi, are you feeling all right? Mister Saotome said that it was all just Ranma's imagination."
"Mister Saotome is a few cards short of a full deck." Kasumi continued to watch as the tiny speck made a ninety degree turn and passed behind a cloud. "He's a few fries short of a Happy Meal. Not running on all cylinders. A few holes under
par."
Akane stared and wondered exactly what was going on. Deciding she was too tired to care at this point, Akane went back into the house to finish getting ready for school.
Kasumi merely felt a pang of envy, quickly suppressed, and decided to see if Ranma's little friend was ok.
---------------
Nabiki decided she would not squeal, she would not faint, she would NOT do anything to indicate that she was viewing the entire experience as anything but a scientific experiment. She was admittedly having a very hard time with this.
After looking down at teeny-tiny roads and the tops of clouds, Nabiki had realized that they had stopped climbing in altitude because the air was getting thin. Not that Ranma-yousei's wings beat or had anything like a surface to air ratio that would have supported them. Because much further up would have been difficult to breathe.
As far as speed went, she had trouble figuring out the details. Her watch indicated that they had traveled the one kilometer from the ice cream parlor to Furinkan high in less than ten seconds. That indicated, Nabiki did the numbers in her head, 6km per minute or a top speed via Air Ranma of roughly 360kph.
While part of her mind was busy cataloguing and analyzing, part of it was registering the cinnamon smell of Ranma-chan. Of the realization that, female form at the moment to the side, that it was her iinazuke holding her safe as they raced among clouds and chased the wind. Part of her wanted to analyze profit potentials. Part of her wanted to giggle and urge Ranma on - faster, higher! To see the dawn from the clouds above Fuji, to skim the waves of the beach at high speed, to dance along the light of day, and cruise slow along the Milky Way.
Nabiki noticed she was getting poetic and ruthlessly stamped that down. For now.
She noted that while weightless and blithely ignoring several important physical laws, it was NOT effortless. When the two of them arrived at Furinkan, Ranma was quite winded.
Regaining her footing, Nabiki nodded at Ranma. "Well, that was interesting. I think that I might have a few ideas how we can make use of that flight talent of yours."
"Whatever you say, Nabiki. I need to find some hot water before classes start."
Lots of staring, as one might expect from having people *fly* to school in the morning. Some looks were envious, others startled, and a few disbelieving.
The reaction of the crowd wasn't quite what Ranma had expected. She nodded at a few requests for some music at lunch, until Nabiki started in on the crowd about ticket prices at least.
Akane arrived and looked around. Everyone was paying attention to Nabiki and Ranma? Nobody had noticed that she was here? It wasn't like she felt well this morning anyway. She decided to be happy about this turn of events and get to class on time, rather than resent the way everyone was ignoring her arrival.
"Ah, winged goddess, how your presence shines like the morning sun itself. Truly, you must be a wild spirit. Let my heart tame you, that you may accept the jesses of my love."
Almost everyone was staring at Kuno.
"Uh, Kuno. What the heck are you talking about?"
"I come prepared to capture your heart, with this." Kuno pulled the manriki-gusari out and threw it in one motion.
Nabiki stared in horror, the moment seeming to be in slow motion as she noted the steel had sleeves of some dark metal on the links.
"What kind of lame attack is this," Ranma asked as she reached out to snatch the weapon out of the air.
-------
(1)- based on scenes from TOS, Nabiki is not what one would call a morning person. It takes her awhile to bring the higher functions on line.
Next: Another New Complication. we'll see you there.
Exe, a cute young Asgardian member of the Goddess Relief Office, pondered the pool. "What about changing the age of Jusenkyo?"
Batt, another cute young Asgardian member of the Goddess Relief Office, pondered her colleague."What about it?"
"What kind of effect would *that* have?" Exe wondered aloud.
"Already been done," said a girl of about their age, wearing Pernese dragonriding gear. The only thing out of place in her ensemble was her violet eyes and the Silence Glaive she had laid across her lap. "Check RN-JP 401811."
"Display RN-JP 401811," said Com, the third of the young goddesses, who didn't say much since her stocks had just gone bust.
----------
WHAT IF RUMIKO TAKAHASHI LIKED TO DRAW DINOSAURS?
"Uhm, wrong title. Try again," said Exe.
WHAT IF JUSENKYO WAS A WHOLE HECKUVA LOT OLDER?
"Better," proclaimed Batt. "Oh by the way, this is just an omake for general amusement, so don't get your panties in a wad about it, okay?"
-----------
"Honestly, engaging us to some guy you don't even know?!" Akane humphed.
"I hope he's cute," said Nabiki.
"I hope he's older," said Kasumi.
"How depressing, a boy," mumbled Akane.
---------
One old man pushed a pawn two spaces forward. "We're from Nerima. We ain't phased by much."
"Gronk!" "Rrrrragghhhh!" "Brahhhhhh!"
