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Disclaimer
Ranma is not mine. Sliders is not mine.
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What happened before:
Prologue : Ranma gets the timer from another sliding team, and Nabiki unexpectedly tags along.
This chapter starts on the first day of Ranma and Nabiki's travels.
" " spoken ' ' thought
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Slider Ranma
Chapter 1 : Casualties of War
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The blue tunnel seemed impossibly long yet unbelievably short. Ranma promptly fell unceremoniously to the ground. He groaned. "Why the hell did I do this?" he muttered to himself, face in the dirt, and started to pick himself up. Then, a dead weight fell on him. "Ouch!" Face in the dirt again, Ranma lowered his eyelids. He could recognize that voice anywhere. "Nabiki, get off me."
She promptly did, and Ranma got up as well. He shook the dirt off his clothes, and glared at her. Then he noticed her glazed look at the surroundings, and looked around himself. They were in the vacant lot they started in, that much was evident, but the rest was definitively not the same.
Everything was destroyed. Only the base of walls and rubble were left. All around them, no building had a roof, or a first floor. Everything was scorched black, even cement walls. Ranma jumped high, and turned around. At first he saw the burroughs, and the devastation grew lighter near the horizon. He could see a few two-story buildings still standing. Then he turned towards the city itself. Buildings grew nearer the ground, until he saw an immense crater, easily one kilometer in diameter.
Right in the middle of what had once been downtown Tokyo. And Ranma understood what the bad feeling he had had since he arrived was. Radiation.
He barely touched the ground before taking Nabiki in his arms, not listening to any protests she might have, and Ranma ran faster than he ever had, directly away from downtown Tokyo. "What are you doing? And why are you glowing?" Ranma kept his breath. "Ranma!" Her cold eyes and icy tone made him talk before he realized it.
"Atomic bomb. Downtown Tokyo. Chi to protect from radiation. Stay close."
She blinked, got big eyes and held herself closer to his chest, trying to focus what little energy she had. Very faintly, she glowed a deep blue, which quickly turned green as Ranma fed her a small flow of chi to help.
Buildings grew in height, and pretty soon Ranma took a turn into a well- preserved three-story building. He got to the basement and thanked the gods it was an apartment building. In the most central room, he gathered things to surround themselves in. Blankets, mattresses, he even went in the upper apartments to get enough. He gathered, and Nabiki organized. Not a word passed between them, and it didn't take three minutes for them to be surrounded.
They found themselves on a king-sized mattress, surrounded by smaller ones, even as a roof. Blankets covered each 'wall', interior as well as exterior. A couple of red pillows on a corner and two still working flashlights were the icing on the cake. Finally, Ranma breathed in, breathed out, and stopped glowing.
Neither talked, still stunned by the event this world had gone through. Finally, Ranma checked the timer. He groaned. "We have two days and a half before the next jump." Nabiki sighed. "So, this is your training? Going to parallel earths?" He turned a flashlight on her, and she raised an arm in her eyes' defense. "Yeah. Social training. I didn't get any from pop, you know. And how come you're here?"
"I was curious, okay? I touched that vortex thing, and I was sucked in." Ranma chuckled. Nabiki controled herself. 'No,' she thought, 'for once I have no reason to hold it in.' "Funny?!? You think this is funny?!? Tokyo was hit by an A-bomb, Ranma!!! Do you realize how many people died?!?!?" she finished on all four, face-to-face, inches away from him. He looked at her straight in the eyes, and as moments passed, in the darkness, flashlight illuminating an empty corner of their makeshift housing, he slowly took her in his embrace, and began rocking her slowly.
"It's okay, Nabiki... Let it out..." He heard a sob, and smiled ever-so- slightly. "We're all right, Nabiki, we're alive... We'll survive, and get away from all this..." Nabiki cried silently. Ranma rocked her, rubbing her back gently, and finally she disengaged from his embrace, sitting slightly away from him, eyes red. "Thanks..." she said faintly, and his answer was a blanket. He took a few pillows and laid them out. "Rest, Nabiki, and we'll continue later."
She slowly got comfortable, even under his gaze, and as he turned off the flashlight she got into a foetal position, on the side. He sighed, wondering where this side of her came from, where the Nabiki he just calmed down fitted into the always-in-control Nabiki everyone saw all the time. He shook his head, and turned the question on himself. He never could face an angry or crying girl before. Why now?
Still wondering, he decided to heed his own advice and got to sleep, still sitting.
*******
This time, Ken slapped Shori. "Get ahold of yourself, girl! Do you realized what you're saying?" The girl fell on her knees. "We gave the timer..." she said softly, and head in hands started crying. Daisuke slipped an arm around her to comfort her. Yoshi started thinking. "At least, if I remember correctly, I gave him the right number of this dimension. He should be back in a few weeks."
Ken shook his head. "Are you saying we're actually in a cartoon dimension?" His face showed the disbelief as well as the hope in his eyes. Yoshi put a hand on his shoulder. "In this dimension, more than anything, you are not to interfere. More importantly, we are *not* playing matchmakers. Ranma has to decide by himself which fiancee he loves." Ken began sulking, and then his face lit up. "No," Yoshi continued, "you are not meeting anyone of the cast. An outside influence could be catastrophic. I'll go talk to Nabiki, to find out when we are in the story, and what could happen with Ranma's disappearance. You three hide here."
He calmly walked outside, direction Furinkan High. Somehow, he just knew he'd meet someone, most probably Ryoga, on the way. Ken shook his head and sighed. "Who died and made him boss?" he snickered, and received two hard glares. He promptly showed embarrassment.
