For everyone who feels like reading this story, thank you. I hope you guys like the turn is taking and this is just my way to wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year for you and your families.
The situation sure seemed bleak when two super-powerful fighters stood between Ryoga's freedom or future captivity back with Chimera. The teenage girl had her usual strength and all the abilities bestowed upon her training but the crisis she was fighting for internally sure complicated things in the outside too.
"Look guys, I don't know you and most likely I don't have a bone to pick with you so, why don't we part our ways and let me be. . .I know who you work for and he is a cruel man. When he finishes with me, who do you think is going to use next for his little experiment?"
Ryu Kumon was the smartest fighter about the situation from the pair, but something in the information he received from Chimera made him push forward with the mission. "I don' care girl. . .I have my own troubles to worry 'bout. . .When I deliver you to that bastard, he will let us go from that damn thing in our heads and we if he doesn't, then is goin' to be hell on earth.
As usual, Ryoga kept most of her senses alert during a fight. . .It was up to inner to pick the small details from the enemy monologues to give them a better advantage. Ryoga darted against the two teens again knowing they would use the same strategy than before.
Before Kumon could vanish, the girl reached where he was, grabbed him again and this time threw him with fury against a really thick tree. She was praying inside for the boy to be Ok, specially when a loud crash made him gasp for air and reach for his chest.
"Ryoga, that sounded like a minor broken rib. . .fractured at the most. Forget about him and focus on the giant lighting bolt coming in five seconds." The girl wondered how would inner know about a future event, countering it within five seconds before even hit, but when she saw the short strands of hair raise all the way up and the prior attack, she deduced the same thing.
Not only that, but when a bright concentration of static energy raised high top on the branches, she knew something big was coming her way. The girl began to move away from the Asura only to hold her ground worried by the slower boy with a fractured rib or two who slowly tried to keep the pace.
"Damn it Ryoga. . .Don't!. . .he will be a casualty of our enemy and not ours." The girl snarled at the idea to leave someone in trouble behind after all what she had gone through. "Can it! . . .I get the point. Toughen me up when the situation asks for it, but don't ask me to turn my back on him. . .My dad and mom would never forgive me and I would disrespect Ranma. . ."
Inner grew convinced how Ryoga used Ranma for his or rather, her way of life. The pigtailed boy might've been reckless, a big mouth and blunt but he had his heroics straight. . .He could never leave someone weak or attack when even an enemy was down and Ryoga knew that. Inner laughed when the Saotome brat had become his twin's role model.
The girl scoffed away when the chuckle from her subconscious made her realize she was right so the teen ignored everything else, hoping her help wouldn't endanger the situation more. Ryu Kumon tried to contain the sharp pain on his body while looking how the jumpy girl kept avoiding the small lighting attacks with ease.
Asura gestured angry at her agility forcing her to double her move with an even stronger bolt of electricity hitting from high above. The plus?. . .That bolt would hit earth in a matter of less than a second so even if she could counter it, if Asura could time it right, the pulsating arcs would reach her through the ground.
The combo went out just as she expected since a lot of trees worked as amplifiers, the small arcs made of blue lights jumped all over the place around her opponent leaving the only safe place from the bolt's contact where the girl stood. Unfortunately, Ryu barely walked from around a tree in the same location unaware of the tactic and exposed by the same effect.
Asura gaped for a second, but the attack was under way and there was nothing she could do to warn him about the massive hit advancing on his position. "Ryu . . ." Was everything the monster's inner-voice who happened to be Rouge could say when witnessing the possible destruction on her best friend.
The vast amount of static energy in the air showed immediately on Kumon's hair as it stood up like a bad made wig, giving him no chance to shield from the attack. Ryoga growled desperately at her next move, hating it even before going through with it, but she always believed it was part in the life of a hero to defend all.
The lighting came down with all its fury as a loud thunder announced everything on its path of destruction was a sure bet. Ryu closed his eyes, waiting for the moment where he would leave this earth, but the shove made him scream in agony when another set of fractures appeared on his right arm and leg caused by the girl's rushed action.
The boy managed to see his enemy right in front of his weakened state as she accepted willingly all the mighty of the attack. The fluid race of electrons through her body was excruciating, she could pass most of it when applying enough Chi on the same direction, creating some kind of "river" where the stream pushed the damaging intensity around her living organs.
When the bolt kept pushing through for the space of two seconds, the girl resisted as best as she could, but when it stopped she fell on a knee while a small cloud of steam raised from her burned body. "how bad was it Inner. . .?"
Her friend calculated the damage on the fly as the teen's enemies were getting ready for the assault. "You managed to avoid all the organs and pretty much the flesh under our skin burned by the current. . .I took about fifteen percent of you overall Chi and I'm healing as we speak. . .You could say that is most of the steam coming out."
Ryu and Asura believed the girl was fried by the effect on a direct hit, but when she moved back into stance, they noticed two things. . .She was still hurt and two, exceedingly weak by the lighting effect on her muscles. Indeed she felt way slower than before even when her body was almost at full strength.
The boy used some of his own chi to ignore or kill some of the sensations on his nerves from the pain. . .Enough at least to finish a full on fight against the female warrior without the help of the cursed Hindu goddess.
As he walked closer to their prey, he felt certain pang for her situation but this was all about her capture or his life, so pretty much the outcome was settled. "I'm sorry girl. . .I really appreciate what you did back there, but I must carry my mission before that maniac blow our heads up."
The Intel kept coming in as Inner took every note on their conversations and the girl outside their body prepared for the receiving attack. Asura didn't even feel bad since the curse was made that way, but Rouge begged to see how the boy was doing, thing she had to leave for later.
