Okay, to those of you who are waiting for the next chapter of Za Kaze Shokkou, I am sorry to say that I wound up getting a little side tracked. While I am on a bit of a jam on what to do with the bridge fight, I decided to take some time and start on this idea that has been lying in the back of my head for quite a while. I have already written the prologue and the first two chapters of this story, which I am going to post all at once. My reason for posting all three chapters right now is that I'm actually not on the internet right now. My satellite company is being an arse about it so I am at an internet café in a town that is a half hour drive away from where I am right now.
I hope you all enjoy my new idea, and I'll see you all later.
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The Wild Horse Duels! – A Ranma ½ and Yu-gi-oh GX crossover.
Prologue: Signing up for the tournament.
Written by: Cloud1239999
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AN: Alright, I know that several of you want more chapters of Za Kaze Shokkou to come out amongst other stories, but I just couldn't get the idea for this story out of my head, so I decided to start writing it. I don't think that this story will be as good as my others, but I thought that it'd be a fun idea to write.
Just to let you all know, this story takes place a couple months after the wedding incident in Ranma ½, and a few months into Jaden's first year at Duel Academy in Yu-gi-oh GX.
Ranma may seem different from how he usually is in most fanfics, but that is because in this story he has started to become tired of the random attacks by his rivals, and he has started to look into doing something else with his life than just martial arts, much to his father's dislike. He has almost lost all feelings for Akane, since she went back to being an ultra-violent tomboy after the ruined wedding. In her mind, it was Ranma's fault and he really didn't want to hate her. Don't be surprised if the little of Akane you'll see in this story that she's overly violent and hateful of Ranma. It is supposed to be that way. Ranma has however become a lot closer to Kasumi and Nabiki. Nabiki is no longer as harsh on Ranma as she used to be; she feels that it's her way of apologizing to Ranma for the wedding, and Kasumi and Ranma have started talking more, with Ranma starting to assist Kasumi in her house duties so that she'll have more free time. That last part is frowned greatly upon by their fathers, though Ranma doesn't care about what they say about it. So I guess you can say that in some ways Ranma is OC in this fic. So don't be surprised and please don't flame me about Ranma being different. I have told you ahead of time that he will be and given the reasons why so there really is no reason for people to be filling up the reviews page with flames.
As for martial arts fights, there won't be that many of them. Maybe one or two towards the beginning, nothing big, and then later on there might be a fight with Ryoga, but other then that I do not know what I will do for fights. If you want to read a fanfic with tons of fights from me, then please read my story Za Kaze Shokkou, which is under the Naruto section of this website. I'll tell you now though that the prologue and the first four chapters have very little to no fights, though from then on the story will be picking up speed and going into a lot more fights along with some romance later in the future.
Now that I'm finished talking about that stuff, I'll get onto the story now. Please enjoy it as much as I've written it.
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Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ or Yu-Gi-Oh GX in any name shape or form. The closest thing to it is that I have several Yu-Gi-Oh cards and Gameboy games that I enjoy playing. The deck that Ranma uses however is the deck that I really use for myself in the 'Yu-Gi-Oh! Ultimate Masters: World Championship 2006' game. Ranma's deck will change a bit too as my deck does in that game.
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It was a beautiful Saturday morning in Tokyo. The sun was shining warmly down on the people. The sky was clear. There was a line of two hundred people standing outside of a building. Amongst this line of people stood Ranma Saotome the martial artist extraordinaire.
What the people in the line were waiting for was to register for their chance to be one of the sixteen competitors in the local 'Duel Monsters' tournament. The reason why Ranma was in the line for a tournament for a card game was simple; he was answering his part of a challenge that was proposed to him a month prior to this day.
The reason why this challenge was accepted was simple for those people who knew him. It was the Anything Goes martial arts style's bushido. Specifically though is the part where a practitioner must accept any challenge given at any time. Ranma's challenge was that he had a month to learn how to play the game of Duel Monsters, which he'd of only heard of in passing before then, and to make it in as one of the top sixteen to duel in the tournament itself.
Since it was summer, he spent as much time as possible learning the rules of the game from surprisingly, Kasumi. It turns out that she was familiar with the game being a casual player who sometimes played with some of her high school friends during those times that she did leave the house.
