Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ A Very Scary Bet ❯ Limedrops keep fallin on my head ( Chapter 4 )
plans go awry.
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Comedy / Martial Arts | Type: The Bet | Uploaded On: 11.08.2002 | Pages: 4 | Words: 6.5K | Visits: 1.2K | Status: Completed
OPENING ANIMATION: characters walk in and stand next to Ranma as their lines come up. background is a yellow stage with logo in background.
Ranma (curious): What would you do if I sang out of tune?
Ukyou (pleading no): Would you stand up and walk out on us?
Kasumi (politely): Lend us your ears and we'll sing you a song,
Nabiki (smirking): And we'll try not to sing out of key.
ALL: Oh, we get by with a little help from our friends, Oh, we get high with a little help from our friends, We're gonna try with a little help from our friends.
Shampoo (watches Ranma): What do I do when my love is away?
Rei/Vanilla (calm): Does it worry you to be alone?
Sash (softly): hai...
Akane (confident): How does it feel by the end of the day?
Ryouga (turned wrong way): Are you sad because you're all alone?
ALL: No, we get by with a little help from our friends, Oh, we get high with a little help from our friends, We're gonna try with a little help from our friends.
Kodachi (as if lecturing the camera): Do you need anybody?
Makoto Kino (sadly nods): I need somebody to love.
Ami Mizuno (consulting computer): Could it be anybody?
Minako Aino (sulking): I want somebody to love.
Nuku Nuku (bouncing): Would you believe in a love at first sight?
Akira Fudoh (grim): Yes, I'm certain that it happens all the time.
Kiima (ominously): What do you see when you turn out the light?
Happosai (grinning lecherously): I can't tell you, but I know it's mine.
other characters begin filing in. Misato Katsuragi, Nodoka, Genma, the Doctor, Pantyhose Tarou, Sash, Serjeant Benton, Alistair Lethbridge- Stewart, Cutey Honey & John Talbain are carrying the logo.
ALL: Oh, we get by with a little help from our friends, Oh, we get high with a little help from our friends, We're gonna try with a little help with a little help from our friends...
----------------------------------------------------
A small four-wheel drive vehicle moved through the streets of Nerima. This was unusual in a number of respects. First, because this was Nerima and automobile traffic in the residential sections was pretty rare. Second, it was unusual because this wasn't a sedan, coupe, or similar vehicle but an SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle) in Tokyo. The need for a Sports Utility Vehicle in Japan was not particularly well documented.
While both of these factors were unusual, they were not so out of the ordinary as to draw any particular attention. That there were two women and a cat in the car was also not particularly noteworthy.
That the driver was a quite attractive seventeen year old, while the other was an equally attractive woman of perhaps nineteen might have turned a few heads but still not especially worthy of note. This was Tokyo. What would be a devastatingly attractive woman in Arizona was merely average good looking here.
But then, if you were to identify the passengers, then things got decidedly more interesting.
"I still don't trust this guy. How do you know that HE wasn't the one who showed up with magical food!"
"So we go in cautiously. Besides, it looked to me as if he were heavy into the high-tech sorta thing, not..." Makoto slammed the brakes, and three set of eyes tracked the commuter that ran through the intersection.
"Ami," said Makoto in a small voice a few moments later. "Did you see what I just saw?"
Ami was frantically pressing buttons on her computer keypad and didn't answer.
"A unicorn? In Nerima? In Japan? Why and how is there a unicorn in Japan?!" Luna stopped when she realized that nobody else would know either. "It's GOTTA be one of the Dark Kingdom generals."
"I'm detecting the same sort of energy that Sailor Moon's attacks emit. The same sort of healing energies." Ami found herself twitching and tried a deep breathing exercise to calm herself. Well, why not a unicorn? Was that any less hard to believe than reincarnated soldiers of an ancient Moon Kingdom? To hear stories was one thing, to actually SEE a unicorn another.
"Let's just get going and see if we can find the Tendo dojo. Now remember, if there's trouble DON'T transform, Ami."
"I remember," Ami said meekly, remembering what had happened when she and Makoto had tried transforming to their Senshi identities. Jupiter had powered up with her sudden aging, while Ami hadn't transformed into Sailor Mercury at all.
