Oh dear, when the plot bunny bites, it bites hard.
Welcome to my story Seth 1/2. For all of you familiar with the manga/anime Ranma 1/2, you already know where the story is headed. For all of you who don't know: welcome to the thrill ride. ;)
This will not really be a crossover story, as I only take Jusenkyo and the guide from the original manga/anime Ranma 1/2. So no knowledge needed. As for the wrestling side of things: this story is quasi kayfabe compliant, as it pretends that the action in the ring and behind the scenes is real.
This story takes place after the TLC match between CM Punk and the Shield and is inspired by a short unaired segment of The Shield.
Greetings to my two muses. I hope you enjoy this fic. 3
I hope everyone else does as well. =)
Disclaimer: WWE and Ranma 1/2 belong to their respective owners.
Warnings: rated T for language and a bit of violence.
**** Chapter 1: The Blueprint for Disaster ****
Seth Rollins had always prided himself on being a complete wrestler. Athleticism, charisma, endurance, strength, a great set of moves and a clever head on top of his broad shoulders. In fact, the quality he believed distinguished him the most from other wrestlers was his cerebral approach to things. He thought of strategies and any possible tactics before he even set a foot into the ring, whereas most other wrestlers would simply brawl as if they were cavemen picking fights over some leftover bones. No, Seth Rollins always had a plan and if one plan turned out to be obsolete or even failed him, he would come up with at least two new plans to remedy the situation. He would deal with today's defeat no differently. Thus, it vexed him to no end that the blow CM Punk had dealt him earlier still caused his head to throb painfully, which made it hard to concentrate. The bickering of his brothers did not help either. He needed to calm them so that he could come up with a new plan to destroy CM Punk.
"What happens every once in a while, is not a big deal, okay? You don't need to be upset about it, it's just," Seth began.
"Oh yeah," Dean Ambrose interrupted him, holding his torso, grimacing. "My best friend spears me and I get a broken rib..."
"You act like I did it on purpose," Roman Reigns cut in, blinking out the sweat and blood out of his right eye. "Things happen. You know I pulled the trigger. I see a spot, I take it."
"Well," Dean growled and Roman huffed. Seth's head felt as if it was going to explode any second now.
"Hey, guys, come on," Seth said. "CM Punk didn't beat The Shield- "
"Do I look like a target?" Dean asked, inspecting his torso.
"Chill out, calm down. Sit down and calm down," Seth now all but shouted and Dean did as he was told. "The Shield beat The Shield, but guess what? People win the lottery every single week. You know what, even the Cubs win the World Series once a century. CM Punk, he is not the best in the world. Tonight, he's the luckiest man alive. Look this thing is gonna heal up," he said pointing at Roman's injury and then tapped against Dean's chest. "And these will be alright too."
Dean was still feeling up his injuries, grimacing at Roman. "Yeah, he is pretty lucky you speared the crap out of me."
"We are still the most dominant force in this industry," Seth continued.
Dean stood up and turned his torso towards Seth. "What do you think is this?" Dean asked, worry in his voice.
Seth rolled his eyes. "It is fine. You will be fine, man. Take it easy. Nothing's gonna stop us, not today, not ever, alright?"
"Watch where you are going next time, huh," Dean said.
"I can't see anything. I got all kinds of fluids floating out of my eye," Roman said.
Seth saw that Dean opened his mouth to respond, but he beat him to it. "Hey, focus!"
"Looks horrible, looks really bad," Dean said in Roman's direction, at which point Seth nudged Dean's ribs. "Hey, don't touch me like that right now."
Seth desperately needed a quiet and dark place, where he could think things through and get away from his brothers' bickering. He held out his fist.
"Believe in The Shield, guys, come on," he said and Dean immediately stopped worrying over his ribs and fist bumped him. Roman followed soon after. "We run this joint. We'll be fine, chill out. Geez man, look at my eye for crying out loud. I got busted in the face, look at this."
Seth shook his head and then turned around. He heard Roman huffing.
"Spear him next time, see how he likes it," Dean whispered to Roman.
"I heard that," Seth said and looked over his shoulder.
Dean was suddenly very busy inspecting his torso again, a faint blush on his cheeks. Seth caught Roman's gaze.
"Where are you going, Seth?"
"Finding some quiet place, so that I can come up with a new blueprint for getting back at CM Punk, a blueprint for the house of revenge that we will build."
Roman nodded.
"Now he thinks he is some kind of architect, or what?" Dean mumbled.
Seth chose to ignore him and went on to the maze that was the backstage area. On his way to his dressing room he mostly passed by stagehands who scurried out of his way as soon as they noticed his approach. Near his destination, he also passed by Triple H who despite CM Punk's victory seemed to be in a chipper mood, which caused Seth's blood to run cold, but he continued anyway.
In the dressing room, he showered as fast and as cold as possible, so that he could spent more time on plotting. He sat down on the bench, thinking of ways how he could further boost the morale within the brotherhood that was The Shield. He was drying his hair, when he noticed a flyer next to him. He picked it up and looked at the pictures. Half of the flyer's texts were in Chinese, the other half were English, but sounded as if someone had utilised the google translator. However, he still was intrigued by it.
"Legendary training ground Jusenkyo," he said to himself. "I wonder what's so legendary about it."
**** One week later ****
Seth had been surprised, when Triple H had allowed the three members of The Shield to go on a training camp session in China. He hadn't anticipated to get two weeks off for it in early December without having to negotiate with his boss. He hadn't been surprised though, when he had to barter with his brothers Dean and Roman, who did not think it necessary to train in the middle of nowhere and in China no less. Roman especially had been against this idea, because dog was part of the menu in some regions there and the Big Dog did not want to be served dog meat by accident. In the end, both had agreed to this, but Seth now owed each of them a favour.
