Disclaimer: Ranma and Friends are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, and various
publishing agencies. Gremlins are owned by Warner Brothers, and anyone
lucky enough to buy one of those latex figures left over after the
movie.
Cologne glanced around the store carefully, making sure she'd not
forgotten anything. Buying in preparation for a disaster was never easy,
but when disasters happened around here. She decided a bit more sheet
metal might not be a bad idea.
The Importance of Rules 4
By: Kagato
"I'm home!" Ranma called, the items he carried balanced precariously
upon his arms and head. Making his way to the main room of the house, he
began setting things down on the table, as Kasumi came out to help him.
"My, Ranma, you took a long time getting these today. Was the market
busy?"
"Eh? No. I had to go kinda far to get some of these things... some old
lady bought almost all the building supplies in town. Then on my way
back, Mousse appeared outta nowhere and.. well.." he trailed off, then,
knowing the rest was too obvious to say.
"Oh my. I'm sorry to make you walk so far out of your way. It's almost
dinnertime, now." Ranma just shrugged, and, after helping Kasumi put
away most of the things he'd gone to pick up, he disappeared into the
dojo to work off the frustration of the day.
(Begin Fight Flashback)
After Mousse had shown up, Kuno had appeared as well, and the two
attacked him together. It was an easy fight, but then Mousse had pulled
a water balloon on Ranma, and the wet Ranma, still blinking the water
out of his eyes, was assaulted by Kuno, a smothering hug holding Ranma
still. Mouse had chosen this time to attack Ranma, and Kuno had begun
defending his pigtailed goddess from the enraged savage, until Mousse
had fallen on another water balloon, and flown away as a duck. Ranma
stared, as Kuno scowled at the fleeing fowl, wondering if Kuno had
understood what that implied.
"Alas, the foul sorcerer has interfered in this fight as well,
enchanting my opponent so that he may fight another day. Curse you
Saotome!" Kuno cried, shaking his bokken at the heavens. A moment later
Kuno himself was sent towards the heavens, and an extremely irked,
female Ranma turned to Mousse's Robes. After digging around, Ranma found
the item she was searching for, and the hot thermos was now inverted
above male-Ranma's head.
(End Flashback)
"Ranma, dinner's ready." Nabiki said, poking her head in the door,
before disappearing just as quickly. Night had fallen as Ranma had
worked off his excess energy, and he sighed softly, disappointed that
he'd missed watching the sunset. Though he didn't get a chance to often,
he occasionally found the time to watch the sun set after it's trek
across the sky, and think about whatever his mind wandered to. A couple
subtle improvements in his fighting style had come of this relaxed
thought, and while none of his girl troubles had been solved, he'd use
that time to calm down after their more active days.
Entering the house, he saw the Tendo family gathering around the table,
is father already seated and staring at the door to the kitchen
expectantly. Akane frowned at him for a moment, before petting M-chan on
the head, softly. Quickly moving over to the table, he sat down beside
his gather, and waited for Kasumi to arrive with their food.
Dinner was quiet, the loudest sound being the clack of chopsticks as
Ranma blocked his father's attempts to steal his food. Finally, Genma
realized that he'd have better luck stealing from someone a little
slower, and tried to take some rice from Nabiki. She didn't do any more
than raise her eyes to look at him, but that's all it took. His hand
shot back like he'd stuck it into a fire, and he turned to Akane, eyeing
her plate hungrily. Then he saw that her Mallet had somehow appeared
beside her on the table, and, decided that it wasn't worth it.
Genma's hand struck then, stealing from Kasumi's plate, and, after
nothing happened, he looked at her with a victorious smile on his face.
His chopsticks snapped in his hand when he saw the look of pain and
suffering on her face, and his mouth fell open in shock as a tear rolled
down her cheek.
"Kasumi.. I'm.. I'm so sorry. I. Excuse me." Genma stood and left,
unable to handle being looked at like that. Soun, Nabiki, Ranma and
Akane kept eating, and after he'd left the room, Kasumi wiped her eyes,
staring down at her plate, sadly.
"I overcooked the rice." She said with a sigh, before continuing her
meal. Finally, the last bite was eaten, and each member disbursed, and
Ranma walked to his room with a handful of food for his mogwai. Entering
the room, he walked over to where he'd placed his Mogwai to keep it away
from the sunlight, and placed the food-filled napkin down before it. It
stared hungrily before digging in rapidly. Then, midway through its
meal, it stopped, and stared at the window.
