Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ One-Half a Wing and a Prayer ❯ This Little Piggy Went Splish Splash ( Chapter 10 )

Author’s Note: Ranma and friends were created by Rumiko Takahashi, produced by Kitty in Japan, and was licensed in the U.S. by Viz Communications, I do not own, rent, or lease them. This was written purely for the entertainment of all of the Ranma fans out there. This work may contain material of a sexual nature, only those 21 and older are legally allowed to read, so check the ID’s at the door.
P.S.: for Janice.


Ryoga had tried, really tried, to get away from Nerima, but every corner he took, every direction he went, he was drawn back to the area where he had met his most devastating defeat. After two days of hard travel he had returned to the small park next to Furinkan High four times. It was well past dark now, and he had almost given up.

He flopped down onto a bench and considered his situation. From the sheer power that Ranma was putting out at the end of their fight, Ryoga knew that he was in trouble if he ever pushed the redhead too far. And the icy glare than Nabiki girl had given him had given him nightmares.

“I am so dead,” he muttered to himself.

Looking up into the sky, he wondered if there was any way out. He still blamed Ranma for his current condition, but there was no way he would get revenge unless he was vastly more powerful. Besides, Nabiki had been quite clear in her opinion of his normal method of solving his problems.

He decided that there was only one real choice, to do the most painful thing he could imagine, sit down and talk to Ranma.

“The world is a dark and lonely place,” he muttered. As if to prove his point, it slowly began to rain, and he scrambled to get his repaired umbrella out. Once it was up, he began slowly wandering out of the park, hoping to get lost, but knowing in the pit of his stomach that he would wind up wherever Ranma was.

“This sucks.”


One Half a Wing and a Prayer
By Seth

Chapter 10
This Little Piggy Went Splish Splash


To keep their activities a secret form Akane and Mr. Tendo, Ranma and Nabiki were once more sleeping in separate rooms. Much to his chagrin, his father was sleeping next to him in panda form, and the big fur ball loved to snore. It took him almost an hour to drift off to sleep that night.

In his dream, he was sandwiched between a nude Nabiki and Shampoo, each vying for his attention. He turned to one, then the other, but each time he did he felt a wind on the back of his neck, as if one of the girls was blowing on it, that drew his attention back the other way. This happened several times.

He was about to pull both girls in closer, when a shout awoke him, “WAKE UP DAMNIT!”

Ranma’s eyes shot open to see Ryoga standing above him, but before he could react to the obviously frustrated boy, the panda next to him sat up, pulled out a sign that read ‘Quiet Please!’, and used it to pitch them both out the window.

Ranma was only half awake, and couldn’t compensate in time to avoid landing in the koi pond, while Ryoga had his umbrella out, and landed lightly on the ground nearby. A now drenched and female Ranma stood and stepped out of the pond, shivering lightly in the cold rain.

“Ryoga,” she gasped, “What the hell are you doing here?” She waited for a response, but there was none to be heard. She looked the boy over, and saw a mildly glazed look in his eyes as they stared at the wet, translucent material of her white tank top.

She barked at him, “Eyes up, Nimrod!”

Ryoga shuddered and shook his head, then firmly locked his eyes on the blue of Ranma’s own, not letting them wander down at all, no sir, not even a little.

Ranma had to wait another moment for Ryoga to reboot and wipe a little blood from his nose. She kept her guard up all the while, anticipating the Lost Boy flying into another rage and blindly attacking her. For wordless moments they stood across from each other.

Finally, Ryoga had forced himself away from Ranma’s see through shirt, and spoke, “Um…Hi there.”

Ranma stumbled and spoke with disbelief, “Hi there? You try to kill me a few days ago and all you have to say is ‘Hi there’?”

Ryoga scratched the back of his head, and managed to get out, “Well, I was a little upset with you about the whole gender thing. You can’t really blame me for that.” Ranma crossed her arms and gave an expression of loathing. “Or maybe you can,” Ryoga finished.

“You tried to take Nabiki’s head off,” Ranma growled out.

Ryoga laughed lightly and croaked out, “Well...I am…sorry about that…”

Ranma shrugged her shoulders, and Ryoga forced himself to not look down at the interesting things this did to her chest.

“So what are you doing here?”

“Well…I was thinking…damn this is hard…and I wanted to try and…” KLANG!