Ranma spent the first week learning about the rules of the game, and then being shown and taught about specific cards that were either commonly used, or were unorthodox enough to be thought of using by Kasumi.
The first three days of the second week were spent visiting spots where people got together to duel with each other. This was anywhere from café's to card stores where some minor competitions were being held. Ranma watched as much as he could in order to further his understanding of the rules and how some cards were being used in combinations with others. The fourth day of that week Ranma went out and bought his starter deck; he'd of managed to convince Nabiki to leave him alone, which she did since she realized that Ranma may be able to go places and get more money if he was devoting himself as much to the game as he did his art, which he was.
With Kasumi's help Ranma was able to research which sets he'd need to get cards from if he wanted to obtain the specific cards he wanted to be in his deck, and he managed to get most of the cards that he wanted.
The remaining two weeks Ranma spent time either playing with Kasumi or going to some of the café's that he went to the week before and playing against other duelists to familiarize himself with the game further and two test his deck out against others.
During the time that Ranma was thinking about his time preparing himself for today the line had of went along until there were only two more people ahead of him. He looked back to see that there were still the eighty or so people behind him waiting just as patiently, or in some cases impatiently, as he was.
Ranma looked forward again when he heard the monotonous voice of the receptionist at the front desk. "Next."
Ranma smiled at the middle aged woman ahead of him as he walked up to the desk.
"Welcome to Kaiba corps's Tokyo office. I am Rumiko Takahashi, and I need to ask you a few questions to register you for the 2006 Tokyo Duel Monsters professionals test tournament." Upon Ranma's nod she continued. "May I have your name please?" "Ranma Saotome."
"Is there an alias that you want to go by during the competition?" That question caught Ranma off guard. He rubbed the back of his head for a second before answering looking a little sheepish.
"How about, 'General Wild Horse'?" She smiled at the little joke involving his first name and his alias.
"General Wild Horse it is then sir." She typed it into the computer she was sitting behind. "Your age please."
"Seventeen."
"Does your deck have a name?" She looked back up at Ranma waiting for his answer. She thought that she'd have to wait for him to come up with a name, but she was proven wrong pretty quickly.
"The New Age Warriors." The lady quirked her eyebrow at the name.
"Not bad. It doesn't give away much about your deck either except that it is based on warrior monsters I assume? Not to mention that it actually goes along well with your alias."
"Yes, Takahashi-san."
"Alright then Saotome-san, I will need to see your deck so that I can record which cards you are using for the competition. Please keep in mind that I'll also need to see your side-deck since you'll only be able to make changes to your deck throughout the competition with those cards."
"Alright then." Ranma replied as he pulled his case holding the two decks out of his pant's pocket and handing them to the lady. She took a few minutes to search through the deck and smiled at some of his choices.
"I must say that I'm quite surprised at most of your cards Saotome-san. They are quite unconventional but thinking about it they do work quite well together." She smiled up at him. "If you'll follow me then I'll lead you to a room where a tournament proctor will test you." She stood up from the computer while handing Ranma his card case back. Another woman came by and took Rumiko's seat as Ranma followed her. Rumiko kept talking as she led Ranma through the hallway. "In order to make it into the top sixteen and the tournament thereafter, you'll have to defeat the proctor. Afterwards your duel will be reviewed by a few of the higher-ups here along with the other competitors' duels, and they will decide which sixteen of the victor's will compete in the tournament." Ranma nodded his head in understanding.
A minute later they reached a desk in front of a set of rooms labeled 'Dueling arena'. Rumiko took a minute to hand a piece of paper over to a tall English man sitting there and after asking Ranma to wait there she walked off. The man read over the papers before looking up to Ranma.
"Greetings Mr. Saotome. I am Bill Leeman. Are you excited about competing?" Ranma smirked in reply.
"Competition is what I've always lived for Leeman-san." Bill raised an eyebrow at Ranma's statement.
"Really then, if you don't mind me asking; how long have you been playing Duel Monsters?"
"I've only been really playing for two weeks now. I actually only started playing when I was given a challenge to learn the game and to try and make it into the top sixteen." The man looked surprised at this.
