eXtreme Measures
Setting: Just after Jusendo and just before the failed wedding.
The clear tenor voice literally sang the words "Change here."
The pebble made a small splash into Mimir's Well and several of
the godlings craned their necks for a better view.
Toltiir (a.k.a. Puck, a.k.a. Trickster, a.k.a. etc) took one look
at the scene and then turned towards the Angel. "Hark, even for
one of the Herald Angels… you're weird."
"Thank you Elder… I think."
* * *
Nabiki sat back in her chair and pinched the bridge of her nose.
'All that work… For nothing.' She sighed and then looked at the
paper that was sitting on her desk in front of her. Akane was
going to freak. That was the only conclusion she could come to.
It wasn't like she would cover this up for Akane and Ranma. It
was too big and too important. "Damn… I should have known that
anyone that overbearing about honor was hiding something. Damn
you Nodoka."
A short time later….
"I'm WHAT!?! Nabiki, you gotta be shitting me!"
"I wish Saotome… I wish Ranma."
Ranma winced at the wording and then looked helplessly at Akane.
All of the hassles were for nothing. None of his fiancés were
his. Even Kodachi wouldn't want him now. Well, Shampoo was still
his fiancé. Oh joy, oh rapture. Ukyou was going to have a
conniption, he just knew it. And Akane… well Akane was just
sitting there looking at him.
The front door opening and closing was enough to break the
tension for a moment. That is until it became evident that it
was Genma and Nodoka. As Ranma stood up and headed towards them,
Nabiki watched as Akane got up and slowly headed upstairs.
"Mother, Genma, I need to talk to you." Neither one of them
seemed to notice that he called hem Genma and not Oyaji.
"We will be with you in a moment dear. As soon as…"
"No Mother. Now."
"Boy! What has gotten into you?" Genma bellowed. "You don't talk
to your Mother that way!"
Ranma simply turned and looked at him. "Shut up Genma. I don't
want to hear it from you right now."
"Oh really Boy!? We'll just see about that!…" The backhand came so
fast, that Nabiki didn't even see it, only it's effect. Genma'
head whipped around and he slammed into the wall. Hard.
"Ranma! What on earth has gotten into you?" Nodoka strode forward
and glared at her son. "You will not treat your father so."
"My 'father'… Interesting word isn't it 'mother'? Nodoka heard
the stress that Ranma put into both of the words and she
instantly paled.
Nabiki, sitting unnoticed over in the corner shook her head.
'Yep, Nodoka now knows that he knows. This is going to get ugly.'
Then she realized that Genma was getting groggily to his feet.
'Whoops, make that VERY ugly.'
Genma had just begun to tense for the leap towards his
disgraceful boy when Ranma suddenly turned towards him. "Don't
do it old man. I ain't joking this time."
Many things could (and have) been said about Genma Saotome. One
thing that was true was that Genma had a very well developed
sense of self-preservation. There was something in Ranma's eyes
and the dead cold tone in his voice that told Genma that it was literally
worth his life to not mess with the young martial
artist right now.
Disregarding the older man as a non-threat and without
bothering to look at his mother, Ranma started towards the
side door. "I'll be in the Dojo mother. I'd like to talk to
you… Now."
Nabiki sat on the side porch and watched the Dojo intently.
This was as near as Kasumi would let her go. Then again, after
the third crash and flair of Chi, she wasn't all that sure
that she wanted to get any closer.
It wasn't like she couldn't hear them anyway. She shook her
head bemusedly. She was used to Ranma yelling occasionally,
and the old moron yelled almost as much as her daddy cried,
but she hadn't expected Nodoka to be a screamer. The sudden
silence was like a physical blow, and she rocked back a little
before bending forward as if into the wind.
An hour after it became quiet, the yelling commenced again.
This time it was halted by Genma flying through the Dojo wall
and into the koi pond, where the panda floated unconsciously. Amazingly,
Nodoka and Ranma quietly exited. Nodoka headed directly towards the side
exit without sparing the panda a look while Ranma headed directly towards
Nabiki.
Nabiki sat back on her bed with her back against the headboard
and looked up at Ranma. "Ok, let me get this straight. Your
real father is some gaijin that your mother met at a party
one of her cousin's had. She was so struck by how manly he was
that she got drunk, had sex with him, and got pregnant. To
cover it up, she married Genma right after finding out she was pregnant."
