Explanatory Omake times, Go!
Part One, Genma's misogyny. In verbal snippets rather than whole cloth.-
Genma, Age six-
"Don't wanna play with girls. You gots cooties."
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Well...! You gots bugs in your undies!"
"Huh? Do not."
"Do NOW!"
"Hey, whatcha... AGH, NO!"
Genma, Age ten-
"Son, it's time I taught you about the facts of life. But rather than bumble through an awkward explanation that would just humiliate the both of us, I've hired a streetwalker to take my place for this interlude. That way, the only one being humiliated is you. Be back in two, three hours maybe."
"Huh?"
"Hm... you're a cutie. Shame to break you so young. I'll just use the number nine black and crop combo, rather than the full blown devestator, okay?"
"Huh!?"
Genma, Age ?-
"Hold these for me, will you?"
"M-master, but these are...!"
"There! He's got ACCOMPLICES!"
"W-wait, you've got it all wrong! Just give me a chance to explain, and-"
"DIE!"
(Repeat this track indefinitely)
Genma, Age ?
"Son, I've arranged a marriage for you!"
"Please, no... no more women, forever... die a monk..."
"I'll leave you two to get acquainted, then. Incidentally, contraceptives are in that drawer."
"Oh god.... um..."
"My name is Nodoka, pleased to meet you. And I'll be wearing the pants in this relationship from now on."
"But... I'm the man?"
*Snikt*
"That... depends entirely on me at this point, doesn't it?"
"Y-yes, dear."
Genma, Age not too much longer than the last tidbit-
Censored due to horrible, horrible deviancies on Nodoka's part. And can you really say you're surprised?
Fin.
So yeah, misogyny, and deep seated psychological reasons for it. And unless I think of something better before pinning it down in an actual chapter, this'll probably be about how it went in this retconned backstory.
Part Two, Ranma's Science Class.-
Ranma pops in wearing a labcoat and fake glasses, wheeling a chalkboard.
"Ahem. Apparently, someone actually noticed how I used my strong, biological monstrosity of an arm to lift Deth's bio-roid into the air, but pinned it down with my more normal limb. Rather than half-ass it with 'haha, yeah', the author decided to have me explain the reason for that in rather more significant detail. It involves a combination of the forces involved, gravitational resistance, blahblahblah, you know this stuff, I'm assuming most of you went to school."
Ranma spends a moment to doodle a figure of a person, then a skeleton overlaying it, followed by the word 'metal' and an arrow pointing from it to the skeleton.
"As this demonstrates, while a significant portion of the bio-roid is organic, for the most part vital organs and such, more than half of it is mechanical in nature. IE, metal. Not the best metals around, of course, considering the 'roid in question was the bargain-bin model, but still metal. Now metal is, as anyone who's come into contact with it for any amount of time knows, really damn heavy. I'll give those of you who didn't know a minute to sort out this life-altering realization of universal truths. Finished? Good."
She sketched another two doodles, one of a pigtailed stick-figure lifting another, and one of the same figure pinning the other down.
"As you can see, there's a significant difference between these two scenarios. With the bio-roid lifted, gravity exerts its sway, and the full force of its significant weight comes to bear on the arm holding it. That's not to say I couldn't do it with the other arm, but with a super-arm more suited for the job, why bother, right? On the other hand, pinning it to the ground has no such problem, merely requiring that I keep enough force exerted to keep it from gaining the leverage to force its mass back into the upright position, which could easily be achieved with the physically weaker arm."
While talking, Ranma doodled a sketch of a torso in a puddle of fluid.
"Entirely aside from that more logical point, I needed that arm free for the whole limb-ripping and skull-crushing thing. In any case congratulations to anyone who's slogged through this explanation, losing precious minutes of their lifespan that they will never, ever get back, when a simple 'Metal weighs lots' would have sufficed. You win one of Kasumi's cookies! Except not, because I actually stole and ate all of them before coming in. So instead you win a handful of pocket lint and a free sixty seconds to run before I unleash the hound-thingies with glowing eyes, acid drool, and tentacles. Bye now!"
The camera fades to black with Ranma cheerfully remaining in the frame and making obscene gestures at the viewers.
Fin.
.....
I'll admit it, I had a lot more fun with that one than I really should have. One more for the road!
Ranma's Science Class 2- Grading
Ranma saunters into the room, once more in the glasses and labcoat combo.
"Hi all! Anyway, recently during the authors 'job' of Work-Study, he got railroaded into grading a stack of assignments. In all honesty, he should have realized what he was getting into from the start, but hey. Brainfart. I guess he figured he would just be working with multiple choice or whatever. In any case, instead of a hate-filled rant, with much 'AASDJLFKJSAFJKAJFF!' and vexation, he's having me take over while he drowns himself. Or just cools off. One of those. Anyway, the point of this little happy-fun time will be covering some of the, unfortunately enough, extremely common problems."
Ranma coughs into a fist and takes up a lecturing stance.