Ranma winced as Ryoga received what looked like a twenty pound dumbbell to the side of the head. She watched as the poor boy went flying over the wall, his possessions scattering during flight. Her head whipped around and she saw the Tendo sisters huddled in the shelter of the porch doorway.

“Did I get it?” Akane called out.

Ranma’s jaw dropped as her looked at the girls, and she asked, “What was that for?

Nabiki called out, “We heard some noise, and thought there was a burglar. We saw you squaring off, and Akane decided to get the drop on him.” She saw that Ranma was looking at her dumbfounded and asked, “What?”

Ranma shouted, “That was Ryoga!”

Nabiki patted Akane’s shoulder and smiled, “Should have used a bigger weight, Sis.”

“He came to apologize,” Ranma said, “I think.”

With that, she jumped to the wall surrounding the compound and looked around for the no doubt concussed boy. As she searched, no sign of Ryoga could be found, but soon she looked down, and saw a small pile of clothes, and Ryoga’s backpack.

“I don’t believe it,” she muttered, “she knocked him naked.” She hopped down and retrieved the clothes and overly heavy backpack, all the while looking for any other sign of the Lost Boy. Seeing nothing, and no one, she allowed her wings to open and jumped over the wall, using the extra lift to ease her load. Heading back in, she saw that Nabiki had waited for her at the table.

“Any sign,” she asked Ranma.

`”Sort of,” the redhead answered and plied Ryoga’s things in the corner, “I think he really was here to talk.”

“Then why did he sneak in to our house in the middle of the night?”

Ranma shrugged and sat down next to Nabiki, who handed her a towel. Drying her hair, she considered the question, “Knowing him, he may have simply been trying to avoid a big scene. Remember, you said he was pretty shook up after the fight. Also remember the fact that he’s been on the road even more then I have, he probably knows less about courtesy then I do.”

Nabiki nodded, “I guess. Do you think he’ll be back?”

”More then likely,” Ranma said, “Especially since we have his clothes.”

Nabiki chuckled and said, “I’ve had enough excitement for one night, I’m going back to bed. See you in the morning.” She gave the wet girl a light kiss and headed back upstairs.

Ranma was about to take her shirt off and head up to the bath, when she heard a noise from the kitchen, and peeked her head in to see what it was. Akane was reaching into Kasumi’s medicine cupboard and holding something in her arms.

“Hey Akane, What’s up,” Ranma asked. The youngest Tendo girl jumped at the noise, but calmed down at the sight of the redhead. She was about to lash out, when she remembered that she was supposed to be nicer to the girl, especially if she wanted to learn that blindingly fast punching technique.

“I found this little guy in my room,” she said, showing a small black piglet wearing a yellow bandana tied around its neck cradled in her arm, “I think he was hiding from the storm and clocked himself under my bed.” She held up the small pig to show a large bump on his head. Ranma winced in sympathy at the sight of the injury. “I was just putting a little antiseptic on it.”

“Good idea, don’t want to let a goose egg like that swell too much,” smiled Ranma, simply glad to have a conversation with the girl without violence or name calling involved. She leaned against the counter as Akane held the piglet close and used a cotton swab to clean off the wound. Ranma was about to comment about the overabundance of cute in the scene, when she noticed something.

“I think that pig is blushing.”

Akane looked at Ranma dubiously, “Oh, come on. You must be kidding.”

Ranma pointed to the pig, snuggling against Akane’s chest, and clear as day were patches on where a blush showed on the dark skin. Akane saw this and rubbed the piglet’s cheek

“He’s just cold, Ranma,” She scolded, “after all, he was out in the rain for who knows how long.”

Ranma smirked, “Whatever. Well, he isn’t the only one who’s cold, so I’m gonna jump in the tub for a minute before I go back to bed. See you tomorrow.”

“Could you take him in with you,” Akane asked as Ranma turned to leave.

The redhead looked back, with disdain on her face, but saw that Akane seemed to be genuinely concerned about the well being of the small animal. She also didn’t want to ruin the good vibe going on between them recently, so with a heavy sigh she nodded and held out her hand.

Akane passed the pig over, but it seemed intent on getting away from Ranma as fast as possible and almost slipped from her grasp. Reacting quickly, she grabbed the scruff of its neck and the bandana it wore to hold it before it could get away.