The other old man paused. "Hmmmm. That there looks a thoroughly P.O.ed velociraptor which is chasing a giant sloth which is being chased itself by an anklyosaurus. Hmmmph. Don't see that every day. Reminds me of the time I was at Seoul."
The first old man chortled. "Well, that was what you got for monkeying with me' still, Beej! Asides, that there ain't no velociraptor. It's a Utahraptor. Velociraptors are those little ones about the size of a medium dog or so."
"Reckon you're right, Hawkeye." Beej watched the odd procession go by. "Looks like that there anklyosaur done got lost."
"Must have the direction sense of a Hibiki," agreed Hawkeye. "Hah! Lets see ya get out of *this*!"
---------
"They'll be here any moment," said Soun.
"You've been saying that for the past three hours, Daddy." Nabiki stood up. "I'm going to change."
"...any moment," repeated Soun.
Akane was smiling. No boys! Yayyyy!
--------
"Gronk!" "ch-ch-ch-ch-chk. Rragh!" "Where the hell am I NOW?!"
"Aiyah! Ranma! Sash is here! You no run away! You give Sash magical powerup item just like in Rayearth, yes?!"
"RAAAAK!" "Gronk!" "Ah! It's that crazy Amazon chick!"
-------
A multi-millionaire sat back, enjoying the atmosphere of a small Japanese okonomiyaki restaurant. Now if he could just think of the next Big Gimmick. Something he could use to entertain the masses, capture the imaginations, and make himself a hefty profit.
"Here ya go," said the Kansai accented bishonen behind the portable grill. "Deluxe beef okonomiyaki, by the greatest okonomiyaki chef around."
The multimillionaire ate a piece and nodded. "It *is* great! Sorry, but I'm just trying to figure out where to get the next great idea. I'm toying around with theme park concepts, but what theme to use."
The bishonen shrugged.
"GRONK!" A huge furry beast ran by, going remarkably fast. Somehow leaving with most of a deluxe beef okonomiyaki.
"Ch-ch-ch-chk!" A reptillian creature of teeth, claws, scythe like BIG claws, and scales ran by.
"RANMA SAOTOME! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! BECAUSE OF YOU (pant pant) I HAVE SEEN THE TRIASSIC PERIOD!"
The businessman paused and handed over a wad of yen. "Aw hell. Gimmee another."
"Right," said the guy behind the grill.
"RANMA SAOTOME!" A very pretty and buxom girl with two long blonde ponytails bounced by. "YOU COME BACK! SASH KNOW YOU MAGICAL MASCOT!"
The businessman paused. "A dinosaur chasing a pleistocene beast through the streets of Tokyo?" There was the sudden sound of a cash register opening somewhere in the background.
The okonomiyaki chef turned "his" grill off. "She said 'Ranma Saotome'?!" A large spatula was pulled from concealment.
A large number of young girls with strange colored hair ran past. "AIREN!" "LOVER!" "DINOSAURS SO COOL!" "RYOUGA DARLING!" "ARE WE THERE YET?!" "WANT TO RIDE RANMA, AND SUGAR NOT MEANING IN HENTAI SENSE!"
"AFTER THEM!" Businessman and chef declared as one.
----------------
"Any moment now," said Soun. "Any moment."
"Good grief, it's 11:00! Good night, Daddy."
--------------
The giant sloth sped up as dawn crested the horizon. There it was, the Tendo home. Yes. He'd be safe there.
Genma glanced over his shoulder as best a giant sloth could do. There was Ranma, still snapping at his tail, apparently very unhappy about the engagement still. There was Ryouga, who hadn't even noticed in his anklyosaur form that he had fifteen Amazons sitting on his back. Plus some Japanese businessman, a small grill, and some guy making okonomiyaki up there. Hmmm okonomiyaki. Yum.
Oh and behind that was the policecars, the animal control van, the MiB people, the news vans, and a couple of helicopters. He wondered if those were JSSDF copters, or were they from a news station? Or maybe it was that wacked out paleo- palilio- that weirdo from the University?
Genma turned his head back in the direction he was heading and realized he was about to impact the front door of the house. No wait! Soun was opening it! His old buddy Soun Tendo would hide him!
---------
Soun still had his toothbrush in his mouth when he opened the front door and looked out. The ground had a tremor in it, but he'd been through worse earthquakes. Though what were all the sirens and...
Soun had a moment to contemplate the fact that there was a giant ground sloth, followed by two dinosaurs, several cars and vans, all heading directly for him at high speeds.
Taking the pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, he tossed them aside. Clearly he'd gotten a pack with some of the "funny" additives. Showed him for buying Lucky Strike Yakuza cigarettes. Oh well.
*SCREECH!* *CRASH!* *THUD!* *THWAM!* *BAM!* *SMASH!* *tinkle!* *TRAMPLE!* "Gronk?" *CRUNCH!* "SPLASH!*
It was like a traffic accident. Only more so. The horrible sounds continued on for some time.
