Quick Disclaimer

Appare Ranman is owned by P.A. works & Masakazu Hashimoto

The only characters I own are the OCs you'll read about further on

Chapter 1

As long as Appare Sorano was able to read, one of his favorite books was from the earth to the moon by Jules Verne. The idea of someone being brave enough and smart enough to undertake such a novel endeavor, was a huge inspiration for the young man.

It had been 5 years since Appare won the trans-America wild race and defeated the notorious outlaw Gil T. Cigar with the help of his friends. And for those five years, he'd been working on his greatest invention yet. It all started when Appare struck a deal with Al Lyon shortly after the race's conclusion. He would sell his inventions to Al's family business who would then mass produce them. One day he pulled Al aside and confided in him that he had plans for a mode of transportation that would allow mankind to travel to and from the moon. Now if Al had heard this from anyone else, he would've laughed in their face, but he had seen what Appare was capable of before and during the race, and while initially shocked by his claim he was certain he could back it up. However, he would require funding for his project which is where he would need his help. Luckily Al had a lot more influence in his family's company now, and with some difficulty was able to convince his father to provide Appare with the money he needed for his project. Now building the thing and making sure it was safe would be the easy part for Appare; the hard part would be convincing the others to join him once it was finished.

Sophia, Al's wife, had volunteered to keep in touch with Kosame, Jing, and Hototo on his behalf. Mailing letters to them and receiving letters from them: asking how they were doing, what were they doing, and how Appare & Al were doing and what they were doing. She of course promised Appare not to tell them about the project until he could reveal it himself, but she was able to tell him about what they were up to during those five years. Kosame: having returned to Japan and his family's estate, went through with his arranged marriage and now had two children (a five-year-old boy & a three-year-old girl). Hototo: now 16 years old, returned to his mom and the survivors of his tribe, and was currently living on a reservation in Nevada. As for Jing, she went on to compete in more racing tournaments (winning most of them) and was now engaged. When Appare finally finished his project on March 20th, 1900, he personally sent his friends invitations to the world fair in Paris the following month. He specifically requested that they meet up with him a week before the opening of the fair on the 14th. Despite not being sure why, all accepted his invitations, and each brought their respective families to France, except Jing who only brought her fiancé. On the 6th of April (which was a Friday), Appare's friends were granted exclusive access to the fairgrounds to view his invention before the public. They of course greeted him with open arms and merry laughs, just as happy to see their old friend again as they were excited to see what he'd been working on for five years. When they got to the big tent where his invention was being kept, they soon discovered just how large the item under the white sheet was; at least 70ft high. The curious guest could only guess at what was underneath the massive shroud, not even Al really knew what it was. So, when Appare finally began his introduction, they were all waiting attentively on pins & needles. Ordinarily, Appare didn't like public speaking but since he was addressing his closest friends and not a crowd of strangers, he was a little less awkward in his delivery than he would've been otherwise. "My friends" he started, "I wanted you to be the very first people to bear witness to what may be the greatest scientific achievement in the history of mankind. Under this sheet is a device that will take humanity to a place once thought unreachable, The Moon!" He shouted gleefully as he pulled the sheet away, and when they finally saw what he had made, all five of their jaws nearly dropped to the floor.