"Oh really. No offense son, but are you sure that you want to be competing in this tournament? You will be going up against some of the best novice players in Japan today." Ranma smiled again at the man.
"Yes, I am sure. As I said, I've always lived for competition. I actually spent the first two weeks of the last month learning about the game from a great friend of mine. She then helped me to obtain the cards that I needed for my deck," he held up his deck to emphasize his point "then I spent the last two weeks playing the game as much as possible and I'm feeling really confident about my abilities. I know that I won't win the tournament if I make it into the top sixteen, but I plan on making it as hard as possible for my opponents to win." Bill smiled listening to Ranma talk.
"Okay then Ranma, you don't mind if I call you that do you?" When Ranma said it was okay, he continued. "Normally I wouldn't let you into the prelims with your lack of experience, but you've managed to convince me that you'll be a real competitor if you make it in so I'll let you. Go ahead and give that proctor hell for me. Oh, and if you win the duel you will be given a phone call tonight about whether you'll be competing past the prelim. I wish you the best of luck." With that the man stood up and shook Ranma's hand. Then he opened the door behind him for Ranma to walk through.
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A few hours later on the top floor of the Kaiba corps building there was a meeting taking place. Eight men were sitting around one side of a table while watching recordings of duels between several entrants and their proctors. Of the two hundred people that signed up for the tournament only thirty managed to beat their proctors. The end of the video that they were watching now showed Ranma, who was wearing a dueling disk and holding two cards, doing a victory sign as he stood with a 'Gearfried the Iron Knight' and a 'Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke' in front of him. As the video ended the lights turned on to show the pensive faces of the video's viewers.
In the middle of the other eight higher-ups sitting in the office sat Seto Kaiba, who was currently wearing a smirk much like Ranma's on his face.
"It seems that we have some very interesting competitors this year. I would like to know though, who was the one who let this Saotome Ranma compete in the prelims." Bill who was sitting at the end of the table stood up.
"That would be me sir." Bill had a small smile on his face as he answered Seto. He'd of been expecting this from Kaiba.
"What was your reasoning for letting this rank-novice compete?"
"When Rumiko-san first brought Saotome-san to me I'd of questioned him as was required, but when he described to me his reasons for competing I couldn't help but become intrigued with his character."
"You mean to tell us that you didn't let him in because of his skills?" Asked the blonde haired woman sitting to Seto's right.
"How was I to know of his skills Mai? He may only have had two weeks of actual dueling experience, but looking at his registration form and deck list, I couldn't help but become impressed by him." Mai was about to berate him again but Bill interrupted her. "Besides that, his determination and confidence in himself is what won me over. He was confident that he would be able to go up against the other competitors and give up a damn good fight. I came to the realization that he is one of those few people that could be really entertaining to watch. He was emotional and down-to-earth enough to keep my interest in our conversation. I thought that he would probably be able to transfer that trait over into his duels, and from what we just saw, I would have to say that I was correct." He took a deep breath and looked at the other chairmen and noticed their rapt attentions. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I certainly enjoyed watching him, and not just his match with the proctor." Bill finished speaking with a small smirk on his face as he watched most of the others consider his words. He met Seto's eyes and Kaiba smirked seeing the confidence in Bill's eyes.
"So I take it then, that you'd like to see Mr. Saotome as one of the sixteen Bill?"
"Yes sir, if anything he may raise the television ratings with his character even if he doesn't make it too far in the tournament." Bill bowed to Seto as he finished speaking. "Not only that, but I'd like to think of his competing as an investment." Kaiba raised an eyebrow hearing that, as did a few of the others.
"I say that because I believe that as new as he is to the game, he has learned really quickly. Much faster then most people I know of did in fact. If he can keep learning and growing in ability then he may one day become pro for real. I heard that Professor Banner of Duel Academy will be in town for the next several days and he wants to check out some of the new talent that will be in the tournament." Kaiba grew another smirk as he realized where this was going. "I believe that Mr. Saotome may be able to catch Mr. Banner's attention and receive an invitation to Duel Academy where Ranma would certainly learn more about the game and will then be much more likely to turn pro. At the time that he does turn pro, and I am confident that he has the ability to do so, he may look back upon this tournament as the place where he started and Kaiba corps would become further renown in the dueling industry as a place that promotes great duelists." Kaiba leaned back in his chair and smiled. After a few seconds he spoke breaking the small silence that settled over the room.