*******
Nabiki slowly woke up and stretched, and all notions of dreams disappeared when she opened her eyes. The dark was silent. 'Now if only *this* could be a dream.' she thought bitterly, and started to pat the mattress around her for a flashlight. Turning around in the dark, she stumbled on Ranma, once again finding herself in his lap. She slowly pulled herself up, leaning on him, never really wanting him to wake up. She berated herself for losing control like she did.
She took the flashlight in Ranma's hand, and looked around their camp. Pillows, blankets, and their packs. Ranma's breathing seemingly regular, she inched towards his backpack and went through it. Not much food, she noted, only instant ramen. It wasn't worth anything without a fire. A sleeping bag, a tent, a lighter, a few clothes, a swiss knife, and a small wad of bills. She looked at him, and shook her head. He really could travel light.
Her watch told her it was midafternoon. Not enough time had passed, if you asked her, but the sooner they got away from Tokyo, the better. With a sigh, she shook him by the shoulders. No response. Miffed, she prepared herself to slap him. "That won't be necessary, Nabiki." he said, amused, as he sat correctly to face her. "I've been awake for awhile now."
She blinked, trying to come up with a reason for her search, but only shrugged. "Come on, Ranma. I think it'd be best if we got farther away." He nodded. "Put your bag in my backpack, and we'll run like this morning." She raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Trying to take advantage of me, Ranma?" Nabiki said with a smirk. "What would Akane say?" "I-I-I--" "Just teasing you." She did as told, and helped him put the pack on. Finally, Ranma, still crouching, took her in his arms like before, and started concentrating.
He quickly started glowing a light yellow, so did Nabiki. "You don't have to do it for me, you know." He looked at her. "Yellow protects better than green or blue. Unless you want to get irradiated." He promptly kicked a 'wall', and before everything collapsed ran out.
He ran out of the city until the sun came down. All the while, Ranma explained what he knew about the timer, and she found out just what some other buttons were there for.
Came dusk, they were very far away from the city. They had entered the forest a few minutes before, and decided to make camp surrounded as much as possible by vegetation. Nabiki prepared the site while Ranma went to get food. Once again, no words were spoken, and dinner was silent.
"So," Nabiki said, "we're stuck here for another two days?", motioning to the surroundings. "Apparently." he agreed. "There's not much we can do. It's not that recent, so we won't find anyone before we have to go. And I want to stay in the Tokyo area. We seem to stay in the same place when we travel between earths, and I'd like to meet myself."
She just shook her head. Ranma had no idea of the consequences involved in meeting himself. No matter. "By the way, we're no longer in the Tokyo area. We're at least 100 km away." He shrugged, and finished his cup of water. "It's not too far away, Nabiki. Only a few hours' worth of running. We can always hitch a ride, once on the next earth." She nodded, and silence came. Soon, the only light came from the fire.
"You know, I don't think the number that Yoshi guy gave you was right." "You don't?" he asked, incredulous. "But if it's not the right number..."
"Don't worry, Ranma. There's a function on this thing for the last dimension's number." He sighed audibly. She pressed it, and took down the numbers. She frowned, and tapped the timer. She pressed the button two times, but no change. "Ranma, we have a problem. The last digit disappeared."
Ranma dismissed any concern in her voice with a shrug. She idly wondered where this feeling of security came from. "So? I was planning for a few weeks, at least. We'll do a couple of jumps, and when we tire we'll go for home-D. There's only ten possibilities, after all." She smiled slightly. "You're impossible, Ranma. What makes you think that I'll come with you?"
Ranma held up three fingers while gulping down a cup of water. "One: you were curious about my trip. You'll get to know first hand my experiences. Two: you're in this mess because of that curiosity of yours, and I have no intention of going back only for that. Three: we make a terrific team for this kind of voyage. I can handle anything physical, and you are a master of everything intellectual. Together, we're unbeatable."
She blinked at his assessment. "You forgot one thing." She replied, beginning to smile. He cocked his head. "This might be fun." He smiled, and started laughing. After awhile, she joined him.
*******
Yoshi waited, and waited, and waited, but he never saw Nabiki get out of the school. After an hour, he headed for the famous Tendo dojo. Nothing unusual happened on the way, and Yoshi almost felt like he was really home. Almost. It seemed like a split second before he was standing before the dojo. He looked for a tree on the other side of the stone wall, and went over it there. Once safely inside, he dropped an inappropriate ear.
Everyone was quietly eating dinner. Akane seemed slightly depressed, and that gave joy into two old men's hearts. If Akane realized just how much she needed Ranma to be around, maybe Ranma would do the same, and they would finally agree to get married.
One member was missing, however. Nobody knew where Nabiki was, but nobody would question her absence. She was almost constantly out on business meetings. Soun was proud of his middle daughter. She would make a fine businesswoman one day.
Only Yoshi made the connection. Ranma must have acted somewhat strangely and she followed him. As to what happened after that, only kami-sama knew, though it surely involved a curious Nabiki. Akane sighed audibly. "Are you all right, Akane?" Kasumi asked in her sweet, melodious voice.
"I'm all right. I just... wonder where the jerk went." the little girl answered, and the two fathers started dancing of joy with each other. "We should get them married as soon as he returns, Saotome!" "I agree, Tendo! This wedding should go better than the first!"
While Akane argued her point, that is, not getting married to an 'insensitive jerk', Yoshi smiled and returned to his hotel. "At least," he thought, "we're not disturbing the storyline. Everything already happened."
*******
Ranma slowly got out of his sleep, but knowing there wasn't any point in getting up decided to stay in bed. He turned on his other side, replaced his blanket and readjusted his soft pillow.
Something felt wrong. He quickly sat up, now fully awakened. He was in a room, no windows, something like a door with a slit in it on the far wall. There was a counter, with kitchen appliances, a sink, a small table with two chairs, a few lamps, some drawers directly in the wall and a blue, soft light in a corner.