"Don't worry. . .I didn't do it for you to thank me. . .Is what good guys are supposed to do regardless of whose side on who. . .Well, let's go on with the fight before your nerves give up from the pain." said smugly the girl as she knew how hard the boy hit the tree earlier.
Kumon smiled slyly, spat to one side and began to force his body into a sprint only to be stopped by the same thundering sounds which closed on their position with considerable speed. Asura prepared against any attack from both sides when she moved sideways, but the roaring monster nearing them began to round Chimera's pair as it closed on Ryoga faster.
"Boy, just when I'm to my knees with enemies I get one more added to the list." Finished a tired girl when she began to feel the cramps from the electric pulse on her muscles. "Damn . . .Stupid attack hit me hard even when I averted most of the damage."
By the end of the sound, Asura and Ryu stood at full power against a weak female Ryoga ready to fall on their hands when out of no where a giant minotaur with tentacles destroyed pretty much every high bush and small tree all over their fighting zone.
"Damn! . . .Is hard to find you pretty girl. . ." Taro smiled as Ryoga sweat dropped, flared with intensity and ignoring her cramped body, lunged at the boy with insults. "Why in the hell are you calling me that!. . .Why not transvestite like Ranma, or boy-girl. . .Or anything else except what you just called me." Said the girl enraged in front of a very amused monster.
"And "that's" why I call you pretty. . .Is so funny that you are frustrated more than that pervert who has lived longer as a girl. Heck, I've seen you all well dressed and cute and you still look miserable. . .The pervert of your woman never gave me that look while transformed you know?"
Ryoga bared her teeth mad at him but she knew there were other pressing matters in hand after all. "So. . .Are you here to finish me off?" The beast walked away from the girl and in close proximity to Asura with his sights completely directed at the goddess curse.
"No. . .I owe you one and I don't like to owe. . .Besides, that bitch and I have a fight to settle." Said the minotaur as Asura hissed angrily against a well known opponent. "You stole my power source before remember?. . .You are no match for me so flee before I take you down for good."
Ryoga saw how Taro jumped on the female warrior with all his strength, pushing her away from her fight with Kumon. They kept breaking every tree they could find like one of those old movies about Godzilla and whatever monster it pops at the time.
Ryoga chuckled when something entirely surprising made her tilt her head questioningly. The minotaur would shoot his inked based attack on the girl as she tried the lighting rain on him. By the time she cleaned her face, he had thrown the Hindu goddess into the rain itself while pounding a heavy attack.
The effects worked somehow even when the female warrior had the same type of energy on her fingertips. The kick connected at the same time the swarm of her own lighting technique rain on her, sending the monster against another big tree with force.
"Well, I'll be. . .I didn't think the same based element would work against her." Said the disbelieving teen as she jumped away in the precise moment a rock thrown to her head by the military wearing boy announcing his presence. "Hey! . . .You have your own enemy to worry about!" Ryu Kumon looked tired just as much as the teen, but what he didn't count on was her ability to heal almost instantly if she should apply the right amount of Chi in her wounds.
"Please man. . .I don't want to fight you. Can't you see I only want to survive the bastard who hired you?" The boy kept listening to her, not paying attention but powering up his most devastating attack yet. When Ryu Kumon vanished from view, not only Ryoga was able to find him but Taro missed him as well from his senses.
"So. . .We have an escapist like that damn pervert. . .You get friends on high places I see." The girl ignored his comment as her senses tried to cover anything that could insinuate his whereabouts. A moving leaf with no wind or certain smell would be great deterrents for this move but the pressure of a possible surprise attack kept her from focusing adequately.
And it did happen just as she feared when out of the silence on her left, a tremendous, loud shout made her jump more scared than defenseless sending the fanged girl several feet away from where she stood. When she got up, a black mark on the stomach told Ryoga he hit her so hard with that last move, she barely registered the attack until the pain appeared a few seconds later.
"Ow! . . .Damn it. . .What did you hit me with?" Ryoga tried to remain up until sharp flashes of pain ran through her belly and lower chest like knife cuts. "Whatever you did I will do just as bad so be careful how you attack me!"
The threat was more than a bluff when Ryoga gaped at the voice who said it. In a fit of rage, Inner peeked from inside in the exact moment the pain the both of them felt, taking over her body for a second and emitting his dreadful warning.
"Ryoga. .. You need to change in these situations. . .Forget he is hurt for now and attack to maim. . .We can fix him later." The girl was scared by her inner-voice's resolve specially when our subconscious is supposed to be the voice of reason, but he was right.
She needed to concentrate on what was she fighting for. . .Not only her survival from that man, but to reunite with her wife and kids. That's when inner and Ryoga became one. The girl stopped her rants, closed her eyes and focused on everything her high developed senses let her track.
Kumon felt the fight won after his attack most conveniently rendered her victim unable to defend herself with one go. When he powered again to use the Umi Sen-ken and the Yama Sen-ken at the same time, he knew the victory was his.
He vanished and began to walk silently through the broken bushes and trees as his Chi began to coat his fists with terrible power. The moment Ryu felt he was close enough for the finishing attack, something amazing happened though. He came out of the Yama Sen-ken with a shout but the girl waited already for him.
She avoided the strongest punch effectively and connected her closed fist against his own gut with just as much force as the impact he did on her. Hard labored breathing told the girl he was about to pass out but before he did so, the boy asked one last question. "How? . . ."
The girl stared with squinting eyes firmly at him for a few seconds but she failed to understand the meaning at first, prompting her to shout just as loud. "What!. . ." Kumon fell unconscious as a deaf girl ran on the monster's direction after her secret counter-attack was revealed.