"I like it. I say that we give this Ranma Saotome a position in the tournament. Don't worry about getting someone to give him a call. I will call him tonight myself to let him know that he made it, and to tell him that I would like to meet with him before the tournament. I must say that many of the pros nowadays lack the enthusiasm and character that Ranma showed us he has in his duels. Now let us decide on the other fifteen." When Kaiba finished saying that Bill sat back down with a huge grin on his face, and the meeting continued.
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At the Tendo dojo, Ranma was just getting back from his daytrip into Tokyo. "Konichiwa." He called out as he flipped his sandals off of his feet.
As he continued into the living room where Nabiki was watching the news on television, and the fathers were playing shoji, Kasumi popped her head out of the kitchen to greet him.
"Konichiwa Ranma-san. How did it go at the registration today?" Kasumi asked him.
"He probably got kicked out since he doesn't have that much experience sis." Nabiki said deciding to listen in since the television had of just went into commercials.
"Actually, they did let me in Nabiki. Apparently I managed to impress one of Kaiba Corps employees when we chatted for a bit. He did say that normally he would have kicked me out, but for some reason he was interested in seeing how I'd do." Ranma shrugged his shoulders as he sat down on a chair in front of the TV. "I had my prelim match against a proctor and won, so I was told that some chairmen who were there that day would be reviewing tapes of the duels of those who won in there prelim match and deciding which sixteen would be competing. I'm supposed to expect a phone call tonight to tell me whether I made it into the top sixteen or not."
"Well, I wouldn't expect too much since you were competing against much more experienced players then you." Nabiki said as she turned back to the television since the news came back on.
"I know that Nabs. I even told the proctor as such, but he said he had a good feeling about me, so I'm not counting myself out until I get that phone call." Kasumi smiled hearing Ranma say that. Then she remembered something.
"Ranma, could you please take the garbage out for me while I finish cooking dinner?" Ranma turned to Kasumi and nodded his head before grabbing the five garbage bags that were by the kitchen's entrance and stepping outside with them.
While Ranma was outside not much was happening until the phone rang. After a few seconds it was Kasumi who answered it.
"Konichiwa, Tendo residence." Kasumi greeted the person on the other end of the phone.
"Hello, miss Tendo. I was wondering if Ranma Saotome is home." The person on the other end, Seto Kaiba asked.
"Yes he is sir. He will be a few minutes though; he just went to take the garbage out to a dumpster that's at the end of the block."
"That is quite alright. I can wait."
"Alright then." Kasumi stood there for a second with the phone seeing if Ranma would be back right away. After a few seconds she saw that Ranma wasn't back yet, so she decided to keep the person on the other side of the phone company until Ranma got back. "I'm sorry sir, but it seems that Ranma is taking his time today. May I ask who this is so I could tell Ranma when he gets back?"
"That is no problem Miss Tendo, this is Seto Kaiba of Kaiba Corps."
"Oh my!" She said as she blinked almost stupidly at the phone for a few seconds.
"Who is it Kasumi?" Nabiki asked as she noticed that Kasumi was looking at the phone weirdly. Kasumi quickly shook herself out of her stupor as she heard her sisters voice. She was quick to turn back to the phone.
"I'm sorry about that Kaiba-san. I was just surprised that it was you who was calling to talk to Ranma." Kaiba chuckled a bit when he heard her say that. Nabiki on the other hand was staring at her older brother disbelievingly hearing the name she spoke.
"It was no problem miss… I'm sorry for being rude, may I have your name."
"Kasumi Tendo sir." She answered.
"Ok, Kasumi. Is Ranma back yet?" Kasumi looked around just in case she missed Ranma's return while she was busy being shocked over who the caller was. As she looked around, she heard the front door open and close again.
"Ah, it seems that he just got back if that was the front door I heard."
"Thank you Tendo-san."
