Can It Get Any Worse?: Chapter 10
I knew the senshi and I kept ending up in forests evertime we jumped
dimensions because I had searched for Earth and those planes most
similar to it had most of the same features. That knowledge didn't
stop me from hoping that this world would have something besides
forest for a thousand miles in all directions. I mean, a city could
be built in this dimension and not in the others.
No such luck. If anything, the sparse forest seemed larger than the
others. Without magic for flight, we were in for a long, long
journey. The pokemon didn't mind giving us rides, and Kamis know that
Usagi had enough pokemon to carry a mountain with us, but even with
that advantage, it was slow going. If only the flying pokemon were
larger, they would have been suitable transportation. Without a
designated place to land, though, a flying pokemon couldn't use its
extraordinary ability to travel at supersonic speeds and would tire
quickly when carrying a load. Demon could have flown us all if his
wing structure had allowed for places for us and the gear.
Gyrados, dragon snake thing that it was, didn't ever actually touch
the ground, sorta hovering a few inches in the air. I, at least, was
riding in style. Poor Rei couldn't ride her rat, despite its huge
size. She'd had to borrow one of Usagi's, a Rhydon.
"I should be able to do this," Rei said, irritated that she couldn't
master the breathing techniques I had been teaching."All those years
as a temple maiden, learning to manipulate the sacred flame, and I
can't so much as get a spark." She adjusted her seat on the Rhydon.
The poorly woven mass of straw didn't do a good job of protecting
Rei's soft skin from the Rhydon's rock hard hide. Her stubborn pride
wouldn't allow her to accept a different pokemon as conveyance.
I sighed and tried to explain."I told you it could take years to
learn." Ha, I learned in three weeks! What can I say, I'm gifted."And
stop trying to manifest the chi. All I want you to do is learn to
evenly space and control the depth of each breath you take." Harder to
accomplish than one may think.
Later that day, the forest ended entirely, opening into a plain
covered in waist high grass for as far as the eye could see. This was
getting ridiculous. Even on Ranma World, a planet abandoned for
untold centuries, there had been a dirt road. That still bothers me
occassionally. A plain dirt road would have been overgrown within
months of disuse. Ranma World was strange. I'll just have to accept
that.
"It'd be stupid to go back and waste a week's worth of time," I said,
as leader(how that happened is as big a mystery as the dirt road).
Part of it involved being more experienced and knowledgable, only a
part though.
"I agree," agreed Ami."At the very least we should journey far enough
onto the plain to determine whether or not there is enough wild game
and fresh water to support us and our pokemon." The suggestion was
perfectly reasonable and we didn't argue with its logic.
"To the grass!" Usagi declared, waving her arm wildly through the air
from the back of her Dandelion. I think she believed there to be a
possibility of wild pokemon in the grass. Makoto brought it up,
though.
"Well, there could be," Usagi muttered. Hell, there really could be.
No way would I admit to that slim chance, not if I wanted to stay sane
through the rest of the trip.
****
Times like this made Setsuna wish she wasn't so cronically cryptic and
mysterious. Her future self had to know what had happened to the
senshi. With rules as concrete as the ones she lived by, Setsuna
didn't even think about asking.
Viewing the senshi's pasts up until their disappearance took almost as
much time as if she had jumped back and watched each scene unfold.
She was pleased to see how much the girls had improved and couldn't
even find anything to complain about in the changes made to their
transformation spell by Ranma. The kidnapping of Usagi by government
agents came as a shock, even to Setsuna, but Ranma, leading the
remaining Inner Senshi, had freed the Princess, in the process
releasing dozens of dangerous demons and Nerimians(a sub-species of
human nearly as bad). Ranma's doing, and without doubt premeditated.
As she watched the last few weeks before the senshi's disappearance,
the puzzle began to come together. Ranma was slowly, with admirable
patience, subverting the girls. His discovery of Usagi's mind block
was too coincidental to be a coincidence.
When the government contacted the senshi and Ranma, Setsuna debated
whether or not she should begin reviewing the past of the Emperor and
his men, but ruled it out due to a lack of time(yes, she was actually
running out of time). The big break came when Ranma's services were
requested by his conspirators in the closing of a ruptured tomb
belonging to a long dead warlock who had died in personal battle
against Queen Serenity a century before the fall of the Moon Kingdom.
