Ripples of a Chaotic Pebble
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Chapter 10
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Rei Hino stared at the two girls standing before her, her mind a churning pit of emotion. With the use of that transformation pen her rigid, spiritual life had been fundamentally shaken. Despite all the years she'd dedicated to plunging the depths of the Shinto religion, she was now tasked with a desperate war, the existence of which called into question her beliefs.
Despite the broadly smiling blond and her azure-haired companion, the newly-raised Sailor Mars felt nothing but trepidation concerning her new duty.
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Makoto Kino ducked under the vicious swipe. This thing was a monster! What sort of demon could possibly move this fast, be this strong? A follow up combination saw the girl cross her arms in a block and willingly abandon her footing, bleeding the momentum of the horribly powerful attack in a backwards roll. The girl planted her feet and hands, springing back to a standing position as she gazed into cold, merciless eyes.
Martial arts was one thing, but this... This was on an entirely different level. Would she even survive?
"Hey, don't tell me that's all you've got," the demon she was facing breathed, a low chuckle sending shivers down the girl's spine. The sound was feral, not of this world. "I'm not even using a quarter of my strength."
The brunette's lip quivered as she stared down her foe.
"Come on, daddy, be fair... Not everyone had to fight off every freakishly strong person on the planet like you did," Makoto countered, ducking under a leaping kick and spinning in an attempt to catch her opponent off guard, before he could land and regain his balance. Her father caught her foot with a grin, deftly sliding under the attack and tagging the girl's ankle.
Makoto planted her hands and tucked into a forward roll that was cut painfully short by a foot planted firmly on her stomach.
"No daughter of mine is gonna be anything but the best if she's going to be a martial artist. If you'd decided that martial arts weren't your thing, that'd be fine. But since you've clearly been training pretty hard already, it's time I kick that training up a notch," Ranma grinned, and Makoto groaned. She remembered her mother's tales of her father's childhood training and how horrific it had been. Even if he was willing to tone it down, it was still mind-wrenchingly terrible to consider.
Then again... It'd be nice to be able to be strong. Strong enough to compare to her old boyfriend. The bastard had the audacity to walk out on her and never come back. Her bad mood following that event had been expulsion number one.
She nodded to her father. Time to start training in earnest.
With a loud kiai and a sudden twist of her body, she robbed her father of his footing for the half-second it took the girl to roll on to her stomach, plant her hands, and spring to her feet. As soon as the balls of her feet touched the ground she was forced to block a strong roundhouse which sent her sliding back.
Her grin matched her father's, and she charged in.
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Usagi woke up after a pleasant dream. She ignored Luna's rantings about her duty and about the dangers Tuxedo Mask presented. After all, if he was so bad... He wouldn't have saved her life like he had.
He wouldn't have helped.
He couldn't be the enemy. Especially not when compared to the rude white-clad boy. She was sure she'd be seeing him again. Something told her it was destined. Some memory at the back of her mind told her he was familiar, just like her memory told her Tuxedo Mask was familiar.
She felt no warm memories where the pigtailed boy was concerned, however.
Her thoughts were distracted as she left her home on her way to school.
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"How is this educational, again?" Makoto asked, sitting next to her father and dubiously eyeing the flickering screen in front of her. The Crown Arcade didn't seem like the best place to learn about the highest techniques of martial arts. Especially not a game made by Capcom.
"I'll have you know that the Street Fighter series is a gold mine of information... And now that the new game is out, it's time to see if there's anything worth swiping," Ranma noted with a chuckle. At the doubtful look on his daughter's face, Ranma held up one palm and pointed it at an empty soda can sitting on the floor. "Hadoken."
A miniature Moko Takabisha rocketed from his hand to smack into the can, spinning it rapidly across the ground. The doubtful look on the tall brunette's face vanished instantly.