"Please, that's my father who people call that."
"Alright then, Kasumi-san." As Seto said this Ranma had of just walked into the living room again.
"Ranma-kun, Kaiba-san is on the phone for you." Ranma looked puzzled for a second.
"Is it the representative for Kaiba Corps?" He asked Kasumi after a second as he approached her.
"Seto Kaiba is the president of Kaiba Corps Ranma. It seems that he decided to call you himself." She still couldn't believe that it was 'THE' Seto Kaiba that her sister was just talking to. She just about had dollar signs in her eyes just thinking about what this could mean for Ranma.
"Oh, okay then." Ranma's casual response had Nabiki's eyes ticking and Kasumi giggling. Nabiki was about to yell at Ranma when she stopped since Ranma had of just grabbed the phone.
"Moshi, moshi. Ranma here." Kaiba couldn't help but smile a bit at the casual greeting. It wasn't that often that someone greeted him like that when they knew who he was.
"Good day Saotome-san. I am here to call you about your duel today against our proctor and to ask you a few questions." Hearing this Ranma decided to get comfortable and lean against the wall.
"Alright then, Kaiba-san. Ask away whenever you're ready. Oh, and please call me Ranma. I'm not really much for formalities when it isn't necessary." Kaiba chuckled quietly to himself since Ranma was still treating him as if he was just another person out on the street. He couldn't help but think it was refreshing in a way.
Nabiki was looking like a fish out of water due to the way that Ranma was talking to Kaiba.
"Ranma-san it is then." The smile on Seto's face wouldn't go away right now even if he wanted it to. "I heard that before your duel, you were talking to Leeman-san and he mentioned that you're really a new duelist who only started learning the game a month ago. Is this correct?"
"Yes Seto-san, it is." Ranma responded causing Seto to wonder if it was in this kid's personality to disrespect superiority, or if he really just saw everyone the same.
"I found that really interesting. Considering the time frame that you've had to learn, I along with several of my colleagues were quite surprised with how well you did. Oh, and before I forget, you have made it into the top sixteen. You ranked in spot number fourteen."
"That's cool. I'll admit that I thought that if I make it in, I'd it by the skin of my teeth." This time Seto chuckled aloud hearing that.
"Well, I'll tell you that you actually had more space then by the skin of your teeth. You actually did quite well." Kaiba stopped for a second to check the time before grimacing though Ranma didn't know this. "I'm actually sorry Ranma-san, but I just realized that I have another meeting that I must be getting to in the next twenty minutes. I would love to keep chatting, but it is for the tournament in two days time."
"Ok."
"Well then, if you don't have any plans I'd like to actually meet you in person. I have a few cohorts who are also interested in meeting with you as well. Would you be open to meet with us at the 'Menage Twoi' café here in Central Tokyo at noon tomorrow?"
"I believe I saw that café on my way to your building today. Sure, I don't have any plans for tomorrow so it should be no problem for me to get there by that time unless I get attacked again." Kaiba blinked hearing that last part.
"You'll have to tell me about that later. It sounds like an interesting story." Ranma chuckled to himself hearing that.
"I've had many people say that my life is an unbelievable story Seto-san." Kaiba smiled again hearing Ranma's answer.
"Well then, I have to go now so I will see you tomorrow at noon. Oh, and if you want you can bring one guest with you. Don't worry about money, I'll pay."
"Thank you Seto-san. I'll be there. Bye for now."
"Bye." Seto answered before they both hung up their phones.
When Ranma looked up he noticed that everyone except for Akane who wasn't around was staring at him expectedly. "What?" Ranma asked looking puzzled.
"How did it go?" Nabiki asked continuing to look at Ranma expectantly. Kasumi smiled thinking that that was so like her curious younger sister.
"Oh, well he wanted to ask me a few questions to clarify some stuff that he heard about how long I've been a duelist. When I confirmed what he was told he said that he was quite impressed. He told me that I made it in. Ranking fourteen out of sixteen for all of the people who managed to beat their proctor in the prelim. After that we just chatted for a few minutes before he said that he had to go to a meeting that was taking place in twenty minutes." Nabiki and Kasumi nodded to him. The fathers however jumped to their feet and started barraging him with questions.