Ranma frowned at the way that Nabiki said what she
had said, but then nodded in confirmation. "Damn…" Nabiki
muttered. "I should have known something was weird about you
just by looking at you, but I didn't."
"Huh?"
"Your blue eyes Ranma. How many Japanese do you know with Blue
eyes?"
Ranma nodded and then said aloud "Yea, I get what you're saying.
How many do you know with red hair?"
Nabiki's head snapped up a little as she stared him in the face.
"That… That's a good question."
Silence reigned for a moment and then she asked the important
question. "What are you going to do now Ranma? Daddy is furious,
as if you can't tell…" She was referring of course to the
argument that could be heard coming from downstairs. Genma and
Soun were on round two from the sounds of it.
Ranma straightened up from where he had been slouching against
the wall. The old Ranma fire was still there in his eyes as he
stared at her. "I'm gonna find him. Find out who and what he
is." He said in a low even tone. He suddenly became subdued and
lowered his gaze. He finished with a barely muttered "After that…
I don't know anymore."
"Okaaaayyy." She drawled, and then changed topics. Have you
talked to Akane about this yet?"
"No. What's there to talk about? She already hated me before
this. Now, I'm nameless AND a freak.
"Look Ranma, I know you two didn't get along to well sometimes,
and I don't think that you two were ready to
get married yet, but…"
"Forget it Nabiki. Ranma sighed, shook his head, and then
continued. "Look, I ain't a Saotome, your old man is blaming ME
for this and wants me gone, Akane and I have NEVER been a real
couple. Hell, I don't know for sure how I feel much less how
she feels. Let's face it. We screwed up any chance of me and
Akane ever being a couple."
"We?"
"Yea, 'we' Nabiki. Akane on account of her anger and her
jealousy, me on account of my mouth and my pride, and you on
account that you just couldn't leave things alone and your greed." Before
Nabiki could interrupt him Ranma continued on. "Yea Nabiki,
I know you needed the money for the house and all but sometimes
you went to far and you know it. It was all our faults Nabiki."
"I…I guess you're right Ranma."
"Well, look at the bright side Nabiki." Ranma's lip curled up
slightly at the corner. "At least with me gone the property
damage will go down."
"So," Nabiki started again trying for nonchalant here "Where is
it you are going again?"
"Well his last known location was in New Yo…" Ranma stopped and
then shook his head. "Nope, not this time Nabiki." He glared at
her for a moment. "You're not going to use me one last time."
"Oh come on Ranma, Why do you think I'm always going to use you?"
"Because you do."
Nabiki didn't really have an answer for this for a moment. Finally
she sighed. "Look, I don't always use you. It could be that maybe,
just maybe Kasumi and I do care about you and how you will be.
"Kasumi, I believe will care. You? No.
"Oh, come on Ranma. I always gave you a chance didn't I?"
"No, actually you didn't Nabiki."
"What? Oh come on Ranma, I always gave you at least a chance,
always."
Ranma walked over to her and looked her square in the eyes.
"Really? Are you really sure of that Nabiki?
"I'm sure enough that I would bet on it." Nabiki said a bit smugly
and then sat back a little.
"Okay, I'll take that bet Nabiki. What are we betting?"
"Huh?" Nabiki was startled, she hadn't expected this.
"You win, I'll give you the address that I'm going to. I win
and you handle the Kuno's and the rest of the fiancé brigade
as best you can after I'm gone, no fees.
Nabiki's mind whirled for a moment going over the past, and
then she smiled. "Okay Ranma, you're on."
The words had barely left her mouth and he was suddenly in her
face, their noses almost touching as he stared into her eyes.
"You say you always give me a chance huh? Remember back when
you and I was engaged for a little while Biki-chan?" Her eyes
widened a little at this comment. "Now, I was your fiancé and
I did try…Can you say the same? Can you honestly say that you
gave me a chance to really be your fiancé?"
Nabiki felt extremely small as she looked into his eyes. "I…I…
No. I can't."
Just as suddenly as he had appeared, Ranma had backed up. "I
didn't think so. Bye Nabiki."