"I didn't really think about it much until I saw Street Fighter II way back when I was in my second year of high school. Then I saw E. Honda's hundred hand slap and realized that some of the specials in the game are stuff just like what I can do," Ranma chuckled, inserting a one hundred yen coin into the slot at the machine. "Most of the time I can't figure out how to make the crap work anyway, but occasionally something sparks an idea. Hey sweet, a new character!"
"Daddy, I don't think you're going to learn anything from someone named Crimson Viper," Makoto noted dryly, though she sat down to watch anyway. After a moment the introductary cutscene faded to the first match, and her father started to enter random combinations and note their effects. He stood up with a broad grin after losing two rounds in a row. "What, that's it? I thought you'd make a better showing than that."
"I got all I needed from those two rounds," Ranma retorted, cackling to himself as they exited the entertainment center. It wasn't long before they arrived at the abandoned lot they'd been practicing at earlier. "Okay now, stand back. Last time I tried to mimic something from a video game it didn't turn out so good. Or I guess you could say it did, but it hurt."
He paused for a moment, a wince on his face, before adding, "A lot."
Makoto nodded, quickly stepping back to the edge of the lot. She'd seen enough of her mother's practice as a kid to know just how devestating some martial arts techniques could be, and her father's sparring session with her had only reinforced the message.
"Alright, now if I remember correctly, that redheaded chick in the game was able to blast away her opponents by slamming her fist into the ground. So maybe if I channel some of my chi into the ground as I hit it..." Ranma mused, staring at his fist thoughtfully.
He jumped up and focused, dumping the chi through his knuckles and into the ground next to a rusted barrel. The abused container blasted away and Ranma began to grin in victory when he felt the pressure slam into his body as well, blasting him dozens of feet into the air in an uncontrolled tumble. He was just beginning to shake off the effects of the blow when gravity reasserted itself, and only had time to scream a short protest before landing face first on the ground.
"Owwww..."
"Are you alright, daddy?" Makoto asked, wincing at the glazed look in her father's eyes. Rather than respond, the young man opted instead to simply pass out. "So, no?"
The girl sighed. Carrying him back to her apartment wasn't going to be fun.
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Usagi wasn't one for paying attention to her surroundings, especially not when she had so much on her mind. Thus, she could perhaps be forgiven for missing the 'Do Not Walk' signal flashing on the pedestrial signal.
Even she could hear the frantic honking and the skidding tires of the car rapidly approaching her. She had only time to flinch before warm arms enfolded her and lifted with impressive strength, and the blond girl flinched at the quiet thud of her heels tapping the roof of the car as it sped by.
As she was set down gently, she couldn't help but note the girl's clean scent, the chestnut brown hair, the beautiful rose earrings the girl wore. Even the odd uniform the girl wore suited her, long skirt complimenting equally long legs. Everything but the tall girl's mere presence seemed to dim in the face of her saviour's grace.
"That was close," the brunette commented, bending down to pick up a young, dark-haired man of average height. "Be careful, okay?"
Usagi nodded, watching as the girl rounded the corner.
"Usagi, didn't you notice?" Luna demanded, nudging the girl with her head.
"Notice what?" Usagi asked, tilting her eyes away from the tall girl to the black cat on her shoulder. The cat let out a exasperated sigh.
"The boy. Didn't you recognize him!?" The cat demanded. "I did based just on your description of him!"
It finally dawned on her. The young man had had a pigtail. She raced around the corner and cast her gaze around the street, hoping to find her savior, only to discover that she'd disappeared along with the blond's target.
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"Urrrgh..." Ranma groaned, consciousness slowly returning. 'Note to self: exploding undirected chi right in front of yourself equals pain. Bogard has it right in King of Fighters... and that redhead has as much connection to reality as a fairy tale does.'
The pigtailed boy sat up, noting that he was in his daughter's bed. He noticed a note on the bedside table and picked it up.