"Did he say anything else boy?" Idiot #1 (Genma) started.
"Did he want to make a contract with you?" Idiot #2 (Soun) followed.
"Give you money?" #1 again.
"Have a meeting with you?" #2.
Anything?" They both finished at the same time.
Ranma just shook his head. He wasn't stupid enough to tell the father's that he was supposed to go meet Kaiba the next day for lunch. He wanted to invite Kasumi as a thank you for teaching her the game and he didn't want the fathers trying to ruin it like so many other things.
Genma and Soun deflated in reaction to Ranma's nod. Then they both went into water fountain mode.
"What a disgrace my son is, not being able to get anything from the head of Kaiba Corp." Ranma sweatdropped as the fathers continued sprouting on about what a failure Ranma was.
Ranma chose this opportunity to grab Kasumi and Nabiki by the shoulders and walk into the kitchen with them. When the three of them were in there Ranma looked back out for a second to make sure that Genma and Soun were still busy dramatically crying. When he was satisfied that they hadn't of noticed that they left Ranma turned back around to see the two sisters looking at them questioningly. Ranma found it amazing how similar the two looked when they were doing that. He shook off that thought before speaking.
"Sorry about pulling you off like that." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"That's alright, but I'm guessing that there's something that you don't want those two hearing." Ranma nodded to Nabiki's statement.
"Yeah, it's just that I've actually been invited to meet with Seto-san and a few of his cohorts for lunch tomorrow at the 'Menage Twoi' café in Central Tokyo tomorrow at noon." Nabiki whistled hearing that.
"That's quite the nice café." Nabiki commented.
"Congratulations Ranma." Kasumi said.
"Thanks Kasumi-san. Anyways, I was told that I could invite someone, and I'd like that someone to be you Kasumi."
"Oh my!" Kasumi blushed though Ranma didn't notice it since she was quick to cover her face with her hand. Nabiki though did notice, she just chose not to say anything on it.
"I don't think I was pulled into here to listen to you ask Kasumi to go with you, so I'll go ahead and take a shot in the dark guessing that you would like me to do what I can to keep the rival's and fiancée off of your backs so that you won't be interrupted." Ranma nodded at Nabiki.
"If you would please do so?" Ranma looked like he was almost begging though he would never admit to the act. Nabiki shook her head in amusement at the look.
"I'll do what I can for you Saotome, though you will owe me for this one. It'll take resources to keep them busy so I can't just give the help for free." Nabiki said after a few seconds.
Ranma bowed to her. "Thank you Nabs. It is greatly appreciated." Just the fact that Ranma bowed, never mind the fact that he showed real manners there surprised the two sisters.
Nabiki smiled a bit, she was just beginning to see that there was much more to Ranma than a competition driven nut. "You're welcome."
With that out of the way Nabiki left the kitchen, walking past the still bawling fathers to watch the television again. Kasumi and Ranma stayed in the kitchen for a bit longer discussing what they needed to do to prepare for lunch the next day.
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End Prologue
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End AN: This time I don't really have much to say about the story since I'd of already covered everything I'd want to say before the story started. I guess all there is left to say is that I hoped that you enjoyed the chapter, and that I'd like to hear what you all think.
And to quickly point out; yes I did use the name of Ranma's creator for the secretary in the lobby of the Kaiba Corps building. I just decided that it would be a little bit of humor.
To think about it actually, I would like to ask some help from all of you. I know exactly what I'm going to do for the start of this story, but a few chapters after Ranma makes it to Duel Academy, then I don't know exactly what I'm going to do for scenarios that Ranma will wind up in while he's there. I could have him going alongside Jaden and his friends, but I would like to have a few situations where Ranma winds up going solo, more original things, not Ranma taking Jaden's place in stuff. If you have any ideas please PM ME THEM. I just don't want people to see them if they look at reviews so that's why I'm stressing that they be PM'd. I will of course give credit to where it is due if I use an idea, and I may wind up twisting an idea a little bit to turn it into something that will work better for me. I thank those of you who might contribute in advance. I'm not really expecting much if anything, but still. Thanks to those who help.
Tata for now.