She blushed again, remembering the odd sensations she'd gotten. It had been... strange and exciting and strangely exciting.
--------------------------------------
Somewhere near Okayama, the greatest genius mad scientist of the universe monitored her flying crab remote probe and decided she needed more of them immediately.
That vehicle had very interesting power readings, the unicorn was itself quite an interesting phenomena, and the strangeness all seemed to either head towards or away from that odd house with all the odd energy signatures.
Wasshu sat back and smirked, only to nearly fall off her chair when an alarm buzzed at her.
There in a monitor, was Kiyone?! Accessing the instant clothing machine. She'd put it away from her lab as she'd figured that Mihoshi would be drawn to the device. But Kiyone?
In the monitor, Wasshu watched the Galaxy Police detective shrug into...a sailor fuku?
Wasshu stroked a control lightly and then nodded in satisfaction. Kiyone was at least going out well-equipped. Forcefield generator in the belt, laser in the tiara, electroshock knuckles in the gloves, a contragrav device built into the suit itself. A somewhat tasteful blue-grey coloration to the ensemble.
Another control was stroked and Kiyone's muttering was loud enough to hear.
"...dang it. Got to help 'em if they're like the Warrior Blades, but couldn't they have a less embarrassing uniform? I mean, seriously..."
Wasshu's smirk returned. So that was it. She'd have to upgrade the systems on that fuku. Kiyone was entirely too useful and too competent to allow her to go into battle without the proper equipment.
Wasshu flicked to the other rooms in the house, seeking whatever had caused Kiyone to act tonight instead of spending more time gathering data. It was out of character for Kiyone to move without knowing what the situation was. What she saw made Wasshu begin to laugh.
Oh yes, she'd have to record this for posterity. Then, thousands of years later, she could play this all back and still laugh herself silly with it.
"Begin recording and tracking. Mihoshi. Ryoko. Aeka. Sasami. Poor Tenchi, maybe I ought to get you a tuxedo..."
---------------------------------------------------------
A large recreational vehicle shot through the night at a fairly good speed.
Ranma clicked a status report for the workbots and smiled. Tunnel and first chamber already excavated and sealed. Slight drop in the power efficiency of Larry. He'd have to check that out later when he did the planned upgrades.
Ranma's eyes flicked back to his cargo. Furinkan hadn't been the only location struck by these hit-n-run life-energy draining attacks. As near as he could see, Furinkan had been attacked by Panther Zora who usually attacked Bluebird Senior High School. Bluebird had been attacked by some really nasty creatures who had just abruptly left.
Saint Hebereke's School for Girls had been attacked (no one was quite sure why) by creatures that had been an odd mix of human and animal parts. They suffered less damage than was usual due to the presence of some paramilitary force with fairly old combat rifles. It was a pity that the Saint Hebereke computer lab got trashed by a stray missile, but these things happen. At least the school had been evacuated by that point.
"Gurk." The woman's eyes opened.
"Don't try to draw unnecessary power," Ranma advised. "Whoever you ran into did a really nasty job. It may take me a few days to put together the necessary parts but bionic systems ARE my specialty."
"Gek."
"I'd suggest shutting down to your maintenence mode. Though, yeah, I should be able to put you back together by the end of the week. At least minimal functionality at that point." Ranma paused. "I think you managed to hold them off long enough for the students to escape but the school's a wreck."
The android's eyes closed. She'd failed to win, but still succeeded in saving lives. It would do, for now.
Ranma noted the telltale that indicated that the android had shut down to a rest mode. Adjusting course slightly for the river, he made sure his stealth systems were active.
--------------------------------------
Nabiki added the kairaishi mushroom bits to the stew, just "helping out" Ukyou. She silently chuckled at the double meaning to her offer of assistance.
Besides, if this worked out, she could get HUGE sums the next day and satisfy her own insatiable curiosity at the same time.
Ukyou didn't notice, once again lost in the gulf that had developed between her fiance and herself. It was familiar ground, she kept coming back to the same ideas over and over again. She'd fallen in love with Ranma shortly after they'd met. He'd been her friend and companion for years. She had fantasized about him, and loved him unrelentingly for over a decade now. The only thing the years had changed had been the way she wanted to express that love.
