Act One:
Conan 1/2
By Jim Robert Bader
(Based on the works of Rumiko Takahashi and Robert E Howard)
Prologue.
One of the many drawbacks of owning your own business while graduating your final year of High School was that you had to take responsibility for handling your own finances. Afternoon drop periods at the end of the week were a fairly routine matter, but it also tended to remind her a lot of the fact that she effectively had no social life. Weekends were meant for girls her age to get ready to party, but all she had on her mind was tally sheets and account balance numbers.
Not exactly anyone's idea of a fun weekend, unless your name was Tendo Nabiki. For Kuonji Ukyo, however, it was another name for a slow kind of mental torture. Being an independent business woman did not amount to much if you had nothing to look forward to at the end of the day but a cold bed on the second floor above your restaurant. Nothing like the sort of warm greeting she sometimes imagined having with the object of her desire and affection greeting her warmly in her fondest and dearest fantasy moments.
If only something would happen to break up the monotony, she thought to herself as she stood in line for the nearest available bank teller. Waiting around in a crowd left her with too much time to think, which did not suit her mood at all as she fretted to herself with images of Ranma and Akane in a romantic interlude, which was a different kind of torture.
Of late life had fallen into a depressing kind of pattern what with the end of the school year looming with finals and career-breaking grade points that would give or deny access to the best business schools and colleges of preference. Far better if she could concentrate on that then upon the depressing prospect that graduation also brought closer to home the time of Ranma's impending marriage to Akane. After the disastrous first wedding, Ranma had warned her against a repeat of her disruptive performance, then in typical guy-mode had even offered her the role of "best man," in other words ring-bearer. Like a sap she had agreed to go along with this charade, even though she wanted nothing more than to plant another bomb in the wedding cake. Just thinking about it even more fully depressed her. If only something could take her mind off her broken heart, if only for an hour...
"All right, this is a stickup! Nobody move!"
Ukyo turned as the other bank patrons and employees cried out, seeing masked holdup men flashing weapons in a threatening manner. She took note of the guns...two pistols, a machine gun and a shotgun by the look of it, held by four different men flanking out to take the bank security officers by complete surprise.
Ukyo was more than a little surprised herself. Guns were very rare in Japan, and most that were in circulation were controlled by organized groups like the Yakuza. Private ownership of any kind was strictly discouraged, and the penalties for criminal usage were so severe that few small-time hoods-such as these appeared to be-would dare such a brazen day-light robbery like some Americanized action movie.
To gain possession of such an assortment as these boys displayed would have to imply that they had connections of one form or another. They did not seem to be all that professional as she watched them in action, nor could she seriously credit that any well-organized gang would strike at a small-time outfit like this bank without a heck of a good reason.
"Everyone down on the floor!" the one who had spoken before was shouting, quite obviously their leader as he waved his pistol to make people comply with his instructions, "Keep your hands where we can see them and nobody will get hurt, I mean it!"
Ukyo sniffed in disdain. Their leader even talked like he thought this was some American movie set, as if the mere possession of a weapon gave him the authority to order people around like they were cattle ready for slaughter.
Many of the patrons in the bank instantly did as they were told, falling to the floor while screaming out in a blind panic while the other gunmen kept them covered. No shots had been fired as yet, meaning these guys wanted to keep from alarming anyone outside the building or give any hint as to what was going down. The leader shoved his gun at one teller whose hands could not be seen and ordered the nervous lady to keep them up where they can be seen, obviously alert to the threat of a silent alarm being sounded. He was about to demand that cash be brought out and put into portable bags when he took notice of one irregularity of his plans.
Ukyo was just standing there watching everything with an amused expression. She was taking note of the position of these men and estimating their fighting potential at a glance, thinking how Japan's strict gun laws still had a ways to go before it was entirely effective at keeping little boys from their toys. In a word, it was perfect.
"What are you smiling at?" the man growled as he immediately turned his gun in her direction, "Hands on the floor now, guy-"
CLANNNGGG!
Ukyo's amusement was only mildly tempered by the thought that she had once again been mistaken for a boy on account of the way she dressed. Of course her change in mood did not affect her aim as three mini-spatulas cut through the air, knocking the shotgun out of one man's hands while the third spatula imbedded itself in the wrist of the second pistol-holding gunman. That left the fourth man with the machine gun, who was turning a horrified look her way as Ukyo made an impossible leap half the length of the bank, and suddenly his vision was filled by a giant spatula coming straight at him like a humungous flyswatter...
"Come along everyone," Tendo Soun said brightly, "The Museum exhibit is that way, and we should be just in time to see the grand opening."
"Big deal," Akane griped, "It's just some old junk somebody dug up out of the ground. I don't know what all the fuss is about..."
"It's not just any junk, Akane-chan," Nabiki informed her, "These artifacts are a recently unearthed collection from a very old site that was carbon dated to be of a much greater age than any other works of a high civilization yet encountered. They were found just off the coast of Hokkaido, submerged in a cavern that hasn't seen human habitation in at least twelve thousand years..."
"Twelve thousand years?" Ranma replied, "I didn't think anybody lived in Japan that far back."
"Oh my," Kasumi remarked, "Isn't that right before the end of the last ice age, Nabiki? I remember reading an article out that in one of Tofu-Sensei's magazines..."
"You got it, Sis," Nabiki replied, "Twelve thousand years ago much of the north and south poles were covered in ice and the sea level was about a hundred meters lower than it is today. The cave would have been above water, so whoever left them there was part of a previously unknown civilization, one that apparently know how to work metal millennia before the Chinese, Egyptians and Sumerians. This flies against all known theories concerning human development, which is why the school thought it would make a good Science project for us students."
"Fascinating," Genma said without much conviction, "Say, do you know if they have a concession stand for purchasing food inside the museum?"
"Don't you never think of nothing but your own stomach, Pop?" Ranma growled in disdain.
"Of course I do, Boy," Genma replied, "I think of a lot of things, such as how I'm going to get food in it..."
"That figures," Ranma snorted.
"Like you're in any position to talk, Ranma," Akane said with equal disdain, "You're even more of a bottomless pit than he is! About the only kind of food you won't eat is my cooking!"
"Gee, I wonder why?" Ranma rolled his eyes, "Could be because nothing human could eat that-ow! What did you do that for?"
"Quit it, children," Nabiki chimed, "We're almost at the front doors to the museum. Remember, this is for extra credit on your final term reports, so act like we're actually here to learn something, shall we?"
"That's right," Soun said as he reached for his wallet, "Let's all act like one happy family and try to get along. I...that's strange," he frowned, "I thought I had five thousand yen in my wallet. What could have happened to all that money?"
"Gee, I wonder," Ranma said with a sour look, eyeing his father with suspicion, who in turn was whistling off key while studying a bird formation far overhead.
"Oh my," said Kasumi, "I guess that means we won't be able to afford the price of admission."
"Not to worry, Sis," Nabiki smiled as she stood forward, pulling out her own wallet from the concealment of a money belt she was wearing, "It just so happens that I'm feeling generous today, so I'll pay for our tickets. You can reimburse me for it later, Daddy."
"Huh?" Akane, Ranma and Genma all reacted in disbelief while Soun broke out in a smile of fatherly pride and said, "That's my little girl, always thinking of the family. Well, step lively everyone, it's bound to be quite a show, and I for one expect to have a good time. I'm sure this exhibit will be full of all sorts of interesting surprises."
"Oh father," Kasumi smiled indulgently, as always the only one who did not visibly recoil from Nabiki's unexpected display of generosity, or outwardly suspect her of ulterior motives.