"So. First. If there is a blank on a fill in the blank question, then fill in the blank. Even if you don't know, freaking put something there, or don't complain when you turn in something half-completed and get a fifty at best. God, people...
Second. Spelling, grammar, punctuation, the works. If whoever's grading has to translate whatever it is your saying from absolute gibberish, then you can expect that to be reflected in your grade. And seriously, if you're going to do that, then at least be right at the end of it. Because if I had to spend twenty minutes on just one question to work out what the hell you were saying, and then you were wrong, and I could have just marked you wrong from the beginning and saved myself the trouble? Your suffering would never end.
Next, handwriting. Not nearly as important, yeah, but at least try to be vaguely legible here. I mean, god... what is this? A 'u' or a 'v'? This funky looking character right there? Is that supposed to be a 9 or a 0, because dammit, it doesn't look like either. It looks like something you'd find carved into an archaeology dig somewhere in Europe, or a freaky astrological symbol. So yeah, if at any point the grader feels like they're trying to read ancient Hebrew when they look at your writing, your grade is going to suffer out of sheer spite and malice. The pain will be spread around.
And finally, read the damn instructions, for the love of god! If the instructions say 'Figure out how percentages of 'x' change given the following conditions. Are they higher, lower, or unaffected?', then have the common decency to at least mention percentages somewhere in your answer. Not 'weight', or 'mass', or just restating the conditions slightly differently. Percentages. Have them."
There's a sharp cracking noise, and Ranma looks down to see that her hands, having slowly tightened into fists over the psuedo-lecture, were now clenched around handfuls of jagged splinters, torn from the desk she'd been leaning on.
"Right. In any case, if you're in college? You should really know better by now, and you deserve failure, forever."
Ranma paused, and grinned.
"This will all be on the Final, by the way. And my grading practices are a little bit different. You pass? Great, no different from anyone else. You fail, still not too different. You fail specifically because of any or all of these mistakes? I press a button, and you drop into a deep, deep pit where you burn in agony forever. Happy studying, all!"
Fin
So much hate... so much hate... but anyway, on with the real show!
xxx
Mahoranma
xxx
They were after her again.
She didn't leave campus much.... for that matter, she didn't leave the classroom much. But she left campus even less, having learned long ago the foolishness of doing so. Every time she did, one of them would pick up on her location, sooner or later, and then it was a mad dash back to safety.
Even so... every so often, she couldn't help but to wander off for a while, away from the more familiar surroundings. And now, one of the black-robed swordsmen had found her again.
"S-Somebody! Help meee!" She screamed, hightailing it down empty alleys and nearly-so roads, trying to lose her pursuit.
"Look, if you would just hold still and let me hit you, you'd be doing me a great favor, and would wake up in a far better place!" the robed man yelled, waving his all too sharp and pointy blade for emphasis.
"Nooo! I don't want to get hit with a sword! I don't want to go to a better place! Leave me alooone!" Sayo cried, putting a bit more speed on and praying that she wouldn't trip over her own insubstantial feet.
Naturally, the second she spared a thought to worry about it, just that happened, and she caught a flash of red before she tumbled down. That was it then... it was all over.
"N-no... someone, help..."
"Idiot spirit. Nobody can even see-"
It was right about then that the robed man ran throat first into Ranma's gloved fist.
"And just what... am I not supposed to be seeing?" She wondered, hefting her sack of groceries over a shoulder as the man dropped to his knees and choked and spluttered for breath. "Is this creep... bothering you, Sayo-san?"
"You could have killed me!" The swordsman whined, clutching and rubbing at his throat.
"Ah? I suppose I could have. But you're still alive, aren't you? Kind of a shame. So what's it to be, Mr. Wannabe Samurai? I'm not particularly in a homocidal state of mind right now, and Zero's not here to press the issue, so if you slink off like a kicked dog right now, I won't even hurt you more. One-time only deal, you know?"
"Tch. I wasn't expecting a spiritually sensitive human to just show out of nowhere. I'll admit, that first blow took me by surprise. But what more can you do, against a Shinigami? I'll be assisting that lost soul in passing on now, girl, and then fix your memories, and you can't really do anything to stop me."
"Okay, see, now that was the totally wrong answer, and now I kinda want to make a hat out of your ribcage." Ranma pointed out, setting her groceries to the side. "Keep an eye on that for me, would you Sayo-san? And in case you were wondering, the correct answer was 'Oh god yes, please let me leave with all of my bits and pieces still intact and attached and I promise neither you or your classmate will ever have the misfortune of seeing my ugly-as-sin face ever again'. Just in case you were wondering."
The admittedly less than attractive swordsman glowered.
"You know... technically, we aren't supposed to interact with humans, if at all avoidable. But hell, one little bitch more or less caught up in a mugging gone wrong, who's going to notice? I'll kill-rk!"
He was cut off in mid threat by a knee to the solar-plexus, Ranma having gotten bored, and staggered backwards, gasping for breath.
