AN: Stop me! Stop me before I create again! Ah, hmm, any way, this is my latest Ranma ½ story, which is a crossover with the Witchblade, as in the Witchblade is actually in the story, not the cast of the Witchblade story.
Summery: After the Failed wedding attempt, Ranma is discussing how to solve the Fiancée mess he's in with Hiroshi and Daisuke, whom take it upon them selves to solve it. And they actually succeed. How in the world did that happen? Anyway, Ranma, goes to China to become an Amazon Warrior, and that will be explained logically, with Akane, and ends up with the Witchblade, giving Ranma a whole new set of problems, including being the first Queen of the Amazons since the tribes founding! And no, Ranma will not be locked in any way shape or form during this story, although, the Amazons will want him female while she's ruling, and the Witchblade it's self will get into a war of wills to try to get Ranma to stay female, but which of them will win the war of wills?
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½. I do not own the Witchblade. I do not own any other fictional person place or thing used in this story. I do not own any real person place or thing used in this story. The story it's self is mine however.
THE QUEEN'S GAUNTLET
PROLOGUE
THE BEGINNING OF THE END
AND THE START OF A NEW BEGINNING
(Or how Hiroshi and Daisuke solved the fiancée mess.)
Ranma was in his girl form, following Cologne and Shampoo to the Amazon village to become an Amazon Warrior. Akane was by his, no at the moment it was her side. "So, how did this happen again?" Akane asked for the umpteenth time that hour alone. Ranma, who had been quite board, had been giving this question some serious thought.
"It's all Hiroshi's and Daisuke's fault." Ranma said slowly, remembering all the events that had happened to lead to this.
"And how is it all their fault Ranma? You've told me bits and pieces, and I know the final out come, but you've never told me the whole story." Akane said.
Ranma sighed. They were still a few good hours away from the village, and telling the story might eat up most of the time to it. "Well," Ranma began "I was talking with Hiroshi and Daisuke a few days after that wedding attempt."
START FLASHBACK ONE
"Ranma? You ok dude?" Hiroshi asked seeing how depressed Ranma was looking.
"Hiroshi, man, his wedding just blew up in his face dude!" Daisuke yelled at Hiroshi.
"So it's not like he wanted to marry her!" Hiroshi yelled back.
"I did." Ranma said so softly that they almost didn't hear him. Almost being the key word here.
"What!" They both yelled at him in shock.
"I wanted to marry her. Still do, but I can't." Ranma said in a soft voice.
"Why can't you?" Daisuke asked puzzled.
"It's not honorable." Ranma said softly.
"Um, you are honor bound to marry her, so why…" Hiroshi started to ask, when Ranma finished his thoughts.
"Is it not honorable? If I marry Akane, I ruin Ukyo's honor, and Shampoo will be killed. I can't have that. Plus there's what? 28? 29? Or even more fiancée's in total? Whom I'm all honor bound to marry? If I marry Akane, everyone loses their honor, or their life, or both. I can't do that. If I thought it would solve anything, I'd lock myself as a girl, so all the engagements would become null and void. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized, it just wouldn't work. In fact it would be worse. I guess I'll just have to go to mom, and ask her to be my second. I never will be manly enough for her anyway." Ranma said sinking into depression.
Hiroshi and Daisuke looked at each other, and thinking the same thoughts, as only two people who know each other better then anyone can, nodded, and said at the same time, "You're coming with us Ranma!" they said, grabbing either arm and dragging him away.
They ended up at his mom's house, which was still being rebuilt, but his mom refused to leave it. As the three of them met with Nodoka, Hiroshi said to her, "Mam, we need to talk to you about Ranma, privately. Ranma, you wait here while we talk to your mom, and whatever you do, don't interrupt us." He said.
"Really now? And what do the friends of my manly son need to talk to me about with out him?" she asked as Ranma's face twitched.
"In private mam." Daisuke said. Nodoka nodded, and they went to another room. A few minutes latter, all Ranma heard was loud yelling. 'They are getting into a shouting match with my mom? Are they nuts?" Ranma asked himself. As soon as he heard dishes stated to be thrown around, he was at the door and opening it when Daisuke screamed, "Ranma don't you dare come in here! We've got it all under control! Now stay out!" He yelled. Ranma didn't know what to do, so he did nothing. He just sat down in the chair he had been sitting in, and waited.
After an hour or so of the verbal war going on in there, a disheveled looking Hiroshi and Daisuke came out with a Nodoka that looked even worse.