The changes in Ranma were incredible, and Ukyou noted that she herself had changed little. She had always seen herself as Ranma's True Fiancee. Shampoo was more comfortable with the tech stuff, and the Amazon "Princess" had blossomed into a curvaceous beauty. Ukyou wondered if she could compete.
Fortunately, she _was_ the Master Of Okonomiyaki, and her current lack of attention was not really a problem as far as that went. She could pull a 48 hour cram session and still make tasty and edible food. A good thing too, or her current meal would rival the worst that Akane could have prepared.
Therefore she missed the lemon drops being added to the tea, the bits of mushroom added to one particular okonomiyaki, the little eyedropper of fluid that went poof into the cabbage of another okonomiyaki.
Nabiki looked at Ukyou, gauged the near-trance the other girl was in, then back at this last okonomiyaki, back to Ukyou, and added another eyedropper of "honeymoon sweet." Some things were more difficult than others.
Caught up in her own plootting, Nabiki didn't particularly notice Vanilla come in, stir the pot briefly as if idly curious as to what was for dinner, then exit. She definitely didn't notice Vanilla give a subtle nod to Shampoo.
If she had seen Shampoo's grin and thumbs up to Vanilla, she most likely would have become concerned.
If she had known what Kasumi had added to the soup earlier in the day, she would have become far more concerned. But you already knew that.
-------------------------------
Ranma finished connecting fluid and energy connectors to the head on his workbench. His scan of internal systems was interrupted by a sound he hadn't expected. His phone was ringing.
"It's always the shower or when you're just getting into an intriguing bit of work, you know," Ranma explained to the android. "Just a minute. Computer, use ident routine, basic level. Origin of call?"
A voice that sounded vaguely familiar spoke. "Call originates from London. Call is scrambled, using standard UNIT cipher four. Video and audio components."
"UNIT? Now why would the Doctor's associates with the United Nations be contacting me?" Ranma shrugged. "Accept transmission, use monitor two."
"Well, Ranma Saotome, back in your home territory are you?" An elderly fellow with a certain roguish charm smiled from the monitor.
"Q?! Using a UNIT cipher? How _did_ you get my number?" To say Ranma was surprised was mildly understating it. He'd left on good terms with Her Majesty's Secret Service, but hadn't exactly expected their paths to cross again.
"Oh, those chaps over at UNIT found your location yesterday. When you called that older sister of yours to explain you'd be late for dinner they backtracked it."
"And naturally you dug into their computer files."
"Ranma!" Q looked mildly indignant. "We've had trapdoors through UNIT's computer systems for decades. After all, we had to close up all the ones that OTHER nations went and put in."
"Of course," agreed Ranma, acknowledging the other's point. "So why did you call? Not that I'm complaining if it's just a social call."
"Well, it's that too. According to the seismic records you're digging some pretty large chambers into the earth and rock below Tokyo."
"Ah, and you wanted to caution me about using or developing too much high tech."
Q actually looked shocked. "Heavens, no. Actually, I wanted to schedule a visit, once you have some gadgetry to play with."
Ranma nodded after a moment. "Just don't bring HIM."
"Turn Sir James loose with all the girls you have there? I understand your concern. Oh, and just so I can charge this call as a business expense, you WILL engage in a mutual backscratch when the opportunity arises and no previous loyalties are compromised?"
"Confirm that, Q. Hey, in three days, I'm planning a labwarming party. Can do?"
"I could use a break from the gratuitous sex & violence."
"I am NOT Sir James. Not my cup of tea, as you well know."
Q chuckled. No, they were different in many ways, that was for certain. "Well, pencil me in, then. No promises, though."
Ranma nodded. One thing about working in Q's field was that regular hours were often conspicuous by their absence. "Understood. Ranma out."
---------------------------------------
Shampoo took off for her pre-dinner run, wanting to check on Kasumi and work off some additional tension in the joy of flying.
Lavender tresses billowing behind her, the Amazon twisted the throttle and sent her hovercycle past a startled looking group in a four-wheel drive vehicle pbefore gaining altitude and sailing above the houses.
She'd been introduced to a number of musical styles during her travels, and to the horror of both Ranma and the Doctor, Shampoo had gotten addicted to karaoke.
So it was with Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild" blaring out of speakers on a hightech hovercycle, being sung along to by a Chinese Amazon as she raced a little under one hundred feet above the road.
