A Jack of many Trades
By Jeremy Evans
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters nor am I making any money from this. Please do not sue me.
Chapter 2
******* It was a day full of surprises for the Inner Senshi. First was running into Malachite who should be dead, second was finding said supposedly deceased dark general wielding some new type of power and commanding creatures of a like they'd not seen before, and third was running into their dark savior and lastly was coming back to Rei's Shrine only to find the Outer Senshi calmly waiting for them.
Setsuna held up a hand to forestall questions "Please take a seat, and help yours self to the refreshments. I'll explain in a moment"
The inners, tired from their ordeal numbly did as told, with Usagi taking extra large helpings of cookies and juice.
After everyone was settled in Setsuna began. "The time stream is in flux, the battle you had today was not originally supposed to happen." She began bluntly "The reason for this being that our goal of bringing back Crystal Tokyo has caught the eye of Cyric the mad, also known as the God of Murder, Death etc."
Usagi nearly choked on a cookie when the Senshi of time made this announcement. Rei pounded her friends back, while the rest of the Senshi let that Sink in.
"So, we have to face a God this time?" Minako asked.
Setsuna smiled reassuringly "No, there are rules for God mortal interactions. Thus he cannot directly get involved, however he has resurrected Beryle, her minions and a few others and set them under a new master whose face has yet to be revealed to me at the time gate or by other means. All I can tell is that he is knowledgeable and experienced."
"Could it have been that guy the Senshi ran into? He was not apart of the silver millennium." Luna added
Setsuna shook her head. "No, he and his friend are here on another errand though the goddess Eilistraee, manipulated events so that their timing would coincide with our need. Basically they are our back up if need be. And I fear we will need it."
The room was quite as everyone digested this latest bit of information, eventually Ami spoke up. "So what do we do now?"
"For the moment we have too little information to go on." She replied "We are forced to wait and see what happens."
The assembled girls did not like the sound of that at all. Ami spoke again after a moment of thought. "Can you tell us anything about these allies of ours?"
Setsuna smiled slightly, she'd expected that question from her. "Yes actually." She filched a cookie from the tray, idly munching on it as she decided what to say. "They are from a world that is very different from our own. A world of steeped in magic and mystery called Toril. The one you met today is called Solaufein, a talented dark elf warrior."
"Is he single?" Makoto asked.
Luna sighed tiredly, while Setsuna arched an eyebrow. "Yes, he is currently
unattached, though I wouldn't get your hopes up. He has not had very many good experiences with women."
Makoto looked about to ask her to expand on that, but realized she was getting some exasperated looks from the cats and so thought better of it.
"He has a lot of experience engaging these new types of foes in close quarters combat." Setsuna continued. " His friend, the other one you two met on the street that day," She looked at the Senshis of love and thunder. " is known as Ranma Saotome. A master of the musical and a student of the arcane. His knowledge of what will face shall be invaluable. They also have friends who may aid us if they think it necessary. So please do not alienate them, we WILL need all the help we can get." She leaned forward and stared pointedly at the two moon cats. Artemis nodded immediately while Luna hesitated a moment before nodding herself. Satisfied the Senshi of time sat back.
"I will attempt to make contact with them later this week, until then, be on your toes."
----- Next day, in an unrevealed location
Jadeite licked his lips while straightening his uniform. Before him was the door to the new masters chambers, a door he needed to go through to deliver the news he had. Considering it was bad news, he was not looking forward to this. Although the new master was ruthless he had yet to show Beryl's preferred style of dealing with bad news, which was to kill anyone involved in it. He idly consider the similarities between Beryle and that movie villain Darth Vader. Neither could stand for incompetence and had little patience for failure. However Vader had a Galaxy spanning army under his heel, so offing a few people here and there was not as big a problem as it was for Beryle. Even so, she'd done in her own Generals and it cost her. Hopefully, this new master would not be so quick to kill his own.
Squarely setting his shoulders Jadeite knocked on the door.
"Enter." A grave voice called.
The General immediately obeyed and pushed the door open. Inside, he found not a throne room, or bed chamber, but a arcane lab. The room was filled with various apparatus designed to study and manipulate magical phenomena. At it's center stood a tall broad shoulder man dressed in much more simple, if mystical, looking clothing than what Jadeite was used to from his leaders. At the moment the man stood before a large tube that was filled with some sort of liquid. The naked form of former Queen Beryle could be made out to be floating in the tube. Judging by her eyes, she was a sleep, likely exhausted from whatever manipulations he'd been performing on her.
