Disclaimer: I... AM... A FANFIC WRITER! Therefor I own none of these series...
AN: Hey guys, I know that this is a bit of a quick release, but let's just say I was singing along to a certain Japanese ad song as I wrote. In any case, please do not shoot me for some of the things I wrote about the past. It was mainly based off of how Sega had a tendency to save itself back then. Plus, I thought it was important to flesh out how the goof ball survived back then... Also, Yes, I am still chanting the song as I type... In any case, have fun!
"Eden? You mean THAT Eden from the archives?" Mina asked in shock to which she received nods from both Blanc and Neptune.
"Yeppers! The place that actually kicked our cans-" Neptune started.
"Yes, the place that Neptune pissed off with that ad campaign. Their goddess was so pissed she nearly pummeled us to death with her bare hands," Blanc cut in with a vicious glare. Everyone just stared in varying degrees of shock. Neptune had been known to do some stupid things these days to get on people's nerves, but the idea of her actively using advertising effectively was scary.
"Hey, I was really proud of that break through. How was I supposed to know they beat my nation to it?" Neptune tried to defend herself.
"Oh, you mean like the 'Lowee want purple' campaign or that time you found that unbeatable martial artist to bully people with?" Blanc asked with an eye twitch.
"Hey, don't bring him up," Neptune sniffs," He…was so brave when he… stopped that missile your nation fired at us!"
"We only did it to try and shut you up! That campaign was way too violent! I can still remember children crying at the sight of the brute," Blanc took another, albeit halfhearted, verbal jab at her long ago foe. Things were beginning to be derailed once more. Mina decided that it would be for the best if they left the room immediately. As such, she led everyone out and up a few floors to a better fortified room with sound proofing.
"Much better," Mina spoke at last," They are going to be at it for hours."
"The hell was that all about?" Ranma asked to which Mina sighed.
"Back during the old wars, CPUs used any means necessary to get share. Planeptune at the time used a lot of marketing and ad campaigns that were fairly ruthless. It was actually an effective method to gain shares back then and had gotten Neptune the shares she needed to win several battles back then. The worse of it was that Blanc and Neptune were major rivals back then as well," Mina explained. Everyone, including Nepgear, was in shock at the revelation. The purple blob whose throne is a couch in front of a TV used to be an effective leader.
"Ummm, what changed my sister so much?" Nepgear asked in morbid curiosity. While they may be sisters, Neptune wasn't one for talking about the old days.
"Hmmm, that was before I was even born. If I had to take my guess though, it was her campaign after the current peace was established. She thought her nation had made a major break through with the dream-nep, but when the product failed in the market, she seemed to become dispirited as it was right on the heels of the peace treaty," Mina answered thoughtfully.
"By the way, what's this about an unbeatable martial artist?" Ranma asked curiously.
"Ah yes, Sanshiro… That is from a very long time ago. I can't say what kind of person he was really like, but the records state that Blanc fired off a missile at Neptune's Basilicom with the intent to get her to cease her campaigning. Sanshiro actually leapt from the top of it, caught the missile and then rode it upwards until it exploded. It is believed he died back then. However, it is also said his death was not in vain as it was what brought about the peace talks," Mina explains.
Back with Neptune and Blanc, they were sitting down with some pudding.
"Ok, sorry to have brought that up…" Blanc admitted to the sniffling Neptune.
"I-it was my fault back then… If only I had warned him…" Neptune took a bite out of her pudding. The truth about what had happened at the time was not a happy one. There had already been an informal meeting for peace, but it was Neptune's idea to have one more publicity stunt to help drive in the need to end the hostilities back then. She and Blanc came to an agreement to use what amounted to an oversized firework to damage the Basilicom. Noire had been against the stunt from the outset, but Blanc had agreed that Neptune's people needed a wake up call. Their nations had been at war for too long and the propaganda Neptune had used during it had instilled too much aggression for any lasting peace. A final display to disillusion her people. That's what it was supposed to be. Then the legendary martial artist messed it all up. It was still a success in the end, but it was no less of a tragedy. One that Blanc shouldered. After the treaty finally succeeded, Neptune never really had the heart for campaigning again. In fact, she almost let herself vanish until the Candidates were born. Nep gear may never know it, but she saved her sister back then. Still, there was one mystery remaining. How did that dud manage to kill that man. Not even the fall should have succeeded…
Tekken arrived at her home high atop the mountains east of Planeptune. She had just gotten back from some more intensive training. She was looking forword to challenging Ranma to a proper match later on.