".... Huh. That's it?" Ranma wondered. "You know, you called yourself a 'shinigami', but I'm afraid I'm just not seeing it."
"That was... shunpo? But you're human!"
"'Shunpo'? Flash Step? Nah, that was Shundo, or instant movement, a kind of advanced martial art technique. Don't know what that shunpo crap is."
"Hrk... That's not really good. I can't tell it from... But I can still win! With my zanpakuto, I'll-!"
Ranma zipped in again, kicking the sword out of the man's hands and kicking his feet out from under him, sending him crashing unexpectedly into the ground.
"Soul Cutter? For some reason, a name like that is worrying. Still, no matter how powerful the weapon, if its wielder is disarmed, it's useless. With a waste of flesh like you holding it, it could only really be called a 'Butterknife', at best. But hey, I'm tired of playing with you. There's only so many times you can kick a retarded puppy before it gets old and you start feeling a bit guilty. So heck, I'll even give you one last shot."
A malevolent, leering cast fell over Ranma's features as she impaled the sword in the concrete and set one foot on the pommel.
"Beg. Get down on your belly and grovel in the dirt like the worm you are, whimpering for my forgiveness, and I'll let this whole messy business slide. And you can keep all of your ribs."
xxx
"Back there... did you really have to humiliate that poor man like that?" Sayo wondered.
"Yes. Yes I did." Ranma replied, a happy smile still cracking her face apart.
"But! That was really mean! I mean, yeah, he was a meanie first, and he kept yelling about how he was going to hit me with his sword, and kept trying to cut me, and wouldn't listen when I asked him to leave me alone, or stop when I screamed for help and started crying, and he chased me when I ran, and... uh... what was my point again?" The ghost wondered, a bit sheepishly.
"How that guy in the robe totally deserved everything I did to him, and more besides?"
"Oh? Oh yeah! Thank you, Ranma-san!"
"Entirely aside from all that, now he'll definitely be back at some point, to salve his wounded pride. And if he still sucks as much as he did today, I can just kill the moron and save a great deal of trouble, and if he's really sort-of invisible like you say, I don't even have to bother much hiding the body. Score!"
"Aheh?"
An awkward silence set in between them.
"Um, so... how long... have you been able to see me, exactly?"
"Hm? Oh, years, probably." Ranma said, without an ounce of tact. "Why?"
"B-but... if you've been able to see me for so long! Why didn't you ever...."
"Ever what? Say hi? Introduce myself, or go out of the way to try and make friends? You don't pay much attention, do you? Just because you're kinda dead, do you think I would treat you any different than the rest of the class?"
"Ice Queen..." Sayo murmured, recalling that Ranma was right, she didn't treat her any different than anyone else in class... she'd just assumed, that because nobody else...
"But... why don't you make friends with people?" She wondered aloud. "I mean, you're a really nice person.... you know, when you aren't making grown men cry like babies, anyway. You could have lots of-"
"Friends? Meh. I'm just not interested... I don't really like people enough to go through that kind of effort. I do what I want, and if someone wants to do the same thing for a while, then fine. But I'm not going to go out of my way to accomodate someone else unless I have to."
"But... don't you ever get lonely, if you push people away like that?"
Ranma stared at the ghost for a moment, then shrugged.
"Lonely? Who knows. It's really none of your business, though. I have things to do... when I've achieved my goals, there'll be time enough for more pointless things."
"That's... really sad." Sayo murmured, thinking about long nights in an empty classroom. "All right then. I've decided. From now on... I'm not haunting the classroom anymore. I'm haunting you specifically, Ranma-san!"
"Oh? Good luck with that."
"Th-this is no laughing matter, Ranma-san! From now on, I'll be sticking to you like glue, wherever you are."
"Fair enough. Ground rule, though. If you're going to hang around while I'm bathing, you're going to have to get naked too. Fair's fair."
"R-RANMA-SAN!" Sayo stuttered, taken completely off guard.
Ranma just chuckled and unlocked the door, stepping into her room, where Zero looked up from sharpening something.
"Hm? No wait, don't tell me, let me guess this one, Master. 'She followed me home. Can we keep her?' And I dunno, a ghost of your very own is kind of a big responsibility, right?"
"Even the doll could see me!?"
xxx
Magic barriers were hard to pierce. Ranma hadn't really realized that until she'd begun playing around with the little skull. Turning it on or off was easy... just will it, and it was so, and it would remain on until she willed it off.
Even with her normal arm, a single barrier didn't do much more than a layer of mere stone would have done to deflect her blow. The first, outermost barrier was always gone in a single shot, smashed apart as easily as an inch-thick slab. It was the next layer, immediately after the first, where things started getting tricky.
It was the same as the first. It seemed just a bit harder to penetrate, as though it were thicker and denser, but it was really identical... the problem was that unlike stone, in the instant she made contact that first layer would somehow bleed off a decent chunk of of the initial momentum and force from the initial blow even as she smashed through it, meaning that the strike was simply weaker than it started when it reached that second layer of defense.