Shampoo was not aware of a moon cat in the car she'd just passed, currently swearing off Tender Vittles for life. Shampoo was also not aware of Makoto exclaiming repeatedly "I want one of those!"
Shampoo was not even aware five minutes later that a combat helicopter was closing.
-------------------------------
Ukyou opened the door, wondering who could be here at this hour.
A tall girl with a pony tail, and a smaller girl with short hair who had a superficial resemblence to Akane. Both of whom were holding up "Fiancee to Ranma" membership cards.
"Hi, is Ranma in? My name's Makoto Kino and this is my good friend Ami Mizuno. May we come in?"
Ukyou paused as she considered how to handle this, but decided to just be herself and maybe they were just here to chat? Ukyou silently prayed that this was the case, then smiled. "Of course. Numbers five and seven? I think I remember you. Ami, you're the one who helped out in that Flatulence Phantom caper, weren't you?"
Ami blinked. "You're the one who was trapped in the well with Ranma? Your spatula isn't the only thing that's grown."
Makoto winced. "Ami. You didn't say that you'd gone off on one of their adventures."
"Sorry. It's been a few years." Ami paused. "I remember now, that was one of the things you did to train in the martial arts. You went to investigate these hauntings and such, travelling across the country with your okonomiyaki cart 'the Meal Machine' solving mysterious events."
Ukyou and Ami shared a mischievous look, though Ami was a little shy about it.
"Oh come in, you two. Ami, you've got to tell me how you've been doing."
Ami humphed as she nodded. "Is Akane still as danger-prone as ever? Is Nabiki still running scams and 'accidently' leaving with part of the treasure? Is Kasumi still patching up..."
"Is Ranma still as cute as ever," put in Makoto then clapped a hand over her mouth as if she couldn't believe she had said that.
"Yes, yes, yes, and I'm not going to say. Come on, I'll get you some tea while we talk." Ukyou shook her head. "I'll fill you in on some of the details."
-------------------------------
Shampoo said something in her native tongue, it was not flattering.
Smoke pouring from a hole in the side of her vehicle from the first missile strike, Shampoo guided her hovercycle into brushing the ground and cornering buildings like a shadow.
Poison One responded with machine guns blazing and a spread of missiles.
Shampoo knew full well that her airen hadn't installed any weapons systems beyond her vibro-spear. That didn't do her any good with the readout telling her she was at 79% structural capacity and 45% power output.
Shampoo thumbed a button. "Airen. Airen?! Shampoo really could use help now. Someone please to bring Shampoo ranged weapon?"
Another missle exploded near enough to throw Shampoo off her hovercycle. She watched in dismay as another two missles exploded on the vehicle, reducing it to scrap. That was her *favorite* hovercycle! It had been a trophy of battle! It had given her many hours of pleasure as she reveled in the freedom of flight and high speeds.
Gritting her teeth, Shampoo faced the copter as it circled for a shot. "FLAME ARROW!"
There was a clang as the chi blast bounced off Poison One's armor. There was a dent, there was a burn mark, and that was about it.
Shampoo realized that she was about to be hit with hundred of rounds of ammunition and managed what she imagined would be her last act of defiance.
-----------------------------------------------
EYECATCH: < p>Makoto Kino, in an Amazon pantsuit and carrying bonbori, runs past the screen.
Akane, in tiger striped bikini, runs by almost on Makoto's heels.
Kiyone, in an Evangelion plug suit, looks a little embarrassed as she passes.
Cutey Honey, dressed as a Sailor Senshi, runs by.
A Macross Valkyrie in Gerwalk mode lands with the AVSB logo in its hands. The cockpit pops open and Shampoo grins, winks and gives a thumbs up to the audience. The rest of the female cast appears in the foreground, all wearing someone else's clothing. Ukyou's dressed as Lupin, Lillith is dressed as DevilHunter Yohko, Misato Katsuragi is wearing an okonomiyaki chef's outfit, etc.
------------------------------------
The radio's squeal cut through the pleasant conversation.
"Airen. Airen?! Shampoo really could use help now. Someone please to bring Shampoo ranged weapon?" This was followed immediately by a neutral sounding voice stating "Warning. Carrier dead."