"You're sure you know the way?" Dean asked.
"I have a map. I know how to read a map. Just be patient," Seth responded.
"Can we make a short break? I am melting," Roman said.
It was early December and they had dressed for that: long trousers, shirts, sweaters, jackets, and warm boots. Clothes that were appropriate for 20 to 30 something degrees Fahrenheit, but for some reason it was something in the 60 to 70 degrees range in this valley, which meant the three of them were almost boiling. So, when they came to a group of boulders next to the road they had been walking on since sunset, they took the opportunity and shed some clothes, until they were only wearing shirts and their rolled-up trousers. All other garment, including their shoes, they had forced into their backpacks. Feeling lighter already, Dean and Roman were stretching, while Seth was studying the map again. He looked around him. As far as he could tell, they had to be really close. Maybe Jusenkyo was behind the next plateau? Just when he was trying to verify his theory, Dean snatched the map from his hands and studied it himself.
"The hell, Rollins? This is Chinese!"
"So are the road signs, because we are in China," Seth replied, rolling his eyes.
"You don't speak Chinese," Dean said.
"No, I don't. But I can compare the signs on the road signs to the ones on the map. I only need eyes for that."
"So, basically, we are lost," Roman said.
"No, we are not. I know exactly where we are. And if Dean handed over the map, I could show you."
"We will die in this valley," Dean said, but handed the map back.
"Don't be such a scaredy-cat," Seth said.
"You are one to talk," Dean said, before he mimicked Seth's slightly higher voice. "Brothers, do you think the fans will like my new two-toned hairdo? What about my vest? Does it make me look fat? I don't want to look fat in this. What if they run out of my favourite chocolate bars at the store?"
Roman chuckled, Seth growled.
"I do not sound like that and I am sure as hell no scaredy-cat."
"Right," Dean said, also chuckling. "You don't sound like a scaredy-cat. You sound like a girl."
It was a testament to Roman's skills how quickly he intervened and thus spared Dean a Clothesline courtesy of Seth. After tempers had calmed, the members of The Shield resumed their path. They walked for another 30 minutes, it must have been noon by now, until they reached their destination to Seth's satisfaction. A middle-aged man in green military clothes greeted them, as they dropped their backpacks to the ground.
"Hello travellers. This is famous training ground of cursed springs, Jusenkyo. You lost?"
"No, we came here to train," Seth said, glancing at the many pools of water and the bamboo poles jutting out of them.
"Train? Long time no one trained. Is very dangerous place- "
"First one to stand on top of a pole wins," Seth shouted and bolted towards the nearest pond.
"Whoever touches water, loses," Dean shouted and rushed towards a different pond.
Roman let out a howl of frustration that his brothers had a head start on him, but took up the challenge regardless.
"Sirs, what are you doing? Very bad idea! Very bad you fall in springs!"
Seth jumped from the bank onto the pole and climbed. He could see from his point of view that Dean and Roman were on their poles as well. Being sweaty made it difficult to climb, but in the end Seth's greater experience in balancing on the ropes enabled his victory, although Dean had been a close second. Together they watched Roman trying to get to the top, but the Big Dog was too heavy and too sweaty and eventually, he slipped and fell into the pond to the laughter of his brothers. The ponds seemed deeper than anticipated, because Roman was completely submerged in the water.
"What takes him so long? Can you see him?" Seth asked after a while.
Dean craned his neck at he was closest to Roman's pond. "I see nothing… Wait, I think he is coming towards the surface."
But Dean was wrong, for it was not Roman who emerged from the pond, but an enormous, shaggy dog. The beast jumped out of the pond and growled at Dean and Seth, baring its razor-sharp teeth.
"What the hell? What's that?" Seth exclaimed.
"That is Gounichuan," the guide said and held up a sign with some Chinese signs on it. "Spring of drowned dog. Very tragic story of dog who drown 1800 year ago. The legend say whoever fall in spring take body of dog."
"And you only tell us NOW?" Seth shouted.
But before the guide could answer, the big dog charged at the pole Dean was standing on. The impact sent Dean flying into the water, while the dog landed on its paws beside the pond.
"DEAN, NO!"
The guide held up a new sign. "Oh no, sir fall in Maonichuan, spring of drowned cat. Very tragic story of cat who drown 1400 year ago. The legend say whoever fall in spring take body of cat."
And sure enough, a cat emerged from the pond. It shook itself, but the red long coat still clung to its wet body. Then it turned its attention to Seth and hissed, while the dog barked at him. Not wanting to experience the same fate as his brothers, Seth jumped from the pole to the ground, neatly avoiding any contact with the water. He heard the guide scream something and he turned around just in time to see both, cat and dog, slamming into him. Their combined force sent Seth flying into the next pond, water splashing all over him.
He felt his body burning and he instantly tried to get to the surface. Maybe it was not too late. When he made it to the surface, he looked at his hands, anticipating to have paws or talons, but to his utter relief, he still had hands, although they seemed somewhat smaller than usual. He gazed at the guide, the dog, and the cat.
"Oh, too bad. You fall in Nyannichuan, spring of drowned girl," the guide said, presenting a new sign. "There very tragic legend of girl who drown there 1500 year ago. Now, whoever fall in spring take body of a young girl, hehe."
Seth gulped. The guide had to be kidding him, right? He looked down at his arms and realised that not only were his hands smaller, but his muscles were as well. His arms now looked slim. His gaze wandered from his arms to his chest. His wet shirt was clinging to his body, accentuating his chest. Seth closed his eyes, took off his shirt, and then opened his eyes again to look down on his chest.
"I have breasts!" he shrieked.
**** End of Chapter 1 ****
I hope you enjoyed it. Comments are always appreciated.