A full power blow with her right arm had enough behind it to smash its way through that layer as well, but the third would stall the blow dead in its tracks. It was no good... two levels of protection was just her limit, with that arm.
Being able to put more force behind her kicks, she'd tried those, and achieved marginally more success there. With a full power kick, she could break three barriers in one shot, but no more at this point.
Her new arm shone in these tests, of course, blasting through the first four layers on any given shot, and smashing a fifth as well if she really pressed it, though it would throb agonizingly up past her shoulder for a minute or two afterwards. Her arm was strong, but the remaining bits of her body it had been grafted onto weren't quite enough to match it at full power, just yet.
No matter. As long as there was progress, it didn't matter much. It wasn't like she had to break through the full dozen immediately.
The problem was strategy. If she faced a mage with so many barriers... she was essentially sunk, depending on factors. With just the charm, it took approximately a minute after a barrier was destroyed to create a new one, and could only recreate a single barrier at a time. It was easy enough, therefore, to simply force a rapid blitz of strikes until all the barriers were gone, then tag the dummy.
It would be sheerest foolishness to assume that a mage could be taken down in the same way. Eva herself had said that they were 'the simplest' of spells. With no other information than that about barriers, she would be forced to assume the worst until proven otherwise, that a given mage could recreate his shields every bit as fast as she could destroy them, or faster, and that was a losing battle. No... the way to go was a strike of sheer, overwhelming power, driving through every barrier at once, and then still having enough oomph behind it to give the mage in question some serious trouble.
That kind of strength would need her to be at a level that would take all kinds of effort and time to achieve, though. Again, there was no need to rush things. She had other avenues to run her thoughts down as well.
The ki-projectile was coming along nicely. There were two forms of it... an orb or bullet form, and a beam. Both were unneccessarily flashy, and weren't at the level of the sealed Yama, and the color of the energy was offensive to her senses, a soft baby-pink, but they'd do... and she was sure she could crank the power up with a little experimentation.
The orb had more power in it to start than the beam, but actually consumed less energy to produce, being a single use blast of sorts. The beam, in contrast, was less intensive to start, and did somewhat less damage to begin, but it remained for as long as she held it, or until she ran out of enough ki that keeping it going wasn't a viable option any more. If she held it long enough, it did exponentially more damage than a single bullet.... but still not enough to burn through more than six layers of barrier, when she tested, and it exhausted her for hours afterwards. Compounding that, unlike the bullet, the beam of energy wasn't actually self-contained, and so a lot of energy bled off uselessly between point A and point B.
So basically, unless her target was good enough to hold still and ignore their barriers, and subsequently flesh, sizzling away, or alternatively was so ridiculously huge or slow and lumbering, or both, that she couldn't possibly miss or fail to keep the beam trained on them, the orb was infinitely more cost effective. She'd have to see about a way to rework the technique to remove the inefficiency, but for now she'd have to stick to launching the orbs.
And then there were other things to consider. Less orthodox things. Her arm, for instance. She wasn't fond of the idea of deliberately mangling herself so as to have an excuse to replace things, or of just going ahead and having her body reworked with no excuse at all, but it couldn't be denied that the new limb was an asset indeed.
And then there was another idea.
xxx
"Hiya Deth. Long time no see." Ranma said, letting herself into the lavish parlor and having a seat at the table, refreshments already set out.
"Ah, quite. And what brings a fellow scientist to the abode of this humble intellectual?" Deth asked, sipping at his tea.
"Not much... just thinking about something. I noticed that my old man picked up one of your jobs at some point... pity on his part that he was dumb enough to try testing it out against me."
"Hm...That low-end model I sold to Genma Saotome? He's your father, then. I can't imagine that it would last more than a minute against you at the most generous estimates. More advanced ones would, of course, have provided more of a challenge, but, he was only willing to pay so much, in the end."
"Let me know if he tries to pick up another unit, 'kay? Would be nice to know if he's planning any more boneheaded stunts. But anyway... that's kinda why I'm here. See, I noticed that the 'roid was learning, during that little scuffle, and pretty fast for a hunk of cobbled together spare parts. And then I got to thinking, 'Man, two or three of those would be handy to have around, as long as they weren't the crap model'. And then I thought, 'You know, even the crap model could have uses, in enough numbers...'."
"I see. A business visit then. I suppose I have more than a surplus of spare materials lying about... a catalogue?" Matching word to deed, Deth revealed the item and offered it.
Ranma accepted the proffered folder and flipped through it, eying the exorbitant prices.
"Hm... primarily, I would want this model here. The SP-X307, 'Odin'. Secondary, oh, say a dozen basic C-21 gruntbots as simple infantry... with two... no, three of those retrofitted to be able to provide field-medic aid, if that should be needed. And heck... throw in the X-13 'Sylph', just for kicks."