"I'm home master!" Tekken called out to which she heard a yell and a bunch of furious clicking noises. That was odd. She could not ever recall seeing her master train like this. She came around out back to find her master training on an oversized and out of date game console. He wore a white gi and looked as if he were only thirty at the most with the only sign of his aging being his pure white hair," Master, what is this?"
The master stopped his rapid fire punching of the controller to turn and look at his pupil. He stood up and they bowed to one another before he spoke," After hearing your stories of a new martial artist who could even fight a full goddess to a standstill, I have thought on it these past few days. I wish to challenge this new goddess who follows our ways, but only if you are defeated first."
Tekken was shocked. Her master was actually moved to begin his old training regiment for a chance to challenge Ranma… She looked forward to her challenge with great anticipation. Even if she loses, she would be rewarded!
"Now back to more important matters. We should have an old map with the location on of Eden on it. We'll be sending a survey team there with you, Ranma, while RED stays behind and works on establishing policy and basic laws and such with Mine AND Chika's assistance," Mina explained.
"A survey team?" Ranma asked in confusion.
"Yes, we'll be sending a large survey team to look over the remains of Eden for reconstruction," Mina explained. That's when Chika realized something and began to dread the answer.
"Uh, Ranma doesn't currently even have the funds for such a large scale-" Chika began to point out while trembling as Vert paled at the realization.
"All expenses for the next two months," Mina answered before the Oracle of Leanbox could finish. Chika just wanted to cry," By the way Ranma, seeing as RED is likely untrained in such matters, are there any people you'd like to help her?"
"Sure," Ranma replied with very little thought," I want Gust to help out. She can help with the money stuff," Ranma also hoped her friend would keep a close watch on RED to run damage control in her absence. Somehow though, she got the feeling it wouldn't be enough. The problem was that Gust was the only one present she knew could offer help with this kind of stuff. Gust looked a little worried at being asked to stay behind however.
"Don't worry Gust, I'll be going along with Ranma to watch her back," Falcom said to reassure the girl.
"I'll be going as well! No evil shall prevail with a hero of justice present!" declared Nisa with a certain shine in her eyes. Ranma groaned inwardly at the thought of having someone as nutty as a Kuno tagging along. She only hoped that the nuttiness was just the justice talk. She would hate for her to show other tendencies. In any case, the meeting went on for a bit as the group discussed a few key matters. Mainly having Ranma go over details on what kind of materials and resources would be involved in the reconstruction efforts as it turned out Ranma was familiar with the varying architecture of old Eden as it was a combination of two different cultures from Ranma's world. Ranma would be going over the details with the crew over the next week or so. They just needed to know what resources to begin allocating ahead of time. Also, it was decided that the architects working on the project in Lowee would be studying games and shows and trying to modernize it. Ranma would have the final say after returning from the initial survey. It was starting to get around dinner time and the candidates had long since fled. Most of what they needed for now was settled. There was just one last matter to be taken care of.
"While it will be sometime before your followers can come to live in your new nation, there are still a few matters to take into account," Mina explained," First is that there needs to be a basic policy guideline. Usually this is set by something of a motto. An example is that Lowee is the land of white serenity. We strive for peace and happiness of our people and try to present ourselves as such. Our family friendly policies are indicative of this."
"I know!" RED cried out. Ranma was dreading this. She just knew this was not going to end well," Eden, the land of red passion!"
The room was silent for a moment as the various members thought about this. Then Nisa broke it," I love it! Passion is truly what we all must hold dear in achieving our goals. Just like how I burn with a passion for justice!"
"Gust thinks it would work fairly well," Gust added. Chika and Vert simply smiled. Vert's was a bit perverted while Chika's contained a devious bent.
"That would definitely work well," Mina admitted while nodding her head sagely.
"No," Ranma said fiercely," Nu uh, not happenin'!"
"Aw, why not wifey Red Heart?" RED asked sadly.
"It's Ranma, and I am not nor ever will be someone's wife! As for why, I am not going to support a policy like that. I can see just how badly that is gonna bite me in the ass," Ranma answered angrily. RED was nearly in tears. When she noticed this, she backed up a little and was feeling a little ashamed, but she was not going to stand down on this.
"Well," Mine intervened," Do you have a suggestion?"
Ranma thought on it for a moment before smirking," The land of fiery red ambition! Got a really manly ring to it right?"
The room was silent for a moment with everyone staring at Ranma before Vert finally broke in," I say we put this one up to a vote. All in favor of Ranma's slogan?"
Ranma raised her hand immediately. No one else did.
"All in favor of passion!" RED called out happily to which everyone raised their hand. Ranma felt betrayed as even Gust and Falcom raised their hands.