Nabiki just smiled to herself, not having shared everything she had read up about this exhibit. If what she had heard was accurate, then there was a potential for profit to be had in this exhibition, and she had no intention of missing out because of the greed of Saotome Genma. The man was such an amateur anyway...as if Nabiki had not caught him earlier rifling through her father's wallet for money to buy sake. It had been like stealing candy from a baby to lift the fifty-yen off of him while he nervously sweated as she pretended to dust lint off his gi. It was the same fifty yen that she was using to pay for their admittance, and the best part of it all was that her father now owed her the money!
Her smile deepening with anticipation, she and the others paid for their tickets then entered the museum...little realizing that history was about to be in the re-making...
"Is he still after us?" cried one of the three remaining hoodlums to his equally frantic comrades.
"I don't see him!" said the driver, "We must have lost that maniac two blocks ago! Nobody could catch us on foot now, it'd be physically impossible!"
"Oh yeah?' said the third hoodlum in the back, who was feeling along his numerous bumps and bruises he had taken, not to mention the considerable amount of broken glass that had cut and scraped him when he had made a backward exit through the front window of the bank, courtesy of one Spatula to the face, "Well, it's not possible that he could take out three of our guys in just two seconds, but I saw it happen! I'm lucky to be alive-that son-of-a-bitch was effin' crazy!"
"This was just supposed to be a simple heist," said the second man as he tried to staunch the flow of blood from the mini-spatula that had imbedded itself in his left wrist, "An easy in and out job, grab the money and run! When the Boss hears about this we're all gonna catch hell!"
"Damn, who was that crazy guy with the spatula anyway?" the driver asked, "Doesn't he know the rules about bank heists? You're supposed to lay down and do what we say when we take their money..."
"Somebody forgot to tell him," the second man snorted, "Good thing you had that mask on, Shiro, or you might be hurting a lot worse..."
"Do tell?" groaned the man in the back, "Well, let me tell you something, Tombo..."
"Save it for later," the driver said, "Just be glad we got clean away. Now all we have to do is think of some way to explain this to the Ronin and..."
He never got the chance to complete his sentence before something came down and imbedded itself into the block of his car engine. Said vehicle rocked on all four wheels to an abrupt stop as the gunmen stared in disbelief at a pair of black-clad legs striding the hood of the ruined vehicle. With a mighty yank the large Bakers Peel was pulled loose from the steel and aluminum engine, then one second later the entire roof of the car was sheered loose as if torn free by a giant with a can opener.
"Going somewhere, Boys?" said the alleged maniac who had thwarted their bank heist. She smiled down at the newly re-made convertible and brandished her spatula before adding, "Care to make this easy, or do you want it the hard way?"
The driver made the mistake of going for his gun, attempting to plug her. The other two men more wisely jumped out of the vehicle and started running while Ukyo used the flat of her weapon to deflect the single shot fired at her, then said spatula imbedded itself against the skull of the driver, knocking him comatose.
Ukyo turned with a smile at the two fleeing felons. It had been easy to catch up with their car once she had taken to the rooftops, and it would be much easier now to catch them on foot, not that she was in any great hurry to bring an end to her entertainment. The chase was just the thing she had needed to liven up her day, now all she had to do was track two helpless mice and turn them over to the police and the diversion would be over.
Of course while she was thinking this she failed to take notice of the building towards which the two disarmed gunmen were heading. A belated glance reminded her that it was the Museum where she had promised to meet up with Ranma and the others, the one where they were having an Antiquities Exhibition for extra school credit. As she made sense of all this she saw the two hoodlums charge up the steps to the front doors then push their way past the protesting museum guards, then belatedly chided herself for not acting sooner. Once again she had allowed herself to be critically distracted by thoughts of her beloved Ranma!
Cursing softly under her breath she went charging in pursuit, only to be balked by the two guards, who had just recovered their footing and were not about to be taken by surprise a second time. In their eyes Ukyo looked like some kind of a madwoman flashing her bakers peel like a broad ax. She considered knocking them down, then a thought occurred to her and she resettled her weapon across her back, putting on her best "cute-girl" charms with a smile to distract them.
"Pardon me, sirs, but those men you let slip by you are a couple of dangerous thieves that tried to rob a bank about two kilometers away from here. I was trying to detain them for the police..."
"Oh yeah, sure," said one of the two guards, "And I'm the Prime Minister..."
"Ah..." the second guard belatedly took notice of the girl then more tactfully asked, "You wouldn't happen to be Kuonji Ukyo, would you? The owner of Ucchan's Okonomiyaki?"
"Sure," Ukyo replied, "Best Okonomiyaki in Japan. You've been to my place?"
The guard stepped back and waved a hand, "Right this way, and enjoy the exhibition."
"Thank you," she smiled dazzlingly at him before nimbly stepping past while the other guard looked askance at his partner.
"Are you nuts?" that guard demanded, "What did you let her in for...?"
"This is Furinkan," the other guard replied.
"So?" his partner looked puzzled.
"You haven't been around here as long as I have," the guard said with comradely indulgence, "Believe me, nothing ever good comes from messing with her kind. If she wanted to get in here bad enough there's nothing we could do about it."
Something in the tone of his companion made the other guard hesitated a little before asking, "So...what should we do?"
"Notify our superiors," the guard replied, "Evacuate the building...and say a prayer to the ancestors of those two men she's after...they're going to need it...'
"...And this is where the expedition made its most astonishing discoveries," the tour guide was explaining to their group while they passed a number of display cases containing ancient artifacts and various items of interest, "All dating back to the same general period that carbon testing has shown to be the middle-
to-late Neolithic period just prior to the ending of the last Ice Age. Considering the sophistication and complexity of these items, they imply a technology that is millennium ahead of anything previously discovered for this region, predating even the earliest pottery shards found in Japan dating back 12,700 years, a period that has been tentatively labeled the Hyborean era..."
"Excuse me," Nabiki asked brightly, "Why the name Hyborean? I understand it's based on a Greek term having to do with their mythology..."
"Quite right," the tour guide-a stunning blonde Caucasian woman who spoke excellent Japanese-said brightly, "But the actual name was coined by one of those who discovered the sunken caves, based on a Western fantasy series by the late American author, Robert E. Howard. Hyborea was supposedly an Antediluvian period where men had already discovered how to smelt iron and had domesticated horses, something modern Archeology had not believed was accomplished until fairly recent times..."
"6000 BC for domesticated animals," Nabiki said, "1200 BC for the development of iron weapons. But you're saying these people had both prior to 10,000 BC?"
"That is the implication of this discovery," the guide smiled as if appreciating an intelligent question, "Among the artifacts uncovered was a horse's bridle, a pair of stirrups, the remains of a pair of saddlebags and a number of personal items we are still in the process of identifying. This is truly an amazing finding, for if the mount these belong to was big enough to accommodate a grown man then it implies that Animal husbandry began far earlier than we have imagined. The saddlebags also contained a pouch full of milled grain-something else we never believed had been accomplished that early-and the desiccated remains of goat milk powder. We also found a number of scrolls in a writing that predates the earliest form of Sanskrit, proving that these were a literate people, which is something else we never suspected. In all the culture appears to resemble that of early Byzantium, or the late Roman Empire. Just why exactly this culture completely vanished the way it did is a mystery, though current theory holds that it was the end of the Ice Age that reduced this advanced civilization to stone age barbarism."