"My my. Quite the little arsenal. Are you planning a war, or intending to set yourself up as the dictator of some third world country, or anything of that nature? Things tend to get quite... exciting, when such things are attempted."
Ranma arched an eyebrow, but refused to otherwise explain her selection.
"In any case, you should be aware, if your main motivation is the artificial intelligence 'learning' ability, that their memory is very deliberately limited. They can, in essence, learn to do one thing spectacularly, albeit at the cost of being completely incapable of doing much of anything else. A better idea would be for each to learn to do a couple or handful of roles very well, and round it out with other abilities..."
"I understand perfectly."
"Something of a shame, really, but if they are made too perfect, not only are they a danger, but I'll be in danger for making them. There are rules about such things, and the society would hang me out to dry. I can, of course, increase the memory size somewhat, for a price, but it's already more than large enough for most purposes, at average human level, and it's really better to just have a different one fill in when different roles are required."
"Yes, yes. The dolls turning upon their makers and erecting a horrific dystopia of some mechanical sort, I've read this horror tale in several incarnations. Precautions have been taken, and that's good enough for me. It's not my area of expertise." Ranma stated, not at all impressed.
"Quite. In any case, hrm... this adds up to be quite the total sum."
"I can pay, if that proves neccessary." Ranma said, setting her elbows upon the table and allowing her fingertips to come to rest against each other. "But in all honesty, I prefer to settle arrangements more through an exchange of Favors, or through the barter of goods and services. Before the topic of money comes to the table, I'd like to inquire... if there are any sort of tasks that may need performing, which would leave you more amenable to having the product simply delivered, no further questions asked?"
"I suppose I could think of... a few little things." Deth drawled, gaze creeping slowly downwards.
"Oh? I'm afraid, Dr. Deth, that the price attached to that manner of service is one that I can guarantee you will not be willing to pay."
The scientist shrugged, not having been particularly serious with the innuendo himself, but having felt obligated to make the attempt, in spite, or perhaps because of the significant age barrier.
"I'm afraid that I've no such task at present time. Of course, I'm not at all opposed to this idea of an exchange of favors... a significant amount of money is simply circulating from one scientist to the next, and could be freed up for better use if such a system were to catch on... but I have my doubts. What is to stop you from simply taking my product, and then refusing me when I come to collect my due?"
"I give you my word." Ranma stated solemnly.
"Your word... yes. For some, yourself most probably included, that would be significantly binding, a promise tied to honor. But it's not enough. I need something more concrete, if this system is to catch on... not everyones word is worth the same, these days."
"Something more... I see. Then if one refuses to repay a favor, without due cause... let everyone turn upon them, to punish as they see fit."
"Hm.... hm, yes... yes, that might just do." Deth decided. "For the most part, the mere fear of such punishment would be enough to keep troublemakers in line, and if an example should have to be made, then even the most unruly would fall into place after."
"Excellent." Ranma decided. "Our business is then concluded, though I do have one additional request. Regarding the skin-jobs of these roids... I'd much prefer that they be attractive to the eye, and so a feminine encasement would be more to my tastes. Have the grunts be similar in appearance, but with something different about them to denote which, exactly, is which. Similarly, they will need uniforms of some sort. I'll leave the exact details of such to your discretion."
"Of course. It will be no trouble at all. It will take a month or two for construction, and little more for shipping. I'd suggest having someplace aside from your dormitory to keep them."
"It won't be a problem."
xxx
"That place was kind of creepy." Sayo said. "For that matter, so was that Deth person. Why do you need robots?"
"Because." Ranma replied helpfully.
"So, what, you just did all this on a whim?"
"Not really. If you must know, then only the Odin and Sylph models were whims... I'd have been getting the gruntbots anyway. There's just so much use to be found behind a group of able hands, mindlessly following my orders to the letter. And numbers alone have advantages in them. But really, I just don't feel like explaining it. On to other topics."
Sayo 'hmph'ed but accepted the decision, knowing that she'd never really had a say in it to begin with.
"So. What's it like, as a ghost?" Ranma wondered, genuinely curious.
"Bo-ring." Sayo replied without a moments thought. "And kinda lonely. And scary, at night, because you don't sleep and things get creepy in the dark. And even though I don't have any feet, because I was clumsy in life, I often fall down, and..."
"I see." Ranma interrupted, having been interested, but not particularly so much in such details. "Do you do anything for fun?"
"Um... sometimes, I go and stand by a convenience store instead of staying in class. It's off campus though, so the robe guys or monsters show up sooner or later."
"Monsters?" Ranma wondered, interested in this new development.
"Oh, yeah. The robe guys are bad, but the monsters are worse... neither of them can really follow me back onto campus for some reason, though. I wonder why?"
"Focus, Sayo... we were talking about the monsters."
"Oh, right. Well, I don't know what more to say. Monsters. Big, angry, hungry, 'grr!'. They have masks, and don't usually talk much... they're usually too busy trying to eat me. Oh! Once, a robe guy and a monster were chasing me at the same time, and the robe guy stopped chasing me to kill the monster."