It was a huge brass looking cannon that was pointed at a 50-degree angle; it's base was 30ft wide in diameter and had a hatch door in its side. The cannon itself was 60ft long, and wide enough to hold a small yacht. Appare then proceeded to explain that the "space gun" contained a bullet shape vessel that could be piloted and "in theory" be flown back to Earth after landing on the moon. Everyone just stared silently at the colossal contraption for at least five minutes. Kosame was the first to regain his composure, and after clearing his throat he asked; "is this all because of that moon book you like so much?" "Yes, I was inspired by From the Earth to the Moon" said Appare enthusiastically. "Luckily Mr. Verne included a thorough description of the space gun Impey Barbicane used to travel to the moon. However, I was a little disappointed that they never actually landed on the moon; I wondered why not, so I took Verne's description, reconfigured his measurements a tiny bit, tested it a few times to make sure it would work, and five years later here we are." Al smiled and shook his head saying, "when you told me 5 years ago you were building a device to take people to the moon, I never expected anything this gloriously designed." "This is truly your greatest work Appare" Sophia added equally impressed, and she encouraged everyone present to give him a round of applause. "Thank you all" Appare said humbly, "but I won't know for sure if it really works until I take my ship on her maiden voyage. On the night of the fair's opening, I'm going to attempt the first-round trip to the moon; according to my calculations, the expedition should take me 3 to 5 days. Which brings me to my big question, would you like to come with me?" "Now wait just a minute!" Kosame replied abruptly, "it's one thing to invite us to your grand unveiling, but you can't just ask people to drop everything and go on a potentially dangerous journey." "I know, that's why I'm giving you a week to think it over" said Appare in his usual monotone voice. "Well," Jing thought, "Joshua and I aren't getting married until the 5th of May, so I'd be more than happy to come along." Then Hototo answered; "it's gonna be tough convincing my mom to let me go, but I'd have to be crazy to pass up an opportunity like this." Appare was very happy that two of his friends had said yes, but he wouldn't express it until they all did. Al scratched his chin silently for a little while and said in a downhearted tone "I'd love to go Appare I really would, but Sophia will be due soon" he said drawing attention to his wife's swollen belly, who then swiftly silenced her husband by tightly pinching his left ear. "Don't you dare use me or our baby as an excuse not to go Alphonso Lyon the third!" she said puffing her cheeks to convey her agitation, (but it just made her look more adorable). "But I don't want to put any unwanted stress on you or the baby" said Al gingerly rubbing his ear. "Of course, I'm going to worry about you, but that's never stopped you before. I trust Appare to bring you back to me safely, just as I trusted you to save me from Gil and his men." "I couldn't have done it without him" Al admitted, "so I guess I still owe him for that. Besides Appare, you kept me in suspense for five years, there's no way I'm going to sit back and let you have all the fun, so count me in." Now all that was left was Kosame, but Appare noticed the stern facial expression on his face, and his heart sank a little. "I'm sorry Appare, but I've had enough of adventures for one lifetime" he said dryly. "But Kosame, traveling to the moon will immortalize your name. Children will read about you in history books the world over for generations." Said Appare with the same passion in his voice he had whenever he talked about his interests. "I don't need to be immortalized" replied Kosame, "I'm a father now, and that's more than enough for me. You have my support, but me and my family will be watching safely from the ground." Kosame started to leave, but then Appare spoke up. "Kosame please!" he said almost pleadingly. "You're my best friend, and I missed you. Yes, I built this space gun to expand the frontiers of science & knowledge, but the real reason was I wanted to get everyone together again one more time. I honestly don't care that much about this expedition as I do about you and everyone else coming along." Kosame turned around and looked at Appare's face as he said this, and he noticed how sad yet serious he looked. Everyone there, (especially Kosame) knew Appare well enough to know that he would never lie to anybody, let alone the people he cared about. After two minutes of silence (during which every eye was fixed on him); Kosame's stern expression began to melt into a smile, and finally he said, "you had me at please." Everyone cheered, and Appare said "that settles it! We've got seven days to enjoy Paris but come next Friday pack your bags and say your goodbyes because we're taking off as soon as the full moon is high in the sky."

Later that evening the whole gang went out to dinner to celebrate their impeding expedition to the Moon. it was the perfect opportunity for Appare to catch up with his friends and get properly introduced to their families, including Jing's fiancé Joshua Jollie. He was a 6'4" black man with broad shoulders, twinkling brown eyes, and a friendly smile. Appare listened attentively as Joshua explained how his family had moved from Louisiana to California shortly after the Civil War to open a Cajun themed restaurant; how he went to college and got his legal degree, and how he met Jing when she saved his life from a pack of racist thugs. "I would've died that night if not for this beautiful angel" he said taking her lovingly under his arm. In the 5 years that followed they grew very close; he would come and support her racing whenever he wasn't working on a case, and she would teach him Kung Fu when they weren't on a date. Which it turns out came in very handy, for when he finally asked Jing's father for his blessing to marry her, he said he wouldn't give it unless he could defeat him in hand-to-hand combat, (which he did). "It's almost as if you wanted to marry him right from the start Jing" Appare commented. Jing blushed but didn't deny it, and a toast was made to their future union. While Appare didn't find Joshua boring, he was much more interested in meeting Kosame's children. Recca (the first born) was very polite and articulate for his age; he addressed Appare as uncle and told him how his father spoke often of him and his genius inventions. Kaoru was a little more enthusiastic about meeting her "uncle" for the first time; running up to him and hugging his legs. But unlike her brother she was more fascinated with Appare's unorthodox appearance than anything he created; running her tiny fingers through his red and white hair.