A mile or so into the deepest side of the forest Taro breathed heavily as the constant attacks made of fire and lighting sure were hard to avoid for someone so big. The minotaur kept using the trees as shelter to shield the small arcs of blinding light and electricity away, but fire took most of the foliage even when green plants were too hard to set alight.
"Give up Taro, this is just matter of time before I burn you to a crisp." There was no witty come back this time as Taro struggled to deflect with his tremendous body or avoid the incoming lighting bolts. "In your dreams bitch. . .I will make sure your down this time."
His defiant speech felt like the last warning before his assault would be the end of the fight, but the severely cursed boy never imagined the Hindu monster already set her flames of the storm attack on him from high above.
Once again Taro was at the end of the same hit who took him out the last time, but now she applied electricity instead of fire just like she did with Ryoga earlier. A passed out minotaur lain on the ground while Asura stared proudly on top of him.
"I told you to back off . . .I am forced to exterminate anyone who crosses our way to capture Ryoga Hibiki. I am sorry but this is the end for you." Finished as she released her fiery dragon dance at full force against the downed opponent.
The tornado of flames created by her spinning in place began to bath searing lashings against Taro making his fur burn from the contact. He would be charred by then, but the fanged girl managed to push the twirling Asura away with an enormous rock throw from the distance.
The Hindu deity curse recuperated instantly from the surprise attack but the point was to distract her from her main objective. "I hope you're not too angry but I am the one you look for and I will face you now." Said the fanged girl as she stood against her new opponent with resolve.
Asura shrugged carelessly knowing the state on Ryoga before hand and lunged at the fighter with flames on one hand and lighting globes on the other. Ryoga had sacrificed her hearing sense to reinforce the cramped muscles and made them stronger than before.
The attack fell on the normal looking girl but the effects somehow changed as Inner counseled her with additional information on how to counter the same type of results by simply taking her shoes off this time and while barefooted, she became an easier conductor for the electrifying combos from the other girl.
Her brute force was enough to kill the living flames when her own depressive Chi drowned them out of any oxygen. Asura understood rather too late any special move was wasted on the improved fighter, but she kept pushing forward anyway.
"Damn it. . .I have neutralized your attacks. . .Why are you still pushing me?" The Azura kept struggling with all matter of moves she desperately enforced on the girl, from her blinding globes of light to the scorching fireballs, the girl seemed to either counter them or evade them easily.
"I . . .Must kill you or Chimera will kill me and Ryu. . .There is no other way out." Ryoga listened Inner carefully as he instructed on the Intel he had gathered from previous encounters. "Ok. . .Stop!." Said Ryoga as she raised her hand in front of her.
The Hindu goddess stared questioningly at her waiting if this was some kind of trick, but the fanged girl walked closer to her enemy and stood right in front of her. "Please. .Let me see. I think I can help you." Asura is the cursed form of a relentless warrior, but her original form was tired of fighting for the moment so, the female creature took a deep breath, went to a nearby stream of water and poured some of it while heating it up with her flames.
Rouge appeared instead of the monster's curse bowing before the tired girl. "I-Is this a trick?" Ryoga shook her head as she walked closer, massaging the now normal young lady's scalp with her fingertips. "No. . .Is not. Please, let me find the problem."
Her Chi merged with the hearing sense to create an ultrasound kind of reading by her touch giving her an idea about the device firmly encrusted right besides her brain. "I don't know who did this to you. . .I'd imagine it was that bastard so I need you to come as fast as you can with me. . ."
Rouge noticed the same beeping Ryoga felt when the device threatened to go off so she nodded with the idea when the fanged girl pointed on Kumon's direction. As fast as she could, the older girl sprinted with Ryoga, arriving mere seconds to where the other boy was.
The Hibiki teen used the sharper sense of smell too as part of the procedure where her hands pulled slowly the devices from her two enemies just like she did with Ranma and the bullet stuck in her chest. Took her about ten seconds to fully pull them out and throw them away, contemplating in the distance the magnitude of the blast.
Several trees blew on several directions as the combined blast from the two explosives detonated far away. "Damn . . .What was he trying to do. . .Vaporize you from existence?" Rouge gaped at the tiny flaming mushroom a few meters away with a doubtful mind.
"Ryu Kumon told me the devices were capable to blow our heads but I never thought they would be that powerful." Said the purple haired girl as she saw awe-stricken at her savor. "Oh Ryoga-sama. . .Thank you so much for freeing him and me. . .And. . .I'm sorry for what we tried to do to you."
The girl felt so proud by her action that a small comment went inwards, directed at certain friend. "See? . . .Not everything is hate and be direct to the point. . .We are the good guys and we help anyone who needs our aid." Inner agreed with the girl but made sure their training on her behavior was still under way.
"I understand that Ryoga, but we need to toughen up against other's attacks and I don't mean fights. . .Taro insulted you when he said "pretty" and you went all angry to defend your title as a man, you turned into a simple argument into a worse scenario. . .We need to gain respect through actions."
Finished her subconscious just when Kumon began to come from his nap. The boy quickly reacted back in position but Rouge stopped him before going into the Umi Sen-ken. "Wait Ryu! . . .Ryoga saved us from the device. . .She pulled it out!"
Kumon frowned doubtful but when he grabbed his scalp, there was no more bump with the explosive attached to his brain. He composed back into a relaxed stance, stared at the girl and back at Rouge. "Guess we can leave that bastard's plans once and for all."
The Asura cursed girl smiled back at him and something definitely new popped into Ryoga's eyes. Both older teens held hands as they started to leave the forest behind. Ryoga never saw that outcome, making her chuckle out loud from the scene.