Akane stood. "That chi attack of hers is roughly half the power of my Hadoken, but it takes less power. If she's run into something that she can't handle..."
"I will be along a moment behind you, Akane. I may be able to contact reinforcements."
"Right," Akane ran for the doorway, then looked for the smoke trail that marked Shampoo's location.
Vanilla's gaze swept over the two guests and their cat. "I realize that you don't particularly owe us anything. But would one of you be of assistance now?"
"W-What do you mean?" Ami stuttered as she met that emotionless unblinking stare. "We're just high school girls like yourself."
Vanilla shrugged. "Someone who can fight demonic entities in Juuban might well be of assistance. Shampoo was just making a pleasure ride, after all, and did not take weapons."
"I don't know what..." Ami's voice trailed off.
Makoto glanced from Ami to this pale girl and thought about old stories dealing with baby birds who made the mistake of looking into a serpent's eyes.
Vanilla frowned ever so slightly and was gone out the door in a less than a heartbeat.
Makoto quietly went to the door and looked out to see the columns of smoke twisting their way up from a few miles away. "They're gonna run that far?"
"Nope," said Ukyou flashing a set of keys as she ran past them. "Nabiki, keep an eye on the food!"
------------------------------------------
Ranma monitored the transmission, noted that the energy signature corresponding to the hovercycle engine had stopped, and considered the possibilities.
Another energy signature appeared. Ukyou's little moped was no doubt quite useful for making market runs and picking up the groceries she used in keeping her lunchtime okonomiyaki stand going. Ranma doubted its capabilities if it were carrying more than one person.
"Shampoo can you read me?" Ranma pressed a button. Shampoo didn't want it known, but there had been some problems with restoring her from that transport accident.
Shampoo was an Amazon, and looked natural, but some of her had needed to be rebuilt. This was what had motivated Ranma to become a cybersurgeon in the first place. Of course, once he had access to cloning technology, he had run with that! He didn't know how to do full scale clones, but regenerating limbs and a few assorted body parts was child's play with the right equipment.
So Shampoo had a Universal Headjack outfitted with a short range transceiver, along with a couple of other relatively minor enhancements that were normally hidden by her hair or even the skimpy clothes she tended to favor.
"Airen? I hurt, airen..." Shampoo's voice was weak even with the subvocal transmitter. There was only a few people she'd confess weakness to, or let *anyone* see a vulnerable side of herself. This was the main one. "No think much be left for you to put together. Sorry."
Ranma popped the hatch, and went for the river access. He knew a way to get there.
------------------------------------
A moped swept in, scooting around a corner, and showing definite signs of strain.
"Arisa, mark that.Three more of them. On a moped."
"Where's the first one? We had her dead to rights and she just vanished!"
"Lady Atsuko wants a status report."
One of the windshields blew in from a chi-fireball.
"More androids? RETURN FIRE!" Arisa snarled and made the same assumption they'd been making. Normal people didn't throw fireballs or leap small buildings. Therefore, these were more of those damnable androids.
"Missles launched. Got 'em, that building fell on 'em. Now we can continue scanning for the original target."
------------------------------------
Hiroshi and Daisuke were doing something they did quite often nowadays. They were praying. They were also fishing, sort of. After all the explosions they had left their poles unattended and turned their attention to that, but it was quickly becoming a nonevent. Just as much as the fishing, actually.
Though after hours in powerless power armor, both of them wanted to feel the breeze and breathe relatively fresh air for awhile.
"Oh kami-sama. Send me a sign. If we are not to pursue Akane or Ukyou anymore."
Daisuke nodded, then noticed the line on his fishing rod was playing out fast. "HEY! I got one!"
Hiroshi looked over. "Wow. Maybe it's the sign."
"Nah," Daisuke chided as he held onto his rod. "For such an important decision, it'd have to be a MUCH more impressive sign."
The pole shot from Daisuke's hands, nearly pulling him over the railing as it went.
A moment later the river erupted and a serpentine dragon roared in rage as it headed towards the fires.
The sound of dripping water continued for a few moments.
"Daisuke."
"Yes, Hiroshi."
"I think we ought to resign from Kuno's Strike Team."
"You might be right."
There was another pause broken only by the dripping water and sloshing from the river.
"Hiroshi?"
"Yes, Daisuke?"
"You think Ranma ever gives rides?"