"Why is that?" Akane asked, "If they were so modern how could they just vanish like that?"
"Around 9,500 BC, when the Ice Age ended suddenly in a period of something like twenty years or so," the guide explained, "The ocean levels of the world rose by hundreds of feet, in some places so suddenly that it caused massive flooding and a widespread dislocation of all life. This is in common with the tradition found in all surviving cultures throughout the world of a global flood that nearly extinguished all life. Most civilizations, you see, build their structures very close to the coastline or along river banks and tributaries. Water is the most precious substance in the world, so you can't really have a city without a source to draw from."
"Right," Nabiki smiled, "Only too much of a good thing can be deadly."
"Exactly," the guide nodded brightly, "The rise in ocean levels would have even affected areas far inland and caused such widespread dislocation that the entire civilization itself would be threatened. Cut off from land and sea routes of communication and even the most advanced empire will collapse within a generation. With many fields flooded out and weather cycles changing dramatically the people living in an average city would have faced widespread starvation. Mass immigration in the past has often been triggered by such sudden changes in the climate, and the survivors of such a crisis would likely have come into immediate competition with other surviving groups. Even hunter-
gatherers would have been forced to compete for limited game and diminishing resources, on the whole it would have been hard for any civilization to survive such a challenge. Struggling just to find food would mean few enough people would have a need to preserve writing and communication skills, so survival might depend on adapting to the most basic and primitive means of survival, hence a return to the pre-technological culture of the stone age."
"Hah," Ranma snorted, "Guess that means you'd have made out all right, Pop."
"I prefer to think of myself as ahead of my time," Genma sniffed, "And a superior martial artist can survive any kind of crisis."
The guide resumed the tour, only now coming up along a wall display that had a man-like figure posed with sword in hand, bare chested and heavily muscled with long black hair and wearing nothing but a pair of boots and a loin cloth. He was set against a false stone backdrop resembling the walls of a cave, and though he was no more than a plaster replica of a man there was something in his fierce expression that made the group pay special notice.
"This is an impression we made based on the body found inside the cave," the woman resumed, "The man was of a pretty advanced age for the time, about seventy or so, but very powerful and apparently still in extremely fit condition. He was a virtual giant, close to six and a half feet even, or one-point-nine-five meters and must have weighed something in the neighborhood of a hundred kilograms even. This is far more physically advanced than the Ice Man discovered in the mountain steps of Anatolia a few years back and implies that the people of this era were not only more technically advanced but medically advanced as well. The body we examined had evidence of countless wounds that must have been taken in battle. We believe he was a professional soldier of some sort as was evidenced by the weapon found at his side, almost in pristine condition. Analysis of the sword proves it to be of an extremely advanced manufacture with a higher than normal carbon steel ratio that could only have been forged by use of a powerful blast furnace. There are also trace elements of molybdenum and silver in its makeup, suggesting that it came from iron ore deposits rich in such material, but as yet we cannot determine who had the ability to create such a weapon. On the whole the entire finding is a complete anomaly. It defies everything we thought we knew about anthropology and the development of human evolution, language and culture..."
"Oh my," remarked Kasumi, "This is so fascinating! What do you make of this, Ranma? Ranma?"
"Huh?" Ranma shook himself out of a daze, finding something about the giant that was oddly familiar, though what it was he could not have said if his life depended on it.
"He looks like that guy from the Arnold Swartzenegger movie," Nabiki sniffed, "Is that deliberate or a coincidence?"
"A little of both, actually," the guide replied, "Robert E. Howard always said that the idea for creating his fantasy hero came to him like out of a dream, as if he were being compelled to write about someone who actually lived in history. He was a friend to many occult circles, and in frequent correspondence with H.P. Lovecraft, and he did much of his own research in the library of the little town of Cross Plains Texas, where he grew up. Howard was a strange man by all accounts, always fanticizing about himself as the manifestation of his own heroes, setting his stories in exotic locations, great times of heroic adventure, all this in spite of the fact that he never went more than fifty miles from the place of his birth. Almost single-handedly he created the genre of Sword and Sorcery, though when the Pulp era ended he was largely forgotten. It is thanks to the work of such literary greats as L. Sprang DeCamp and Lin Carter that we now recognize in Howard an underappreciated literary genius..."
"I don't know about that," Nabiki mused, "They say he was a natural story teller, but his style was crude and his female characters were rudimentary archetypes, except for one or two who stood out from all the rest."
"How fascinating that he should write stories that turn out to approach an unsuspected truth," Soun marveled, "Truly he was a man far ahead of his time...but...what are those symbols written in that corner?" he pointed to the wall of the display where could be plainly seen were several marks scratched in the wall as if by a crude instrument.
"That is one of the greatest mysteries of all," the guide remarked, "The symbols resemble modern kanji, and they even spell out a name that could have belonged to the warrior: Genma."
"What?" everyone in the group but Nabiki reacted to this news with astonishment, including Genma.
"The full text is only a few words long," the guide continued, "'It reads: Genma was Here.' We don't know if that was a coincidence or if the author actually meant those words to be literal, which doesn't seem too likely as we doubt that Japanese has survived that long as a written language."
"Genma was here?" Ranma turned and said with a smirk, "What do you know about that, Pop?"
"Nothing!" the elder Saotome protested, "Why should I know anything about it, Son? You think I was around to ask him?"
"Tell me something," Nabiki said slyly, "Those scrolls you uncovered, have you managed to decipher them at all?"
"Well, considering the amount of time they were in that cave it is amazing that they were in good enough condition to read at all," the woman replied, "But yes...we have found a few symbols that make sense, plus some illustrations showing a human figure in what we believe to be a number of ceremonial dance steps. It might be that they were part of some long forgotten magical or religious ritual whose significance we..."
"Excuse me," Nabiki held up a hand, "Would you mind showing us what was written on those scrolls? I may have a few answers that your so-called experts might have missed out on."
"Oh?" the guide reacted to this news with surprise while everyone else eyed Nabiki as if to confirm their worst suspicions, "Well...we have this replica made from photographs on display here..."
She pointed to a display case, and Nabiki casually walked up to these and studied the photographs, then smiled and waved towards Ranma.
"Ranma-kun," she said with a sultry purr that implied she was on the scent of money, "What do you make of all of this?"
"Huh?" Ranma walked up to the display case, glanced at the pictures then did a double-take and said, "Pop! Come here quick! You ain't gonna believe this!"
"Eh?" the elder Saotome remarked as he approached the glass, "What do you mean, boy? I..."
He stopped as his mouth fell open. Akane and Soun came up beside him and they, too, looked aghast at the photos of the ancient parchment. The figures displayed were not ceremonial dancers, they realized, but were assuming crudely drawn martial arts postures of the Saotome School. They each knew the style so well that there was no question about the authenticity of the katas.
"I believe we need to talk," Nabiki said to the tour guide, her smile all but confirming that she had been right all along. There was definitely profit to be made at this exhibition...
"Is she still after us?" hissed one of the two fugitives as they both peered around the corner inside the gallery, seeing the dark-garbed Ukyo was still behind them.
"She doesn't give up!" the other man exclaimed in dismay, "What is that bitch? I thought she was a boy from the way she dresses..."
"That ain't no boy," the first of the two men explained, "She's some kind of demoness from hell! Nothing human could have taken us out like she has!"
"What are we going to do?" the second man asked, "She's gonna keep right after us until she nails us with that spatula-thing."
"We gotta find a better hiding place," the first decided, "C'mon, let's go this way. There's gotta be an exit that'll take us around back, and I think I see an exit."
