Close encounters of the. Well, it's got Zuu-Kun.
Ranma stared at the two men as they argued.
"Zunni, where s Carlos, I mean ii!"
"He's. Not here."
"Where s he, den?"
"He's. Around. Sorta."
"Aroun how?"
"He's. Let's jus say he's away."
"Where s 'Away', exactly?"
"Um. Boise."
"Where's dat?"
"Idaho." Zunni looked at Rho with a embarrassed grin, noticed Rho was still confused, and whispered, "It's one of the American States. With the potatoes, y'know? And Vale, the Ski Resort thing? Yeah, um."
"He's en AMERICA?!" Rho exploded. "My only COMPETENT partner s en AMERICA?!"
"Hey, don't diss America, Nevada is fucking awesome! And San Diego- That's where Steve and Nick are from, y'know- That place is so f'in' cool."
"Zunni. My partner s in d odda side o d world."
"Yeah, America's cool. But this is my hometown! Nipponjin Pride!!!" he held up a WWII Japanese headband as proof, tying it on. "Ain't this cool? Got one for Tob, too."
"Ah, yes. Renniaaji d IV. N where s d Prince?"
"Over there. He said he wanted to be alone with Nick."
"Ya lef' 'im alone wit a Daemon?"
"Yeah. Why not? I like Daemons. And Nick's from a good family of 'em, too, the Winfield-Kim clan? He's pretty damn powerful, a strapping young man, and he really does love Toby. And maybe even more important, Tob loves him too. That is why they got married."
"I still don' trust 'im. Renniaaji was s'p'sta marry d Oni princess-"
"Jun Min? My Jun Min? 'Oniko'?"
"She ain' yer wife, Zunni, she s Renniaaji's fiancé-"
"He chose her cousin. He told me himself the first day he didn't like girls. He likes men. Said they were shaped better anyways, he could appreciate it more. And then there was all that shit his father did to him."
"Wha, beat 'im?"
"No, I mean the slave trading, the child porn, the molestation-"
"His father didn'-"
"But he paid women to, is the thing. Toby was kinda raised thinking women were evil. Between the lust and the groping, and yeah, even that his father beat him. Toby ever tell you why?"
"No, no he didn't."
"His dad hated him, and hated how he'd force these girls on him. So Toby'd fight back, right? Keep them from touching him. And well, Reggie didn't like that too much."
"N so he beat 'im. Cha sai aye. No wondaa he li's Nick so much, Nick has problems wit bein' too tough in 'im when dere fuckin' evn."
"Yeah, really. And he really treats him good, no matter what you say. Toby's never been better off. There there are, oh lookatda happy couple!" he cooed.
Nick glared. "Shintoyoki."
"Kim Ni Kwan-â, how are ya? Boy, youse guys look on top a da world."
Toby smiled, clutching Nick's arm. "You were right, bro, Japan's really great! Nick and I have been doing so much, it's wonderful!"
"'So much', eh? Li each odda?"
Nick punched Rho. "Can I please kill him, honey?" he asked Toby.
"No, it's not a good idea. Remember, he owns most of the known galactic clusters."
"Den c'n I kill 'im?" Rho asked, pointing back at Nick.
"I'll kill you first," Toby growled, a soft rolling of Feral Atoni tongues sliding in.
"Hah!" Rho laughed.
"He's faster than I am, Rho," Zuu warned. "You know that. And he's my partner- Up and over, your battle moves as well."
"'I'm not crazy 'cause I take the ri-i-i-ght pills-'" Toby started, singing beautifully.
"'Ev'ry Day!'" Zunni finished. "One of our up and over combos," he explained.
"Ah." Rho allowed. Nick just smiled at Toby.
"So, did you guys enter this fight yet?"
"Nope, not yet. Did you?"
"Yeah, Zuu did. I'm next roun'."
"I won," Zunni said proudly. The others stared.
"Well, duh." Nick muttered.
"Round 43."
Ranma yelped, recognizing. "You're Len!"
"Yep! Zuu-Len!" He pointed at himself, proudly.
"Why would you want to enter this?"
Zunni looked aghast, as if there was only one reason anyway. "Because there's a shitload of comic money in that prize!" he declared, like there was no nobler cause.
"Oh, bu o course. D job don' matta none, 'Zuu-Kun' jus wan's his comic books." Rho mumbled.
Nick blushed. "My brother reads them too, but he won't admit it in public."
"The same brother that tries to beat me up for being a, quote, 'comic loving geek' every time I walk out of that store in the mall? And he always takes my books and cartoons, so I have to go buy more?"
"Yeah- he does that 'Zero-Neg Space' thing of ours, grabs some old magazines of Dad's he keeps hidden so he can tear them up and make people think he's tearing up their comics while in reality he's keeping them for himself."
"Bastard! I'd loan them to him!"
"Oh, but you outta see his collection! Some of them he's got in English, Korean, German and Japanese!"
"Can he read Japanese?"
"Yeah, actually."
"Argh! He stole my manga, the prick!"
"Com'on, you're no better, you little kleptomaniac."