"Wow. . .You . . .And you, I never thought. . ." Ryu scoffed at the girl as they stopped once more before leaving for good. "Ryoga Hibiki, I don't envy you. . .We were told you had a piglet curse but now you are what that maniac wants most. . .A boy with healing powers and a girl capable to procreate more of your kind."
"By mindful of your surroundings because he will find out about that and you will suffer a lot worse than before." After his fair warning they left believing his debt had been paid. The fanged girl sighed relieved when after so much suffering the past was behind and her family was just a few miles away.
The forest went back to its regular melodic sounds as the teen dragged an unconscious Taro into a small made up camp. An hour later, the boy woke up well bandaged and resting comfortably on a rustic bed made of leaves.
"Don't tell me . .I still owe you aren't I?" The now boy passed him a form of tea made of wild herbs and proceeded to put some unguent on his swollen shoulder. "Hey, who's counting. . .Anyway. Thanks for the help man. . .I really appreciate you timing."
Taro smiled devilishly when he moved close to the boy in a sensuous manner. "W-What are you doing . . .?" Said the fanged boy as he kept moving back just in the same speed his friend moved towards him. "Well . . .If you turn into a pretty girl, I sure as hell will pay for your help with a big smooch."
That did it. Ryoga fumed after the insinuation, lunging just a few inches away while his fists powered up against his prey. "Damn it! I am not Ranma and I will kill you if you even think that way." Taro kept ignoring while pushing himself closer to the boy.
When they were close enough, his smile grew even bigger as he said. "Psych! . . .Damn, it's so easy how to mess with you Hibiki. . ." The fooled boy snarled back at him as his inner-voice kept reprimanding him about the same problem he had.
"You shut up! . . .I have enough troubles fighting over my toughen up attitude to be scolded by my own mind. . ." Taro just blinked when the other boy screamed like if someone else was with them. "Gee. . .You are getting weird on me man. . .Anyway, thanks for the laugh and the heal. I'll send your regards to you woman when I see her."
The boy went back into his minotaur form, flying away after his debt supposedly was paid in full.
After his ordeal, Ryoga found the rest of the journey rather calm with the sounds of nature and the peaceful serenade of his thoughts. The rest of the way took about two more days before the coordinates he memorized made any sense with the shapely milestones he met along the way.
An eagle formation here or a river in the shape of a woman there gave him the right path until the sounds of strange birds made him look high above him. The sounds revealed to be two well endowed women dressed in skimpy attires which didn't leave much to his imagination.
"Are you that Hibiki slave elder Cologne spoke so highly of?" The boy noticed the woman's Chinese was flawless for someone whose lived in the forest away from civilization for so long. The good thing about traveling all over the world for Ryoga was his perk to learn any language on the fly and this time, that skill came handy for this situation.
His Chinese was a bit rustic but understandable as he bowed to the pair even when the word slave didn't feel right. "Yes. . .I'm Hibiki. . .Can I see my family?" The woman with the green hair walked near the boy, poured water on him and afterwards, both females bowed respectfully at the new changed girl.
"Indeed warrior, you may see your family but be warned. . .Here you are a woman all the time. If someone sees you in your male cocoon you will be humiliated like trash." Ryoga somehow knew that would be the case since an Amazon village had femininity as a rule of thumb.
The three girls walked in while the new addition stared at the magnificence on the enormous village. This wasn't a rustic place full of indigenous people but more like a city filled with women well armed, blacksmiths and arenas all over the place where these warriors were fighting in between.
"I must admit, I didn't think Cologne's land would be this amazing. . .All the majestic view of your people sure makes me want to go and train with them." Pretty much Ryoga's eloquent speech went the drain when all the presents kept doing their stuff while ignoring her.
Slowly as they kept going, the fanged girl saw how another section of the village began to change into crop fields and farm land. She wanted to say something but their stares made her more uncomfortable than before. The next part though was the strangest of them all.
A land where all men were washing clothes, babysitting and cooking under the supervision of female guards and resulting on the last portion of her tour as the two warriors left not before warning the girl one more time. "Can you see what men mean in here? . . .Well. . .You don't even belong here. Your place is next to this area, go there and stay for further instructions."
Ryoga sighed at some kind of news she knew were coming her way when the girl saw several women rather beautiful but breast feeding the smaller babies. She blanched at the scene when from it, her parents walked close to her.
Ryoga ignored everything else when they ran at each other to make sure the three of them were fine. "Mom! . . .Dad, It's great that your Ok. . .Where is Natsume and the boys?" Akemi grabbed her from her shoulders as her dad bowed at her and left them alone quietly.
"Daughter. . .May I call you daughter?" Ryoga felt weird to be called that but she was her mother after all, It wasn't like she would be mad for that. "Mom, you can call me anything you want. . ." The older woman invited her to take a walk to their hut while she explained their situation.
"This place is marvelous to say the least, but there are certain arrangements we need to meet. As you could see, your father can only talk in our home but outside he becomes a mute resident here. Men are treated poorly and they have talked about you even before you arrived here."
"You must be in your girl form all the time you go outside and the hierarchies are a bit screwed up." Akemi took a stick and began to draw on the sandy ground how everything was set for them. "First we have the elders who lead the village, than we have the elite warriors. . .Those who protect and serve as main fighters for the city."
Next, she draw two more areas way down from the first two. "The third are men who live and work in the same way old fashioned women are in our world. . .Lastly is the cursed ones. I believe the pools are a punishment for those who fail or disobey the law."
"I'm afraid you are in the lowest of levels which incidentally are given the most demeaning jobs for a proud woman. . .Feed their young." The older woman shook her head disapprovingly when something so beautiful as to breastfeed was rendered a sin for the elite warriors.
"I'm sorry Ryoga, but here you will be forced to act as a mother for any new born they have." The fanged teen gaped ashamed by the job description but failed to see Natsume with them, prompting her to look all over the place hurriedly.