“Feisty little pork bun, aren’t he,” she chuckled, holding it at arms length and proceeding up to the bathroom. She slid the door closed behind her and used her free hand to tug down her rain soaked boxers, keeping the struggling piglet secure in her grip. Next she pulled her useless tank top off and tossed both items into the laundry basket.

“Ok, bacon breath,” she told the pig, “time to get wet.” The small creature seemed to freeze up at this declaration, and shivered as they moved into the bathing area, and the privacy door slid closed behind them. They approached the tub, and the piglet once more began to thrash in Ranma’s grip. She held it up, and with a swift motion, dunked it into the warm water.

Ranma felt a shift in her grip as the small course hairs on the pig grew and its form expanded. In only a moment she found herself holding the head of a nude boy sitting in the tub. Her eyes widened and blinked in disbelief as she finally recognized the bandana now wrapped around the boy’s head as Ryoga’s. She let go and fell back on her posterior.

“R…Ryoga? Is that you?”

She waited for an answer, but soon realized that the boy was blushing and starring at her own nude form. She reached out, and grasped a nearby bath pan, using it to clonk Ryoga on the head to get him to focus on something else. The impact shook him and allowed his mind to realign on a hostile looking redhead that held a small dented bucket, ready to strike again. He spun around in the tub to face away from her and tried to remove the image of Ranma’s very female form from his mind.

He fought his blush down and said, “So now you know why I hated you so much.”

“Nabiki said you followed me to China,” Ranma confirmed, “but I never figured that you followed me all the way to Jusenkyo.”

Ryoga growled, “I didn’t have a choice. You humiliated me in front of the entire school, and then ran out on our fight. I had to follow after you or I’d never have been able to live it down.” He absently slapped a fist into the water and continued, “I was almost worn out when a beautiful girl walked out of the woods to give me new hope. Now I find out that fate mocked me, and that you were that girl.”

Ranma felt a pang of sympathy for the sad and confused boy, but was still put off by his blame, “I told you, Ryoga, it wasn’t my choice to leave before we ended our little feud, and it wasn’t my choice to get dunked in those springs. If you really need to blame someone, blame my dad. I do.”

“And embarrassing me at school,” Ryoga asked, “Was that his fault?”

Ranma’s face scrunched up in thought, and she said, “Look, I can’t think of any way I was trying to put you down back then. I thought we were friends, and you were a good challenge for my training. That’s why I wanted to fight you, to test myself.”

Ryoga looked over his shoulder at the innocent looking girl behind him, “I thought you were out to get me, that you were some kind of bully or something.”

Ranma scratched the back of her head, “Well, I never really considered it that way. My dad just told me to always challenge people stronger then myself so I could improve. I never really learned any social grace until recently, thanks to Nabiki.”

Ryoga tried not to watch Ranma’s breast bounced as she laughed in embarrassment, and asked, “What’s with her, anyway? Doesn’t she know you’re really a guy?”

Ranma looked down and sighed, “Yeah, she does. She is one of the few people that don’t see me as a freak when I change.”

Ryoga smirked and turned back around, “Freak? Ha! At least you stay human; I’m stuck as something small, weak, and edible. You’re lucky to have such a nice body.”

“I hate to tell you this, but I’m not human,” Ranma said. Ryoga looked quizzically at her, and with a mental push, she allowed her wings to open out of her back.

“You had those back in China. What are they?”

Ranma looked Ryoga in the eye and said, “Demon wings.”

“D…Demon…What do you mean?”

Ranma turned away, “The magic in the spring I fell into was different, and it turned me into something else. An Amazon Elder helped me to understand what I was turning into, and I’ve been fighting to keep a balance between my humanity and demon nature.”

Ryoga’s eyes suddenly went wide, “That was what you used at the end of our fight. But don’t demons eat people and stuff like that?”

“I’m not that kind of…” She paused, hearing a noise of the outer door latch being fumbled with. “Oh crap, someone’s coming,” she hissed out.

She folded her wings away and turned to the cold water tap to change Ryoga back into a piglet before anyone could see them. Ryoga quickly caught on, and not wanting to reveal his curse, climbed out of the tub. He came up behind Ranma and was about to take the flexible shower head, when he stepped into a wet spot on the floor, and in his rush slipped forward, crashing into Ranma.