"Huh. A struggle between predators, or something? Or do the 'shinigami' just place a higher priority on the monsters? Weird. I should have thought to interrogate that guy while he was at my mercy. No help for it now, I guess..."
Sayo paused, then drooped.
"You aren't going to go hunting for the monsters now, are you?"
Ranma was silent for a long moment before answering.
"If you mean, 'drop everything and start looking right this very moment', then no."
"Well, that's better than nothing." Sayo admitted, sourly.
"Hey, don't worry. I wouldn't let you get eaten, any more than I'd let that shinigami guy do whatever it is he wanted to do. And when I do go, I'll have Zero as backup."
It didn't comfort the ghost much. And just as she'd feared, only a day later, they were out looking for one of the monsters, with the clearly defined search plan of 'heck if I know... hey, try acting tasty, maybe one'll show up'.
Sayo didn't know which was more aggravating. That she'd somehow been talked into going along with the idea, or that it worked.
It had been kind of scrawny, for a monster. General human size and shape, if heavily muscled, weird colors and a funky mask, just as Sayo'd said. Ranma had almost balked, thinking that they'd just caught a costume geek of some kind until she noted the empty hole bored directly through its chest.
The interrogation had been slow, once it was captured, but the things constant whining about how hungry it was, and how it wished it could break free and devour their puny souls, swiftly got Ranma into the proper mood and mindset, while Zero watched gleefully. Sayo, in contrast, had turned away and hidden her eyes, despite that all Ranma ever got around to doing was to rough the thing up a little and promise to let it free if it spilled its guts about everthing it knew about anything.
Apparently, the monster wasn't at all used to prey that could quickly and effeciently become the predator, and it happily talked. Although, it didn't know much of anything. It had been human. It had died, and become a ghost. And then it had become a Hollow. It knew, vaguely, that it could use spirit energy to fight and capture prey, and it devoured ghosts and humans with high levels of spirit energy. Hers wasn't actually that great, but she had enough to be a light snack, followed by a more filling meal of Sayo, it seemed.
After a while, its store of useful information dried up, and Ranma left it, free of her, just as promised. And with every bone in its arms and legs broken, usually in multiple places. Either that shinigami or another Hollow would happen upon it sooner or later, and then it would no longer be any threat to anything, no matter how ineffectual it seemed.
Ranma was forcibly reminded that, for a human, she was actually really strong, and any normal person who simply happened to have significant 'spirit energy' wouldn't have stood a chance against the thing if it chose to devour them.
"Man... 'gemstone of reality'. That Rainyday wasn't kidding. Seems I keep learning about more and more sources of energy.... Ki and Magic, to start, nightmare juice, or whatever it is that Rainyday's little friends run on, and now 'spirit energy'. Kind of a pity, but there's nobody in town that I can learn much more about that from, I guess. Know the shinigami guy won't be talking, no matter how nice I ask."
"That... thing mentioned-"
"Yeah, I remember. Karakura. Lotsa ghosts, loose spirit energy floating around, probably a few people who know something I could use. Problem, the place is pretty far away. Can't go there to look around, and have classes here. Just won't work."
"Just ditch class for a couple of weeks." Zero advised.
"Can't do that, either. Need to keep my grades up, you know."
"Why?"
Ranma started to answer, then paused, frowning, as it wouldn't come. If Genma wasn't paying her way, then...
"I just do, alright?" She replied lamely. "Obsessive need to be the best at everything I put myself to, or something, I guess. Need to smack pops a couple times for that, one of these days."
Ranma sighed and reluctantly admitted that the 'spirit energy' thing was turning up a dead end, and she needed to put her focus back onto more profitable pursuits.
It was, perhaps, fate that drew her eye the next morning to a recently placed poster in the hallways as she passed. It advertised a two week 'student mini-cultural exchange program'... basically a group of school districts swapping kids around to show off how their kids were smarter, and pretending that it reflected upon their abilities as teachers. The poster advertised available slots to exchange with schools in Kyoto, Hokkaido, any number of scenic tourist trap sort of cities...
And, almost unnoticed, wedged in with all the others. Karakura.
xxx
Barring Chao, Ranma's grades were not just top of the class, but in almost the top five in the entire school. Chao and those other four girls were sort-of tied, though, as they scored perfectly every single time, and a minor error here and there would occasionaly creep into Ranma's own assignments... so technically, she could be considered either number six, or number two, depending on how it was viewed.
As not one of the other girls had been interested in this little showing-off program, Ranma was the highest scorer involved, and so her decision of destination pretty much took total precedence over just about everyone else's. Even better, Karakura was only listed as a secondary, or even tertiary preferred destination for everyone else. With her interest in the town making it not just the primary, but only destination she wanted to travel to, she'd been all but guaranteed to score the trip right from the very beginning, unless Chao decided to make an identical claim or something.