"She is not here daughter. . .The elders found Natsume a worthy warrior along with Kurumi. They have been selected as Elite warriors with ties to your male form as her mate. At first we were afraid Mousse would take you for his own, but Natsume fought valiantly to keep you for her alone and that permission was granted until you could claim a man for you."
Ryoga blinked when the last part didn't make much sense since her wife was in charge of him. "Sorry daughter, but Natsume is acknowledged as a warrior but is not a native Amazon. . .If you don't find a man to marry under their laws, Mousse will be assigned by force."
This was getting better and better for the girl, but there were options she knew from previous encounters with Shampoo. . .One of those was the reason the purple haired girl rejected Mousse in the first place, a fight to see if the boy was worthy.
"Don't worry mom. . .As long as I can hold my own against any male in a fight, I will be Ok and believe me. . .The only bastard capable to defeat me is long gone from my life." Accepted gratefully the girl when the pigtailed boy was the only capable to take her down.
Still, the less than favorable system emasculated him anyway from who he represented to use a body part she wasn't even aware it existed until recently, and now she won a place as the village's trash . . .That sure didn't bode well. Ryoga began to walk in direction towards the elders sanctuary just before one of the guards on that zone stopped her.
"Trash. . .Go back to your duties now or I'll make you." The fanged teen flared angrily by warrior's humiliating speech, pushing her into taunting fight. . .She was about to but a waving girl in the distance made her forget that raging desire.
"Ryoga-Chan! . . ." Said a beautiful Natsume running to meet her with the enthusiasm she expected from all their missing time together. They hugged, cuddle where they stood and finally walk back to their home as the warrior protecting the entrance smiled in Ryoga's direction.
"Natsu. . .Why is that girl staring so creepily at us?" The elite warrior winked the guard away as she stepped from her view. "Well, here I have a high position on the tribe and well . . .They get happy when two women share an affectionate welcome. . .You know, as if they were of the same gender identity?"
The newcomer swallowed dryly when it hit her how by the lack of strong men women would opt for other women as intimate partners. "Yeah. .Well, they better get things right. . .I didn't accept a life with my family only to be the mother of our children and humble housewife."
Now when she said that mouthful her partner frowned questionably at her. "Wait . . .What's wrong with being one if I'm in charge as the leader of our family. . .Why wouldn't you? Is it too demeaning to take care of Ichiro and Michiko?"
Ryoga swallowed again, this time afraid by a possible scolding because of her male bravado. "N-No. . .I mean. . .You are a strong fighter just like me, but what I meant is. . .Well, you see . . ." The girl's babbling kept going for a few more seconds until her real woman peeked a smile of revenge.
"I know what you mean Ryoga and I agree. . .Being a warrior full time is tiresome and annoying. They don't let me enjoy my time with my babies and breastfeeding or changing diapers are a blessing for my family, not a chore."
The rant made Ryoga throw sparkling eyes her way, but Natsume had the response way before her question popped. "Sorry Ryo. . .I believe those who are cursed become the lowest in this society and what makes things worse are the one cursed by the pool of drowned girl."
She sat besides the deflated girl as sad stories about good friends were the reason many fled a beautiful place like this. "Why do you think Shampoo and Mousse loved being in Nerima? . . .They were cast aside like trash the moment they were punished with the waters of Jusenkyo."
"Shampoo was the strongest elite warrior apprentice before she turned into a cat and when friends and family looked down on her afterwards, she decided to "pursue" her promise to either kill or marry Ranma by leaving her new job as babysitter behind."
Natsume welcomed Akemi as the older woman and her husband joined in the conversation by following the same tale. "Mousse is just the same too, but being humiliated when Shampoo rejected him aside and his own cursed form took him from a prominent elite warrior's husband to the town's clown, he opted to follow Shampoo as well."
"Now that you are here, if you don't get a worthy male to claim you as a full fledged Amazon, your female curse won't count for anything but a slave with no rights." That was the part Ryoga hated the most when avoiding thinking through with the deal for the sake of her family.
Cologne offered him a way to protect his kin but in exchange, she asked with underhanded means to become a salvation plank for Mousse as a prominent warrior. . .A powerful yet submissive elite warrior made to obey the old woman without question and most of all, the newest addition to her army.
"So. Either I become a quiet, obedient servant for everyone to step on or a worthy woman with a male curse and a husband to make him look good. . .?" All the family nodded at the same time when pretty much that was the idea from the start.
"Fine. . .I will accept Mousse as my man but if he dares to even come closer in any other way than friendship, I'm killing him on the spot. . ." Finished an irate, fanged girl. Natsume never left her side as the cheerful demeanor she boasted promised to make sure the girl's predicament wouldn't take the wrong turn.
"You and me Ryoga. . .Remember, you might need to be a woman for that blind boy but you are rightfully mine here, in the outside world and after we die." Said Natsume-Chan with firmness in her speech. That made Ryoga feel stronger as a male hidden on a female body.
The fanged teen smiled back as a sign of understanding as a child with flaming red hair and a tiny little girl barely walking came from the second room. Ryoga gaped in surprise and somewhat sadness when the boy was a year and half without her personal contact.
Little Michiko recognized her scent immediately, running at her side with doubtful steps. Ichiro squinted his eyes trying to see who those fangs reminded him of besides his grandpa and himself and while making sure, he ran to her side. . .Directly on her mother's side.
The boy hid behind the girl's short skirt made of skins while peeking to stare at the strange woman. "Ichi. . .I know you don't recognize me but it's me. . .Remember?" Said Ryoga as she continued talking to him with strange sounds he found strangely familiar. "Bwee! . . .Bwe!." Began to wail out loud Ryoga which made the little boy smile and his eyes turn into sparkling stars. "D-Dad? . . .IS it you?"