The two teens tumbled to the ground, Ryoga landing on top of Ranma. Their bodies pressed into each other, and they locked eyes in surprise at the situation. Ryoga felt the smaller form of the redhead beneath him, her breasts pressing into him, her leg brushing his hip, and her scent filling his nose. His mind began to shut down at the sensation.

Ranma, meanwhile, found herself pinned by Ryoga’s body, her nipples digging into him, and his arousal at her nude form filling her demonic senses. Suddenly, she felt a prodding and realized that it was the boy’s erection pressing against her thigh. For a moment, her demon nature caused her to swoon, but she quickly regained control, reaching past Ryoga’s head to turn on the shower.

Instantly the weight on her chest reduced, and a small black piglet was lying between her breasts. She sat up and pulled the pig off her, setting it to one side as the inner door opened.

A drowsy panda stumbled in, holding up a sign reading, ‘Excuse me; I needed to use the lil’ panda’s room’. The panda backed out, and Ranma looked down to see Ryoga had passed out with a nose bleed, no doubt due to the last few seconds. She shivered at the remembered sensations that ran through her body at the close male contact, almost reliving her nightmares of Kuno.

This is one part of my nature I could do without, Ranma thought to herself.

She shook her head, and gathered up the piglet, moving to the changing area, and pulling a towel around her waist. She walked out and began to head back down to the living room, when Akane stopped her and picked up Ryoga from Ranma’s arm.

“Wait, Akane,” Ranma started, but was cut off.

“He’s out cold, what did you do to him?”

Ranma heard the accusation in Akane’s voice and fired back, “Nothing, but there’s something you need to know…”

She watched, shocked as Akane gave the little pig a kiss on the snout and say, “It’s all right, P-Chan, I’ll make sure Ranma doesn’t hurt you.”

Ranma saw that Ryoga had woken up to receive the kiss, and had promptly passed out again. She tried to snatch the pig back from Akane, but the Tendo girl turned, blocking the grab, and pinched Ranma’s arm. She pulled her arm back and Akane took the opportunity to shift past her and through her door.

“Oh go put on a shirt, and stop picking on the little guy,” the youngest Tendo groused, and stormed into her room, slamming the door in Ranma’s face.

“Oh hell,” Ranma cursed. She needed to get the boy turned pig out of there, but couldn’t figure a way to do it without getting into trouble. Unfortunately, she was skating on thin ice with the youngest Tendo sister already, and didn’t want the tomboy to start in on her again.

To top that off, she did feel for the cursed boy. She knew that if she was trapped in his curse she would like it even less then her own. Ranma had to find a way to preserve Ryoga’s dignity, and give the boy a chance to defuse the situation. She dashed into her room, and quickly pulled on a new tank top and her skirt, forgoing anything else in her haste, looked to make sure the rain had ended, and then quietly jumped out the window.

Dropping to the ground, she ran inside to the kitchen, and filled a tea kettle, setting it on the stove. She waited three agonizing minutes for it to heat up, and then walked back outside, grabbing Ryoga’s pants out of his belongings on the way. Once in the yard she let her wings out again, and silently took flight, hovering outside Akane’s window in the darkness. Looking in, she saw Akane asleep already, with Ryoga’s pig form cuddled in her arms.

Carefully, she opened the second story widow, and slid in. Using every bit of stealth she could muster, Ranma made her way to Akane’s bedside and tapped Ryoga on the head.

She whispered, “Time to go, Hibiki.”

Slowly, the pig stirred, seeing Ranma and the kettle, and reacted badly. He cowered away from what he thought was another attack, but as he did, his flank brushed against Akane’s nightshirt, reminding him he was in bed with a girl.

Ranma saw the panic in the little pig’s eyes and made a soothing sound, “Shhh…I’m not gonna change you here. I’m just trying to get you outside.” Ryoga relaxed incrementally, and inched away from the warm body of the sleeping girl. He only got a handbreadth away when Akane reached out and grabbed him, pulling him in close and pressing his snout into her chest.

Ranma smacked her own forehead as she saw the piglet freeze up, and prayed he wouldn’t have another nose bleed. She placed the kettle down on Akane’s desk and move even closer to the bed, leaning over to get a better angle on Ryoga. She reached down and went to grab him by then bandana when Akane shifted in her sleep, causing Ranma to miss and grab a handful of Akane’s pajama covered breast. Akane’s eyes shot open, and locked with Ranma’s.