Just before leaving out the door he looked back at her. She
looked… insecure sitting there on her bed with her arms around
her knees and staring at the wall. "Nabiki?" She looked up.
"Salem Center, New York, Nabiki. In America." Her eyes widened
as she realized what he had said. "And Nabiki? Guess we'll never
know will we?" At her confused look he continued. "If we could
have worked."
And on that note he walked out and closed the door.
* * *
Ranma held on to the tickets with one hand and a small slip of
paper with the other. "Thank you mother. I…I'll call after I
find him."
"I know you will my son. You will do well. You always do."
"I… Thank you mother. I gotta go."
"Goodbye my son."
* * *
And a small piece of paper held the following words in his mother's
handwriting:
Logan-san
Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters
1407 Greymalkin Lane, Salem Center, NY, 10274
* * *
Hark looked down into the well and then shook his head. "Well
that is going to be interesting. I didn't foresee that." He sang.
Toltiir looked in also and asked snidely. "What, you didn't
foresee the New Mutants, Hellions, and the Sentinels just to name
a few being involved? Being romantically chased by Magik, Karma,
and even Wolfsbane besides about a dozen others?"
"No." Hark sang. "I'm talking about that."
* * *
She just stared at Ranma. "You mean to tell me that this is your
true father?" At Ranma's tense nod Cologne looked back and forth between
Logan and Ranma and then finally just shook her head. "Well, THIS surely
puts a crimp in Shampoo's marriage claim."
"What do ya mean old ghoul?"
Ignoring Ranma, Kuh-lon Matriarch of the Joketsuku and Grand Mistress of
Amazon Wu-shu, turned towards Logan and bowed. "Hello Father."
* * *
And at Mimir's Well, the godlings present were witness to the remarkable
scene of Toltiir facefaulting.
Disclaimer: Ranma ½ belongs to Takahashi, Viz, and others. X-men
and assorted characters belong to Marvel Comics. I'm just here
to play in the sandbox for a little while.
QuickSilver Knight
C&C would be nice please.
ps: There is a joke hidden in the very begining of the fic. Anyone
want to take a guess?
Setting: Just after Jusendo and just before the failed wedding.
The clear tenor voice literally sang the words "Change here."
The pebble made a small splash into Mimir's Well and several of
the godlings craned their necks for a better view.
Toltiir (a.k.a. Puck, a.k.a. Trickster, a.k.a. etc) took one look
at the scene and then turned towards the Angel. "Hark, even for
one of the Herald Angels… you're weird."
"Thank you Elder… I think."
* * *
Nabiki sat back in her chair and pinched the bridge of her nose.
'All that work… For nothing.' She sighed and then looked at the
paper that was sitting on her desk in front of her. Akane was
going to freak. That was the only conclusion she could come to.
It wasn't like she would cover this up for Akane and Ranma. It
was too big and too important. "Damn… I should have known that
anyone that overbearing about honor was hiding something. Damn
you Nodoka."
A short time later….
"I'm WHAT!?! Nabiki, you gotta be shitting me!"
"I wish Saotome… I wish Ranma."
Ranma winced at the wording and then looked helplessly at Akane.
All of the hassles were for nothing. None of his fiancés were
his. Even Kodachi wouldn't want him now. Well, Shampoo was still
his fiancé. Oh joy, oh rapture. Ukyou was going to have a
conniption, he just knew it. And Akane… well Akane was just
sitting there looking at him.
The front door opening and closing was enough to break the
tension for a moment. That is until it became evident that it
was Genma and Nodoka. As Ranma stood up and headed towards them,
Nabiki watched as Akane got up and slowly headed upstairs.
"Mother, Genma, I need to talk to you." Neither one of them
seemed to notice that he called hem Genma and not Oyaji.
"We will be with you in a moment dear. As soon as…"
"No Mother. Now."
"Boy! What has gotten into you?" Genma bellowed. "You don't talk
to your Mother that way!"
Ranma simply turned and looked at him. "Shut up Genma. I don't
want to hear it from you right now."
"Oh really Boy!? We'll just see about that!…" The backhand came so
fast, that Nabiki didn't even see it, only it's effect. Genma'
head whipped around and he slammed into the wall. Hard.