He noted his backpack, untouched, leaning on the wall near the bed. He also noticed his clothes, neatly arranged, on a chair. Down to the boxers. He then noticed the contents on the other chair, and turned to his bed companion. Luckily, she was not sleeping on her back, for with his movements she was showing some skin. He quickly got up and dressed, took a second to adjust his armbands, and threw the other's clothes as hard as he could at her.
"Hey!" she replied sharply, even if only half-awake. "What do you think you're doing?" Then she raised herself with her arms, and noticed what was hanging. "What did you..." she started, but never finished.
"I woke up same as you." Ranma said. "Get dressed." and he turned his back at her after turning a few lamps on. She promptly did and passed him as she went through the kitchen supplies. She quickly found some instant coffee and as soon as the water was hot she swallowed two cups.
"Eh... You all right, Nabiki?" She turned an eye on him that made him step back.
"There's no end to the weirdness around you, is there?" she said coldly, and he shrugged. After her third cup, he pointed to the door.
"You want to bust out, or do we wait for an explanation?" That made her smile. The fact, pure and simple, that together, every single possibility was more than just that. It was doable.
"Check the timer." she replied, and Ranma was relieved to find her words light, bare of any hidden feelings.
"One day and a half." he answered, and she nodded.
"Just for the heck of it, what happens if we miss it?" He looked at her with a smile, wondering just how much coffee she could drink.
"We wait for the next one," he sensed her tension drain off, "in 29.4 years." She visibly tensed.
"There's no way," she added, pointing with the index of the hand holding her cup, "we're missing that thing. I'm not spending 29.4 years in this messed- up world."
He nodded his agreement. "Me neither. What do you say we go do a little exploring?"
Ranma barely finished the words when the door opened sideways and a short man in a military uniform entered, holding a pad in one hand. His black boots resonated on the hard, carpet floor. Ranma strongly suspected there was metal underneath, and it proved true, for the hallway outside sported no carpets. "Good morning." he said, emotionless. His military professionalism was crystal clear. "I'm private Hibiki, first class. I'm here to guide you to the general."
They exchanged looks, nodded, and after Ranma hid the timer in his shirt they both followed him in silence. The hallway was metallic, the floor was sometimes see-through, pipes visible under the grid, as well as the ceiling. They sometimes led into the walls, always near doors similar to their room's. They finally reached the end, and the private slipped a magnetic card in a slit in the wall. The whole end wall raised, leading to an elevator. The three entered and Hibiki pushed the lowest button. They all felt a jerk and they started going down.
A few minutes after, it stopped and the door raised again. Another hallway, about 200 feet long, and a man at a desk at the end, with another door. They walked all the way, and the two men saluted. Private Hibiki slipped his card in a slot again, and the door opened. The three entered the office.
It wasn't much, barely larger than the room Ranma and Nabiki woke up in, walls decorated with maps of Japan, Tokyo and other major cities, all with marker drawings on them, describing the destruction. The bombing, it seemed, hadn't stopped at Tokyo. There was the Japanese flag on one side of the desk, and a completely red flag on the other. Ranma and Nabiki stopped side by side, ten feet from the desk. A large man, bald, was quietly smoking a cigar, quite comfortable in his large cushioned chair. Ranma started coughing.
The general took a good look at Ranma, got up, went around his desk and stood in front of him, faces inches apart. "Who are you?" came in a menacing tone, and there were no more doubt in either travelers' mind who this man was. Genma Saotome.
Before sounds came out of Ranma's mouth, Nabiki stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "We are travelers, sir. What do you want from us?"
The glare shifted from him to her. "I wasn't talking to you, disrespectful little slut. I'm talking to this... man here."
Ranma casually extended a hand and took hold of the man's shirt. Without even the slightest strain, he raised the large man from the ground. "Apologize to the lady, mister."
The general motioned to Ranma with his head. Private Hibiki approached Ranma, and put a menacing large hand on Ranma's shoulder. "Put the general down, sir, or I'll have to arrest you."
The smile on Nabiki's face was of genuine amusement as Ranma looked over his shoulder. "Say what, pal?" Hibiki replied with a punch directed at Ranma's face. He promptly dropped the general to catch the fist in his hand, and turned around. The two other hands joined and a power struggle began. It was even matched, for awhile.
"Say," Ranma asked with a smile, "your name wouldn't be *Ryoga* Hibiki, now, would it?"
The boy in uniform smiled back. "You've heard of me?" Ranma's face became confused.
"Why would I have heard of you?" Ryoga got angry while the general laughed.
"I'll have you know, boy, that you're struggling against the strongest guy on the base, and my bodyguard."
Ranma snickered. "Is that all? For awhile, I was afraid he was a martial artist." He forced and drove Ryoga backwards. A flex of his wrists made the soldier fall on his knees, pain evident on his face.
"Ranma, stop it. You're better than this." Ranma smile dropped, and after an internal struggle decided to let go. Ryoga shook his wrists.
"General, apologize to the lady." The large man bowed slightly to Nabiki.
"Sorry, ma'am." he said, all the while eyeing Ranma.
"Now," Ranma continued, "who are you?"
The general glared at him even more. "I'm general Genma Saotome, in charge of this Survivor Center. Now, who are you?"
Nabiki took a step forward, putting herself between the two. "As I said, general, we are simply travelers. Our caretaker died a few months ago and we were going back to Tokyo."
Genma chuckled, and returned to his seat. "I'm afraid, miss, that Tokyo no longer exists. It's been two years and a half since the United States dropped the bomb on it." Nabiki gasped, looking shocked, but Ranma knew she was faking.