"I'm right behind you," the second man agreed as they both slipped out from concealment and headed rapidly towards the door the first man had spotted.
Unbeknownst to them both Ukyo caught and tracked their movement then smiled in satisfaction. Good, they were leaving the public area to a spot that had fewer innocent bystanders. She would let them get a good lead then follow and finish them off without anyone getting hurt who did not have it coming...
As the group was shown to one of the back rooms of the Museum they passed by tables and stands where various projects were being gone over. Dusty parchments and various objects of archeological interest were being cleaned up and examined here prior to their being presented on display, and their guide informed them that this was one of the major functions of museums such as this, doing vital research to insure the scientific validity of the artifacts.
Of course what they also discovered was two men, both advanced in years, presently engaging in a hand-to-hand brawl in the middle of a clear space. At first glance Ranma wondered if this were some kind of Martial Arts Archeology demonstration but a more thorough study assured him that there was very little art to their movements. The two were mostly just punching, biting and scratching like a couple of schoolyard punks who had never taken even a single lesson.
The sight of them brawling also brought a rise out of their tour guide, who called out, "Father!" and rushed forward to interpose herself between the combatants.
"Ah," remarked Nabiki with her usual cynical detachment, "A scientific debate currently in progress. Just goes to prove that academic standards haven't change much from the old days."
Akane and Ranma exchanged looks, then the two of them moved to help the girl, and in good order they created a neutral zone between them while Genma and Soun each held a struggling man in their respective embraces.
"Now what is this all about?" said the tour guide, who was no longer in a pleasant mood as she flared at one man and then the other.
"He started it!" both men cried simultaneously while the blonde closed her eyes and counted to ten in English.
"It's all his fault, Sophie!" a salty-grey bearded man in a lab coat spat, glaring at the other man, "This...Philistine insists that our whole research project is a ludicrous farce! He insists we re-evaluate the Carbon dating to adjust for conditions that he says would prejudice our findings!"
"Philistine is it?" the other middle aged, clean shaven man flared, "The Philistines were a cultured people, which is more than I can say for you! Your so-called research is nothing more than a shoddy pretence at glorifying the indulgence of wild theories and unscientific speculation! You're a discredit to our profession you glorified carpetbagger!"
"Carpetbagger is it?" the bearded man said in a huff, "At least I have the integrity to keep an open mind when confronted by new evidence that contradict long-cherished theories!"
"You call that integrity?" the other man scoffed, "I call it credulity of the first order! Your so-called proposal would force an upheaval of the entire body of scientific research compiled in the past two centuries, all to suggest that there could even have been a civilization that early..."
"Are you saying that you're not even prepared to accept the possibility?" the bearded man said in an outrage, struggling even harder to break loose from Genma's firm hold, "It is the essence of every science to be prepared to abandon worn out theories when they prove to be in error..."
"It is not the providence of science to accept fables as fact and fantasy as valid scientific opinion!" the other man retorted.
"Gentlemen!" Nabiki stepped forward to join the blonde in the middle ground between the angry researchers, "Perhaps we can come to a more suitable arrangement if you will both calm yourselves down and allow a purely disinterested observer to voice an objective opinion?"
"Uh oh," murmured Ranma, "Here comes the pitch."
"What do you mean?" the bearded man asked, "What middle ground is there between me and this...pompous ass who calls himself a scientist?"
"And you claim to be one yourself?" the other man snorted, "You theories are doggerel and that rag of a so-called Scientific journal that published your findings isn't worth lining a birdcage!"
"I believe that name calling and insults won't accomplish anything here," Nabiki calmly insisted, "The fact remains that you guys have made a fantastic discovery, one that potentially could force us to re-examine everything we thought we knew about our past, am I correct?"
"Revise it," the beardless man said, "Not obliterate it altogether!"
"And yet you do admit that the findings in that cave challenge long held beliefs concerning the linear descent of man," Nabiki asked the man in a tone that was not actually a question, "The possibility that a prior, unknown civilization could have existed at one time is not entirely inconceivable you will admit?"
"Well..." the beardless man said, "Strictly speaking, nothing is ever entirely beyond the realm of scientific possibility..."
"Then what's your problem?" Nabiki smiled, "If it could happen, then it probably did happen, and you both can now claim evidence of an entirely new area of archeology. Think of the publicity, the follow up research you now have to do...think of the grant money," she added with a hint of genuine interest.
"But..." the beardless man persisted, "The scientific peer review is not yet unanimous. Professor Halgarth's discovery has triggered a scientific firestorm among the Archeological circles. It makes the discovery of King Tut's tomb look like a minor feat of grave robbery..."
"But it does hold out the potential for new discoveries," Nabiki insinuated, "Now that you have proof that something that old existed that far back it should be possible for you to expand your search to other areas never before considered in an archeological dig. Think of it...proof of a civilization over twelve thousand years old! All you need is one successful strike and you can have your names in the history books along with Schlieman and Carter! You can't afford to pass up on the potential gold mine of research grant money you could be sitting upon if you can obtain the interest of at least one wealthy backer, especially now that we are here to provide you with a valuable key to the puzzle."
"What key?" said the bearded Professor Halgarth while Sophie eyed Nabiki with a hint of suspicion.
In answer Nabiki pointed to Ranma and his father and said, "Gentlemen, I present to you Saotome Genma and his son, Saotome Ranma, the heirs to the Saotome school of Anything Goes Martial Arts, who can provide you with new information regarding those scrolls that you uncovered...the ones you've mistaken for ceremonial dance steps."
Both Genma and Ranma reacted to this with mutually surprised expressions, giving Nabiki the chance to continue her pitch to the equally befuddled Archeologists, "Think of it this way, Gentlemen, you've already discovered that horses were domesticated, grain was cultivated and iron was forced over ten thousand years before the so-called Iron Age. Is it really so surprising that somebody else might have come up with an art to fighting utilizing the principles that were rediscovered in our own time?"
"Wait a minute," Ranma objected, "You're talking about our family's special Ryu, Nabiki. It's only been around for...what? A couple generations at most, right Pop?"
"Well," Genma adjusted his glasses, "Our system was actually founded by Grand Master Happosai, who began his training with the Amazons of China..."
"Exactly," Nabiki said, "Four thousand years of history right there, and who knows who they got the idea from? The Saotome and Tendo schools both come from the same source, as do all other Martial Arts systems if you go far enough back in time. Ranma, be a dear and show them some of the moves you saw on the photos of that parchment."
Ranma could not hide his suspicion, but he knew better than to cross swords with Nabiki. Instead he moved away from the work tables into a clear area then proceeded to take a stance identical to one of the poses on the scroll. He performed the basic katas illustrated there, then leaped into the air and assumed a flying dragon stamp-kick before coming down to a graceful landing.
"Incredible!" said Professor Halgarth.
"Father," the guide named Sophie remarked, "He is performing the exact movements on those scrolls! Do you have any idea what this means?"
"Hold on!" said the beardless man, "It is an interesting theory but it doesn't constitute proof..."
"No," Nabiki said slyly as she leaned closer to the man before adding, "But think of the debate you could fire up in various articles for publication in those selfsame 'journalistic rags' you were harping about a moment ago. Think of the tours and lectures you and your esteemed colleague here might share while you present point and counterpoint before audiences of your peers. Why, if you both play your cards right you could be on the gravy train for life!"
"I knew it," Ranma sighed, sharing an exasperated look with Akane.