"What's the matter, not hungry?" Ranma asked, not sure what was wrong
with the little thing. When it just looked at him and shrugged, he
shrugged back, and walked over to his bed. He had school tomorrow, and
getting a full nights rest would help him deal with whatever madness was
sure to enter his life once he passed through Furinkin's gates.
Likewise, in the next room over, Akane was getting ready for bed, and M-
chan just looked around, watching Akane warily. The morning's brutal
meeting with the wall had taught him to be cautions around her, and he
would refrain from waking her again the next morning. He'd eaten at the
dinner table and palmed a small morsel of food, which, after the clock
passed midnight, he ate.Unfortunately for Neremians everywhere, similar
events had led up to a problematic conclusion throughout the day.
*******
At Uchan's Okonomiyaki Restaurant, the customers had stared in awe (and
a little jealousy) at the cute little creature imitating Ukyo with one
of her smaller throwing spatulas. Earlier customers had been amused as
the smaller spatula had clattered against the countertop, while those in
the afternoon had nodded in approval as the small creature mimicked her
quite well, only going a bit slower. By nightfall, customers stared in
awe as the creature mirrored her, a tiny okonomiyaki baking on the
portion of the grill before it.
"You know, if you were a little bigger, I'd pay to have you help out.
You're a quick learner." Ukyo said to the creature. It shrugged spinning
the spatula one handed over its head, before slinging it onto its back
in a makeshift sling. Then it hopped down onto the floor, executing a
graceful flip and headed towards the stairs that lead to Ukyo's upstairs
apartment.
Ukyo stared at it in amazement. Her fianc, didn't learn that quickly.
She sighed, then. Thinking about Ranma was always done with mixed
emotions. He was so cute, but so oblivious. She shook her head, and
struck a determined pose. She may not have the advantage of sleeping
under the same roof as Akane did, and Shampoo may be built a little
better, but damnit, she had just as much claim to him as Akane, and that
was the only serious engagement. As far as she cared, Shampoo's claim
was about as backed as Kodachi's, and even Akane hadn't lost as much as
she had.
With another sigh, Ukyo quickly flipped the chairs onto the tables, and
swept the floors, the day's acquired crumbs and dust piling up quickly,
before she launched it out the door. Locking the door, and turning off
the lights behind her, she grabbed the okonomiyaki she'd cooked for
herself off the counter, wiping away the moisture left behind, and went
upstairs to join her little prodigal pet.
It was waiting for her, staring at the Okonomiyaki in her hand hungrily.
Ukyo grinned, and set a small piece before it, sitting on her mattress,
and taking a bite herself. She looked down at the creature as it made a
noise, and she grinned, assuming it enjoyed the taste of her cooking.
Finishing, she saw her pet hadn't quite finished, or wasn't hungry, and
decided to leave the small piece there, in case it got hungry in a
little bit. Then she changed, and hopped into her bed, reaching up to
set her alarm clock for school before she turned out the light that
softly illuminated her room.
*******
Across town, The pantry had been raided at a rather large mansion, and a
large group of mogwai sat watching a large television set and
occasionally glancing at a nearby clock, while boxes, bottles and cans
of food lay strewn about, waiting to be opened at the right time. As the
clock approached midnight, the gathered mogwai's warbling grew louder,
as tiny hands went to open numerous food containers in wait for the time
they awaited.
Finally, the clock chimed, and the creatures began feeding ravenously,
devouring all the collected food in minutes. Unfortunately, most of them
soon died as various poisons went to work on bodies mere fractions of
the size they'd been dosed for. Those that ate clean food, however,
didn't notice, as subtle reactions in their chemistry grew rapidly, and
their metamorphosis began.
In the Nekohanten, Shampoo had watched with joy as her new pet had
copied her movements, slowly growing more and more limber, faster, and
graceful as the day progressed. By nightfall, the creature was carrying
bowls of steaming ramen to tables faster than duck-Mousse ever could.
And, with working eyes, it didn't mess up by taking food to the wrong
tables as often.