"Sorry Ranma, but I got to go with RED on this one," Falcom replied to Ranma's baleful stare.
"Gust sorry, but this is better for business," Gust provided while not making eye contact.
"Fine, but I want it clear that it means something like fighting spirit and none of the mushy crap!" Ranma gave in at last.
Outside at the Eastern gate of the Lowee Basilicom. The goddesses of Lastation could be found collapsed on the ground beside one another drenched in sweat. Noire stared out at the evening sky as she wondered why no one had shown up yet to stop their fight. They couldn't have taken that long to do their fights after all. It was at that moment that she realized that they had been completely forgotten by the others and that the news crews had long since left. She wanted to scream in outrage. However, she was too exhausted and could only say one thing before passing out by her downed sister," Damn you Neptune…"
It was after dinner when the twins ambushed Ranma.
"Ranma! Let's hang out!" Ram declared as she tried to tackle the martial artist who simply caught her and set the young goddess on her shoulders with a smirk.
"Sure thing!" Ranma answered to which the twins giggled happily. A little ways off, Blanc watched the scene with some trepidation as the trio went off somewhere to play. Mina noticed and placed a reassuring hand on her goddess's shoulder.
"It should be fine. I've been meaning to bring it up, but I think Ranma won't be a mental wreck waiting to happen anymore… well unless a cat is involved," Mina spoke softly so that only Blanc would hear it.
"What? But her past and-" Blanc began to retort as she turned to her Oracle only to be cut off by a thoughtful smile.
"It shouldn't be a factor. I believe Ranma under normal circumstances would never do any of what we've seen. I had my suspicions, but I could not say until I had proof. Ranma's share core and nation are just that. Proof that she is a CPU," Mina began to explain.
"But what does that have to do with anything?" Blanc asked in confusion.
"Ranma was showing signs of fading. She was a CPU that was garnering no shares. When they hit rock bottom, they weaken in almost everyway. This includes mentally," Mina explained.
"Wait, she was fading!? You should have said something anyways!" Blanc demanded. She had never gone through the process herself so she would not know of the symptoms. Not only that, CPUs in general don't even want to know about that.
"Don't worry, we had plenty of time. The records state it takes several months for the process. If I had seen no improvement within a week, I would have broached the subject," Mina answered.
On the way to one of the Basilicom's game rooms, as it was getting too dark outside to play there, Ranma and the twins ran into Nepgear. They all stopped as Ranma and Nepgear stared at one another. Nepgear had a sad expression with a little bit of fear. Ranma had a stern look to hers as she looked at her. After a moment, Ranma set Ram down and told them to go ahead. The Twins nodded reluctantly before rushing off. After the corridor was clear except for the two, Ranma finally broke the silence that had hung over it with a sigh before talking," Look, I don't care anymore," She began much to Nepgear's shock," Now don't get me wrong, I'm going back to being a guy as soon as I find a way then I'm heading home, but I'm not gonna hold a grudge."
Ranma had had some time to think things over. She knew that not everyone could be held to the same standards as she held for herself. Her father was proof of that. She did, however, had to also concede the fact that there may have been a reason for what happened back then that the girl wasn't saying and it was Ranma's fault. After her blow up with Histoire, it would be hard for anyone to get the courage to talk to her if they had a reason to be afraid. In the end, Ranma decided to let it all go. After talking about her past recently and hearing a bit of this world's history, she had realized a few things. With these thoughts settled in her mind, Ranma offered her hand to the candidate of Planeptune. Nepgear stared at it for a moment before finally smiling and accepting the handshake eagerly with both hands saying," Thank you!"
After that, Ranma had Nepgear lead the way to the game room.
The following morning, Ranma woke up and did some training until it was interrupted by the three Oracles.
"Ranma, it is getting close to time the time for the survey group to leave," Mina broke in as Ranma had begun meditating and trying to get a better grasp of her share energy. Ranma sighed in annoyance and nodded her head.
"Hey, listen up!" Chika called angrily.
"There's something we need to do now before that, wi-er… Ranma," RED said with a smile. Ranma finally got up and looked them over.
"What's that?" She asked as she stretched her limbs in discontent.
"We need you for an ad that RED devised last night," Mina answered.
"Yup, I got to say it's a pretty good idea for getting started," Chika added.
"Really…" Ranma said skeptically. She had little faith in the woman that was supposed to be her Oracle. Ever since she met her, she has had nothing but bad vibes and dealing with her tendency towards love. Ranma did not have a lot of confidence in her…
"Don't worry, there will be a lot of fighting spirit!" RED declared with a determined look in her eyes. Ranma did not like that look.