"Take a seat Jadeite, I'll be with you in a moment."
The young general quickly found himself a chair nearby, and sat down to watch. As he did so, the master began to caste his spell. Arcs of red lighting began to flash through Beryle at a slow but steady pace, forcing her to painful consciousness. As each one lashed through her she twitched violently. Soon, the arcs increased in frequency and intensity. Eventually the former queen was writhing in pain as the arcs mercilessly assaulted her. All the while, the new master watched with an impassive gaze. Eventually, the storm of electricity subsided, and Beryl fell again to unconsciousness.
Finished with his work, the Master turned from the tube and approached Jadeite. Although emotions were rarely evident on his face, the general knew, that he was satisfied with whatever he had accomplished. "Report, Jadeite."
He sat up straighter, "Malachite failed sir. He was killed in action without killing any of the Senshi."
The other man frowned "Unfortunate, I'd though what I gave him would be enough." He considered for a moment before continuing. "No matter, his death at the Senshi's hands at least brought us valuable information."
Jadeite licked his lips, 'Here we go' he thought. "The imp that was watching the fight said he was not killed by the Senshi."
The master stared at him "Continue."
"He died by another warrior not affiliated with them. I think the Imp called the creature a 'Drow'." Jadeite would have continued but the plain look of annoyance on his master face brought him up short. "Sir, is something wrong."
"Quite possibly." He admitted "Send the imp here, I'll want to speak with him myself. I then want you to round up the others and have them meet me in the audience chamber in two hours. Also tell them to suspend ALL operations until I say otherwise. Do you understand?" His stare told him of the penalty for failing in this task.
He nodded vigorously "Yes sir, I understand.'
"Then what are you still doing here?"
Jadeite surged to his feet. "Right, I'll get to it sir." He then turned and moved at a fast but relatively dignified pace to the door.
Once he was gone the master sat down "This could complicate things." He said to no one in particular.
----- Lunch time Furinkan
Ranma looked over the poster for the second time and the contract for the fifth. Nabiki had shown him one earlier that morning before school started, that one'd had an obscene number of small type print, and when he'd finally managed to read it, he'd been forced to declare the deal unacceptable. The girl had been surprised, but acquiesced. Amazingly by lunch she'd head another drawn up for him to sign. Though he suspected she made both at the same time, just in case.
"Well, are you going to sign or what?" Nabiki nibbled on a cracker across the table from Ranma.
Ranma ignored her as he read through a sixth time, while idle stroking Ucchan's neck. Once satisfied that she wasn't trying to cheat him, he signed. "There all done." he slid the contract to Nabiki, who checked it over, to make sure he signed everything.
Ranma took a bite of the apple he'd pulled out of a pouch on his belt, as Nabiki finished her check of the document. "Well, all's in order. I'll tell my daddy to expect you after the concert."
Ranma nodded, to his amazement the girl had gotten everything together for this in a real short period of time. Almost like she had been prepared for something like this, and just needed to give the words.
"I'll expect you here bright and early tomorrow."
He smirked "No problem. Pleasure doing business with you miss Tendo." He rose and strode away as she to left to take care of things on her end.
Ranma cursed under his breath. The first thing he'd found in his locker this morning had been a flood of love notes. He'd already let the others down as gently as he could but there was one left, and it'd likely be the worst. Picking up his pace he made his way over to a less well traveled area of campus.
There he found Yuka leaning against a cherry tree in full bloom. Not good.
Mustering his courage he approached. Yuka hearing his footfalls looked up. "You came!" She smiled in joy and Ranma cursed himself for romancing her the day before.
The pseudo dragon said.
Ranma glared at his companion
Once close enough, he began "Yuka, you're a pretty girl, and your real nice but."
The smile fell from her face as did several tears. "You don't like me?" she sniffed, "I should've known" she wiped at her eyes as Ranma began to mentally kick himself. "I mean how could an ugly girl like."
Yuka gasped as she found herself pulled into a tight embrace. "You are NOT ugly." Ranma stated firmly. "You have a lovely figure and even more important a lovely soul!" Ranma held her away so she could see his face. She turned hers away but he brought it back gently with his hand. "You're a beautiful person Yuka, and I would go out with you but I." Ranma trailed off, trying to figure out how to say this.