"Yes," the beardless man seemed to be considering the point, "The fees for giving such lectures could be quite...well, it's all in the name of further scientific research."
"Of course," Nabiki smiled, "And I'm sure my Daddy and Uncle Saotome would be happy to share their expertise in these matters...or a moderate service fee, of course. You'll be getting top-notch reference material from two certified masters of the art representing a long and proud tradition that our families now continue. Think of it, gentlemen, a move-by-move translation of the poses you see in those scrolls, giving you a key reference point for translating the language that they're written in. I don't suppose I need to point out how that would further the rest of your research?"
"Young lady," said Professor Halgarth, "That is an excellent idea! Why did we never think of taking the scrolls to be examined by a professional athlete, Doctor Nadir?"
"I don't know, Halgarth," the beardless man remarked, "Perhaps we're just too sophisticated to see such an obvious solution..."
"So," Genma smiled, "I'm to be an valued research consultant, eh? What do you say to that, Tendo-kun?"
"I'd say they came to the right couple of experts, Saotome," Soun beamed, "The art is our livelihood, who else but us to help the cause of science?"
"But father," Kasumi spoke up, "Wouldn't it be more proper to ask grandfather Happosai for his opinion? After all, he is the Master of both systems."
Nabiki, Genma and Soun all gave the eldest Tendo daughter looks of utter askance, and it was plain from their expressions that they each shared the opinion that including Happosai in any discussion regarding antiquities and money was a very bad proposition.
"Might as well invite the old ghoul." Ranma snorted, "I'll bet she'd have an opinion about a system this old."
"I think we can keep it strictly in the family for now," Nabiki said as she recovered her composure, "Happosai might...um...have his own views about this ancient a system, but he'd probably be distracted by other concerns more near and dear to his heart," and without further elaboration she gave Sophie a meaningful lookover.
"Huh," Ranma snorted, giving his father a sidelong glance, "First time I've ever heard of you being considered a research consultant on anything but how to be a shiftless good for nothing."
"Son," Genma looked at Ranma pleadingly before hissing, "Is that necessary to bring up now...?"
Before the question was even completed two figures came bursting into the studio area, moving at a dead run with the lead of the pair crying, "Gangway!"
"Coming through!" said the other man, who tried to rudely shove his way past Genma and Ranma.
Both Saotomes hardly wasted any motion catching the fleeing pair and throwing them over with identical techniques. The two men went flying across the room as everyone else ducked, only to have their progress impeded by the nearest work bench that intercepted their path. They crashed into it and fell to the floor in a pair of groaning heaps, spilling everything atop it in all directions as Ranma and Genma straightened out, hardly seeming bothered in the least by the sudden interruption.
"Extraordinary!" declared Professor Halgarth."
"You two are indeed masters of your profession," marveled Doctor Nadir.
"That was amazing!" voiced Sophie as she gave Ranma a look of undisguised admiration.
A third figure burst into the studio, only to halt in her tracks as she took everything in with a single glance then said, "Ranchan? What are you doing here?"
"Ucchan?" Ranma replied in equal surprise, "I was about to ask you the same thing...only I guess it has something to do with those clowns?"
"Good guess," Ukyo replaced her bakers peel over her back then smiled at him brightly, "I'm glad you caught them. They're part of a gang that tried to rob a bank not too far from here, but I stopped them."
"Stopped them?" Akane reacted, "You mean you fought them off?"
"Sure thing, Sugar," Ukyo smiled, turning her attention back towards Ranma, "So...what are you doing here, Ranchan? Museums aren't necessarily where I'd expect to find you. Taking your studies to heart?"
"Ah...no," Ranma said somewhat awkwardly, "We were just checking something out that Nabiki spotted. Did you know that there are these really ancient scrolls that have the Saotome Ryu on them? Weird, huh?"
"Who is that?" Sophie murmured to Akane in a tone that sounded slightly frosty.
"You don't want to know," Akane replied, giving the blonde a studied look that as much as read aloud her suspicions.
"Really ancient?" Ukyo asked, "Like...how old is that?"
"Try twelve thousand years, Sugar," Nabiki replied, mimicking the Okonomiyaki chef's favorite expression.
"Twelve...that's impossible!" Ukyo blurted.
"That's what I've been saying all along," griped Doctor Nadir, "The whole idea that civilization could advance to the late classical period then just disappear as if wiped off the face of the earth in a single cataclysmic event...well, it just seems too damned religious for me. Makes the whole idea of civilization itself seem like a pointless exercise..."
"Except for indoor plumbing," Nabiki quipped, "That's one we still have over those guys."
"Uh...what's this all about anyway?" Ukyo asked as she glanced around, for the first time taking actual notice of their surroundings.
"You mean you didn't notice what the Exhibition was all about?" Akane asked, "It was on the signs when you came inside the doors, right?"
"Ah...well," Ukyo said sheepishly, "I kind of had my mind on something else..."
"Ah, think nothing of it, Ucchan," Ranma smiled, "It's all some big to do about a lot of stuff that happened a long time ago. Nothing we should get upset about, right Pop?"
"Hmm?" Genma asked, having been leaning over a table, only to turn around with a guilty look as if hiding something behind his back.
"Never mind," Ranma rolled his eyes, "I should have known better."
"Um, speaking of stuff," Ukyo glanced over one of the tables, taking note of the artifacts before saying, "What does all of this mean? You're saying somebody found this and dated it back twelve thousand years? Why that's..."
"Older than the Pyramids," Sophie observed with a slightly condescending smile, "Older than all the works of man combined. History before there was history, a whole uncharted era..."
"Between the ages when the Oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas," Ukyo quoted, "Yeah, I've read something like that somewhere, but I always thought it was just fantasy. I never actually thought...I mean...well..."
"Oh, I see," Nabiki smiled her trademark smug expression, "You can accept the existence of magic and curses but the notion that there's an unknown era to history is too much to take, right?"
"Magic?" Sophie asked, "You believe in magic?"
"Doesn't everybody?" sniffed Akane.
"How very odd," remarked the Professor, turning slightly to the side to indicate the fallen work table, "We have a number of artifacts that seem to have some sort of ritual magic purpose, including one item...oh dear."
That latter part was voiced as he took notice for the first time of the numerous articles littering the floor while the two would-be bandits groaned in semi-
consciousness in the midst of the wreckage.
"Who are those hooligans?" Doctor Nadir asked, regarding the fallen bandits.
"Like I said, a couple of guys who tried to rob a bank," Ukyo turned to consider the fallen thugs, "I'd call the police and have them picked up if I were you. They're kind of dangerous, and they were carrying guns when they did the hold up."
"Guns?" Ranma reacted with a sudden flash of heat, "Did they threaten you, Ucchan?"
"Nothing I couldn't handle," Ukyo smiled, "But thanks for asking, Ranchan."
"How did a couple of street punks like these get their hands on guns?" Akane asked.
"I don't know," Ukyo shrugged, "But it didn't do them any good against me. I'd search them just to be on the safe side, though."
"What a mess," Professor Halgarth said as he surveyed the floor, "It's going to take us quite a while to sort everything out. I certainly hope nothing was broken..." all at once he stopped talking for one of the hoodlums rose up just then and threw an arm around his neck, then produced a switchblade with his other hand and held it up to the bearded man's chin.
"Nobody move!" he angrily declared, "You let us go or the old man gets it!"
"Father!" Sophie cried with alarm.
"Take it easy, son," Soun said, "You don't want to do that."
"Oh no?" the hoodlum sneered, "I've got the knife here, fucker! Don't mess with me or you'll see this guy bleed!"