Setsuna was truly frightened for the first time in centuries. Ranma
was involved in too many random occurences and coincidences pertaining
to the senshi and the Silver Millenium. Why had she ever trusted him?
The answer was even more frightening. She, the manipulator, had,
herself, been maniuplated. So subtle had the manipulation been, that
even her temporally honed senses hadn't detected the outside
influence.
Who could Ranma's backer be? Another Dark Intelligence like Metallia?
Enemies from the future? The possibilites were too numerous to count.
She really had her work cut out for her.
(note: I always have thought of Pluto as something of a manipulative
bitch with way too much time on her hands, literally.)
****
It's pretty easy to get tired of grass, especially when there's
nothing 'but' grass. That's why I was damned excited when Demon and
I, flying ahead to scout for a water hole, found a river. It wasn't a
meager little stream either. The wide expanse of water moved at a
smooth, if slow pace. This was more than just a break in the scenery.
Town and cities are built on rivers. They make natural shipping
routes. Following the river would be our best bet at finding other
people.
Demon made good time back to the senshi and I informed them of my
discovery.
"Biiig Waagguuuurrr," Demon said, reinforcing my claim. The pokemon
was learning to speak at an amazing rate. The shape of his jaw,
combined with his unusual teeth and tri-forked tongue, made
pronounciation difficult, but not impossible for the pokemon.
"What are we going to build a boat with?" Minako asked. I goggled at
her. That sounded like an Usagi question, a predivine mind block
removal question.
Usagi answering and making fun of the other blonde was scary."Minako,
why would we need boats? We have plenty of water pokemon. We'll make
great time on them.
Minako blushed deeply and said,"Oh yeah." Twilight zone moment.
****
A river can get as boring as grass after a while. This one was
working itself up to that when, at the edge of the horizon, the river
began to widen dramatically, either forming a lake or emptying into a
river. It wasn't this change in the natural scenary that got the
attention of the senshi and I. The really, really big city floating
in the air above the lake/bay did. I left Gyrados with a command to
remain in his current position, and pulled Demon out of the hat. I
wasn't the only one to take flight, via pokemon. Usagi on her Zapdos,
Ami on Scyther, and Minako and Makoto on the latter's Aerodactyl, all
formed a V wing formation behind me. Rei must not have cared to leave
her Slowbro, that or she didn't want to borrow another pokemon. She
really should have taken the trouble to catch a few besides the rat.
Useful creatures pokemon, make cats looked damned pathetic.
That thing 'was' a city and not some vast mirage. At first I thought
that the city was a giant airship of somekind, a product of advanced
technology, but as the buildings came into sight, I couldn't believe
that a society with the ability to make a floating city would settle
for thatched roofs on the makority of the dwellings and wood fires for
cooking and heat. It was a moment after that little deduction that I
switched my perceptions over to energy patterns, almost giving myself
a mystic whiplash with the violence and speed of the change.
Ah. Son of a bitch! All over the city, within large marble buildings
with a disturbing similarity to the ancient temples of Rome and
Greece, were vast arrays of spell constructs. They were so large and
crafted with such skill that they were capable of levitating a city
the size of Tokyo and all its surrounding suburbs. The fact that they
somehow had a complete monopoly on all the energy available for
sorcery on this whole freakin planet didn't escape my notice.
I raised my arm and swung it around in a circle, a predetermined
signal that meant to get back to safety. It probably scared the
senshi more than was necessary, but people in that city were most
likely armed with some nasty magical weapons, and the last thing I
needed was to have to save them from getting blasted into ash if one
of the locals saw us and got nervous.
"It's in there, ladies." Blank stares, even from Ami. I really
shouldn't have expected much more than that. None of the girls were
far enough along to see what I had."I meant the cause for our loss of
energy. The energy required to levitate that much mass is vast, and
whoever built it decided to make the whole world their battery."
"Maybe we could ask them to land for a few minutes and let us
recharge," suggested Usagi.
"Na uh, very, very doubtful. From what I can see, the place isn't
built to be landed. The spells active in the consturcts holding the
city afloat aren't the kind that can be turned off on a whim either.