"Son," Nodoka began "Am I to understand that you don't think you can marry Akane, because of the other engagements? You do not want to ruin the honor of Ukyo or have Shampoo be killed? Is that really what will happen to her if you marry Akane?" she asked in a weary voice.
"Yes. If I marry any one but her, her tribe will kill her." Ranma stated flatly.
"That's horrible. Why can't you take them both on as mistresses?" Nodoka asked.
Ranma glared at his mother while Daisuke yelled "Because it would ruin his relationship with Akane! This is the twenty first century! Not the sixteenth! We don't have mistresses any more! Get your head out of your little dream world and into our reality! Your son wants to ask you to be his second, so everyone's honor stay's intact! Now do you really want that? Do you really want to watch your son DIE like YOUR contract say's he should? HE WANTS TO DIE! JUST TO GET EVERYONE OUT OF THIS MESS YOU AND YOUR IDIOT HUSBAND CREATED! AND WE WON'T ALLOW IT! HE'S OUR BEST FRIEND AND YOU ARE GOING TO SOVLVE THIS WITH US, OR WE ARE REPORTING BOTH YOU AND YOUR HUSBAND TO THE ATHORTIES ON CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT! HE'S TOLD US EVERYTHING! EVERYTHING! AND IT MAKES US SICK! IF THIS KEEPS UP, HE'LL EITHER KILL HIMSELF, OR ALL OF NERIMA! SO IT'S TIME TO CLEAN UP YOUR MESS MISS SAOTOME! OR BY ALL THE KAMIS WE'LL MAKE YOU PAY!" Daisuke ended up yelling at a shocked Nodoka.
"What have we done so wrong with him?" Nodoka asked.
"Like you don't know!" Hiroshi yelled at her.
"She doesn't. I never told her what pop did." Ranma said in shame.
"Why?" Hiroshi asked Ranma.
"I didn't want her to kill him." Ranma honestly said.
"You are going to tell me everything right now young man!" Nodoka yelled at him.
"Fine." Ranma sighed. He never could refuse his mother anything. So he, for the first time, told his mother his true life story, leaving nothing out. As he spoke, Nodoka's grip on the family honor blade got tighter and tighter, till you could hear her knuckles creak.
As he finished she said, "I will have to have, words with my husband." Seeing the look of panic on her son's face, she softened her facial expression and said, "I won't kill him, but I will make him wish for death by the time I'm done. I can no longer stay married to the fool. I'm sorry Ranma, but, I'm getting a divorce." She said with tears in her eyes. "That, he's no longer the man I married, he won't even come home, and for the things he's done to you, I'll see him in jail!" she said hotly, with tears running down her eyes. Seeing her son about to speak, she said "No, you can't change my mind about this. So don't even try Ranma. I know you love him, but I must do this. We'll all meet back here tomorrow to sort out you're fiancée mess. Now go home to the Tendo's and say nothing about this. Do you understand, nothing till it's over." Nodoka said to a shocked Ranma, whom merely nodded.
END FLASHBACK ONE
"So," Ranma said to a wide eyed Akane "That's how it started."
"Hiroshi and Daisuke did that?" Akane asked shocked that anyone would stand up to Ranma's mother like that, let alone make her see any semblance of sense. "And that's why Genma was arrested and she served him with her divorce papers while he was in jail?" she asked wide eyed.
"Yeah, but that's not all they did. They convinced mom to adopt Ukyo, since the government put her as the head of the clan, till I reach twenty one, and she could make her a Saotome with out her marring me, by making her my sister, which I can't believe no one else saw as a way to keep her honor intact. She jumped at the chance, and immediately asked permission to propose to Konatsu. Apparently she was over me, she just needed to become a Saotome to keep her honor. Her father's not to happy, but she doesn't care at the moment, she's to busy planning her wedding." Ranma said to Akane.
"Oh, I was wondering who's idea it was for Nodoka to adopt Ukyo. I wonder who will wear the brides dress?" Akane giggled.
"You do realize we could say the same thing about us?" Ranma asked innocently, causing Akane to stutter.
"That was mean Ranma!" Akane yelled at Ranma.
"So was your comment." Ranma pointed out to her.
"I was just joking. Sorry." Akane said softly. "So what did Daisuke and Hiroshi say to get us into this mess.
"Ah, well you see," Ranma started "We had just finished adopting Ukyo, and went to see the ol… I mean Cologne, at the Neko Hanten…"
START FLASHBACK TWO
"You wanted to see us son-in-law?" Cologne asked, surprised that he not only brought his mother, but two males with him. She didn't know them that well, as they weren't warriors, but she had seen them hanging around Ranma at times, so she assumed they were friends of some kind.