The redhead felt panic rise up, and chanted in her head, Just a dream, go back to sleep…Just a dream, go back to sleep…

Akane’s eyes were locked into the redhead’s, and for a moment she felt a wave of anger, and a need to smash the other girl. Then, she saw Ranma’s eyes begin to glow, and her head felt heavy, as if she were halfway asleep. That sounds right, she thought, this is a dream. I should go back to sleep. Her eyes closed, and her breathing slowed as she drifted back to sleep.

Not complaining, Ranma thought as she let go of the girl’s front, but what the hell just happened? She scooped up Ryoga and retrieved the kettle, then slid out the window, taking to the air once more. She landed on the roof, and dropped the black piglet down, tossing the pants next to him. Hefting the kettle, Ranma then poured out a measure of hot water on the frightened looking pig, and watched it transform into a startled looking boy.

Ryoga gaped, “How did you do that? Your eyes were glowing, and then she let go of me. She didn’t even react when you groped her.””

“First, I didn’t grope anybody, I just missed grabbing you when she rolled,” Ranma exclaimed, embarrassed at the situation. “Secondly…I have no idea.” She sat down on the roof and mulled over what happened while Ryoga pulled on his pants, grateful to cover his reaction to being held closely by Akane, and then Ranma as they flew up here. He waited, and saw that Ranma was deep in thought.

Finally, almost to herself, Ranma spoke, “It must be part of my demon abilities. Since I’m a succubus, I must be able to persuade people. It must be kinda like Nabiki’s power, tele-whatsis, reading people’s minds.”

Ryoga asked, “You can read minds?”

“I don’t think so,” Ranma replied, “just influence them, like hypnosis or something.” She thought again for a moment, then turned to face Ryoga again, “I’m going to try it on you. See if you can resist.” Ryoga slowly nodded and Ranma closed her eyes, opening them again with a faint glow.

“Stand up,” she commanded. Ryoga rocked back at the mental impact of the words, and almost obeyed instantly, but he remembered that he was supposed to resist. He fought the sensations, but his eyes were locked with Ranma’s, and a wave of desire and obedience washed through him. He struggled to overcome it, his body twitching, and managed to break eye contact with the demon girl. After a moment, the wave passed, and he collapsed back, worn out.

“You ok, Ryoga,” Ranma asked in a normal voice.

Ryoga glanced, and saw the blue light was gone from Ranma’s eyes, “Yeah. That was really creepy. It felt like obeying you would be the greatest thing in my life, and if I wasn’t ready for it, I probably would have stood.”

Ranma shivered and softly said, “That’s the monster inside.” She shivered and continued, “I’ll never do that again if I can help it.”

“That’s good to hear,” Ryoga said, sitting up and crossing his legs to hide his reaction to her commands. “If you really are fighting between human and demon, then using something like that is dangerous.” He paused while Ranma collected her thought, and then hesitantly said, “Look, I can see you have a lot to work out, and I suppose I didn’t help, charging in like I did. All this time, I thought you were a jerk, and maybe you are,” Ranma frowned, but Ryoga continued, “But you have it as bad as me. The real difference is that you have that Nabiki girl to support you, I don’t have anyone to help me with my curse.”

Ranma nodded, “I got lucky to find a partner like her.” And Shampoo, she added to herself.

Ryoga saw that Ranma understood and said, “Then I want to ask you, as someone who has a curse, and as a warrior…Please keep my secret.”

Ranma saw Ryoga near panic again, and sighed, “A transformation like yours could be used as a weakness, so I understand why you want to keep it, but what about Akane?”

Ryoga blushed again, “She didn’t care that I was a pig, and took me in her arms…” Ranma saw that Ryoga was going all starry eyed and snapped her fingers in front of his face. Ryoga came back to reality, and saw a look of scorn on Ranma’s face.

“What,” he asked.

“She felt sorry for a little lost piglet, not you,” Ranma calmly pointed out, “If you value honor so much you should tell her about it before there’s a problem.”

“So you won’t tell anyone before I do?”

Ranma glared at the boy, “A weakness is one thing, but if you don’t fess up soon, she’ll kill you. She has stated quite clearly that she thinks all boys are perverts and a boy using a pig disguise to sneak into her room would be top on her hit list.”