He only sighed and lowered his head. "Oh well," he said, trying to remember his acting, "we never knew them all that well anyway, Nabiki. It's been ten years, you know." She continued looking shocked, but he could see the glint of amusement in her eyes. "Sir, if you don't mind, we'd like to get out of here and return to the surface."
A very unfamiliar yet frightening sound was heard, and they both turned to see Ryoga pointing a gun in their direction. "I'm afraid I can't do that, Ranma. The surface is irradiated for miles around, and we're further away from ground zero than where we found you. You're stuck here." He pressed a button on his desk. "Now, let me tell you about the Center while your escort gets here." The large man sat on the corner of his desk and lit himself another cigar.
"It may have looked large, but we have very limited space. Most of it is for growing food. Everyone lives in twos in cubicles like the one we put you in. We," he paused, taking a puff of cigar, "strongly encourage each couple to have children. The surface will be habitable in a couple of years, and we have a nation to repopulate. You two seem close, so we'll make a couple out of you." They got big eyes and looked at each other. 'One day and a half!' was on both their minds.
"Now. You'll be escorted to the doctor, to get a physical. Then we'll leave you in your quarters with maps of the Center and the rules to live here. At twenty hundred hours, after supper, we'll take you to the mew members sector. Tomorrow, you'll begin working."
At the mention of work, Nabiki's face showed more surprise and shock than when she was told Tokyo had been nuked. "Ranma my boy, you'll be assigned to the furnace. We've just had an accident there and we're shorthanded. You, however... Nabiki, was it? You don't seem like a manual worker. I can't appoint you to administration but you can help at the daycare center. That's the best I can do. Working days are eight hours, eight to four, and two days a week are six hours, usually nine to three. Since you're new, tomorrow will be a six-hour day, ten to four." The door opened, revealing four soldiers with machine guns. "Ah. Your escort is here. I'll see you this evening."
With a gesture, Ranma and Nabiki were forced out and all the way back to the elevator. It went up, higher than their quarters, and the door opened to three hallways, where everyone was either in lab coats or in patient robes. As they went through a series of hallways, they could see some patients moaning in their beds, many of them having breathing problems. Some were roaming the corridors, IV unit in tow, shaking their heads at the new arrivals. In a corridor they could see through the small windows operations taking place, and when they saw some organ getting out decided to stare at the floor for the rest of the way.
They finally reached what looked like a normal examination room, with a doctor and a nurse waiting for them. "Hi," the man said, "I'm doctor Ono. This is nurse Yuka. If you would please sit here, mister and miss..." he trailed off, patting the examination table. They presented themselves, first names only, and did as told.
They passed usual tests, respiration, reflexes, height, weight, eye test, and a battery of other tests, some related to their gender (namely prostate and vagina exam). After a few hours, they both looked bored and somewhat humiliated, sitting on regular chairs in front of the doctor's desk. "All right," he said, "all I need now is some information to complete your file. Ranma." He looked at him. "Last name?" Ranma suddenly looked like a deer caught in headlights. "Eh..." A light bulb appeared. "Takashi."
"Very well... Nabiki?" "Kuji." "Date of birth?" They both answered. "The Center supplies your clothing, so Ranma, size shirt and pants." "Large and 28." "Nabiki, your three sizes." She crossed her arms, looked dangerously at Ranma, and sighed. "35-23-34." The doctor nodded, and silently took it down. "Any child diseases?" They both shook their heads. "Good. Allergies?" Negative answers too. "Impressive. I look forward to seeing your children."
Both blushed, but for the sake of not creating trouble stayed silent. "That's it. You can go. Good luck." They shook hands and were escorted back to their quarters. Finally alone, even with four guards outside their door, they both dropped to the ground.
"I feel... so violated." she said, and he could only agree silently.
"Why didn't you let me beat them up?" he muttered, and she got off the floor.
"Because I doubt you can live with bullet holes in your body." He got up himself.
"Good point. Let's see those maps." he offered, and they went quickly through them.
The Center was two kilometers long by one wide, and one and a half deep. Apparently, the top floor was five kilometers from the surface. They could see most of the space as agricultural, and there was even a section for apple trees. About a third was left for quarters, offices, the hospital, daycare, nursery, and every other service usually found in a city, except the degrading stuff, such as bars.
"Well, you're in luck, Ranma. The furnace is on the top floor. You'll have to look for a way up. I'm waayyyy down." He nodded.
"Yeah. But we have plenty of time to worry about that after 'work' tomorrow. What bothers me is tonight. That 'new members sector' worries me, especially with all their talk of couples and babies."
"I have my own suspicions, but we've got one hour before they come. I suggest you prepare dinner, fast."
Ranma pulled back, hurt look on his face. "Why me?" he said meekly, and she glared at him.
"Because you're the cook. Besides, I'll go through their rulebook while you're at it. Unless you *want* to read legal babble." With a small sigh, he set to work. He came up with a decent plate of spaghetti in twenty minutes.
"There's not much entertainment here." she mentioned after awhile. "I would hate it to live here permanently." Ranma shrugged.
"All I need is a little space. There's enough in here. But controlled like that, I'd bust out in a week." He waved around with his fork. "This must have been a nice place to go for the survivors, though. I mean, after seeing a big mushroom cloud over Tokyo, the sky is not something you can easily look at."
They finished dinner and washed the dishes in silence, and at the second the clock indicated eight o'clock, the door opened and four different guards entered. The general followed. "All right, you two, let's get you married." Neither showed too much surprise, they had expected it, but still managed to look shocked. "You can change into these." he snapped, and another soldier brought in a black costume and a white dress. Not something for an usual wedding, but close and classic enough. "You have five minutes." They all got out.
Ranma started by hiding the timer. "Well," he commented, "at least it won't be worth anything back home." She smiled slightly.