Shampoo cheered when it first leapt onto a table with a bowl of Ramen
held over it's head, and by the day's end, it would hop off walls, the
floor tables, and the occasional rowdy customers head to help deliver
food. The only thing it wouldn't do was deliver food to the tables near
the door or windows. Indirect sunlight was okay, and it enjoyed the low
level lighting the Nekohanten had been designed with, but it wouldn't
take that chance. And, as the sun set, it had disappeared for a while,
as the sunlight had streamed in through the windows and effectively
blocked off it's path across the restaurant.
Now, however, the sky was dark, the restaurant closing up, and the
perfect time to get an after-midnight snack from the storage room.
"And where do you think you're going, little one?" an elderly voice
asked from behind it. The Mogwai sweatdropped as it let go of the door,
turning to look at the withered figure perched upon a cane.
"I know your tricks, little Mogwai. Don't think you can pull one over on
me." Cologne said. She and Mousse, after buying supplies, had worked
outside all day to fortify the restaurant against the coming storm. She
knew that they would probably still get in and cause a problem, but at
least now the damage would be a rather hefty mess, as opposed to
structural damage or loss. Cologne chuckled as she hopped away, the
deadbolt on the door locked tightly, the only key the one around her
neck.
Unfortunately, while Cologne had managed to collect all the food the
restaurant had for customers, she'd neglected to gather up the bread
Mousse ate in his cage as a duck. The mogwai, spotting this old, dry and
stale piece of bread, and grimaced, before taking it and hiding it for
consumption later that night.
Finally, when the hour arrived, and everyone appeared to be sleeping,
the creature snuck out the door, and down to it's hiding spot, eating
the bread before crawlign to the middle of the floor to spite the old
lady.
Authors Notes: Another chapter finished. I bet you all thought I forgot
about this fic, or something, eh? Well.. I'll get another one out soon,
I think. now that I've gotten the.. mundane stuff out of the way, I can
start having fun. Visual Puns you'd like to see done by gremlins in
upcoming chapters are welcome, and I've yet to find someone willing (or
interested.) to do "Ryouga and The Gremins in Juuban." It's not a must,
but it'd be fun for someone to do (I think) so if you're interested, E-
Mail me, or IM me (EnigmaticMagus) and we can talk.
-Kagato
publishing agencies. Gremlins are owned by Warner Brothers, and anyone
lucky enough to buy one of those latex figures left over after the
movie.
Cologne glanced around the store carefully, making sure she'd not
forgotten anything. Buying in preparation for a disaster was never easy,
but when disasters happened around here. She decided a bit more sheet
metal might not be a bad idea.
The Importance of Rules 4
By: Kagato
"I'm home!" Ranma called, the items he carried balanced precariously
upon his arms and head. Making his way to the main room of the house, he
began setting things down on the table, as Kasumi came out to help him.
"My, Ranma, you took a long time getting these today. Was the market
busy?"
"Eh? No. I had to go kinda far to get some of these things... some old
lady bought almost all the building supplies in town. Then on my way
back, Mousse appeared outta nowhere and.. well.." he trailed off, then,
knowing the rest was too obvious to say.
"Oh my. I'm sorry to make you walk so far out of your way. It's almost
dinnertime, now." Ranma just shrugged, and, after helping Kasumi put
away most of the things he'd gone to pick up, he disappeared into the
dojo to work off the frustration of the day.
(Begin Fight Flashback)
After Mousse had shown up, Kuno had appeared as well, and the two
attacked him together. It was an easy fight, but then Mousse had pulled
a water balloon on Ranma, and the wet Ranma, still blinking the water
out of his eyes, was assaulted by Kuno, a smothering hug holding Ranma
still. Mouse had chosen this time to attack Ranma, and Kuno had begun
defending his pigtailed goddess from the enraged savage, until Mousse
had fallen on another water balloon, and flown away as a duck. Ranma
stared, as Kuno scowled at the fleeing fowl, wondering if Kuno had
understood what that implied.
"Alas, the foul sorcerer has interfered in this fight as well,
enchanting my opponent so that he may fight another day. Curse you
Saotome!" Kuno cried, shaking his bokken at the heavens. A moment later
Kuno himself was sent towards the heavens, and an extremely irked,
female Ranma turned to Mousse's Robes. After digging around, Ranma found
the item she was searching for, and the hot thermos was now inverted
above male-Ranma's head.