"Ranma! What on earth has gotten into you?" Nodoka strode forward
and glared at her son. "You will not treat your father so."
"My 'father'… Interesting word isn't it 'mother'? Nodoka heard
the stress that Ranma put into both of the words and she
instantly paled.
Nabiki, sitting unnoticed over in the corner shook her head.
'Yep, Nodoka now knows that he knows. This is going to get ugly.'
Then she realized that Genma was getting groggily to his feet.
'Whoops, make that VERY ugly.'
Genma had just begun to tense for the leap towards his
disgraceful boy when Ranma suddenly turned towards him. "Don't
do it old man. I ain't joking this time."
Many things could (and have) been said about Genma Saotome. One
thing that was true was that Genma had a very well developed
sense of self-preservation. There was something in Ranma's eyes
and the dead cold tone in his voice that told Genma that it was literally
worth his life to not mess with the young martial
artist right now.
Disregarding the older man as a non-threat and without
bothering to look at his mother, Ranma started towards the
side door. "I'll be in the Dojo mother. I'd like to talk to
you… Now."
Nabiki sat on the side porch and watched the Dojo intently.
This was as near as Kasumi would let her go. Then again, after
the third crash and flair of Chi, she wasn't all that sure
that she wanted to get any closer.
It wasn't like she couldn't hear them anyway. She shook her
head bemusedly. She was used to Ranma yelling occasionally,
and the old moron yelled almost as much as her daddy cried,
but she hadn't expected Nodoka to be a screamer. The sudden
silence was like a physical blow, and she rocked back a little
before bending forward as if into the wind.
An hour after it became quiet, the yelling commenced again.
This time it was halted by Genma flying through the Dojo wall
and into the koi pond, where the panda floated unconsciously. Amazingly,
Nodoka and Ranma quietly exited. Nodoka headed directly towards the side
exit without sparing the panda a look while Ranma headed directly towards
Nabiki.
Nabiki sat back on her bed with her back against the headboard
and looked up at Ranma. "Ok, let me get this straight. Your
real father is some gaijin that your mother met at a party
one of her cousin's had. She was so struck by how manly he was
that she got drunk, had sex with him, and got pregnant. To
cover it up, she married Genma right after finding out she was pregnant."
Ranma frowned at the way that Nabiki said what she
had said, but then nodded in confirmation. "Damn…" Nabiki
muttered. "I should have known something was weird about you
just by looking at you, but I didn't."
"Huh?"
"Your blue eyes Ranma. How many Japanese do you know with Blue
eyes?"
Ranma nodded and then said aloud "Yea, I get what you're saying.
How many do you know with red hair?"
Nabiki's head snapped up a little as she stared him in the face.
"That… That's a good question."
Silence reigned for a moment and then she asked the important
question. "What are you going to do now Ranma? Daddy is furious,
as if you can't tell…" She was referring of course to the
argument that could be heard coming from downstairs. Genma and
Soun were on round two from the sounds of it.
Ranma straightened up from where he had been slouching against
the wall. The old Ranma fire was still there in his eyes as he
stared at her. "I'm gonna find him. Find out who and what he
is." He said in a low even tone. He suddenly became subdued and
lowered his gaze. He finished with a barely muttered "After that…
I don't know anymore."
"Okaaaayyy." She drawled, and then changed topics. Have you
talked to Akane about this yet?"
"No. What's there to talk about? She already hated me before
this. Now, I'm nameless AND a freak.
"Look Ranma, I know you two didn't get along to well sometimes,
and I don't think that you two were ready to
get married yet, but…"
"Forget it Nabiki. Ranma sighed, shook his head, and then
continued. "Look, I ain't a Saotome, your old man is blaming ME
for this and wants me gone, Akane and I have NEVER been a real
couple. Hell, I don't know for sure how I feel much less how
she feels. Let's face it. We screwed up any chance of me and
Akane ever being a couple."
"We?"
"Yea, 'we' Nabiki. Akane on account of her anger and her
jealousy, me on account of my mouth and my pride, and you on
account that you just couldn't leave things alone and your greed." Before
Nabiki could interrupt him Ranma continued on. "Yea Nabiki,
I know you needed the money for the house and all but sometimes
you went to far and you know it. It was all our faults Nabiki."