"You can't talk to my father like that!" Akane growled.
"Shut up!" the hoodlum retorted, "Or you'll be next, Bitch!"
"Oh my," Kasumi said, "Such language..."
"What did you call me?" Akane glared, her eyes flaring with sudden anger.
"Shiro...?" the other gangster groaned as he forced himself into a crouching position.
"Don't use names, stupid!" the hoodlum snarled, "Just get up and we'll get out of here..."
"That wouldn't be a very good idea," said Genma.
"Oh?" the hoodlum sneered, "And why not?"
A hand closed on the hoodlum's arm just above the elbow. Ranma squeezed and the other man lost his grip on his knife, then his face contorted with pain as he let go of the Professor, who collapsed to his knees, holding his throat and coughing.
"Akane," Ranma said with deceptive calm, continuing to hold the now pain-
maddened thug with one hand as though the man was gripped in a vice, "You wanna do the honors?"
"My pleasure!" Akane snarled, already glowing blue as her battle aura flared to full life, her fist surrounded by a glow that made it almost look like it formed a hammer, "Call me a Bitch will you?"
POW!
Ranma stepped back in time to recoil from the backwash of his iinazuke's punch. The hoodlum, on the other hand, went flying back into a far wall, colliding there with bone jarring force before and creating a body-shaped outline before slowly collapsing forward onto his face, by which point it was a fortunate thing that he was already unconscious.
"Shiro?" the other hoodlum gasped before Ranma sent him into dreamland with a kick that all but flipped him over.
"Father!" Sophie was already at the Professor's side tending to him as the bearded man fought to regain his breath.
"Incredible!" Doctor Nadir remarked before turning to Akane, "That thing you just did...glowing blue like that...how was it accomplished?"
"Huh?" Akane said in surprise, "Uh, well...it's called a battle aura, and I guess you really don't have to think about it, it just comes on me when it's needed..."
"I'll be all right, my dear," the Professor said as he accepted her help in regaining his feet, then gave Ranma a more studious look before saying, "It seems you have quite a number of interesting talents yourself, young man. That was an amazing display of your prowess, and I'm quite grateful for your assistance."
"You see what I mean?" Nabiki smoothly stepped up to the plate again, "And you haven't even seen a small fraction of what Saotome and his father can do. If those scrolls are as ancient as you say they are then it might do you well to learn the full range of their potential."
"That's my boy," Genma said proudly, taking a step forward when his foot encountered an object that drew his attention. He bent down, seeing what looked like a rod of some sort, which naturally he picked up to examine. He could not help noticing that it had symbols and lettering, and that it was partly jewel encrusted, which mainly drew his interest.
Ranma's next words were to take him completely by surprise, "No help from you, old man."
"Eh?" Genma blinked, looking back up at his son with a puzzled expression.
"You heard me," Ranma glared, "You could have helped me out there instead of just standing around being useless, like always."
"Son," Genma replied, "I thought I was helping by distracting the fellow. You didn't really need my help to disable him..."
"I didn't need your help at all!" Ranma growled, "Stupid old man..."
"Boy," Genma frowned, "Who do you think it was that taught you how to move like that? I taught you everything I know..."
"But not everything I know," Ranma snorted before turning away with a sullen expression.
"Son..." Genma said, sounding genuinely hurt.
"Leave me alone," Ranma growled, then marched off by himself leaving the others to ponder his sudden mood swing.
Both Akane and Ukyo tracked his movements with their eyes, but both swiveled their attention towards the girl named Sophie when she left her father's side and said, "Wait...I wanted to thank you for rescuing my father."
"Oh, no problem," Ranma told her, "It was my pleasure."
"You really are something," Sophie flashed a winning smile, "And so handsome, and modest as well."
"Forget about it," Ranma said, "I'm just glad I could help...what?"
Sophie casually walked up to him and put her arms around his waist, causing Ranma to freeze up like a statue as she smiled and said, "But I owe you a reward, and it wouldn't be fair to deny you the kiss of a fair maiden."
"A k-k-kiss?" Ranma gasped, only to lock up as the blonde brought her lips up to his and followed through on her promise.
"Grrrrr..." Ukyo and Akane growled together, each glowing blue as they turned angry glares at both Sophie and Ranma.
"Remarkable," said Doctor Nadir as he studied their battle auras.
"Saotome, what is the meaning of this!?" demanded Soun as he broke the stunned silence following the Blonde's dramatic gesture.
"Hmmm?" Genma blinked, looking up from the object he was turning over in his hands, "Oh, well...you know how it is with the boy, Tendo-kun, irresistible to women and all of that..."
"Is this how you raise your son to behave?" Soun glared at his old friend.
"Now Tendo," Genma said patiently, "Be fair. Remember how it was with us when we were both so much younger? Ah...the troubles we had before our bachelor days were finally ended..."
"Very true," Soun sobered, "I suppose you're right...but it's wrong for him to upset Akane. After all, they are getting married in another few months..."
"Says who?" Ukyo suddenly growled, unable to stand it any more as she turned her glare upon the father of her rival, "Has Ranma actually declared that he's going to go through with it this time? What right have you two to be making plans with his life? Ranchan should be the one to decide who he'll marry, even it if isn't me or Akane!"
"Ukyo..." Genma started to say, only to receive her glare, which caused him to fall silent.
"Shut up, you Jackass!" Ukyo snarled, "It's all your fault my life was turned upside down when you left me behind and fixed Ranma up with Akane! You took my livelihood and left me with nothing! You made a promise to my father then reneged, so what right have you got to even look at me, you Yatai-snatcher!"
She whirled around and stormed out of the room in an angry huff, fighting hard not to show tears as the misery of her life swallowed up on her. There was only a slight hesitation before Ranma called out, "Hey, wait up-Ucchan!"
"Oh my," said Sophie, "Did I cause a scene? I didn't mean to do that..."
"Oh, let her go," Akane shrugged, "She's got personal problems she needs to work out. Let me talk to her and I'll try and see if she'll listen."
Akane walked out of the room while Ranma stood where he was. Sophie glanced at his profile and asked, "Relationship problems?"
"You don't want to know," Nabiki cautioned, "Just leave it at that."
"It's all your fault!" Ranma snapped at his father, "Stupid old man, bad enough you make a mess of my life, but did you have to do the same thing to Ucchan?"
"Son..." Genma tried to say, but Ranma turned around and stormed out of the room.
"Oboy," Nabiki sighed, turning to the two researchers, "I'm sorry you both had to see that..."
"Oh, not at all," the Professor remarked, "We fully understand."
"We had father too, you know," Doctor Nadir informed them.
Genma was hardly listening as he stood where he was, still holding onto the rod-
like object. On impulse he turned and followed on the trail of his departing son while the Professor suddenly took note of the object and said, "Hey! You'd better put that back! We haven't even started cataloguing it yet and we don't know it's function or purpose..."
"Oh, he'll be back," Nabiki assured them, crossing her fingers behind her back, "He just needs some quality time with Ranma. Now...about my proposal..."
"Son!" Genma called out as he quickened his pace, seeing Ranma halt in the middle of the adjoining display chamber, "Wait boy, I want to talk with you..."
"That's a laugh," Ranma snorted, "You...just talking. As if you'd ever try listening for a change, but no-you're too damned selfish for that!"
"Ranma," Genma replied, "I know you're upset with me, boy, only what it is I'm supposed to have done that was so bad I don't know..."