Ryoga responded, “I did not sneak into her room.” His voice gained a dreaming quality and he added, “She welcomed me with open arms…”

“Oh, god,” Ranma sighed, her hand covering her face as Ryoga took another trip away from reality. “Look, Ryoga, I’ll let it be for the moment. Call it my repayment for whatever part you think I played in giving you this curse, but if you don’t come clean, and I mean soon, it will get out, and you won’t be able to run far enough to hide from Akane’s wrath..” With that, Ranma stood and headed to the edge of the roof. She hopped down, gathered Ryoga’s things, and flew back to the roof, dumping it unceremoniously in front of him.

“Here’s your crap,” she grumbled, “you better tell Akane the next time you see her, or I will.” With that she jumped up and disappeared into the night.

Ryoga pulled on the remainder of his clothes, and considered recent events.

“The girl I fell for in China hates me, and is my enemy from school. The girl I fall for in Japan likes the pig I become, and doesn’t even know the man I am.” He paused in his musings and looked into the night sky for any sign of the winged girl he had once had feelings for, but she was either too far, or blended into the night too well, and could not be seen.

“The world truly is a dark and lonely place,” he sighed into the night.

Unfortunately for Ranma, she was only a few meters away, near Nabiki’s window, and heard him speaking. She still felt the pang of sympathy for the Lost Boy, knowing the pain of being alone, but at the same time, she shuddered at the idea that another boy had feelings for her. She quietly tapped on Nabiki’s window, and waited a moment.

Soon, a tired looking, and nude, Nabiki slid open the window to see Ranma hovering outside.

“What’s up that couldn’t wait till morning?”

Ranma alighted on the window sill and said, “We may have a few little problems that are going to be big ones soon. Can we talk?” Nabiki nodded, rubbing sleep out of her eyes and let Ranma in. She pulled on a robe and both girls sat on the bed, Ranma looking pensive.

“What’s wrong?” Nabiki asked.

Ranma spent the rest of the night telling Nabiki about her new power, and with much reluctance, about Ryoga’s visit. Nabiki took Ranma’s new ability in stride.

“You re a succubus,” she said, “they were supposed to be able to seduce anyone. Hypnosis would give you that ability. I guess that when you went full on demon during the fight, it rattled a few things loose, letting your abilities surface.”

As for Ranma’s talk with Ryoga, Nabiki figured the two boys had worked out a lot of problems, but believed that Ryoga could be a real threat for the foreseeable future. Her opinion of his anger level was that it wouldn’t go away after just one sit down.

As for Ryoga’s curse, Nabiki had to think about that one. On the one hand, it opened the door for a little blackmail, and Nabiki believed that Ryoga needed to be brought down a peg, hard. On the other hand, her sister was now involved, and even if Nabiki felt a little animosity towards Akane for her treatment of Ranma, she still couldn’t condone Ryoga not telling Akane about the curse, or at least finding a way out of the situation.

She put that to the side for one moment, realizing that she needed time to think clearly on it, and focused on the two things she could handle at the moment. The first problem was that Ranma was once more in conflict about the nature of her curse. Having Ryoga fall on top of her in such a provocative way had rattled her, even though she brushed it off as nothing. Nabiki could tell that inside Ranma was fighting the instincts regarding the encounter, but she had no clue as to how to assure the confused girl, other then offering her support.

The other problem was much easier to deal with. Nabiki stood in front of Ranma and said, “Try to hypnotize me. I should have an easy time of fighting it.”

Ranma nodded, and once more she closed her eyes, opening them with a blue glow and commanding, “Sit down.” Nabiki was prepared, and felt the pressure of the command ram into her mind’s defenses. She had to work a little at it due to the new use of her power in this way, but she withstood the attack without strain.

She nodded to herself, figuring that she would be able to resist if she needed to, and then said, “Ok, now try again. This time I won’t resist, and I want you to try and see if there is a difference.”

Ranma nodded and locked eyes with Nabiki, “Sit down.” Almost instantly, Nabiki was in her desk chair, and feeling a wash of satisfaction for obeying her mistress. Ranma looked stunned for a moment at the expression of submissiveness on Nabiki’s face, and immediately closed her eyes to try and turn off the power. Both girls soon shook off the effects, and stared at each other.