"Do YOU want to ask him?"
"Good point."
-----------------------------
A section of rubble shifted, then exploded upward.
"Hah! It'll take more than that to put Akane Tendo down! Compared to Ryu's chained 37 hit combo, a wood and plaster wall is as nothing!" Akane began the circular arm motions of a Hadoken, then noticed another geyser of building materials.
Vanilla staggered a little bit, then noticed that there was no sign of the okonomiyaki chef. She'd known the chef was the weakest fighter of the house, being overly reliant on her weapons and just not having the dedication to fighting skills that the others had.
Poison One began repositioning itself, gun tracking to their position.
Ranma arrived.
Akane quickly helped Vanilla to find Ukyou, as it wouldn't be safe here with the control problem Ranma's dragonform had.
The serpentine form shredded the armor plating of the chopper, popping out what was left of the windshield and reaching with claws for the annoying insects within.
The insects weren't cooperating, shrieking and firing a handgun at the "Godzilla reject" that was coming for them.
Akane looked around and noted that Vanilla had vanished. When she checked, she found the albino kicking two women out of the helicopter and running them down the road, keeping in between them and the dragon which quite apparently wanted to swallow them whole.
Vanilla returned shortly, motioning to the dragon to lower his head, then speaking earnestly to him. After a few moments of this, Vanilla came jogging up to Akane to let her in on the plan.
---------------------------------
Makoto and Ami were catching up on old times with Nabiki, listening to her tales of life in a village of Amazons, when people started filing in.
The albino girl and the short haired girl from earlier were first, carrying the moped driver in between them. They were followed by the boy from the hovervehicle a moment later.
"How's Shampoo?" Nabiki asked, stopping Ranma before he could go further.
"She's resting. When her life signs are more stable, I'll be able to do more. I really wish I could get my hands on some cloning equipment."
Vanilla finished laying Ukyou down and regarded Ranma with an unblinking stare. "Why?"
"With the right equipment, I could set up a healing chamber, encouraging tissue to regrow. I've done it before. With Shampoo, to be precise. When she was injured in that teleporter accident, well it wasn't smooth."
Catching his look, Ami swallowed. "What happened?"
"Internal organs damaged, one of her arms imploded, legs fused. Oh, and technically it wasn't an accident. The Cybermen had left a booby trap. I had to learn cybersurgery and FAST, that meant utilizing that teaching machine again, and modifying it further. "I was able to access cloning technology later and Shampoo was glad to lose her mechanical parts and return to being 100% human when I put together the first healing chamber. Of course, I was rather clumsy back then with bionics, I would have done a much better job with the right parts."
"Oh dear."
"You're a doctor?" Ami blinked. At his age? An inventor, a martial artist, AND a doctor?
"I don't have a license here. I applied for one in the Barony of Hope, but couldn't stick around long enough for the results of the test to be posted."
"Here we go!" Nabiki brought in the first tray. "Sit down, Ranma. You're going to have a busy night so you'll need to eat plenty."
------------------------------
Ukyou stared at how thoroughly out of character everyone was, and considered going to bed. She had no idea what was going on, but this hadn't been a very good night for her.
Six times, Ranma had gotten up to check on Shampoo, answer the phone, or go switch on his scanners.
Six times, dishes had been exchanged at a frantic pace the moment he left.
Makoto and Ami had remembered the food stealing between Ranma and Genma during the "old days" and had assumed this was their current tradition. So, after declaring that they understood this, had gleefully joined in on the food switching.
Ranma had noticed this last time back to the table that only Makoto and Ami were eating, and had inquired if something were wrong. Naturally, everyone had assured him that there was _nothing_ wrong and had started eating.
Sometime after that Ami had pulled her "hentai pen" out of thin air, called out some sort of command phrase "Magical Bunny Girl Make UP!" and was wearing an outfit that was more than a little scandalous for a Japanese High School girl.
That magical attack, though. "Bunny Blitz" was just plain wrong. Everyone except Ranma had gotten similar bunny suits. He was wearing a tux. Ukyou sincerely hoped that when Ami finished playing around, that their normal clothes would return. Though Ranma did look major cute in that tuxedo.