Kasumi stepped out of her kitchen, noticing the trail of destruction forming a tunnel through the house. Starting with the front door, going out the back, and ending up in this thorough mess in what remained of the koi pond and the dojo.
Kasumi thought carefully. "Oh my" didn't seem really appropriate for events of this magnitude. "Oh dear." Well, that was a little better.
Nabiki came down the stairs and for once in her life woke up inside a half hour. "What the?!"
Akane came down more slowly, more cautiously, and with her favorite shinnai. "Did I miss breakfast?"
-----------
Soun laughed to himself. "So you turn into a large carnivorous reptile with large slashing claws and a strong bite? Well, your problem isn't so bad. Now which of my daughters will be your new fiancee?"
"None of the above?" Ranma's tone was hopeful.
"Akane would seem the wisest choice," said Kasumi.
"Couldn't agree more," agreed Nabiki.
"ARE YOU NUTS?!" Akane disagreed.
"Well, Akane, you hate boys," pointed out Nabiki.
"So one splash of cold water, and you've got a dinosaur instead of a fiance. What would be more perfect?" Kasumi concluded.
"Where in the world did you get *that* definition of perfect?!" Akane demanded.
"Hmmm," Nabiki hmmed. "She's got a point, Daddy. Both Ranma and his dad mass greater than human. Ranma's cursed form has to weigh three times what his human form is, and Saotome-san has to tip the scales at over three tons. Do you think there'll be much left of the house if they stay here?"
"I'm sure you're exaggerating, Nabiki," said Mister Tendo.
"RANMA! DIE!" Ryouga charged forward, splashing across the fish pond as he did. "Ruuuuunnnnnn!"
"Watch that tea!" Ranma exclaimed just before he and his father got splashed. "Tk-tk-tk-tk-tk-tk-TK!"
"Gronk!"
"My kitchen!"
"Our house you mean! Do something, Daddy!"
"Gronk!" "Hsssssaaaaaa!" "Runnnnnnnnn!"
One of the Amazons pointed something out. "If deal was to get dojo, dojo currently flattened. Dojo go bust, deal go bust. Is darn pity, yes?"
"SAOTOME!"
"Excuse me, but my name is John Hammond. Can we talk?"
---------
"Greeakkkk?!"
"The contract is for five years," explained Nabiki. "Until then - no hot water during any time the park's open. It's in the contract and legally binding. The Amazons can work security and the food booths. I, of course, am one of the main ticket collectors, and we all know how lucrative this dinosaur theme park concept could be."
"Greak-kk. HONK!"
"Well, you couldn't expect them to open a theme park with only TWO dinosaurs and a giant sloth, could you Akane?"
=====
possibilities:
Ranma Saotome: Utahraptor
Genma Saotome: Giant Ground Sloth
Ryouga Hibiki: Anklyosaur
Mousse: Stegosaurus
Akane Tendo: Triceratops
Soun Tendo: (offer him some money?) Emu
villains:
big game hunters/poachers
environmentalist extremists
religious sect leaders who want to kill the "beasts"
religious sect leaders who want to worship the "beasts" (you *know* they'd have to kidnap Akane for this)
Cruella DeVille types (just think of the suitcases we could make out of that triceratops!)
etc.
Alternate ending provided by SHADE:
*$*$*$*$*$*
The storm had come and gone, and taken the island's state of the art security system with it.
"Eh.h-heheh... you do know there was nothing personal about this? Right Ranma?"
Nabiki backed away nervously from the coldly staring raptor.
Where was everybody else?! Her father had said he was going out to try and get the power back, and hadn't come back yet. Kasumi had exited the control room in order to cook some dinner. So now here she was, all alone with someone she'd exploited, imprisoned, and condemned to a life of having to deal with her sister Akane on a 24-7 basis with *no* way to get away from her.
She'd signed off on the paperwork herself as Ranma's legal agent, with the park open 24-7 he'd be unable to change back. For that matter Akane and all the others introduced to the Jusenkyo cursed waters.
*Tik* *tik* *tik*
Ranma exposed a lot of *very* sharp teeth in what might have passed for a grin.
*Cough*
And then spit out what looked like the torn and stained sleeve of a brown gi.
"DADDY?!"
*Hrough*
A white hair ribbon.
"KASUMI?!!"
*Putooie*
The various rings, earrings and a solid gold rolex that Hammond had been wearing almost went unnoticed.
"Wait! Can't we make a deal--AAAAAHHHH!!!....."
The sounds of a satisfied raptor continued for some time after.
-Epilouge
A slightly plumper Ranma stuck his head out in the morning sun.
He bobbed his head, today would be a good day.
*Tik* *tik*
A second smaller raptor joined him as he stepped out.
They needed to make a nest soon.
Ukyo was already close to laying her first clutch...
-Fin...perhaps.