Ryoga laughed when he had used P-Chan as a way to help him sleep when little Ichiro had issues with the dark. His constant vigilance and Bwee sounds made the kid so comfortable, they felt amazing when he finally slept on his own.
"Dad!. . .I . . .I thought you were mad at me. . ." Said the redheaded boy as he lunged with tears on his face, hugging the girl desperately. Ryoga turned to see Natsume with a concerned look but the elite in the family just shrugged defeated after she said. "He thinks you did something to him because of his curse. . .he blames himself for it."
Ryoga 's eyes began to leak when he felt the pang of missing the most important years on a child's life. The girl hugged him back tenderly while shushing away his worries. " Never my child. . .Daddy was the one messing things up with that damn curse. . .Cheer up, we'll talk about that and more since I will be your personal baby sitter from now on."
Michiko babbled names of her own, trying to repeat whatever the grown ups were talking about. When the family saw her, she blushed from the attention while the rest laughed goodheartedly with the baby's antics. "Oh man. . .How I missed you all." Said Ryoga calmly while thanking the stars she was whole again.
Far away from a happy reunion, the atmosphere paled in comparison against the harmony in the Hibikis. The place was the same base for all matter of weirdness revolving precisely around one boy. This time though the problems reached his father after the promises he did for the good of his son.
The meeting had become an usual practice as Soun agreed after Genma offered part of the check Chimera gave him to fix the mess on the Dojo for a reunion of sorts with the goal to deliver the Hibikis on the wealthy man's hands.
"Now Mr. Saotome . . .I agree you did amazingly good on delivering us that dreaded boy and for what I could gather he had becoming something like a lover to your son. . ." Said the tall man as he shook his head disapprovingly.
"This time though I require more than information. . .I need the whole family for the good of the world. Imagine! . . .Diseases like cancer eradicated from earth. . .Illnesses that plague men totally destroyed away by the might of the Saotome bloodline!."
If there was one thing the bald man loved more than being lazy was the recognition of his name and the fame his school would soar with when the sneaky man adorned his lies with shiny truths. "Remember my good Sir. . .You are protecting your son from a pervert whom wants to use his curse in the vilest of ways. . .To be used as a sex toy for his amusement."
That was the only thing he needed to hear for his pride to explode at the indignity of his family. "You're right. . .What do you want me to do." The man grabbed him from the shoulder as they began to plot against Ryoga with a dubious way to trick Ranma in the first place.
"See this? . . .Is a very powerful charm created to bring all sorts of good luck to the wearer. . .It's supposed to work with the one you give first after the one discovering it gives it to you first." The bald man fixed his glasses while his greed pushed him to ask the obvious.
"Is that so?" The man growled angry, hit him on the head and answered him as low as he could talk. "Of course not. . .It's a tracking device used on animals. . .I want you to make your son wear it so I can find the Hibikis personally."
"What makes you think my boy would want to look for that brat if he's in China?" Chimera smiled in a way that made the old man uncomfortable. "Your son might be the manliest man on earth but you and I know he has slipped in the past with other boys like that Tatewaki brat and you were there with him." Genma stared blankly when the man was well informed by his son's whereabouts making any way to outsmart him impossible.
"Fine, let me talk to the boy an' give him that necklace. . .In the meantime." There were no more words Chimera wanted to hear from him when a juicy paycheck waved on his hand, waiting for the greedy master to take it.
When the tall man left, most of the family felt that aftertaste of medicine by his mere presence. . .Probably something related to their roots as Chi readers. Kasumi has always been the cheerful girl filled with nothing but goodness but when he left, even she felt alleviated by his absence.
Walking back from the Neko-hanten, Ranma and Akane talked about all the different facts the teens missed between the lines. Ranma and the Tendo girl were mothers of two babies to which they had no knowledge until recently.
The pigtailed boy fought as much as he could hold on to the idea of a pure, male boy with nothing effeminate but a female curse and failed to recognize it as such when certain feelings for the fanged boy popped against his will.
Ryoga had left for good and there was no way for him to get him back since Mousse would reclaim his female curse as his mate. Everything began to feel wrong. . .And now that his father had ties with the man who kidnapped his friend in the first place, pretty much everything looked as going down hill.
"Akane. . .I think we need to fix our problems here first if we want to do somethin' 'bout Ryoga. . .I mean, if you want to do somethin' about it . . ." The girl admitted Ranma as a person with two genders battling within and not as a full male.
The girl wanted Ryoga back too, but the idea to loose Ranma in the process looked bleak at best. "I don't know Ranma. . .I want him with us too, but . . .What about . . .Me?" The boy kept meditating that detail while doubts filled his mind when the deal he talked with Cologne doomed his will as a man.
The idea on the Amazon Elder was simple. Marry Akane. . .Go to Joketsuzoku and claim Ryoga's female side as a second wife allowed by Amazonian law. It really was simple since the boy's ego would soar through the air when two beautiful girls would be attached in matrimony to the boy.
Than again, the male was the lower species in the city and so, Ranma Saotome would be the obedient spouse in Ryoga's female form in charge of the relationship. . .He stuck his tongue out, making a funny face when girl type Ryoga would brag about her dominance over him.
Akane wanted to guess why he had done the face, but someone so transparent like the pigtailed boy was easy to read. "You just thought about Ryoga ruling over you didn't you?" The boy nodded disgruntled, looking down on his luck.
"All I want is to fix what I broke . . .If he ends up with Natsume so be it, but I want to know my son in good terms. . .An' I want to be with you, I really do. . .But I ain't takin' his insults an' humiliations as the head of the family. . .No way, no how." The girl's frown told him clearly he was getting ahead of himself plus, the reason for all this mess was the cause of their predicament.