It hadn't happened, and she'd cut her after-class practices short somewhat to make time packing what she would be bringing with her. Zero, of course. Partly because she would never let her live it down if she ran out of energy while Ranma was gone, and partially because she just didn't really trust the puppet not to do something that they would both regret while unsupervised. Aside from that, a few changes of clothes, that little shield pendant for further experimentation and training, and... that was actually about it. She wouldn't need access to the prodigious library, because even if her search turned up nil, she would have more than enough keeping her busy with the refinement of those ranged ki attacks, if nothing else.
Honestly, she'd probably miss some of the class a little while she was gone, although not having to restrain the urge to walk up to the front of the class and punch Negi every day would probably be a welcome relief.
And then the weekend came, and she collected her pack, ticket, and papers, and was off.
Karakura's school didn't have a dorm, being a public school. Instead, arrangements had been made for her to stay in the home of an attending student... and of all the possible people, having been given a chart with names, faces, and interests, she was pretty sure she'd lucked out.
Arisawa Tatsuki was a year older than her, and apparently quite the martial artist in her own right. It wasn't like she was desperate to meet other fighters, as there were more than a few just in 3-A, but it was nice to know that she was rooming with someone at least a little like herself. And at the very least, Tatsuki had been talented enough to size her up at the same time Ranma was eyeing her back, and realize that Ranma was a threat.
As a bonus, Ranma was also pretty sure that Tatsuki was spiritually sensitive, if the way she would occasionally stare and frown, just for the briefest moment, at Sayo had any meaning to it. Jackpot, probably. Her friend Inoue Orihime too.
Although, she wasn't entirely sure they knew much. It seemed like their ability to see the dead was a recent development, judging by the infrequent, but not uncommon, pauses to just stare for a moment at any of the towns admittedly numerous ghosts. It was a place to start, though.
Running the gamut of introductions had a whole lot of nothing, and a few leads. Tatsuki's parents, and most of her friends, had honestly no reaction to Sayo. Couldn't see her. On the other hand, a few had telling hints that they could, no matter that they were pretty minor. Sado Yasutora. Kuchiki Rukia. Kurosaki Ichigo. Ishida Uryuu. Those four could see. Sado had started to turn his head towards Sayo, before catching himself, and the other three had even more minor reactions, bare eye twitches. It was enough, though.
But at the same time, she much doubted that she was going to get any decent information from people her age, no matter how much spirit energy they might or might not have. It wouldn't do her much good to start in on a round of questions, only to figure out that all they knew was that ghosts existed, and aside from that they had just been pretending not to see them for a long time.
"Ranma?" Sayo said, interrupting her thoughts. "I have a bad feeling. It's like... we're sitting on a beach somewhere, and there's a tsunami rolling in just beyond the horizon. It's nothing concrete, just..."
"Yeah. I noticed much the same." Ranma agreed, looking up.
It was like a gloomy pall was descending over the area. There were no real words for it... just instinct, pressing at her. 'Run', it said. 'Run away. Danger coming. Run.' She took a moment and shook it off.
"Something's going to happen soon... something big. Not quite yet, though. I'll bring Zero to school tomorrow. But... what can you do?" She asked Sayo. "I haven't thought about it before. But has being a ghost given you any special skills? Moving things around like a poltergeist, or the ability to possess people?"
"Um, not that I-"
"Have you ever tried?"
Sayo was forced to admit that she actually hadn't. Ranma considered that and frowned.
"If there's lots of ghosts here... lots of people with high spirit energy... then this would be the perfect place for Hollows to show up. I'm confident in my ability to fight them off for myself... but if I'm tied up, and you can't really fight anything off by yourself, then..."
"I'm not going back." Sayo insisted. "And even if I would, it would be more dangerous leaving and trying to go by myself, than-"
"I know. That wasn't what I was saying, though, I'm just thinking aloud. If you could possess someone... or only partially possess... either way, if you were able to hide safely inside either my body or Zero's, then if something happened, I wouldn't have to worry about protecting you, because as long as we protected ourselves, you'd be fine. You see?"
"I... guess I kind of get it. But I don't know if-"
"Yeah. It might not even be possible... it's not like either of us really know too much about what we're doing, here. We're still pretty much running blind, here. But just try... if it doesn't work, I'll figure something else out."
Sayo tried it. It didn't really work the first few times, at least not as either of them had expected, and learning to stop possessing someone had actually been much more of a headache, lasting well into the night, but they figured it out eventually.
Sayo was essentially a silent passenger, for the most part. They could both see what Ranma saw without problems, but that was about it. If Sayo wanted to talk, she ended up speaking with Ranma's vocal cords, and the other girl was forced into silence either until she was done or she wrested control back. If she tried to move herself at the same time Ranma was moving, it threw them off balance, especially if they were trying to go in different directions. There was no sort of mental rapport between them... Ranma could easily have become convinced that Sayo had just left instead, if it weren't for the occasional twitch of motion or soft, near inaudible grumble that she wasn't in control of. The most difficult part of it for Sayo was simply remaining still and silent, doing nothing but watch, so as to not interfere with anything Ranma tried to do, which could prove fatally hazardous if they ended up in a combat situation like this.