"Yes." Nodoka replied for Ranma. "Am I to understand that unless Shampoo brings Ranma back to your village has her SUBSERVIENT husband, she will die?" Cologne could feel the ice in her words at the word 'subservient' she merely nodded. "And if he marries any one else, she will die?" Nodoka asked with anger in her voice.
"Yes. It is or law." Cologne said sadly.
"Well your 'LAW' sucks you old ghoul! You're on the council, change the damn law!" Ranma shouted.
"I can't! I just can't! It would be seen as favoritism to Shampoo, to get her out of this! And they'd be partially right! I saw long ago that you'd never marry Shampoo," Shampoo gasped, "I'm sorry dear, but he doesn't love you. I can see it. His heart belongs to Akane for some god unknown reason, but I never thought he'd marry her, as he knew full well what would happen to you if he did! He may not love you, but you are one of his closest friends! He would stay a bachelor for eternity so you wouldn't die, or so I thought." Cologne said to a crying Shampoo.
"I would and will." Ranma said flatly.
"Really now? Then why confront us about this now? And the wedding?" Cologne asked.
"Akane was drugged and I was, never mind, I wouldn't of gone through with it with the damage it would do to me, Shampoo and Ukyo. We've taken care of Ukyo, now we want to see if we can't solve Shampoo's problem." Ranma's told Cologne.
"Yes, is there no other way for her to live than to marry my son, or have him never marry so she seems that she's still got a chance at him?" Nodoka asked.
"No, I'm afraid not." Cologne said sadly.
"I think you're forgetting one of your laws." Hiroshi said holding up a book.
"That's, that's an elders law book! How did you get that?" Cologne yelled at a Hiroshi, who then shrugged and then said
"It's amazing what Nabiki can do if you offer her enough money." Hiroshi told a Cologne who then went in to a full body twitch. "Any way, I was referring to this law on the Kiss of Death. And now I quote 'If an Outsider woman successfully avoids the Kiss of Death attacks, the giver of the Kiss of Death then may then offer the recipient of the Kiss of Death a choice to become an Amazon Warrior or to be forever hunted.'" He said, and then he handed Cologne the book.
"I think Ranma technically qualifies for this offer, as SHE got the Kiss of Death, and avoided the subsequent attacks on HER life. And since Ranma is a SHE half the time, it makes sense that Ranma AS A SHE can become an Amazon Warrior." Hiroshi told a stunned room. Turning to Ranma he said, "Sorry man, I knew you wouldn't like it, but it was the only way me and Daisuke could find in the book that would save Shampoo."
"You're right. I absolutely HATE IT!" Ranma yelled. But looking at Shampoo and Cologne, he said "But I'll do it if it would work." Ranma told the two.
Cologne reread the passage for the fifth time. "Yes, you are right. This would work. Shampoo, get a glass of cold water for Ranma. He needs to be a she when you ask. Afterwards I'll contact the village and tell them we invoked the ancient law on her and She agreed to it." Turning to Ranma, she said "So… I mean Ranma, I thank you for this." She said bowing.
"You're welcome ol… I mean Elder Cologne. She is a dear friend, even if I don't love her." Ranma said.
END FLASHBACK TWO
"And then Shampoo gave me a cup of cold water, I changed in to a girl, she asked me to join the Amazons as a Warrior, I said only if I could Stay in Nerima most the time, unless they really needed me, She accepted my condition, and that was that. Now I'm on my way with you to join the Amazons. Why did you insist on coming though?" Ranma asked.
"I'm worried something will go wrong and I'll never see you again unless I'm with you." Akane admitted.
"Nah, you won't get rid of me that easily. Besides, I get the feeling that they'd want me gone fast, as I'm not really a female, and yet I'm still going to be an Amazon Warrior. I'd be a constant embarrassment to them, so I think they'll want me gone fast." Ranma told her.
"You're probably right. But I just have this bad feeling" Akane admitted.
AN: Well there it is, the prologue of my unusual little fusion. Who ever thought that Daisuke and Hiroshi would be the ones to solve this mess? Now onto bigger and messier messes! MHAWHAHAHA! Ok, enough with the insane laughing. Next, Ranma gets tested by the tribe with an ancient gauntlet, and Surprise Surprise, Passes, becoming the first ever Amazon Queen! Oh, he's just going to LOVE this one, not! See you next time.
Version 2. Changed mistake in disclaimer and other spelling grammar changes.