"Ranma. . .If I remember right, you are the one acting all high and mighty when he kissed you." Said the girl as Ranma felt a sharp pain on his chest. "When he saved you under all the rocks." Another sharp pain made him grab on the affected area as he leaned on the fence.
"And after all that, he saved you once again from a life stuck on a wheelchair. . .And all the humiliations you have done as a girl supposedly in love with him. . .As his fiancée or sister have done nothing but to make matters worse for Ryoga-kun." So many imaginative slashes sent the boy against the floor after all his "miscommunications" were nothing but that.
"And after all the things he has done for you, I think he deserves to be the better half. . ." He could have accepted his fault on all of it, but the last part stung like a giant needle in his well inflated ego. "Never! . . .I am Ranma Saotome and no one is above me. . ." Finished with labored breathing and a finger high in the sky.
"Whatever Ranma. . .Either you get with the program and we act as a family or we loose him for good. . .Your choice." The girl paced away from the confused boy as he kept staring on his two separated hands like if they were the two options on his upcoming challenge.
His thoughts got him even faster to the Dojo where the family enjoyed supper together. Both Ranma and Akane bobbed decidedly when his old man popped into view while eating like an animal. The boy took one side while the Tendo girl cut the other.
There were impressions in his mind from the previous talk with his fiancée although he believed something else was bound to happen so he waited for Akane to open up only to be pushed back by the girl.
Ranma kicked Akane's accusations about Ryoga to the back of his mind, leaving them for another time before he moved on to more pressing matters. "Ok Pops. . .Spit it out." The Tendo family gathered around the living room waiting patiently for the Saotome father to explain his latest motives as the plates kept lining for the teens.
Genma hated to end up as the bad guy even when he was at fault so, after some staring contest with his son, the bald man stood up with the might of an innocent man. "I did what I had to for the sake of my son and I don' regret a thing. . ."
The girls and Ranma sweat dropped at the idea of his prideful alibi but as soon as he turned back to stare back at the pigtail boy, he knew this was going to be worse than Akane's scolding. "Is it because of you ungrateful son! . . .You have used that damn curse for you benefit from day one and who ends up the villain? . . .me."
Ranma still didn't buy any of his nonsense but over the course of his reprimand his father touched points he wanted to avoid from the beginning. "You used that female illusion to gain free food on stalls . . .You accepted treats from boys on the beach while acting all cute an' innocent. . .You! . . .Dated that Tatewaki boy to take over the wish granting sword. . ."
"What was I suppose to do? . . .Stay back an' watch how you lose your manliness? . . .I had to do what I had to. . .Otherwise, you would be Ryoga's woman . . .Or worse." Ranma felt the same pang like slashes than before but after what the fanged boy did under the rocks, the pigtailed teen knew he would go that far.
"Further more, I have protected your right with Akane-san from the day you two met. . .I try to teach you everythin' for you to defeat the master one of these days and lastly. . .I raised you to be a man! . . .Not a touchy feeling girl with a male curse."
They hurt. . .The words falling in his ears were stinging worse than Akane's when his manhood was on the line, but if that was the whole truth then why did he still feel attracted to the fanged teen?. "S-Stop Pops! . . .I know . . .I do, but . . ." There was nothing he could say to defend his points as the raven haired girl looked away from him in deep thought.
"Well . . .I didn' think it would get this far . . .I swear!." The tiny smile in the bald man made him feel empowered by how things turned his way until a wise Soun walked near his friend holding a figuratively last nail on his coffin.
"Ahem. . .Saotome-san. . .I think you should tell them about "that" other thing. . ." The sad expression on the boy changed to an angry frown when something else was omitted from his reproaching speech. ". . .Pops? . . .What else are you not tellin' us?"
His father coughed, cleared his throat and stalled for as long as he could until an angrier boy asked him impatiently about it. "Damn it Pops . . .What else is missin' . . .?" His father exploded with his own anger as he needed to come clean with his family.
"I accepted that man's money OK? . . .He offered me a lot of money to give Ryoga to him. . .T-That's what happened all those months ago." When he said that all the girls were angry at him but Akane flared when something came to mind.
"That's how they found him on the Neko-hanten and how he was captured here after Ryoga-kun saved your son from being paralyzed. . .You know what you did? . . .All the torture he went through thanks to that bloodied money?"
Ranma was just as furious thinking on how his father ruined any chance he had to fix things with the boy, he walked closer to him ready to pound him when the man rebutted in his defense the reason Ranma feared the most. "What was I suppose to do! . . .He kissed my son for Pete sake! . . .Tell me son. If Ryoga-kun would get closer to Akane, what would you do?"
The boy did think about all the seductions he flirted with the fanged boy when he was about to express his feelings to the Tendo girl, trying to screw with him which made him understand his methods a bit. "You used that curse to confuse him. . .I did the same with that Chimera guy. I took Ryoga away from your pride as a man, you can't blame me for that."
Ranma stopped and backed off slowly just as the girl questioned one more detail. "Pray tell Mr. Saotome. . .How much did he paid you for backstabbing Ryoga-kun?" The man began to babble again, saying numbers with a low pitched tone, no one was able to understand.
When Akane asked him again with a louder tone of her own, the man answered Back angrily at her pushing tone. "Five million alright? . . .Five million yen was the check he gave me." If the family was surprised by the amount, when Soun popped from no where declaring about a second check for the same size, everyone gaped at the amount the coward stranger gave for simple information which begged them to ask once more for the details.