Nabiki spoke first, “That was something different. It felt like it was perfectly natural for me to obey. That’s powerful stuff.”

“Yeah,” Ranma managed, “It felt much easier this time, and almost like…I don’t know, I could make you do anything I wanted.”

“Is that what it was like when you made Akane go back to sleep?”

Ranma thought, “I wasn’t really paying attention at the time, I was more focused on getting Ryoga out of there. Whatever the case, I don’t think I’ll be doing that too often.”

“Why,” Nabiki asked, “You could get anything you wanted. Why not use it.”

“You know why.”

Nabiki sighed, “It would be dishonorable, I know. I just think that you should be able to use every tool you have. I guess you really believe all that stuff that your father doesn’t.”

“It’s what makes me different than him,” Ranma said. “Besides, if I was spouting crap like him, you wouldn’t care what happened to me at all. You’d probably just scam me like the idiot jock I’d be.”

Nabiki smiled at Ranma’s frank observation and said, “Probably. But you are the way you are, and I do care. Now we better get ready, we have to wake up in a few minutes.”

They shared a simple kiss, and Ranma ducked out the window again, gliding over to her room in the pale morning light. As her glide carried her above the lip of the roof for a moment, she saw that Ryoga had left, no doubt running from the possibility of being discovered. She snorted and slid inside to see her panda father still sound asleep.

She looked over to the clock, and saw it read 5:59, and decided to get the morning routine started one minute early. She circled her father, and lined up on him and the open window, hauled back her leg, and then punted the panda outside to begin the day’s exercise.

Far away, in China, Shampoo was struggling to free herself from a steel wire net hanging from a tree. As she continued to travel day and night, she let her guard down and found herself open to attack, which led to her current position.

She had let her Grandmother, her tribe and her husband down by ignoring the world around her as she raced to the coast, and now she would pay for that failure. Soon she saw her captor, and her eyes widened in fear.

“Exile,” she whispered.

“Not for long, my dear,” the girl-bat chuckled as she opened a pouch, removing several items, “Soon I will have my revenge on the False One, and your fool of a grandmother, and then I will rule the Amazons.”

“Never,” Shampoo spat out, redoubling her efforts, causing light cuts to appear where wire touched skin. She noticed that one of the items Enema had retrieved was a simple bottle with ‘Formula 119’ printed on it. “That won’t work. Erasing my memory won’t erase my loyalty to the tribe.”

Again, Enema chuckled, “Now why would I do something as primitive as that? Your glorious grandmother never told you that I am a master at the shiatsu styles. I intend to rebuild your mind completely and make you into my tool to destroy the False One.”

With that, she attacked. It was fast, powerful, and Shampoo could do nothing to defend herself. When the scalp massage and conditioning were over, she felt like she had just spent a whole day relaxing in the sun. As she was let down, she looked up at the unfamiliar girl who smiled at her, and felt a connection of some kind.

“Hello, child,” the girl said, folding her elongated arms in front of her, “I am Enema, the Chosen One of legend, and rightful queen of your Amazon tribe.”

Shampoo felt a wash of reverence. This was the Chosen One that was spoken of all her life by…by…someone important, but she couldn’t remember at the moment and chalked it up to being in the presence of such an important figure. She was helped out of the net, and kneeled before the Chosen One, eyes cast downwards.

Enema spoke again, “A great threat has befallen the tribe, and only you can save them. A false savior has arisen in the east, and if left unchecked will bring doom to our people. You are to seek her out and destroy her. Do you understand?”

Shampoo quietly spoke, “I do.”

“Then go to this place,” Enema said, and handed the girl a torn piece of paper that read ‘Tendo Dojo, Nerima, Japan’. She continued, “Seek out the red haired demon called Ranma, and bring her head to me.”

Shampoo took the paper, and answered, “I will do as you command, Mistress.”

Enema’s laughter could be heard echoing into the night as Shampoo began to head for the coast, a single tear running unnoticed down her cheek.


To be continued.


Endnote: Ten up, ten down. I’m going to take a few days off as I outline the next arc, but by early April (No fooling) Chapter 11 should be on its way. I was going to take a longer break and do another story, but I’m having fun writing this one, so I’m putting that off a while longer until I can get a better idea for plot. Until next time…I got nothing.