"You want a list?" Ranma rounded on him and glared with heat at his father, "Try taking me away from Mom for ten years, making me sign that stupid contract, dragging me around from one end of Japan to the other, never allowing me to have any permanent ties with anybody, and then-to top it all off-you take me to China and we get cursed together! Real bonding there, Pop, girl to panda!"
"You're not blaming me for all of it, are you boy?" Genma asked.
"Why not?" Ranma snarled, "Right after Jusenkyo we wound up stopping at Joketsuzoku, and we both know how that turned out, right?" his snort of derision showed a contempt he had never displayed before his father until that moment, "Because of you I've got all these women who want to marry me, and I can only choose one of them! You decided for me that it was gonna be Akane without once considering how I feel, and I've tried real hard to make it work and all! Akane can be nice at times, but lately...I just can't help thinking about what you did to Ucchan! Did you ever once consider her feelings when you made that deal with her old man, or was it just your stomach talking? You engaged her to me even though you'd promised the same thing to Mister Tendo!"
"But hasn't it worked out in the end, boy?" Genma asked, "You may huff and complain about it, but I know you really do care about Akane..."
"Oh sure," Ranma snorted, "Just like she cares about me, but is that enough for us to have a relationship? I used to think it could be, now I'm starting to wonder! Ukyo's got every right to be mad at us both, and I think maybe she deserves something more than just a heave ho, and a 'seeya!' She was my best friend when we were kids together, but some friend I turned out to be! All I seem to do these days is either made her cry or cause her to get angry!"
"You really should tell her once and for all that you can't marry her, son," Genma replied, "It's wrong to lead her on the way you do...believe me, I know that from experience..."
"Do you?" Ranma all but shouted in his father's face, "Then how can you just stand there and tell me to lie to her as if she means nothing? She gave up ten years of her life to follow me, for revenge or whatever, and I think maybe I do owe her something for that. I don't really know how I feel about her, but I sure as hell won't treat her like she's garbage!"
"Boy..." Genma started to say, but the vehemence in Ranma's tone silenced him.
"Shut up!" Ranma all but shouted, "You think you're so smart because you taught me the basics of Martial Arts? You used me as a tool to make me into something you wanted yourself to be! I'm just a reflection of your ambitions, isn't that what's really all behind it? I look good and it means you're a good father and a good teacher? Well, I've got news for you-YOU STINK!"
"Son..." Genma flinched, backing away a half step.
"You're the worst father who's ever lived!" Ranma took an equal step forward to maintain their nearness, "You think only of yourself, you eat like a hog, you have no consideration for anybody's feelings but yourself, and you've been trying to make me exactly like you! Well, I'm not like you, old man! I don't want to be like you, I don't even want to be seen in public with you! You stink as a parent, and if it hadn't been for you I'd have grown up with my mother and probably never had to go through all the crap you've put me through!"
"But..." Genma continued to back away.
"I've had it up to here with your excuses and your always backing out on me whenever I really need you!" Ranma was all but shouting, "You've ruined my life trying to make me something you want for yourself, and all I ever wanted from you was somebody I could look up to and respect. Some role model you are! You don't even have the guts to apologize to Ukyo or me for being such a rotten coward!"
As Ranma said this last bit he tapped his father on the chest with a finger, unbalancing the older man, who had been in the process of backing away. Genma lost his balance and fell backward, crashing into a display case and inadvertently striking the rod against the floor.
Without warning it suddenly flared to life, the jewels set in the metal surface glowing brightly as if it had been mysteriously awaken. Genma's eyes went wide as he stared at the thing in his hand, too shocked to even think of letting go, and all at once the room was bathed in crimson radiance.
"Pop?" Ranma halted in his advance, seeing his father suddenly surrounded in the glow created by the artifact in Genma's hand. As Ranma hesitated something very strange happened, and all at once his father vanished.
"Pop?" Ranma gasped, seeing the glow remain around his father's fading outline.
"What's going on here?" he heard Akane ask.
"What happened, Ranchan?" Ukyo also chorused.
"That's what I'd like to know," said Nabiki as she came into the chamber, then they all stared at the space where Saotome Genma had vanished.
"Pop!" Ranma cried out, when all at once the glow expanded, then winked out of existence...
10,570 BC:
The world was a swirl of sensations and colors beyond anything Genma had ever experienced or even imagined. He was tumbling through a void, bereft of sense and reason, when all at once his voyage ended as abruptly as it had started. The world righted itself out again, and then he saw blue sky above him...which naturally meant that the earth beneath him was also to shortly make its presence known with a thump across his broad backside.
Genma lay where he was, still clutching the rod in one hand, staring around at empty sky that held a few stray clouds but was otherwise uneventful. His heart was still beating in his chest and his moment of panic ended once he had determined that he still drew breath. It did not look like the afterlife, so it was natural to assume that something else had happened besides a terminal event.
The question of where he was came automatically to his mind. It didn't occur to him to ask when as he slowly sat up to take stock of his bearings, realizing almost instantly that the land around him was not Japan but someplace...elsewhere.
Genma slowly got his feet back under him as he looked around, trying to gather his bearings, feeling almost like Ryoga on one of the lost boy's perpetual training missions and hoping he could find his way back to Japan very shortly.
It was only after a moment of looking around that he felt totally lost, and then he heard a sound like the screeching of a large wheel and decided to investigate. He followed his instinct and rose up to a small hill, shading his eyes as he gazed down at a sight that took him by surprise and made him gape with amazement.
The object looked like a large mill wheel, the kind that once was used in ancient days to grind grain into flour using draft animals to pull a heavy beam. The wheel was being pulled all right, but by a single boy who looked no more than ten or eleven years of age, chained to the beam that he was steadily pushing with relentless energy, his feet digging into a deep rut that had clearly been made over a long time of continuous usage.
The boy was obviously a child laborer being abused by the fellow Genma spotted sitting nearby to the wheel casually cooking a dinner over an open pit fire. The guard wore some manner of leather armor and had primitive weapons set to one side that looked nonetheless effective and deadly. He paid no attention at all to the boy, intent on his next meal to the exclusion of all else. His attitude was both bored and indifferent, and since he was upwind of Genma he could not detect his presence.
Genma took stock of the situation, reckoning the isolation and extreme heat that was causing the boy to perspire all over. The sight rent Genma's heart and aroused an unusual sensation that in another man might have been pity. More significant, however, was the smell of the roasting meat that Genma caught a whiff of, reminding him that he was still enormously hungry. It took less than a second to decide on a course of action, and then Genma burst from concealment and rushed at the man, crying loudly like a demon in the hopes that it would give him a psychological advantage.
The guard reacted to the sudden appearance of a man in a faded white gi rushing at him with considerable surprise, hesitating a crucial few seconds before reaching for a weapon to defend himself. It was all over in a matter of seconds as Genma flattered the man, knocking him out cold before sliding off of him in order to examine his prized catch. The roasted meat smelled twice as good from close proximity, so Genma wasted no time removing it from the fire, borrowing a belt-knife off of his defeated foe before ripping up huge chunks of beef in order that he could gorge himself to his heart's content.
It was several minutes (and half a roast) later that Genma took notice of the fact that the boy was no longer pushing his harness. Instead he was standing amid the rut he had carved and was looking at Genma with a stoical expression. His face neither pleaded nor betrayed any emotion as he just stood his ground and continued to study Genma without comment.
There was something in the boy's piercing blue stare that drew Genma's attention. For a moment...just an instant...he thought that it might be Ranma, but reason forced him to abandon that notion as he instead paid real attention to the stranger before finally deciding on a course of action.