"What makes you think that?" He froze. After a good thirty seconds, she smiled. "Kidding, Ranma, I'm kidding. I don't want to be married either." They finished dressing, back facing each other, and he took a little something from his backpack before joining the exiting Nabiki.
They went down the other side of the hallway, also leading to an elevator, but this one had no security checks. They went about three floors up, and exited the other side of the elevator. The door opened to a room, somewhat large, but bare of anything except a podium a few stairs up and about ten folding chairs. On each side of the podium, a man in a black suit and a woman in an ugly blue dress waited, each holding a gold ring.
Ranma and Nabiki walked down the 'aisle' and stood between them, while the general went at the podium. "We are gathered here today to marry these two." The 'couple' cringed at his rudeness. "Nabiki Kuji, do you want to take Ranma Takashi for your husband?" After an uncomfortable yet short moment she said "Yes." "Ranma Takashi, do you want to take Nabiki Kuji for your wife?" He hesitated as much. "Yes."
The best man and maid of honor presented the rings, and with a slight blush of embarrassment they slid each other the ring. "You are now man and wife, you may kiss the bride." They turned to each other, and with a deeper blush did so very quickly. "Now, come over here to sign the marriage certificate." They went around the podium to see a piece of paper on it, laying on a screen. Ranma signed, then Nabiki, at the 'X', and the screen under showed their signature too. It promptly fell to black, and guessing the paper was for themselves Nabiki took it. So used to signing they were that they didn't notice they didn't sign their fake names.
With a smile, the general pushed a small button on the side wall, and a panel came up and another out, revealing two glasses and a champagne bottle. He filled the glasses and handed them to the newlyweds. "Drink this, to celebrate." They looked at the glasses, at each other, and deciding they really needed a drink emptied them in one shot.
"So," Ranma said after handing his glass to a soldier, "this is the new members sector?"
With a shake of his head and a push of a button on the podium's side, the whole back wall lifted to reveal a red and pink room, covered with hearts, and a large, fluffy bed, also heart-shaped. "No. There's still the matter of the honeymoon. The doctor told me your period is in a few days, Nabiki, so we hope for the best. Make us proud and prove you two are really members of this Center."
After they finished staring, both turned, glaring at the general. "Do you really think you can force us to have sex?"
Genma smiled, familiar with this kind of response. "The 'champagne' you just drank is in fact a mix of chemicals and hormones that will basically make you *need* to have sex. You can resist it, of course, but the last couple to have tried is still in a coma. Good night." and with a bow, everyone left them.
Ranma looked at Nabiki nervously as seconds passed in silence, a feeling he had grown familiar to unwillingly over the drug attempts. "Hum, uh, do you think, uh, he was telling the truth, when he said we'd go in a coma if we fought the potion?"
She rolled the general's words back in her mind, and adding them to the feelings she was currently experiencing, there was only one answer. "If he was lying, he wasn't far off." She pulled at the collar of her shirt. "Why do you ask?"
"Because... well... You know I've fought off weird potions before, right?" She nodded. For some reason, his eyes easily saw the subtle movements that her nod caused all over her body. He began pulling on his collar himself. "Well, huh, I don't think I can fight this one."
The implications filled her head, and she somehow managed to stay calm. With the quantity of chemicals and hormones coursing in her veins, it was quite a feat. "If you can't fight it off, then I've got a snowball's chance in hell of resisting it myself." She began unbuttoning her dress.
"Whatthehellareyoudoing?" Ranma asked, the words speeding out of his mouth like a bullet train.
"Well, my dear husband," Nabiki began with a smirk, which turned serious, "I'd like to have some control over what happens. And that means starting before Mr. General's champagne turns us into animals. I'm on the receiving end, don't you know."
Ranma closed his eyes as Nabiki wriggled out of the dress. "You really wanna do this?" he asked one last time. Even if he usually got along better with her than his usual fiancees, sex was the furthest thing from his mind in any relationship consideration. Even if he was technically married to her.
"No, I don't particularly want to do this." Nabiki looked him up and down. "Well, maybe a little. But having sex and leaving this goddamned world is better than keeping my legs crossed and wait thirty years to go home, in which time I'm pretty sure we'd end up as a couple anyway. So undress and get in the bed."
His eyes practically jumped out of their sockets. Even Shampoo had never been that forward. Not that it would have worked, mind you, he was just surprised how much independant and straightforward the woman could be. He just had to check one last thing. "You're not worried about getting pregnant?"
Nabiki paused. "Not really. I admit that technically I am ovulating right now, but I'm pretty sure the stress of the last two days will delay me long enough for this to be rather risk-free. But if it happens--"
"It won't happen." Ranma interrupted, taking from his rear pocket a strip of green plastic with circular impressions every two inches. Nabiki's right eyebrow came up, but she didn't say anything, waiting for him to actually look at her.
He did, and as his head came up got a pretty good look at his underwear- clad wife. He suddenly lost over half of his control as his very strong reaction made itself known downstairs.
Nabiki watched his face tighten as he struggled for control. "You'll tell me later. Let's go before we do things we might regret, okay?"
Not trusting his own voice, Ranma simply nodded before starting to undress. Once naked, he looked at Nabiki. He could see how much different she was in her eyes, and he was pretty sure Nabiki could see the difference in his eyes as well.
*******
Both naked and covered in sweat, on the big, giant heart bed, Ranma fell on Nabiki, breathing heavily, but not as much as her. After awhile, he rolled off her, and they panted side by side.
A long moment passed, and they slowly regained normal breathing. The room was silent, but was now smelling something that almost made return the lust in their veins. "I think it's gone." Ranma said, and Nabiki merely stayed silent in agreement.