"I…I guess you're right Ranma."
"Well, look at the bright side Nabiki." Ranma's lip curled up
slightly at the corner. "At least with me gone the property
damage will go down."
"So," Nabiki started again trying for nonchalant here "Where is
it you are going again?"
"Well his last known location was in New Yo…" Ranma stopped and
then shook his head. "Nope, not this time Nabiki." He glared at
her for a moment. "You're not going to use me one last time."
"Oh come on Ranma, Why do you think I'm always going to use you?"
"Because you do."
Nabiki didn't really have an answer for this for a moment. Finally
she sighed. "Look, I don't always use you. It could be that maybe,
just maybe Kasumi and I do care about you and how you will be.
"Kasumi, I believe will care. You? No.
"Oh, come on Ranma. I always gave you a chance didn't I?"
"No, actually you didn't Nabiki."
"What? Oh come on Ranma, I always gave you at least a chance,
always."
Ranma walked over to her and looked her square in the eyes.
"Really? Are you really sure of that Nabiki?
"I'm sure enough that I would bet on it." Nabiki said a bit smugly
and then sat back a little.
"Okay, I'll take that bet Nabiki. What are we betting?"
"Huh?" Nabiki was startled, she hadn't expected this.
"You win, I'll give you the address that I'm going to. I win
and you handle the Kuno's and the rest of the fiancé brigade
as best you can after I'm gone, no fees.
Nabiki's mind whirled for a moment going over the past, and
then she smiled. "Okay Ranma, you're on."
The words had barely left her mouth and he was suddenly in her
face, their noses almost touching as he stared into her eyes.
"You say you always give me a chance huh? Remember back when
you and I was engaged for a little while Biki-chan?" Her eyes
widened a little at this comment. "Now, I was your fiancé and
I did try…Can you say the same? Can you honestly say that you
gave me a chance to really be your fiancé?"
Nabiki felt extremely small as she looked into his eyes. "I…I…
No. I can't."
Just as suddenly as he had appeared, Ranma had backed up. "I
didn't think so. Bye Nabiki."
Just before leaving out the door he looked back at her. She
looked… insecure sitting there on her bed with her arms around
her knees and staring at the wall. "Nabiki?" She looked up.
"Salem Center, New York, Nabiki. In America." Her eyes widened
as she realized what he had said. "And Nabiki? Guess we'll never
know will we?" At her confused look he continued. "If we could
have worked."
And on that note he walked out and closed the door.
* * *
Ranma held on to the tickets with one hand and a small slip of
paper with the other. "Thank you mother. I…I'll call after I
find him."
"I know you will my son. You will do well. You always do."
"I… Thank you mother. I gotta go."
"Goodbye my son."
* * *
And a small piece of paper held the following words in his mother's
handwriting:
Logan-san
Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters
1407 Greymalkin Lane, Salem Center, NY, 10274
* * *
Hark looked down into the well and then shook his head. "Well
that is going to be interesting. I didn't foresee that." He sang.
Toltiir looked in also and asked snidely. "What, you didn't
foresee the New Mutants, Hellions, and the Sentinels just to name
a few being involved? Being romantically chased by Magik, Karma,
and even Wolfsbane besides about a dozen others?"
"No." Hark sang. "I'm talking about that."
* * *
She just stared at Ranma. "You mean to tell me that this is your
true father?" At Ranma's tense nod Cologne looked back and forth between
Logan and Ranma and then finally just shook her head. "Well, THIS surely
puts a crimp in Shampoo's marriage claim."
"What do ya mean old ghoul?"
Ignoring Ranma, Kuh-lon Matriarch of the Joketsuku and Grand Mistress of
Amazon Wu-shu, turned towards Logan and bowed. "Hello Father."
* * *
And at Mimir's Well, the godlings present were witness to the remarkable
scene of Toltiir facefaulting.
Disclaimer: Ranma ½ belongs to Takahashi, Viz, and others. X-men
and assorted characters belong to Marvel Comics. I'm just here
to play in the sandbox for a little while.
QuickSilver Knight
C&C would be nice please.
ps: There is a joke hidden in the very begining of the fic. Anyone
want to take a guess?