Ranma thought it over for a second before sighing," Fine, let's get this over with."
Upon agreeing to this, RED handed her what seemed to be a script. Ranma red over it and was pleasantly surprised. It was a decent script. She would do battle with an ancient dragon out in the field and all she had to do was say one line while doing some form of awesome attack. It would give Ranma a decent work out and give her a chance to let loose before making what was likely to be a boring journey through the forests with a large group. Maybe RED would be a good Oracle for her after all.
They found the ancient dragon and had several film crews ready to shoot the battle from various angles. Vert and Blanc were present to step in if things got out of hand even if it was unlikely. The twins also came to watch the shooting as it promised to be interesting. Falcom, Nisa, Gust, and the Oracles of the three nations were also present. Neptune and Nepgear, as well as Noire and Uni, had left for their nations already. It was actually quite awkward when the Lastation duo were found sleeping at the east gate.
"Ok, Ranma," RED said with a bit more confidence. Ranma had a little bit of a talk with her the previous night after the meeting to try and settle the wifey stuff. Ranma was pretty sure the only progress she had made was to get her to agree to call her by name. Ranma still had a dread feeling of antics to come," All you need to do is go in there, transform during the fight, and use an awesome finisher as you say your line!"
Ranma nodded and waited for the go ahead. Once she had the go ahead, Ranma dashed out at top speed to meet the ancient dragon in battle. The dragon took notice and gave a great roar as it swiped with its right arm at the martial artist. Ranma didn't even bother to dodge the attack. Instead she leapt straight at the outstretched claws to deliver a kick that forced the hand back as she flipped away. The roar came to an end in that moment as the dragon breathed deeply. Ranma knew what to expect next. The fact was that this fight was over kill. Ranma didn't even need to transform. Heck, she could have destroyed the dragon already, but that was not what she was here for. She was here to put on a show. As such, she landed in a low crouch to stare up intensely as she gathered her power. Finally, the dragon unleashed a torrential fire breath upon her. At that moment, she used the gathered energy to shield herself as she leapt into the dragon's fire. She began to go HDD as she left the flames from the other side. There she floated before the dragon unharmed. It was time for her finisher. Knowing this, she created two red orbs of share energy. She had not had the time to figure it out, but she did know that her old techniques were not only compatible but easier to pull off with the new power. As such, she was certain this next attack would work as it was only a variation and combination of a couple of her old attacks.
"Nothing shall stand against the flames of my passion!" She cried out her one line as she violently combined and launched the orbs at the dragon. When the unstable orb detonated on the dragon, it was engulfed in a massive sphere of spiraling energy that soon exploded into a column of red light the pierced the skies. Ranma had not been expecting that last bit, but had done an admirable job of not letting it show on her face. What she had just done was create two orbs containing an internal spiraling movement that was opposite to each other. She had then combined and launched them before they fully destabilized. The effect was supposed to be an on demand Hiryu Korin Dan with the limitation that it would only use her power and therefore be more costly to use. It worked, but she had not expected the explosion at the end. All in all, it made for a successful shooting.
"That… was so cool!" Ram declared as Rom nodded in agreement. RED was beaming happily at the scene as it had turned out better than she hoped. She couldn't wait for the finished product to be aired.
After they came back from the filming, Ranma got dragged into a quick photo shoot in both forms. Ranma didn't care for the experience very much, but she did have to admit it was better than her previous experience with Nabiki. Once that matter was taken care of, it was finally time for Ranma to leave with the expedition.
"Come back soon Ranma! Me and Rom want play again!" Ram called out.
"Yes, please… It was very fun," Rom added with a soft yet very warm smile. Blanc was also there and said nothing. She just smiled and nodded her head from beside her younger sisters. After the farewells, everyone set off to get back to doing their work. Once in progress, Ranma found that the journey wasn't going to be as boring as she thought as monsters still attacked them in spite of their large numbers. It was quite a pleasant surprise as they made their way. According to the map, it was going to be a couple of days. On their way out, they saw the beginnings of roadwork being done to connect the new nation to the others. Apparently Mina was trying to make as much use out of Leanbox's coffers as possible over the next two months. One thing bothered Ranma about the whole situation. What was going to happen when the day came for her to go back to being her old self and return home? She hadn't thought to ask anyone yet and figured it could wait for when she came back from the current trip. It was also at this time that Ranma came to the realization that she completely forgot to ask Histoire about the research.