Land it and the city breaks into a lot of little pieces. Cut the
constructs off for even a moment and wham, really big splash." The
obvious answer was to destroy the city and, with the more powerful
pokemon as precision artillery, it could be done. Not that Usagi
would ever let her pokemon be resonsible for such an atrocity.
"Don't even mention it Ranma," asserted Ami, to my suprise."We've all
just had the same thought and none of us would do that." I've heard
about sorcerous lovers, those actually in love and who have lived
together for a long time, being able to read their mates thoughts.
That Ami was doing this to me, that was as disturbing as finding out
that I was relatively powerless here.
No, what was 'really' disturbing was that I could do the same thing
with her, now that I thought about it. In fact, Ami was silently
congratulating herself on taking such a bold stand with me. Before I
could let myself even think about the implications of the next couple
of thoughts about to appear in my brain, I said,"Sorta figured that.
What else can we do, though? How else do we get the energy we need to
go home?"
Ami shrugged."There has to be someone that maintains the constructs
you mentioned. They would surely know of a way to siphon energy from
them without damaging their integrity." She had a point."All that
energy would be too valuable to allow to remain in stasis."
I nodded."That is a possibility. Another possiblity is that there is
a magical cannon that shoots nuclear fireballs up on those walls
somewhere and the person operating it may be instructed to vaporize
anything that moves." Extremely unlikely possibility, but still
possible.
I turned my attention to a crashing splash of water and saw Demon and
Gyrados playing water volleyball with Slowbro. Who had taught them
that? Why in hell were they playing water volleyball? I shook my
head, telling myself that we had more important fish to fry. No pun
intended.
"Hey, leave him along, you big meanies!" cried Usagi as she ran away
from the little meeting, pulling out Dandelion and a pair of
Dragonites that I didn't know by name. As if there wasn't enough crap
to deal with. I pulled Demon and Gyrados' pokeballs from my pocket
and activated the retrieval beam on each. The crimson beams of energy
reached my pokemon and dematerialized them just as a Usagi's trio
reached attack range.
Usagi attempted to glare a hole through my head as she walked stiffly
away from the river bank.
I waved my arms helplessly."You can't blame them for having a little
fun. Your pokemon didn't seem to mind," I said calmly, trying not to
laugh.
"He was probably too scared to move. Next time you better tell those
brutes of your's that I won't go so easy on them!" the meatball headed
warrior for love, justice, and the pokemon way, loudly proclaimed.
"Don't worry, I'm sure they'll do their best to avoid your wrath." I
said it with such sincerity that she had to know I was blowing smoke
out of my ass. She just glared at me, absentmindedly stroking the
pokemon stored at her waste belt.
"And back to the matter at hand..." Rei said angrily. Can't blame her
for that one.
"I have an idea that could solve the safety issue." Guess who. Yes,
you're absolutely correct. It's Ami! You win a tootsie roll!"One of
us will simply fly within range of the city, carrying a pokemon
capable of teleportation, and use it to escape if the need arises."
Good plan.
"So which one of you wants-" They were all staring at me. I knew what
that look meant."That's not fair! Demon is way too big to be
teleported by any of your pipsqueaks!" They didn't stop staring. I
could have refused, I guess, but the combined stare of five determined
girls, one of whom you may have growing feelings for, is kinda
overwhelming."Damnit, you all owe me one."
Ami winked at me and her grin was positively wanton. What had I made
this sweet, innocent girl into? Hell if I cared.
The other girls either didn't see the exchange or chose to ignore it.
Thankfully.
****
Wouldn't you know that Zapdos, Usagi's thunder bird, was also capable
of teleportation. Why a creature capable of flight would develop such
a skill is beyond me. I mean, it's not like the thing had any natural
predators. At least this way I didn't have to put up with Makoto's
Alakazam. That thing was wierd. What purpose did having two inverted
spoon shaped fingers serve, anyway.
"Okay, Sparky, let's see if anyone feels like killing us today." The
peal of thunder, Zapdos' version of a chirp, didn't indicate that the
bird cared very much for its new nickname."Don't get touchy. It was
meant as a compliment."