Ranma was looking a little panicked. Makoto was sitting in Ranma's lap, passed out from where she'd kissed Ranma and those programmed reflexes had kicked in. Vanilla had gotten this determined look, grabbed Ranma, kissed him, and a very similar event had taken place.
Ukyou watched with a certain amount of horror as Nabiki grabbed Ranma, took her own kiss from him, and started singing!
"Ah, sweet mystery of life at last I've found you! Ah, I know at last the secret of it all! All the longing, seeking, stressing, waiting, yearning, The burning hopes, the joy, the idle tears that fall! It's love (of money among other things) the world is seeking! And it's love and love alone that can repay. It's the answer, the end and all of living! For 'tis love and money and love that rules for me..."
As Vanilla decided this would be a good time to show off her own skills, Ukyou got up to fix Kasumi a plate for the morning. After running around all night, Kasumi was usually quite tired and hungry by the time she got in. Besides, she wanted to see how much sake was missing...
"Fly me to the moon, And let me sail among the stars, Let me see what spring is like, on Jupiter and Mars!"
Makoto stuck her head up, interrupting Vanilla's song. "Spring has arrived for Jupiter!" She decided to snuggle where she was while Vanilla finished singing.
This was a battle after all, and Vanilla was an Amazon. Mere interruptions would not allow her to admit defeat.
"In other words, hold my hand, In other words, kiss me...
Fill my heart with love, And let me sing forever more. You are all I long for, All I worship and adore. In other words, please be true, In other words, I love you..."
Ranma had somehow vanished sometime after Makoto's interruption and before Ami started dancing again or something.
Shampoo hobbled in a few minutes later, stating that merely being shot a few times by a high calibre fully automatic weapon was not enough to overcome 3000 years of Chinese Amazon tradition. Oh, and were those pork okonomiyaki?!
-------------------------------------------
Hours passed. Ranma was found by Ukyou but he wasn't letting ANYONE in at that point, and had sealed his vehicle against all environmental conditions. He did give care instructions for Shampoo, and would someone please call him when the nightmare was over?
He ended up coming out anyway, when it was obvious that everyone was busy doing karaoke. It was also discovered that Ami's Magical Bunny Girl form had some special attacks that were... not the sort of thing you'd expect from the quiet studious girl everyone remembered her as being.
Ranma dragged Shampoo (who'd fallen unconscious) and Ukyou (who seemed as confused and frightened as he was) back into his heavily armored Recreational Vehicle and tried to patch Shampoo back together again. She'd apparently opened up her stitches during the third verse of "Love is all you need."
Just out of curiosity, Ukyou switched on the speaker at the door to the elevator. It was worse. They were ALL singing now.
"...Darling, just for me, can't I wait for you? In your heart, I wanna make you feel so brand new! When you beckon, love comes at your call, It's a love that's meant to be. It's in the stars above. . . Why don't we fall in love?
"You give me nothing to hold on to, It's nothing but kindness, So painful, my heart, Love is always loneliness, But within your arms. . . AH!"
Ukyou shook her head. "They sound better with practice. Must have used a lot of the good sake." She switched off the pickups, then on an impulse set them to record.
Nabiki might actually pay to have these erased.
------------------------
Kasumi entered the house and wondered at the evidence of some slumber party. Still, knowing that tonight was another full moon, she had to eat and catch at least a few hours of sleep as soon as possible.
Leftovers had been carefully put away for her, with a little note from Ukyou.
Kasumi, Weird night. Really weird night. I'll talk to you when I can, as it is, it looks like I'll be spending the night in Ranchan's lab. Shampoo's really messed up, and may need your healing abilities the next time you change.
Catch you on the flip, Ukyou
Kasumi idly took bites out of her okonomiyaki as she considered. She'd hoped that her little nudge would have helped Ukyou overcome her usual shyness. If the girl had spent the night in Ranma's vehicle, then the two of them might have gotten together.
Kasumi dismissed that after a moment as quite unlikely.
Ranma cautiously entering the house brought her attention back to the here and now.
------------------
Ukyou looked up as Ranma entered the lab, cycled the door closed, and gave a deep sigh of relief.
Ukyou blinked. His shirt was torn, and his hair had gotten mussed up.
"They were up already? After everything last night, I'd have expected them to sleep till noon."
"Kasumi," said Ranma simply as he flopped down into a chair.