Her own eyes grew wide as she realized what he was driving at "You.were rejected too?"
He sighed sadly "Yeah, there would be a LOT of complications if we were to start dating so she thought it best that we don't." He chuckled "Such is life." He smiled at her "So I'm not emotionally ready for anything serious right now, but there are plenty of other men out there for you."
She shook her head. "All the good ones are after Akane."
Ranma arched an eyebrow. "Really, what about him?" Yuka traced his finger and found him pointing to the very bookish Shin Hayama. A nice guy but a little to short by the standards of most girls. "He and a bunch of others have totally ignored the morning mob scene. I suggest you get to know him before you reject him totally off hand."
Yuka looked up at Ranma then back to Shin. The boy adjusted his glasses as he continued reading his book, 'Shannara' something. She had to admit, he did look kind of cute in those glasses. She looked at Ranma "Thanks for being so kind." Then she blinked as something occurred to her. "How could you play such joyous music yesterday when you were sad?"
"I'm a musician, and an actor. You learn to hide how your real feelings while on stage. Besides, I'm always cheered up when I play for an appreciative crowd." He gave her a friendly shove towards Shin. "Now get over there and introduce yourself." Yuka waved back once then raced over to Shin.
The boy was surprised at being approached but the two quickly began to talk, and soon were very engrossed in their conversation. Ranma smiled at his handiwork.
"Not bad 'matchmaker'." a dry voice commented.
Ranma turned to find Solaufein leaning against the tree. "And where have you been?"
The Drow shrugged "Dispensing some discipline. Anyway I need to talk to you in private." Ranma nodded and followed after him.
Elsewhere a suspicious pair of eyes watched the whole thing.
----
Meanwhile, Kuno railed at the indignity of being trussed up like a turkey and left in the Gym by the new teacher for his latest assault.
----
The resurrected Witches 5 and the Dark Generals stood nervously in the audience chamber. As none but Jadeite had a clue as to why they'd been called from their tasks, they were understandably nervous about what this might entail. Thankfully they were not forced to wait long, as the master entered the room, Beryle trailing behind him.
Jadeite covered his surprise as did everyone else. For although she looked much like she did when he last saw her, even dressed the same, there was something not right in her gaze.
The master, seeing their curious glances whispered something into the former Queens ear. She nodded as he turned to address them. "I'm sure you all are wondering about Beryle, so I'll make this quick. Kunzite attack me."
"What?"
He cocked his head to the side slightly "Must I repeat myself?"
Without any more prompting the general fired of a blast of magical energy at the master. To the surprise of all, Beryl raised her arms and the blast was reflected back at it's originator. Kunzite covered his face as the white hot bolt of energy threatened to slam into him. But was saved as the master dismissed the bolt with a wave of his hand. "Beryle, here, is my devoted body guard. If any of you begin to think of taking my place, consider that you will have to get by her first." He stared at the assembled "And then you'll still have me to deal with."
Jadeite looked around and could tell that the point had been made.
Beryl remained in her corner, watching each of them like a pit bull eyeing a potential intruder, while the master spoke "As some of you are aware, Malachite was killed by an unnamed warrior. While we do not know who he is we do know that he is a dark elf or Drow. This was confirmed by the imp that was sent to watch over Malachite."
He waited a moment before he continued. "Since you are unfamiliar with these creatures I shall educate you on them." He waved his hands and two images shimmered into view. The taller and more muscular of the two was obviously female, while the other was a smaller male. "Drow are the favored children of the Goddess Lloth queen of spiders and, except for a few notable exceptions, are an evil, cunning and ruthless race. Their talent for torture has surprised some lower pit fiends in the past, and some demons even learn the finer arts of inflicting
pain from them." He waved and hand and the images faded. "We do not yet know if he is the scout for some sort of Drow expedition or maybe one of those notable exceptions. Either way, we cannot act without further information as to the threat he may present."
Low murmurs spread through the gathering. He continued on "Kunzite, Zoicite I want you to continue finding any potential allies and threats outside Japan. However, you are to make no move to recruit or dispose of anyone." The two dark generals bowed in acceptance. "Witches, I want you to suspend all operations dealing with the corruption of government officials, consolidate your hold on the ones you already have, but nothing more." The Five witches bowed as well. "Jadeite." The general stood up straight. "You will find out as much about this Drow as possible without alerting him. I want to know where he lives, works and what time he pees. Leave nothing out." Jadeite bowed as well.