(End Flashback)
"Ranma, dinner's ready." Nabiki said, poking her head in the door,
before disappearing just as quickly. Night had fallen as Ranma had
worked off his excess energy, and he sighed softly, disappointed that
he'd missed watching the sunset. Though he didn't get a chance to often,
he occasionally found the time to watch the sun set after it's trek
across the sky, and think about whatever his mind wandered to. A couple
subtle improvements in his fighting style had come of this relaxed
thought, and while none of his girl troubles had been solved, he'd use
that time to calm down after their more active days.
Entering the house, he saw the Tendo family gathering around the table,
is father already seated and staring at the door to the kitchen
expectantly. Akane frowned at him for a moment, before petting M-chan on
the head, softly. Quickly moving over to the table, he sat down beside
his gather, and waited for Kasumi to arrive with their food.
Dinner was quiet, the loudest sound being the clack of chopsticks as
Ranma blocked his father's attempts to steal his food. Finally, Genma
realized that he'd have better luck stealing from someone a little
slower, and tried to take some rice from Nabiki. She didn't do any more
than raise her eyes to look at him, but that's all it took. His hand
shot back like he'd stuck it into a fire, and he turned to Akane, eyeing
her plate hungrily. Then he saw that her Mallet had somehow appeared
beside her on the table, and, decided that it wasn't worth it.
Genma's hand struck then, stealing from Kasumi's plate, and, after
nothing happened, he looked at her with a victorious smile on his face.
His chopsticks snapped in his hand when he saw the look of pain and
suffering on her face, and his mouth fell open in shock as a tear rolled
down her cheek.
"Kasumi.. I'm.. I'm so sorry. I. Excuse me." Genma stood and left,
unable to handle being looked at like that. Soun, Nabiki, Ranma and
Akane kept eating, and after he'd left the room, Kasumi wiped her eyes,
staring down at her plate, sadly.
"I overcooked the rice." She said with a sigh, before continuing her
meal. Finally, the last bite was eaten, and each member disbursed, and
Ranma walked to his room with a handful of food for his mogwai. Entering
the room, he walked over to where he'd placed his Mogwai to keep it away
from the sunlight, and placed the food-filled napkin down before it. It
stared hungrily before digging in rapidly. Then, midway through its
meal, it stopped, and stared at the window.
"What's the matter, not hungry?" Ranma asked, not sure what was wrong
with the little thing. When it just looked at him and shrugged, he
shrugged back, and walked over to his bed. He had school tomorrow, and
getting a full nights rest would help him deal with whatever madness was
sure to enter his life once he passed through Furinkin's gates.
Likewise, in the next room over, Akane was getting ready for bed, and M-
chan just looked around, watching Akane warily. The morning's brutal
meeting with the wall had taught him to be cautions around her, and he
would refrain from waking her again the next morning. He'd eaten at the
dinner table and palmed a small morsel of food, which, after the clock
passed midnight, he ate.Unfortunately for Neremians everywhere, similar
events had led up to a problematic conclusion throughout the day.
*******
At Uchan's Okonomiyaki Restaurant, the customers had stared in awe (and
a little jealousy) at the cute little creature imitating Ukyo with one
of her smaller throwing spatulas. Earlier customers had been amused as
the smaller spatula had clattered against the countertop, while those in
the afternoon had nodded in approval as the small creature mimicked her
quite well, only going a bit slower. By nightfall, customers stared in
awe as the creature mirrored her, a tiny okonomiyaki baking on the
portion of the grill before it.
"You know, if you were a little bigger, I'd pay to have you help out.
You're a quick learner." Ukyo said to the creature. It shrugged spinning
the spatula one handed over its head, before slinging it onto its back
in a makeshift sling. Then it hopped down onto the floor, executing a
graceful flip and headed towards the stairs that lead to Ukyo's upstairs
apartment.
Ukyo stared at it in amazement. Her fianc, didn't learn that quickly.
She sighed, then. Thinking about Ranma was always done with mixed
emotions. He was so cute, but so oblivious. She shook her head, and
struck a determined pose. She may not have the advantage of sleeping
under the same roof as Akane did, and Shampoo may be built a little
better, but damnit, she had just as much claim to him as Akane, and that
was the only serious engagement. As far as she cared, Shampoo's claim
was about as backed as Kodachi's, and even Akane hadn't lost as much as
she had.