"How'd you know to bring condoms?" she asked, and he tried to smile. He was barely able to speak. "Had a feeling." "I meant for the whole trip." "Oh."
He swallowed, and looked at her. "Remember two months ago, when Shampoo fed me that love potion?" He saw her nod. "Ever wonder why I stayed put until I got the antidote? What I ate was as bad as what they made us drink. It was all I could do to control it. Ever since, I carry condoms. If it happens again, on either side, at least there won't be any consequences."
She smiled. "You're smarter than I thought. If it wasn't for that, we might have been parents. We have to remember to thank Shampoo for that little stunt." He nodded, smiling, and extended an hand, reaching for the blankets. He finally found a grip, and with a large movement managed to cover both of them and roll on his stomach. Before she had a chance to thank him, she heard him snore lightly. With a snort, she joined him.
*******
Ranma woke up, typically, wishing it was all a dream. When he saw Nabiki come out of where the bathroom probably was, in a bathrobe, hair wet, and walking in a way indicated she was hurt between her legs, he fell backwards with a loud sigh.
"Don't worry, Ranma. I don't remember much of it anyway. We'll put it behind us and never speak about it again." Ranma got up, looked down, and sighed.
"You walk funny, Nabiki. You all right?" His concern was evident even through his blush.
"It's just sore. I was a virgin, after all." She sniffed. "You need a shower worse than I did. Shoo. We have to 'work' in one hour."
Ranma was barely out of the shower when two soldiers with guns entered, followed by a civilian. She had long, brown hair, a pretty face and a blue outfit. Ranma could swear it was Ukyo. "I'm here to serve breakfast to the new couple." she said cheerfully, and as she approached the bed her nose wrinkled. "Gee, something fun happened here." Both blushed. They ate in silence, and were escorted their room to get properly dressed. On the way, everyone they met either cheered of wolf-whistled, to their greatest embarrassment.
Arrived 'home', they both changed clothes. Nabiki put on the same outfit she came here with, while Ranma put an old pair of black pants and a white tank top, along with his armbands. Once outside, they took different directions. Nabiki went left, while he went right, both escorted by one guard.
Nabiki led the way, for she knew where she was going. Two floors down, two hallways, another elevator, five floors down too, and another hallway led to the daycare center. She looked at the toddlers, the two year olds in a corner playing bricks to the five year olds playing cards on a small table, and sighed. She let go a breath of relief when she saw Kasumi stroll in. 'Kasumi?!?' she yelled mentally, freezing up.
The girl too froze up, and brought a hand to her mouth. "Oh my! Who are you?" Both looked at each other, perplexed, and Nabiki decided to keep the facade.
"I'm Nabiki Kuji. Nice to meet you."
The girl relaxed. "Nice to meet you. I'm Kasumi Tendo. I'm sorry, it's just that you look like my late sister." She got close. "It's astonishing! You could be my sister's twin!"
She chuckled nervously. In a way, she *was* her twin. "Yeah, well, you know what they say. There's someone out there who looks just like you." She received a smile.
"I didn't know that." Kasumi replied, but stayed cheerful and kept the smile. "What do you say we entertain those kids now?"
Ranma was having a much better time. At first, he went to the next-to-last floor to get an access card. That took a good half-hour. Then he went all the way up, to the furnace. The other side of the elevator opened, and it led to a totally different world.
His eyes enlarged as he saw the open, large cavern. There was an huge furnace, old style, in the middle, door wide open to see the fire inside. The noise of the fire almost covered the sounds of work. It was the only light source, and everything looked red. A few workers were shoveling coal inside from huge piles. About a hundred feet behind, a large black wall was being mined at the pick and shovel. The mine cart didn't have long to go.
All around the cave was a steel rail, with a few guards posted. Ranma noted the large ventilation shafts near that level, as well as the two huge ones over the furnace. Then Ranma smiled. What the general had said about the surface being irradiated wasn't totally true, since the Center was taking its air directly from the surface. Which also meant he could go up and out.
The soldier waved to a worker, and he came. A tall, muscular man, in his forties, with a large mustache and long brown hair a little scorched. Ranma could swear he knew him. "Boy," the soldier said harshly, "this is the supervisor. He's your boss." He put a solid hand on his shoulder and pushed him towards the man.
Ranma managed to put a foot in front of him to stop falling, and rose to meet the supervisor eye-to-eye. "Hello young man. I'm Soun Tendo." Ranma decided here and there he went up to hell.
"I'm Ranma Takashi. Pleased to meet you."
"Don't be so formal, son. We workers here stand shoulder to shoulder. Now, what do you prefer? Shoveling or digging?"
Ranma looked at the furnace, and the large amount of sweat on the guys. He then turned to the far wall, and saw a man work without any tools. He was intrigued. "I'll go dig for now."
When Ranma walked towards the wall, he observed the man. He first noted his chains, up to a picket in the ground. Then he noticed the two guards constantly holding guns to him.
As the guy reared one hand, finger alone, Ranma smiled as his intuition was correct. He saw the finger enter the wall and a rather large section collapsed. 'Breaking point.' his mind said to him. Ranma picked up a shovel and started digging, somewhat close to the man. It was a strain, but Ranma managed to keep a nice rhythm. He also managed to observe the man's technique. Not much could be noted down, though.
And then Ranma got too close to him while reaching for some coal, and was suddenly held hostage-like. "Nobody move, or I break his neck." Ranma suddenly felt very nervous being at gunpoint and in Mu Tsu's hold.
"Let go." he said, and the man laughed.
"What makes you think you have any say in it?" he mused, and Ranma returned the taunt with an elbow in the stomach and a roundhouse to the face. He blocked the punch but the element of surprise was still with him, and replied with a punch to the face that put the man down.
