Disclaimer: I own nothing
Note: Characters and rendition of second wedding might be a little OOC
The Legend of Ran Shao
Chapter 1: Breaking Point
"O what fools these mortals be," Cologne muttered to herself as she observed the bickering Nerinma Wrecking Crew demolish the Tendo Dojo. She looked up at the hole in the roof which Ranma had created after Akane had sent him flying for the umpteenth time with lucky (or in Ranma's case, not so lucky) mallet. "Son-in-law, please be ok," Cologne uttered towards the heavens as she prepared to leave and go after him.
"Elder Cologne, leaving so soon? Should I call Moose and Shampoo to accompany you?" The ever hospitable Kasumi smiled at Cologne who simply smiled back and shook her head.
"That won't be necessary child. Where I am going, I don't want any of these imbeciles," Cologne paused to gesture at the Nerinma Wrecking Crew who were still going at it, "to follow. They are the last people Ranma probably wants to see right now."
"Oh my. What do you mean? Is Ranma okay?" Kasumi asked somewhat alarmed. Normally the commotion caused by the arguments and fights surrounding Ranma didn't alarm her that much, but Cologne being so grim about it this time around frightened her. She knew that when Cologne was grim, the situation was usually even more so.
"Child," Cologne looked kindly into Kasumi's eyes before continuing. "Listen well and deliver a message to that lot when they finish beating each other up or faint from exhaustion, whichever comes first. If they value Ranma's well-being, they are NOT to go and look for Ranma or myself. They are to go back to their normal routines until Ranma and/or myself return. When Ranma was launched into orbit by Akane today, I got a look at his eyes and what I saw scared me. It was worse than when he begged me to keep Shampoo and Moose from interfering in today's wedding. I was so scared then that I had to comply. I believe today might just have been the breaking point for him. I only hope for all our sakes that I can find him before he does something stupid." And with that, Cologne hopped away on her stick.
"Elder Cologne, wait! I don't understand." Kasumi tried to call after Cologne to get more information but was stopped by an old man. "Grandpa Happosai, I don't understand."
"Hush child. Do as she says." Happosai was also unusually grim and this frightened Kasumi even more. "I too got a look at the boy's eyes as he flew out of the room. Also, when Ranma came to me earlier this week to beg me to behave at this wedding, I could see that he was already at his breaking point over all the chaos. I chose to grant his request because I saw that the fate of the schools was at stake, no worse, the fate of Ranma himself was at stake. By their selfish acts, that dumb lot may have condemned themselves to losing the one person they have always been fighting over and doomed my school to have no successor." Happosai let out a sigh as he took a breath from his pipe. "I only hope Cologne can gets to him before it's too late."
Behind Happosai and Kasumi, the rest of the Nerinma Wrecking Crew were still going at it full steam, totally oblivious to the consequence of their actions. Nabiki tendo had seen Happosai and her sister standing at the door and went out to converse with them. The information relayed to her confirmed her worst suspicions.
"I feared as much. Ranma came to me as well and begged me to help make things go well. I wanted to blackmail him and earn some money from it but when I looked into his eyes I realized he was desperate, and I mean really desperate, for the chaos to end. I think he was hoping for the wedding to be the thing that ended the chaos. I couldn't help but agree to help him. I did my part to make sure the wedding stayed hush-hush and also to get the Kunos out of the way. Unfortunately, it looks like that didn't do a whole lot of good." Nabiki looked sadly at the wreckage that used to be the Tendo Dojo.
Nodoka had stepped out of the dojo to avoid the conflict while Soun and Genma had joined the fray to try and stop the fighting and save the wedding. They failed horribly and ended up worsening the chaos. Various cries could be heard and from amidst the smoke and dust of the fight one could make out Moose, Shampoo, Ukyo, Akane, Ryoga, Tatewaki Kuno and Kodaichi Kuno fighting with one another.
"ENOUGH!" an irate Happosai yelled. He reached into his formal gi that he had donned for the wedding and pulled out a gigantic firecracker. "ULTIMATE HAPPO FIRE BURST!"
The resulting explosion ceased the chaos and left all the combatants charred and incapacitated. It also however, left the Tendo Dojo totally decimated.
"M...Master, what have you done? You've destroyed the dojo." Tendo Soun squeaked.
"Shut up Soun. I am the master and so it is technically my dojo and I'll destroy it if I want to. Right now, given the way things are, there may not need to a dojo any longer since the schools look to be dead. Kasumi and Nabiki, could you explain to these fools what Cologne said and what you've observed?"
After Kasumi and Nabiki finished, there were mixed reactions but chief among them was shock. It was awhile before the wrecking crew reached a decision, they would obey Cologne for Ranma's sake.