With another sigh, Ukyo quickly flipped the chairs onto the tables, and
swept the floors, the day's acquired crumbs and dust piling up quickly,
before she launched it out the door. Locking the door, and turning off
the lights behind her, she grabbed the okonomiyaki she'd cooked for
herself off the counter, wiping away the moisture left behind, and went
upstairs to join her little prodigal pet.
It was waiting for her, staring at the Okonomiyaki in her hand hungrily.
Ukyo grinned, and set a small piece before it, sitting on her mattress,
and taking a bite herself. She looked down at the creature as it made a
noise, and she grinned, assuming it enjoyed the taste of her cooking.
Finishing, she saw her pet hadn't quite finished, or wasn't hungry, and
decided to leave the small piece there, in case it got hungry in a
little bit. Then she changed, and hopped into her bed, reaching up to
set her alarm clock for school before she turned out the light that
softly illuminated her room.
*******
Across town, The pantry had been raided at a rather large mansion, and a
large group of mogwai sat watching a large television set and
occasionally glancing at a nearby clock, while boxes, bottles and cans
of food lay strewn about, waiting to be opened at the right time. As the
clock approached midnight, the gathered mogwai's warbling grew louder,
as tiny hands went to open numerous food containers in wait for the time
they awaited.
Finally, the clock chimed, and the creatures began feeding ravenously,
devouring all the collected food in minutes. Unfortunately, most of them
soon died as various poisons went to work on bodies mere fractions of
the size they'd been dosed for. Those that ate clean food, however,
didn't notice, as subtle reactions in their chemistry grew rapidly, and
their metamorphosis began.
In the Nekohanten, Shampoo had watched with joy as her new pet had
copied her movements, slowly growing more and more limber, faster, and
graceful as the day progressed. By nightfall, the creature was carrying
bowls of steaming ramen to tables faster than duck-Mousse ever could.
And, with working eyes, it didn't mess up by taking food to the wrong
tables as often.
Shampoo cheered when it first leapt onto a table with a bowl of Ramen
held over it's head, and by the day's end, it would hop off walls, the
floor tables, and the occasional rowdy customers head to help deliver
food. The only thing it wouldn't do was deliver food to the tables near
the door or windows. Indirect sunlight was okay, and it enjoyed the low
level lighting the Nekohanten had been designed with, but it wouldn't
take that chance. And, as the sun set, it had disappeared for a while,
as the sunlight had streamed in through the windows and effectively
blocked off it's path across the restaurant.
Now, however, the sky was dark, the restaurant closing up, and the
perfect time to get an after-midnight snack from the storage room.
"And where do you think you're going, little one?" an elderly voice
asked from behind it. The Mogwai sweatdropped as it let go of the door,
turning to look at the withered figure perched upon a cane.
"I know your tricks, little Mogwai. Don't think you can pull one over on
me." Cologne said. She and Mousse, after buying supplies, had worked
outside all day to fortify the restaurant against the coming storm. She
knew that they would probably still get in and cause a problem, but at
least now the damage would be a rather hefty mess, as opposed to
structural damage or loss. Cologne chuckled as she hopped away, the
deadbolt on the door locked tightly, the only key the one around her
neck.
Unfortunately, while Cologne had managed to collect all the food the
restaurant had for customers, she'd neglected to gather up the bread
Mousse ate in his cage as a duck. The mogwai, spotting this old, dry and
stale piece of bread, and grimaced, before taking it and hiding it for
consumption later that night.
Finally, when the hour arrived, and everyone appeared to be sleeping,
the creature snuck out the door, and down to it's hiding spot, eating
the bread before crawlign to the middle of the floor to spite the old
lady.
Authors Notes: Another chapter finished. I bet you all thought I forgot
about this fic, or something, eh? Well.. I'll get another one out soon,
I think. now that I've gotten the.. mundane stuff out of the way, I can
start having fun. Visual Puns you'd like to see done by gremlins in
upcoming chapters are welcome, and I've yet to find someone willing (or
interested.) to do "Ryouga and The Gremins in Juuban." It's not a must,
but it'd be fun for someone to do (I think) so if you're interested, E-
Mail me, or IM me (EnigmaticMagus) and we can talk.
-Kagato