"How much information did you give him? . . .That's just too much money." Was the wise question from the only one who knew all about good business. Genma stared at Nabiki as her comment raised more flags from the teens than he hoped not to answer. " Well. . .I gave full permission for Ryu Kumon to use my secret scrolls and I swore to tell him every move, including the boy's transformation curse and the coordinates where to find him in China."
With timid steps Ranma moved from side to side thinking on something that might make things a lot harder for all of them, asking him with as much tact as he could summon. "P-Pops. . .Does he know about Ryoga's children?"
The man fixed his glasses, looked away and then back at the boy with the guilty sight of a condemned man. "He knows everythin'. . ." He knew somehow and that hurt him more than any other blunder his father could have done in the past.
The youngest Tendo drove her hands to her lips in amazed surprise by the turn of events where her child could be in danger all thanks to the slip the old man did. "D-Damn you . . .I am going to kill you!" Said the girl as a giant mallet flew into the air, mallet that Ranma stopped right on time.
Again. . .Everyone stared dumbstruck when all their plans involving Ryoga meant to deliver him and his family again to that maniac. Ranma saw Akane firmly before he dared to ask her something. "'Kane. . .I have an idea." The girl bobbed agreeing with him, leaving afterwards to plan their own strategy.
The only reason the couple stopped before leaving the room was when Soun felt the need to reprimand his friend. "Why Saotome-Kun. . .Why would you betray your family for money." The man began to feel terrible, but his resolve never waned.
"I Had to Tendo-Kun. . .He warned me if I didn't, M'boy would be in terrible danger. . .Used as a sexual slave for his personal purposes." He plummeted back on his chair as a pigtailed boy snarled by the thought alone, but ignoring the rest of the conversation to try and fix his mess.
Genma stayed back discussing matters with the money and all the food, plus all the disastrous damage his son did around the house as the couple walked outside to discuss their options. "I think we should stop looking for Ryoga now. . .If we try somethin' that bastard could be on to him."
Akane agreed as well thinking not only on his best friend's life but her own. "Fine, but we need to work on us Ranma. . .Let's leave Ryoga-kun alone for now while we try to understand this messed up relationship of ours."
Both accepted the terms, leaving the Hibikis in peace for the time being. The next day, Ranma and the girl arrived to a deserted Chinese restaurant while Mousse and Cologne looked ready to depart. "Old Ghoul! . . .Wait!."
When they met, the old woman had a nice smile stamped on her happy face proud by her accomplishments. "Oh. . .Son-in-law. Ready to marry Ryoga and claim your place at our side?" The boy felt awkward when the mention of his union with the fanged boy sounded so. . .Weird but he let that pass for now.
" Not yet. . .I decided to stay for now, but I want to claim my position as his mate against Mousse. . .Will you grant me that?" The blind boy lunged madly at the poster on the wall as his finger pointed directly at the picture.
"Listen Saotome. . .Ryoga will be my woman and there is nothing you can say about it. . .Want to fight for her? . . .Too bad, she is mine!" Said the boy pleased by his sudden involvement and hoping the pigtailed fighter would slip into his trap.
The boy ignored Mousse's taunts as the old woman became his priority. "Well old ghoul? . . .Do I have your word?" The wise elder needed Ranma as one of her secret weapons together with the bandanna boy so the deal had to be made now. "How long son?"
Ranma gazed to the floor counting a fair date for his effort to work on his life with Akane and a possible chance to redeem himself before Ryoga. "Give me six months. . .Six months to prepare for Ryoga and be ready with my business here." The woman considered the deal as a proper one so she bobbed positively at him.
"Fine son-in-law. . .In six months I'll be back here for your response. . .Work on what you need done and we will see each other soon." Ranma was surprised when there were no tricks or arguments from the duck-boy again, but he shrugged and left the place in a hurry.
Yet, on another distant place another meeting went underway as the Chimera man discussed plans of his own. This time the people involved was of hard reputation. The tall, strong man meet someone even stronger and bigger who looked somewhat dumb for his shape.
"That is correct! . . .I did not get to my place by trusting others and giving money away. . .I have plans of my own and you boy. . .You are my plan C." The boy had the size of a full grown man and the shape of a bodybuilder.
When the boy accepted his proposal, he stared at all the pictures and trophies his new employer had but what captive him the most were the females adorning his frames. He ran his fingers across the shapes while his brimming eyes contemplated the raised chests on their upper torso.
Chimera found the idea rather amusing but after the fame and history of this boy's people, he accepted to some degree his perverted curiosity for female anatomy. "My prince does not know I am here. . .When we meet, what will be the main plan."
The man sighed after his well prepared speech did nothing for the senseless brute. "Again. . .You will send word to your prince that I have a way to conquer that damn village filled with Amazons. He can keep them as pets for all I care. . .All I want is certain boy and his family in my grasp. . .Do you understand?"
His inspiration hit a new high when the same enthusiasm running through his vain made him say something he kept well hidden, but pride is such an easy sin to slip from. "I want that damn boy and his children. . .They are the key to my real future and I will not lose them to a run down, little town ruled by women."
The moment his desire surfaced from the speech, the same green eyes he flared from the effects before appeared once again in front of the boy. "I never thought someone could posses this much power. . ..It's fulfilling!' Finished as a finger touched his desk, turning it into gray flames by his touch.
Mint saw him uninterestingly while glued to the pictures though. "I understand. . .My prince and the Musk have done great without women but Herb believes is time to change that. . .I will report your plan and I'm sure he'll be pleased with those warriors as our slaves."
It took the man several ways to contact the prince of the Musk but when Ranma and his friends were in danger, the ruler seemed to respond to his inquiries. "Good boy, now go and do your part. . .I will help your race become the greatest ruling civilization in China."