"Hey, shut up!" Zuu shouted.
Ranma stared at the two men as they argued.
"Zunni, where s Carlos, I mean ii!"
"He's. Not here."
"Where s he, den?"
"He's. Around. Sorta."
"Aroun how?"
"He's. Let's jus say he's away."
"Where s 'Away', exactly?"
"Um. Boise."
"Where's dat?"
"Idaho." Zunni looked at Rho with a embarrassed grin, noticed Rho was still confused, and whispered, "It's one of the American States. With the potatoes, y'know? And Vale, the Ski Resort thing? Yeah, um."
"He's en AMERICA?!" Rho exploded. "My only COMPETENT partner s en AMERICA?!"
"Hey, don't diss America, Nevada is fucking awesome! And San Diego- That's where Steve and Nick are from, y'know- That place is so f'in' cool."
"Zunni. My partner s in d odda side o d world."
"Yeah, America's cool. But this is my hometown! Nipponjin Pride!!!" he held up a WWII Japanese headband as proof, tying it on. "Ain't this cool? Got one for Tob, too."
"Ah, yes. Renniaaji d IV. N where s d Prince?"
"Over there. He said he wanted to be alone with Nick."
"Ya lef' 'im alone wit a Daemon?"
"Yeah. Why not? I like Daemons. And Nick's from a good family of 'em, too, the Winfield-Kim clan? He's pretty damn powerful, a strapping young man, and he really does love Toby. And maybe even more important, Tob loves him too. That is why they got married."
"I still don' trust 'im. Renniaaji was s'p'sta marry d Oni princess-"
"Jun Min? My Jun Min? 'Oniko'?"
"She ain' yer wife, Zunni, she s Renniaaji's fiancé-"
"He chose her cousin. He told me himself the first day he didn't like girls. He likes men. Said they were shaped better anyways, he could appreciate it more. And then there was all that shit his father did to him."
"Wha, beat 'im?"
"No, I mean the slave trading, the child porn, the molestation-"
"His father didn'-"
"But he paid women to, is the thing. Toby was kinda raised thinking women were evil. Between the lust and the groping, and yeah, even that his father beat him. Toby ever tell you why?"
"No, no he didn't."
"His dad hated him, and hated how he'd force these girls on him. So Toby'd fight back, right? Keep them from touching him. And well, Reggie didn't like that too much."
"N so he beat 'im. Cha sai aye. No wondaa he li's Nick so much, Nick has problems wit bein' too tough in 'im when dere fuckin' evn."
"Yeah, really. And he really treats him good, no matter what you say. Toby's never been better off. There there are, oh lookatda happy couple!" he cooed.
Nick glared. "Shintoyoki."
"Kim Ni Kwan-â, how are ya? Boy, youse guys look on top a da world."
Toby smiled, clutching Nick's arm. "You were right, bro, Japan's really great! Nick and I have been doing so much, it's wonderful!"
"'So much', eh? Li each odda?"
Nick punched Rho. "Can I please kill him, honey?" he asked Toby.
"No, it's not a good idea. Remember, he owns most of the known galactic clusters."
"Den c'n I kill 'im?" Rho asked, pointing back at Nick.
"I'll kill you first," Toby growled, a soft rolling of Feral Atoni tongues sliding in.
"Hah!" Rho laughed.
"He's faster than I am, Rho," Zuu warned. "You know that. And he's my partner- Up and over, your battle moves as well."
"'I'm not crazy 'cause I take the ri-i-i-ght pills-'" Toby started, singing beautifully.
"'Ev'ry Day!'" Zunni finished. "One of our up and over combos," he explained.
"Ah." Rho allowed. Nick just smiled at Toby.
"So, did you guys enter this fight yet?"
"Nope, not yet. Did you?"
"Yeah, Zuu did. I'm next roun'."
"I won," Zunni said proudly. The others stared.
"Well, duh." Nick muttered.
"Round 43."
Ranma yelped, recognizing. "You're Len!"
"Yep! Zuu-Len!" He pointed at himself, proudly.
"Why would you want to enter this?"
Zunni looked aghast, as if there was only one reason anyway. "Because there's a shitload of comic money in that prize!" he declared, like there was no nobler cause.
"Oh, bu o course. D job don' matta none, 'Zuu-Kun' jus wan's his comic books." Rho mumbled.
Nick blushed. "My brother reads them too, but he won't admit it in public."
"The same brother that tries to beat me up for being a, quote, 'comic loving geek' every time I walk out of that store in the mall? And he always takes my books and cartoons, so I have to go buy more?"
"Yeah- he does that 'Zero-Neg Space' thing of ours, grabs some old magazines of Dad's he keeps hidden so he can tear them up and make people think he's tearing up their comics while in reality he's keeping them for himself."
"Bastard! I'd loan them to him!"
"Oh, but you outta see his collection! Some of them he's got in English, Korean, German and Japanese!"
"Can he read Japanese?"
"Yeah, actually."
"Argh! He stole my manga, the prick!"
"Com'on, you're no better, you little kleptomaniac."
"Hey, shut up!" Zuu shouted.