"Alas Saotome, now I realize why the fates refused to let me win against you. It was because they knew that all along you were not in proper mind and it would have been a dishonourable victory for me. Very well, I shall lay low until you fully recover and then you and I shall face off as two warriors in their prime and fight a truly honourable duel for the hand of the lovely Akane and the Pigtailed one."
"O ho ho! My darling Ranma. I never knew you were under such stress. I too shall lay low and grow a new strain of roses to mark your return. Farewell my love, until the day you return to claim me as your bride."
With a flourish of red and black roses, Tatewaki and Kodaichi Kuno left leaving everyone with face faults.
"I hope Ran Chan is okay. I guess the only thing we can do is wait. I can't believe I let him down." Ukyo shook her head sadly and picked up her spatula. She headed out to her restaurant Ryoga stared into the sky.
"Ranma, it appears you too have seen hell. Now you know my pain. No, you have only experienced a measure of my pain. And when you return, you shall know the rest...BWEE!" Ryoga's tirade was cut off as Nabiki threw a bucket of water at him. He promptly transformed in P-Chan and went into the arms of Akane.
Meanwhile Moose had picked Shampoo up out of the rubble and carried her back to the NekoHaten. She was in a catatonic state after receiving the news and could only utter "Airen". She feared that she may have permanently driven away the one she loved. Moose could only silently look the sky and pray that Elder Cologne was wrong just this once, at least for Shampoo's sake.
After the wrecking crew had left, Nabiki made a point of glaring at Akane who had picked up P-Chan and was still cursing Ranma for having wrecked the wedding.
"Akane, I was just wondering...how did the Kunos know about the wedding? You didn't happen to slip the news to anyone at school did you?" Nabiki gave her best Ice Queen glare at Akane who faltered.
"Uh...maybe I let it slip to Yuka?" Akane replied meekly.
Nabiki cursed under her breath and coldly lectured Akane. "You blame Ranma for wrecking the wedding but if anything you wrecked it more than he did. Because you leaked the info to Yuka, the news spread around school so fast that even my associates couldn't keep the news from reaching the ears of Kuno. I'm just grateful that my associates were able to stop the rest of the students from coming here. Also, if I recall, Ranma made it a point to stay at the altar despite the ruckus. You were the one who ran off and started fighting with Shampoo and Ukyo."
"They were fighting over Ranma at MY WEDDING" she protested. Nabiki paid no attention and continued.
"Also, do you know how badly Ranma pleaded with Happosai, Cologne and myself to make this work? The three of us were so scared by his desperation that we gave in and helped him out. And no, it wasn't for the sake of the Nannichuan because he didn't even know about that until yesterday. And for your information, Ukyo was fighting to keep Shampoo away from the altar so that you and Ranma could get married. Ranma had pleaded with Ukyo on the basis of their friendship to help make the wedding work as well and she agreed for his sake. I know because I was there to oversee the contract signing."
"Contact signing?" Nodoko was truly puzzled at the turn of events.
"It was just a way to ensure that key personnel cooperated at the wedding. We all did but it still failed." Nabiki explained.
Akane meanwhile had started to cry at the realization that much of the sabotage in the wedding had been her fault. She had leaked the info to Yuka who leaked it to the school and thus the Kunos got involved. She had misread Ukyo's intentions in the fight with Shampoo, got jealous and then went and fought with them. Because she left the altar, the wedding couldn't continue. Had it continued, they would have finished their vows before Ryoga suddenly burst through the wall and before the Kunos arrived and all hell broke loose. It was her fault. She ran to her room and shut the door as her father could only look on. Panda Genma held out a sign What a mess!
About three months later...
Cologne approached the outskirts of Nerinma accompanied by a young woman dressed in a beautiful Chinese silk dress. The young woman had her long red hair held in a bun by a pair of chopsticks, with the remainder running down her shoulder in a nice long tail. She wore a dazzling pair of earrings and a necklace that complimented her outfit and a pair of beautiful high-heeled shoes to complete the look. She was a vision of beauty in every aspect of the word.
"Are you sure you're ready to return?" Cologne asked the young woman.
"I am sure Elder Cologne. It is time for them to witness my rebirth." She replied in a calm tone.
"Very well Ran Shao. Let us be on our way then."
And with that, the pair headed into Nerinma, in the general direction of the NekoHaten. Things were about to get interesting in Nerinma.
Note:
I hope you liked the first chapter. I know it's a little long.
I am sad to say that I might not be able to update this story regularly as December is a very busy month for me but I will try to make sure the story is completed eventually.
Happy reading.
(Oh and if you haven't guessed from the description – Ran Shao IS Ranma or rather Ranko. If you want to know what happened, you need to read the next chapter to see how Ranma became Ran Shao) :P