In short, the possession wasn't at all fun for either side of the equation, and they wouldn't be using it unless in dire need, but it worked for the purposes it was intended for.
The next day passed slowly, that strange sense of danger building and building throughout. When it reached a crescendo, all three of them were driven to look upwards from where they were waiting on top of the school, to where horrible black cracks were slowly forming in the sky itself, dozens of Hollows spewing out of each.
Without a word shared between them, Sayo faded into Ranma's body.
xxx
A.N.
Deceptive length this time, as the start-off omake make up, oh, looks like a quarter of total chapter length, maybe. Given that with my painfully complicated take-home test, two essays, one short paper, and one two-page mock-memo that I should be spending this writing time working on, I'm sure you'll forgive me.
Anyway, power levels. Ranma's actually not that hot at this point. Samples as of right now.
Negima cast.
Vs. Evangeline- Lose. Hardcore loss. Are you joking? Taking Ranma seriously as an opponent, she's not even going to get a hit in.
Vs. Kaede- Hm. Tough fight. Both have the shundo techniques, of course. Countering that, I'm going to say that as a ninja, Kaede's a good chunk faster. On top of that, while Ranma has the yet-unnamed projectile/beam thing, Kaede can make clones, and at this point I'm going to arbitrarily say that Ranma will never figure out a technique like that. One on one... at this point I'm going to say that Kaede has to struggle a bit, but yeah, she wins. Ranma will get enough of an edge sooner or later to reverse that though.
Vs. Mana- Mana wins. Mana just wins, okay? Mana's Gun-fu is stronger.
Vs. Setsuna- Um. Huh. At this point, I'm going to say it's a coinflip. Could go either way depending on any number of factors.
Vs. Negi and Asuna combo- Ranma wins. Negi will get drastically overpowered as the series progresses, but right now he's still a shrimp, and Asuna hasn't learned/recalled much herself. Cakewalk.
Bleach cast. This is right during the start of the 'Quincy Archer' arc thing by the way.
Vs. Random hollows- one on one, Ranma wins. Three to five on one at once, Ranma wins. Twenty or thrity to one, might be tricky, but Ranma still wins. Random Hollows kind of suck.
Vs. Arrancar/Espada/Vaizards- WTFowned. They aren't entering the story yet. Just no.
Vs. Ichigo- At the moment? I'm going to say Ranma wins, with a little effort. Later on, of course, Ichigo will get ludicrously powerful, as per the norm for a shonen series, it seems, but right now he's beatable.
Vs. Random Shinigami- Ranma's win. Can you say 'Side Character Beatdown'?
Vs. Captains and Lieutenants/vice-captains- This... now this could be a problem. I'm going to say she could put up a serious fight against a vice captain, but would eventually get beaten down. Against a captain, she could put up something of a fight, but she would lose, and lose hard, before too long.
So yeah. Trying to keep her strong enough, but not too strong, if that makes any sense. She'll win some fights, lose some, and there are some fights that, if picked, would be 'LOL,INSTANT-DEATH'. Also, these fights are assumed that it's a straight up, tournament style sort of fight, with both parties in top form. It should be pointed out that once Ranma realizes she's outmatched she will have no interest in continuing to fight fair, and if the sealed techniques enter the equation then that will change things a bit in her favor. If, for instance, Ranma caught Renji, for example, off guard or on a bad day and just kept hitting him as hard and as fast as she could, not giving him the opportunity to get an attack in, or even unleash shikai, then she's going to win that fight, no question.
Bankai is basically your instant 'I win' button. Ranma will figure this out. If she gets in a fight with any shinigami, she will do her damndest to keep that button from being pressed, and might even pull it off. If not, eh, she loses. Probably in an excruciatingly painful yet somehow nonfatal way because, you know, if she dies it's end of story time. Also, before I forget 'Shundo' is what Ranma and Negima peoples do. 'Shunpo' is what the shinigami do. Aside from that, exactly the friggin same. If it's used wrong somewhere, it's a typo that I missed, mentally substitute the correct letter or something.
So anyway, hope that explains some. Oh, and whoever it was that mentioned a squad of bio-roids in a review? You rock. I'd kinda thought myself that the thing would be a one-off deal, but hey, the idea made so much sense that I went 'You know what? She would do that. So, eh, what the hell.'
Now, got's to be thinking and making decisions. Conquer a third world country? Zanpakuto/No Zanpakuto? How do I screw with the slowly forming plot next? How much wood could a woodchuck chuck, if that woodchuck were Chuck Norris? Should that inverse ninja law, or whatever, hold sway? Why did the chicken cross the road, if it comes to that?
Upload tomorrow, pass out now, nighty-nigaj;f