He faked a punch to the stomach to get close to his ear. "I want to break out too stay down we'll talk later." Mu Tsu nodded slightly while Ranma raised a hand to prevent the soldiers from shooting. "He's down." he said loudly. "He's down."
The two soldiers promptly came to him and led him away from Mu Tsu. "Don't hit him!" came from the other side of the cavern, and the guards put their feet down. Soun ran to the boy's side. "He's too valuable. We need him in good shape." he drilled to the guards, and they only snickered, muttering something about foreigners and slaves.
"You all right?" Soun asked him, and he slowly nodded. He patted the boy two times on the shoulder and helped him up. He then turned to Ranma. "I never saw somebody move like that, son. Are you a martial artist?" He nodded. "Good. If he ever does that again, I'm counting on you. But don't rough him up too much." He turned to the room at large. "Back to work!"
Ranma picked his shovel up and returned to work, still close to Mu Tsu. After the guards dropped their attention, he turned his head. "So you know the breaking point?" he whispered. "Yes. How did you hear about it?" "A rival of mine was taught by an old chinese woman. Cologne, I think." Mu Tsu's eyes widened. "You mean Khu Lon? That's impossible! She would never teach that to a foreigner!!"
He waved his head, motioning for him to lower his voice. "Any way, could you teach me? I could really use it." He received a snort. "We'll see. How do you intend to break out? I must have tried about a dozen times."
Ranma looked behind his left, behind his right, and returned to his whispering. "Ventilation shafts." The chained man chuckled.
"That's five k, man. It would take hours, and they've got five elevators all around it for maintenance." Ranma shook his head slightly and blinked as another breaking point made dust fly.
"What other firepower tricks did that old ghoul teach you?" "None."
"Well I got one I think would be great. Ever heard of the Hyryu Shoten Ha?" The man coughed, having suddenly choked on something. "You know. That would blast us all the way up, and maybe destroy the general's lies about the surface. One catch, though. It's tonight."
"Got no problem with that. Time?"
"Six. Think you can make it here?" Mu Tsu smiled. "My prison is in that cave over there." Ranma nodded, and returned to work. Not another word was said, but on the other side of the room Soun eyed the two suspiciously.
Pretty soon came lunch, and Ranma went in another cavern with Soun. They all fell in line and received a lunch made of one white pile of something, one green pile of something and one red pile of something.
Ranma sat down and began eating. It was bearable. "So, Mr. Tendo, how do you find life here?"
He looked at him curiously. "You're a newbie? How did you survive?"
"Traveler. How's life here?"
Soun looked up at the ceiling, and sighed. "It's not bad. Of course, I may just be saying that because it keeps me occupied."
Ranma nodded slightly, already doubting why. "You have any family?" Soun took a few mouthfuls before answering quietly.
"I have one daughter left. The war cost me my two youngest." Ranma nodded. To hear Akane and Nabiki died, even if not his own, was sad.
"I'm sorry. Who's your last daughter?" Soun smiled. "Kasumi, my oldest. She's a sweet girl. She works at the daycare center."
Ranma pulled back. "Daycare center? Well what do you know? My new wife is working there." he said, somewhat cheerful, and managed to rub some of it off on the old man.
"Really? Well, that is a fine coincidence. Imagine that. Your new wife, you say?"
Silence fell and stayed until they had to return to work. Ranma returned shoveling near Mu Tsu. "Care to teach me?" he asked, and he received the basics. Empty the mind, concentrate, see the point with the mind's eye.
He nodded and went to take a pickaxe, and started further down the wall. He extended an arm and felt the wall, trying to find a crack, a weakness to exploit. A very small depression formed under his touch. Both hands now on the tool, he raised it high and prepared the strike. He closed his eyes and tried to do as Mu Tsu had told him. He could feel something about where the depression was, and struck it with the pickaxe. A large portion came off in small chunks. He smiled, and only looking at the wall raised his weapon. Like everything else, this needed practice.
*******
Surprisingly, Ranma and Nabiki bumped into each other in front of their door. They entered silently and Ranma went into the shower, not bothering with modesty. He came out to be greeted by food, and he happily dug in. Done before her, he filled her in the details of his plan. She nodded.
"And how did your day go?" he asked, finished with the plan. "I met Kasumi." she replied. He nodded, unresponsive. "I met your father and Mousse." he added, and she copied his response. "Mousse's gonna help us break out." They both let the silence drop, and after a few seconds he added, "And he taught me the breaking point."
That got her out of her stupor. "You know the breaking point?" she asked, incredulous. "Do you realize how Ryoga will react back on home-D? He'll be even more depressed. He could even explode. Why'd you have to do that?"
He blinked. "It can help us break out. And who said anything about telling poor old Ryoga?"
She smiled. Somehow, this trip was bringing out the deviousness out of Ranma. Then again, it could simply be the fact he was planning a jailbreak. They checked all their stuff, and after checking the timer, they calmly sipped a cup of tea. They still had two hours and a half before the jump, and forty-five minutes before escaping.
Time passed, silently. Even the clock was silent, then again, it wasn't supposed to tick. They both calmly waited, not even exchanging pleasantries. After last night, talking to talk wasn't really something to do. Finally, the big hand moved one last time to stand directly over the six. Only wind marked their presence in the now empty, and ravaged, room.
"We'll have to get you a backpack." Ranma managed between strides, breathing audibly. His backpack was stuffed to the point of near explosion, while she only carried her school bag. "I'm not as strong as you." she replied, and stopped ahead of him to slip the magnetic card. After a few seconds the door opened, and they both entered.