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Hey Daddy,
I had to go to Juuban Junior High. I'm going to be late thanks to your little adventure this morning, but oh well. It's my first day anyway, so I'm sure they won't mind too much. The fact the store didn't have uniforms my size will probably be a bigger deal... Let alone my natural hair colour.
I made extras when I was making my bento this morning and they're in the fridge. I should be home by about four o'clock or so. See you then!
-Mako-chan
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Brightening at the prospect of food, the blue-eyed youth scrambled out of bed and hurried into the kitchen. He was into his third spiced riceball when he noticed the tied bento on the counter. With a groan, the pigtailed boy's eyes traveled up to the clock over the stove and noted it would be noon in ten minutes.
Cursing parental instincts he didn't even know he possessed, he quickly popped three pieces of maki salmon in his mouth before bounding out the door, bento in hand. If he remembered correctly, he could still make it to his daughter's school in time for her to eat her lunch.
The streets were a blur as Ranma moved over the sidewalk, building enough speed to launch himself skyward with the aid of a mailbox. He made good time moving across the low-slung rooftops of Minato's shop district, keeping a wary eye out for office buildings or apartments which were easier to circle around than jump over.
In no time at all he'd cleared the distance between the apartment and the school, bounding over the surrounding trees and landing in the baseball field. He was just in time to see his daughter turn to see a ball right before it colliding with the face of some blond with frustratingly familiar hair. An instant before it struck it's target, Makoto backhanded it along nearly the same path it had travelled.
Nearly was enough to slam the ball right into Ranma's cheek with enough force to unbalance him. As his consciousness swam, he saw his daughter's eyes widen and she rushed over. He dropped onto his ass as the tall girl slid to a stop by his side.
"Brought your lunch," Ranma explained to both his daughters, holding both lunches out. As she took the lunch, her eyes widened.
"Daddy, why are you glowing?" The green eyed girls asked. Ranma puzzled the comment for a moment, fighting off the inky darkness by sheer dint of will. The momentary heat at his lower back finally clued him in.
"Crap, not agai-" The white flash brough unconsciousness.
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"My Queen, we appear to have a... visitor," the hesitation and tone of voice left no doubt to anyone who heard it that the last word was said with a certain amount of distaste.
"Oh?" Serenity looked up from some of her paperwork, quirking an eyebrow at the Senshi of Neptune. She cupped one elegant hand in front of herself and balanced her chin on it. "And who could possibly irritate you enough to warrant that tone while still garnering enough respect to be called a visitor?"
"The Saotome boy," the Senshi of Uranus added with a smirk, one which earned a dirty look from her partner. "The newly raised Inners are fighting over who gets to nurse him back to health. He appeared right in the middle of the practice yard, and if he wasn't unconscious when he got here, my World Shaking versus Mars' Fire Soul certainly remedied that."
"Well, let's go visit, shall we? I wonder what he's been up to these last five years?" Serenity grinned as she stood, pushing her now-uninteresting paperwork to the side. Treaties could always be signed later.
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Author's Notes:
After the downer that was the last chapter's conclusion, I felt I had to do something a little more light-hearted. This is Ranma, and while I'm certainly piling one shot after another into the poor boy's weak spots, I don't want this story to wander into non-stop angstville.
If anyone's wondering how Makoto was able to knock out Ranma with the ball, I'll gladly explain: the Senshi can momentarily tap into their powered-up states at certain times, even in their civilian forms. The power of Jupiter combined with Makoto's regular strength in backhanding the ball back along it's path, striking Ranma like the fist of an angry god. As he wasn't prepared for the strike, it was enough to catch the haplass jerk unaware.
I threw in the SFIV reference because I picked the game up the other weekend. I doubt it'll really come into play much... It was just there to lighten the tone a bit and kill time for Rei's introduction to the Senshi and to fill the chapter out enough to get to the next bit.
The next chapter, well... whenever I think about it, I actually cackle to myself. Hehe... Huhohahah HA HAAA!
Gaming Ikari