For the next 7 days, Appare's friends and their families did indeed enjoy all the lovely things Paris had to offer them at the time. The Eiffel tower, Notre Dame, the Louver Museum, and the Arc de Triomphe were just a few of the amazing places they visited throughout the week. During that time Hototo tried desperately to convince his mother to let him go on the trip. Like he said it wasn't easy; she was still upset about him running off to avenge his father without her knowledge or permission. He tried to tell her what an honor it would be for their people to have one of their own be one of the first human beings to set foot on the moon, something the people who stole their land would never forget. Eventually she agreed but on one condition, that he swear on the soul of his father that he come back to her safe and sound. "I couldn't bare losing you too" she said with tears in her eyes. Hototo swore to her he would return and held his mother as she cried. On the night before the opening of the fair, Sophia revealed a special gift to the crew. "Appare theorized that there may not be air on the moon" she said, "so I had these special suits made to provide you with oxygen while you're there." The suits resembled deep sea diver's suits, but they were white and thicker to preserve heat as Sophia explained. Appare added that they even included built in microphones so that they could communicate with each other on the moon. As everyone else got ready for the big day tomorrow, Appare was pulled aside by Kosame's wife Miaka; (notably the one person outside his friend group he didn't care about getting to know). Kosame of course introduced him to her, and he even said Kosame was a lucky man, but he never tried to learn anything about her beyond that. In the week leading up to the trip, Appare had carried more conversations with Joshua, Hototo's mom, and Kosame's kids than he had with Miaka. Now the two were standing on a balcony looking out on the city. They did so silently for a long time, until Miaka finally said "I can't help but feel you've been trying to avoid me. I know you must dislike me for forcing Kosame to return to Japan. From what he told me, you two were like brothers. Please understand that I never intended to breakup such an intimate relationship." And that was true; 5 years ago, after the wild race Kosame and Hototo had chosen to stay with Appare in New York City to build a flying machine. Until Hototo received a letter from Chief Galuda informing him that his mother had fallen dreadfully ill, so he rushed back home as fast as he could to be by her side. Sometime later, Miaka's father saw Kosame in an international newspaper, and he demanded the Isshiki family honor their agreement. So Kosame's father sent him a letter saying he had to come home and go through with the arranged marriage. Naturally Appare was not happy about this; he could accept Hototo leaving, his mom needed him, and he was still just a boy. But Kosame was a grown man who could've put his foot down and told his father he wanted to stay in America, but he yielded to tradition and left Appare all alone. It was the reason why he made the deal with Al in the first place and started working on the space gun to bring everyone together again. "I guess I did blame you a little at first" said Appare. "But eventually I realized that it was inevitable that Kosame would go home; he loves his family too much to dishonor them by not fulfilling his obligations. I guess I can't understand that because my own family never understood or even wanted to understand me." "Which is why you formed a new one during the race" Miaka said with a smile; "That's probably why it hurt so much when he left" she said frowning again. Appare noticed this and tried to cheer her up pointing out that they were all together again now, and it seemed to work. "Don't be sorry for making my friend happy" he said. "I should apologize for not getting to know you better. I give you my word that I'll bring Kosame back to you safely, so that we can all be friends in the future." Miaka felt like crying tears of joy, and she hugged the young inventor much to his surprise. However, he grew to accept the hug and even hugged her back. When they broke away from each other he cleared his throat and said "Well, I've got a lot to prepare for tomorrow; wish us luck. If all goes well, you'll be married to one of the first men on the moon." He said triumphantly as he left the balcony to rejoin his friends, Miaka followed shortly afterward and after an hour of talking and laughing all went to bed to get well rested for the big day. But no one was able to sleep, they were too excited.

Author's note: when I first started working on this story, I did some research on the 1900 world fair and phases of the Moon during that year. I'm a bit of a history nerd, and as luck would have it, the full moon really did take place on the opening night of the world fair. It's nice when things conveniently line up in your favor, isn't it.