"You're kidding? Her too?" Ukyou shook her head. "Must be something environmental. I wonder why I didn't get it?"
"Don't know," confessed Ranma after a few moments. "What I *do* know is that I'm not going up there for awhile."
"Don't blame you, Ranchan." Ukyou pursed her lips as she considered the situation. She was here, alone with Ranma. Except for that head on the workbench that was blinking at her. This could be her big chance to...
"Something wrong, Ukyou?" Ranma looked down at the curvy okonomiyaki chef who was currently clutching him as if for dear life.
"There's some blond girl's head on your workbench, Ranma. She blinked at me."
"Oh don't worry about that. In fact, let me check something here." Ranma hit a couple of buttons and something like a large tub hissed open.
Ukyou backed up a little further when she saw what was in there.
"Good." Ranma inspected the body parts lying in the transparent gel. He then addressed the head watching him from the workbench. "The nanobots are 90% complete regarding your repairs. There's some good news and bad news, however."
Ukyou blinked, catching one thing in that. "'bot' - as in robot? The girl's a robot?"
"Android actually. Or synthoid cyborg if you want to be technical." Ranma noted the blank look from both the android and Ukyou. "OK, a robot is purely mechanical in nature. An android resembles human form and function pretty well, having something like blood and organs and all. A synthoid is a step closer to human from an android- cloned or genetically engineered body parts. A synthoid cyborg has parts that are artifical human, and can pass for human, but has cybernetic body parts as well. Understand?"
Blank looks continued from both of them.
"She's an artificial human, with some mechanical stuff added."
"Oh!"
"I found her at the site of a youma attack, badly damaged. Brought her here so she could be repaired. You have some *very* interesting subsystems, by the way." This last was directed towards the head. Ranma couldn't understand why the android blushed.
Ukyou frowned. "What kind of interesting systems?"
Ranma grinned at Ukyou, glad that she was getting interested in the technical stuff. "Look here, I'll pull up a neurosystem overview on the main monitor. See, she's got these subprocessors. Contains identity and skill packages. With the main system here, it means that when she uses this atmospheric condensor pack to change identities, she's also pulling up different skills and to some degree personalities."
Ukyou blinked and tried to work it all out, but it sounded like he was saying it wasn't something hentai.
------------------------------
Embarassment was the prevailing emotion.
Nabiki found herself awakening, sprawled out across the bodies of the two visitors, with a karaoke microphone still clutched in her hand, wearing her pajamas.
Ami Mizuno was as red as she could ever remember being, finding herself draped with Nabiki and wearing that Playboy Bunny suit. (Not to be confused with an Intel "bunnysuit", which was a cleanroom suit and therefore acceptable.)
Makoto Kino wasn't embarrassed yet, but as soon as someone moved she would be. Wearing a pair of borrowed pajamas and not having any idea what had caused all this, Makoto would assume the logical and that she'd gotten drunk somehow.
Akane was curled up in her pajamas, clutching a picture of Ken Masters to her bosom. Of everyone there, she'd be the least embarrassed except Vanilla.
Vanilla merely awoke to find herself camped out at the door of the Ranmalab. As memories filtered in, she decided she'd have to try this again soon.
Shampoo awoke, found herself strapped and bound to a table, and was promptly embarrassed by her reaction to the event.
------------------------
The moon was high and full. Power swirled the length of the unicorn's horn and abruptly discharged in a white stream of energy that speared the little girl in front of it.
Usagi Tsukino abruptly gained a fair number of years. "I'm back! Yes! Yes!"
Ranma and Ami took readings from their computers, met each other's eyes and nodded. "Okay, Tsukino-san, you're back to normal. If you and Kasumi would pool your abilities on the others, I compute a 97.4% chance that you'll be able to break the curses on them."
"97.48419%," corrected Ami Mizuno. She hurriedly joined the others (except Makoto) where the unicorn and now-transformed Sailor Moon could focus their energies. She was a bit anxious to become Sailor Mercury instead of Bunnygirl Blue.
"Oh, by the way, Ami-chan, I'm giving a labwarming party this next weekend. If you and your friends would like to attend..." Ranma didn't look up, continuing to monitor things with his portable scanners.
"Oh. Yes!" Ami blushed and wished Usagi would hurry up. This was so embarassing.