Back in Planeptune, Histoire was irritably going over the paperwork that Neptune was supposed to be doing. She had been trying to manage and handle everything over the past few days as the whole incident happened. She ultimately couldn't fault Neptune for leaving to go chase after her sister. It was actually admirable. She couldn't even deny her having a little off time to spend with said sister after it all was over. The problem was that it still irked her that even after she finally managed to get her goddess back after three years she was still stuck doing all the work. As the tome continued to work diligently, she couldn't help but think she was forgetting something. Did she forget about authorizing the new road construction? No, she did that last night at she got word from Mina about the situation. It would not do to not have a road connecting Planeptune to Eden after all. Did she forget to sign off on the temporary housing policy for believers of the new faith that were gathering from the smaller villages in the countryside. No, she did that this morning. Oh no, did she actually pass that dreadful pudding tax law that Neptune kept pushing for- no, there it is going through the shredder right now. Hmmm, oh well. It's probably nothing important.
Ranma brushed the thought away for later. On another note, she was finding that the hero of Justice's presence wasn't as bad as she had thought. While traveling, Nisa and Ranma were actually starting to get along. They shared in the fact that they both employed martial arts. Not only that, but the fact that Nisa actually lacked the Kunos' delusions. True, she did talk about the whole hero thing, but she seemed to have a more understanding side. This was confirmed as she talked about how she and RED first met. Sure the chase had sounded like a Kuno thing to do, but RED had admitted to stalking a goddess. The redeeming part of the story was that she listened to RED and even teamed up when a greater threat was perceived. Tatewaki had teamed up with others before, but he never really put aside his differences and listened. Another clear difference was the fact that unlike Tatewaki, Nisa and RED remained friends after the fight was over. Ranma was starting to feel a little bit more at ease with this world with every passing day. Sure it was crazy, but it still had nothing on Nerima. After all, it's not like he's gonna be dealing with doppelgangers or some of the other crazy stuff. Plus, how many more crazed goddesses bent on world destruction could there be? Ranma then kept mentally listing other things that she didn't think likely to happen.
Rei was having another dreadful day it seems. She felt bad about having to go home sick again, but this time she had a really bad sneezing fit. With this thought in mind, she went to her boss to apologize. A half an hour later, her boss would throw her out saying something about needing to quit the pity party and go home already.
Back in Lowee, RED was slogging through paperwork of her own with the help of the two more experienced Oracles and Gust. Some might think she was bored as she did this. Normally, those people would have been correct. However, RED had a purpose and a plan. She had finally found what she sought for so long. She wanted to create her own harem. As such, she had journeyed across Gamindustri in search of love. She had even become something of a rumored myth. In all that time, she had never contemplated what she did now. It had never occurred to her that she might be lacking that special something that made the magic of harem building happen, but she realized it when she found a wifey that actually did have that. Now here she was as the first OFFICIAL wifey to her goddess. She had plans now. She wouldn't be the last wifey either, and the wifeys of her wifey were also her wifeys. With this thought focusing her, RED dove into learning her new trade and trying her best to follow her goddess's policy… Well, what she interpreted it as anyways…
As thoughts like these filled RED's head, Gust was trying to figure out how to best make money for the new nation. She had no clear clue yet as to what kind of infrastructure would be built. She wasn't sure what she would have to work with. Time was too limited in her opinion for the job at hand. At best, she could try and draw in tourism for some initial profits. People would be interested in stuff like that. The problem was that her job heavily depended on what came back in the survey reports and the policies that would be made here. As such, she was setting aside the economic stuff to help out with the Oracles.
Mina and Chika were having a bit of a difficult time themselves. They were utterly baffled by some of the choices being made by RED and her appointed assistant. Seriously, the woman had actually signed off on laws that legalized polygamy, but As if to offset it, made some interesting restrictions. It should have been expected, but what wasn't, was that Gust had actually agreed and helped flesh out the laws. They had no idea what was going on in the girl's head, but if Mina had to take a guess, it had to do with possible revenue options. Another thing was the laws regarding combat within the city. They actually were instating a nonlethal dueling system along with a similar set of restrictions. This time RED had explained that it was to fan the fighting spirits of her people. She was even discussing tournaments with Gust. While it was all turning out well, it was causing the other two a head ache because laws like these were completely out of the norm. It went against there own legal system and was bringing up the issues that would crop up with their foreign policy. They had to draft several policies regarding the handling of Eden's laws regarding their own citizens. However, it was only the first day and there would be many to follow.
As such, the group called for a break to have a meal and discuss some other things. It was during this time that RED decided to talk to Mina in private to learn more about Ranma. Mina gave a quick summary and the clip notes, but they would be going into it in more detail over time. It was RED's right to know as it pertained to her goddess. Mina would come to regret this later on, but at the time, she was woefully unaware of what these talks would give birth to.