The way up seemed impossibly long, and before they reached the top the light faded and turned red. "Attention. Attention all personnel. We have a commotion in the furnace room. We need reinforcements. Repeat. We need--" Communications must have been cut off, since only a buzzing sound and some distortion came out of the speakers. "Damn. Mu Tsu's ahead of us." Ranma cursed, and silently thanked emergencies didn't lock up the elevators.
Finally the door opened to reveal a chaos scene if there ever was one. There was dust everywhere, probably from a certain finger going berserk, red lights flashed in addition to the furnace being apparently broken open, since a raging fire could be seen spreading through piles of coal.
Screams of pain and machine gun fire were randomly heard, as well as long shouts before the ground shook slightly and even more dust became airborne. Ranma took Nabiki by the hand and ran headfirst into the dust. "Mousse! Under upward vent!" he yelled at large, hoping the man could understand.
"Right behind you!" came the call, and two men screaming followed. Ranma looked around, trying to get his bearings, and spotted the furnace itself through the fog, if it could be labeled as such. He approached it, heat rising with each centimeter, and looked upwards.
Two large ventilation shafts headed straight up. He smiled and ran under the left one, still dragging the girl. He dropped his bag and positioned himself. He took a deep breath, concentrated, and began doing random blocking moves while going backwards. Nabiki could see the circle he was doing.
She spotted a running man coming their way, and she met him halfway. "Mu Tsu?" He nodded. "I'm Nabiki. Ranma is over here." He followed her to see Ranma walking backwards. "Is he doing..." he asked, pointing. "Yeah. Pick up his backpack, and start following him."
He promptly did, and totally confused as to what Ranma was doing could relate to the famous final technique Cologne was boasting about, followed him. Ranma finally came to a stop, in the middle of his circle, directly under the ventilation shaft. As he punched upwards, Nabiki jumped between the men, taking Mousse's hand and a hold of Ranma's other wrist.
"Hyryu Shoten Ha!!!" Ranma shouted, and out of nowhere the wind rose. In a flash the wind became deafening as it formed a mini twister. Metal began groaning, and with a sound of thunder the whole ventilation shaft tore from its hinge and opened the way to the surface. With a loud yell Mousse rose from the ground, taking Nabiki with him, and ultimately, though very slowly, Ranma.
Wind rushed, their ears popped, and opening the eyes only got people dizzy as not only the trio but a couple of guards as well were tossed up in the ever rising twister.
Sheet after riveted sheet passed, and the occasionnal air duct, for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, out of the overhead darkness, Ranma could see a large grid, probably as an air filter. "Damn!" Ranma thought. "The twister didn't destroy it. We're gonna be sliced food!" He desperately thought for an idea. And got one.
Removing one arm from around Nabiki, he pointed a finger upwards. "Moko Takabisha!" A finger-wide yellow beam came out, heading straight for the grid. It hit, but nothing happened. Ranma swore, and began praying to whatever god there was up there.
Then, just before they hit it, a light flashed and the grid turned to small metal scraps. They got a few cuts but managed to pass still alive. Finally, after another few minutes, the blue sky showed itself over their heads, and suddenly they were aware of the speed they were going.
Yelling all the way, they popped out of the shaft, over the surface, and a good few hundred feet up, before having a descending arc. They yelled even more because all they saw was green under them. Then, suddenly, the real wind picked them up and led them over a lake.
Three splashes promptly disturbed the calm lake, and the small waves quietly went away, returning the calm to the lifeless surroundings. Then, three shadows rose up to the surface. Two girls popped their heads out of the water, followed by a white duck. Girl-type Ranma looked at the duck and started laughing.
Nabiki shook what water she could out of her hair and looked at the other girl. "What's so funny?" she asked, not understanding. The girl turned to her 'wife'. "Even in this dimension, Mousse managed to fall in the spring of drowned duck!" She turned over and fell backwards, head under water. The girl quickly redressed herself, coughing water, while the duck was quacking about something. "Ranma, stop laughing and get our stuff at the bottom."
That got the redhead out of it. She handed Nabiki the remote, took a deep breath and disappeared. The two others swam to the shore. Once out, she checked the timer. "Fifteen minutes?!?!? Damn! It took us an hour and a half to get out of there!" The duck quacked in surprise, and shook itself of water. Nabiki looked around and spotted a dead tree.
She ran over there and quickly gathered a few dry sticks, and with two rocks tried to start a fire. All she managed to do was hurt her hand in the time it took for Ranma to come back and explain the curse and their origin to a duck. Ranma began to relax but shook her head to get rid of a small buzzing in her head.
Finally the redhead lost her patience and moved the girl aside, and extended a hand. A small, red beam shot out and ignited the branches. She then rummaged through her backpack, and got out a cooking pot, still full of water. In two seconds Ranma used a few branches to hold it over the fire, and sat down next to it.
"So you see, Mu Tsu, we'll be going in about ten minutes. I managed to find your clothes, on the plus side." The duck nodded, and they all watched water boil. Then, Ranma took it off the fire and mixed a little cold water with it, and turned herself back to male. He then dumped the rest on the duck, who now human quickly dressed. As both Ranma and Nabiki stood, him with his backpack, her with the timer, Mousse looked at them.
"So, whatcha gonna do, Mousse? You can come with us, if you want. I'm sure there's a world out there for you."
"No, thanks. I have to find my family. They're in another Center, somewhere." He looked around, barren land everywhere, with only the small lake and the one dead tree. He looked down at his clenched fist. "I *will* find them."
"Well, hum, best of luck to ya." Nabiki pointed the timer and pressed the button, opening the vortex. "Looks like we have to go." Nabiki waved her hand before jumping. Mousse looked at the blue portal, eyes wide and mouth agape, as Ranma saluted him and backflipped into it. A few seconds later, the vortex closed.
*******
End Chapter 1
*******