Despite it's attitude, Zapdos loyally followed my orders. We got
close enough to the city for me to brush the crenelated upper wall and
to wave to a bored looking guard wearing stiffened leather armor who
lazily carried a crossbow over his left shoulder. The guy might very
well have pissed his pants, so great was the fear on his face.
I was also able to get a better view of the city's internal order. It
was a nice, clean place, especially by the medieval standards it
appeared to be built around. People who saw me on the glowing bird
dropped what they were carrying and ran around screaming in abject
terror. Compared to these people, the guard had been enormously
brave. Wusses.
Most important of all, beyond even laughing until my chest hurt, was
the discovery that there were no items with any mystical charge
whatsoever. The constructs holding the city up were it. Good news.
****
"They ran like I was Barney himself," I reported back to the senshi.
"Uh, who's Barney?" Minako asked in confusion.
Oops."An American creation. You wouldn't understand. I should have
said Death or Destruction, those would have made more sense to you,
sorry. Anyway, we should be safe. They don't have anything more
advanced than a crossbow, weaponwise, and their fighting ability isn't
even worth mentioning." I hadn't actually seen them fight, but when
the whole general populace, even the guys, runs screaming from you and
a measly bird a tenth the size of Demon...
"Poor Zapdos, did he hurt you?" Usagi asked her pokemon. We ignored
her.
"Crossbows aren't really such a minor threat when you consider that
all of us are defenseless except for you. Pokemon can't keep us safe
from the bolts without risking themselves. I wouldn't even ask any of
my pokemon to do that." Ami was turning out to be an annoying voice of
reason. Almost as if she were my conscience. I fought down the urge
to cry. What had I done to deserve this?
Trying to salvage my good mood, I said,"Don't worry about that. I can
keep anything slower than a high power slug from getting near any of
you. Not that anyone up there has the balls to shoot at us."
"Oh please," Rei scoffed."Don't try to convince me that you can move
'that' fast!"
To demonstrate my speed, I mooned Rei for a second, flipped her off
for a second, and mooned her again, for a second. This only took me
four seconds. Rei was nearing the purple range of color. Probably
from rage, but I here from reliable sources that my ass is pretty
nice, so it could have just been her feminine modesty...Doubt it
though.
"Okay, maybe you are that fast," Minako said, blushing. Ami did not
look happy. Have I ever mentioned that my life sucks ass?
"Having along a couple big, evil looking pokemon wouldn't hurt
either." If only we had had enough rock pokemon we could have just
made a living wall, but we didn't, and besides, they're not really all
that fast."Demon and Gyrados are good choices. Any others?"
Usagi launched into a recital of at least fifty pokemon she thought
were scary. Once again, she was ignored.
****
Since there was no visible gate, ramp, or any other conceivable
entrance to the city, we just flew up to the side and glided to the
street nearest what I assumed was the headquarters. The streets here
were easily wide enough to accomodate Demon once the pedestrians had
run away. As predicted, they screamed like maniacs as they departed.
"So, should we just walk up the steps and knock on the door?" I asked.
The building we stood in front of was large and overly decorated. It
could have been someone's house, but the statues of people in robes
with books and other stuff in their grasp indicated otherwise. The
gold-veined marble that the building was constructed from did look
pretty cool, though.
"Why not?" Minako asked. She was the last one to put her pokemon
away.
****
Author's Notes: So far this story has been recieved much better than
I thought it would. Thanks! I've gotten a lot of requests for back-
ground info on Ranma, so I'm thinking about maybe doing a few prequel
chapters on his earlier adventures, but that could change. I asked
for suggestions for what world Ranma and the senshi should be on and
the best one was Slayers. Unfortunately I don't know enough about the
geography of that universe and my memory is really fuzzy on that
damned complicated stucture of gods it has, so I'm just making my own
world from scratch. My mom's got some sort of pinched nerve in her
back(seriously makes her into more of a bitch) and the medication
she's been taking knocks her out at night. The house could burn down
around her and she wouldn't make a peep, so as long as my family
doesn't rat me out, I should be able to start making some regular
posts at night and sometimes in the afternoon since the library a
couple miles from my house just got online last week. C&C welcome at
dark_phoneix@hotmail.com