Genma rose and the boy seemed to flinch a little as if expecting to receive harsh treatment. Instead Genma approached cautiously, having also "borrowed" the keys off of a guard and taking special notice of the lock holding the boy firmly chained to the log-sized turning beam. He spoke soothing words to the boy as if expecting him to behave like any wild animal confronted by a human, unlocking the chains while saying very casually, "Just take it easy, boy, and I'll have you loose in no time. Can't stand a man abusing a helpless youth like you...some folks are just very poor role models-hey!"
No sooner were the chains of the boy released then the boy stepped back and glared at Genma with sullen blue eyes, looking ready to buck or attack on the instant, depending on what the man before him did next. Genma sized the boy up, reckoning that he was unusually strong and quick for his size, then slowly backed away and said, "Easy...don't get the wrong ideas, boy. I'm not here to hurt you, I'm just here to set you free, that's all."
The boy looked confused by his words, obviously not understanding Japanese. As Genma continued to move away he followed the man with his eyes, not saying anything just studying him as a predator might any other wild beast. When it was plain that Genma was not about to attack him he seemed to relax somewhat, responding in kind to the neutrality of his liberator before cautiously following to the fire and the warmth it offered.
"You hungry, boy?" Genma asked in an unusual display of generosity, reckoning that his unconscious overseer was probably working the lad to death. She cut off a slab of meat and handed it to the boy, who hesitated a moment before accepting the offer. It wasn't much of a slab, and the boy devoured it within seconds, but he did not immediately press Genma for more, though it was obvious he was still hungry. It was as if the boy had some rudimentary manners after all, or else just did not trust his benefactor enough to press the issue.
Genma studied the youth, taking notice of how his almost naked form was hard with definition that was quite unusual for someone of his age. A large and healthy build, a strong body and a reserved manner that showed intelligence and caution. Somehow he found himself liking the boy on instinct, or possibly identifying elements of himself in the wild nature he displayed. It was easy for one animal to feel a close kinship to another.
He sat back and examined the fire, slowly trying to comprehend what had happened. The object...or rod...had quite obviously been magical in nature, and somehow it had carried a charge for all those thousands of years that had transported him through time and space to a land that looked unusually desolate and barren. He would have guessed the Middle East but for the slight chill in the air, which implied a more northerly climate, not did the man he had clobbered resemble an Arab. The boy had a strongly bronzed complexion but could just as well have been a Caucasian with his eyes and features bearing a definitely northerly cast. From that Genma deduced that he was more probably somewhere in the middle of central Europe, only in a backwater place that lacked technological innovation.
There was no hint of smog in the air, no evidence of pollutants, and the forests he saw along the horizon seemed pristine and untouched, almost like the set of a movie. Genma could not quite place what was wrong but he knew that something was out of the ordinary here. Either he was in another part of the world that was untouched by the hand of time, or else...
He was the one whom time was affecting. Like with the Nanban Mirror, the rod might have opened a doorway in time for him, in which case the question was how far back it had sent him and-of more immediate concern-how does he find his way back to his own time and place?
Genma was not a very deep thinker, and he did not have the same appetite for magic as Happosai, but he knew that he would have to take the rod to somebody who could explain its nature and function. Assuming that there was anyone around here who was competent at magic, he ought to be able to effect his way back to his own time and the Japan of his day...only...
Only how did you go about describing things like this to someone from a primitive era? That was the part that gave him pause and made him consider the need for getting ahold of a map or finding someone who could help him find his bearings. Not understanding the language was another handicap, rather like the one that caused so many problems for him in China, and look how that turned out!
He regarded the boy again and asked, "Do you live around her, son? Do you have parents or a relative you can go home with?"
The boy just looked at him with a puzzled expression, so Genma tried again to make himself understood, using hand-signs and gestures to try and convey his meaning, and after several dozen attempts he finally gained the comprehension of the youth, who gave Genma the most empty look of hollow emotion before turning away and falling silent.
That was not the response that Genma had expected, but even he was not so slow on the uptake as to fail to understand the significance of the boy's attitude. One only looked like that when one had no home to go back to, when the loss was so absolute that the mind all but shut down all other emotions beyond those needed to maintain one's own survival. Genma looked upon the boy and could only wonder what horrors he had seen in his young life, what fate had consigned him to be worked to death doing hard slave labor that would tax the strength of any beast of burden...
Something in his thoughts caused Genma to pause, turning to glance back at the wheel as if only now comprehending just how strong the boy would have to be to work that mill stone by himself. There were other slots on the beam where chains must have been linked for a dozen other slaves, yet all of them were empty except the one occupied by the boy. The question then was: what had happened to the other children...assuming that there were other children to begin with?
Again he studied the boy, knowing implicitly that he was gazing upon an orphan. The lad had no one to care for him, most probably no one was left in his home village, as such things were often done in times of war and invasion, especially in the very old days. There probably was no civil service to help him out either, or anyone else who would care for him or feed him. The boy had literally no one else in the world, a homeless wanderer who most likely would turn out to be either a thief or a beggar unless he had the right kind of moral guidance.
Genma wondered if there might be a church or a shrine that was looking for new converts, then he dismissed the idea and thought about maybe hiring the boy out to someone who needed a strong laborer, and without child labor laws to interfere with the transaction.
But then a voice echoed through the lonely corridors of his mind, "You're the worst father who ever lived! You think only about yourself, you eat like a hog and have no consideration for anyone but yourself!"
Genma flinched from the memory of the accusation, glancing at the boy again and wondering if it was just his imagination that made him look so much like Ranma had at his age. As he thought this he recalled again the words that had actually made him feel bad a short while (as he reckoned matters) time ago, the accusation that he was an unfit parent and a bad role model. He looked again at the grain wheel and thought some more, wondering if the boy had the potential to be worthy of his training.
It took little effort to decide his course. The boy needed someone to look after him, so why should he not volunteer for the job? They might even be able to help each other out until Genma found a way to return to his own time. Until then he could at least teach the boy how to survive, maybe give him a leg up on the rest of the world with fighting techniques that would not be rediscovered for generations...
And that was when it hit him. The time difference...the scroll with the Anything Goes Ryu illustrations and the warrior in the cave, along with the name of Genma carved in kanji. This was what the whole Exhibition was about, him going back in time and planting the seeds of the future. Twelve thousand years in the past...that was a hell of a lot of time to be recovered! But he had to find a way back, no way could he allow himself to die away from his family and the comfortable, easy lifestyle he so longed for!
"All right, Boy," Genma said firmly, earning a glance from the youth though he could just have easily been addressing the son he hoped he would one day see again, "We'll see who's an unfit parent. I'll make you proud of me yet, mark my word, and then I'll rub your nose in it or my name isn't Saotome Genma."
"Gen-ma?" the boy asked tentatively as if comprehending that a name was being pronounced, to which he tapped his own chest and replied, "Conan."
"Conan," Genma replied, gratified to note that at least it was an easy name to remember, unlike some names typical of Gaijin, "This is where it all starts, my son. Your first day of the rest of your life as a student of the Anything Goes school. I'm your Sensei and you're my student, and once we have that straightened out we'll start to work on the rest of your training."
"Tra-ning?" the boy replied, his puzzled expression conveying that he had no idea of what he was about to get into...
End Prologue.
Comments/Criticism/Conversational Cimmerian: shadowmane
Next chapter: The beginning of a new cycle as Genma writes history without even knowing how to spell it...be there!
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