He stared at the assembled. "You have your orders, make it happen."
"Yes, sir!" they said as one, then filed out of the room.
Once they were gone he rubbed his temples. "To come this close and be forced to wait. Intolerable!"
"Master Irenicus." Beryl began, her voice filled with concern "Is there any way I can ease your pain?" Her eyes looked to his, almost pleading with him to let her help him. His spirits lifted, not at her concern for she could show nothing else for him, such was the nature of his spell, but for the power of the enchantment he'd wrought over her. For who better to protect him, than someone who believed themselve in love with him.
A ghost of a smile appeared on his face, more for her benefit than anything. "Thank you Beryle." And now he looked at her, really looked at her. She was beautiful and perhaps her charms would be enough to sooth most men, but not him. The only arms he wished to be in, were denied to him, for now. "Your concern is enough, I need nothing more from you right now."
As he passed her by on his way to his own chambers, he could see her sadness in not being able to comfort him with herself. The ghostly smile returned, as Irenicus congratulated himself on his reworking of her mind.
----- Warning!!!
Spoilers for Never winter Nights ahead
Athkatla, Copper Cornet
The crowd erupted into applause as Aerie and Haer' Dalis finished their duet . The two thespians bowed before the appreciative crowd, before disappearing into the back.
"Well, sung my sparrow!" he pulled his wife close preparing to give her kiss when someone cleared their throat. The two lovers looked up to find two of Ranma's sometime adventuring companions.
"Sorry, to interrupt." Mu Tzu began "We were in the neighborhood and decided to drop in. We did not mean to intrude." Ryoga grunted his agreement
Haer'Dalis smiled, "No need to apologize, we are always happy to have such good friends in company." He waved them to a table. "Sit, I will get us something to drink."
The two boys plus Aerie took a seat while the Tiefling left in search of appropriate refreshment. Aerie took a good look at them both and had to admit, they'd grown into young men since she'd last seen them and handsome ones at that. Mu Tzu was a young and talented Elven Sorcerer. His oversized white robes, were covered in arcane symbols and would appear to make his movements clumsy, but she'd seen him in action. The young master of the mystical could move much faster and more accurately than you'd expect, allowing him to cast spells while dodging arrows and other missiles or pull wands from Baevar knows where.
He was also handsome if a little tall for an elf. His black, nearly blue hair cascaded down his face and with his small glasses he looked much like a roguish scholar.
Ryoga, or Ryo as he preferred to be called, while still handsome was forever dressed in the clothing of his order of monks. Which stressed simplicity and moderation in all things. Though a quiet sense of power seemed to permeate his every movement and his wisdom had aided his friends on more than one occasion.
She smiled "You two have matured quite a bit since I last saw you."
"Indeed they have." Haer'Dalis began as he re-entered the room, food and drink sitting upon a tray, which he dished out to all assembled. "Last I heard you two where the heroes of Neverwinter, saving them from that creator race."
Ryo scratched the back of his head nervously "It wasn't anything that big, we just did what anyone else would do, Right Mu Tzu."
The sorcerer nodded "Right, anyone else would've done the same." He took a sip from his drink.
Aerie held her cup before her face "You boys are far to modest, you saved the city and maybe even the world. That is never a small thing."
The two blushed a bit under the praise.
"Now," Haer'Dalis set his mug down "What's this I hear about one of you dating the famous Paladin Aribeth?"
Ryo snickered and looked at his companion. Mu Tzu mock glared at his friend, before turning to the couple. "During the whole conflict myself and Aribeth became pretty close. Whether anything else will come of it," he shrugged " I don't know."
Aerie blinked "What about that nice girl on Evermeet?"
Mu Tzu set his cup down and stared at the Avarial "You mean the blade singer Xian Pu? by Corellon that girls a stalker! Always, 'Mu Tzu my love! My Darling!' Ugh!" he shook his head "The last three girls I dated she drove off saying that all obstacles to our happiness together must be removed. Heck, she's the reason I left Evermeet and put so much distance between it and me!"
Mu Tzu took a moment to calm down. Haer'Dalis changed the subject. "So what brings you to these parts?"
"More like who, we were trying to find Ranma. We received a letter from him saying he was leaving to find his past. We sure as heck can't let him go alone to another plane, who knows what kind of trouble he'd get into, so we plan to tag along. We would've come sooner but the business in Neverwinter delayed us." Ryo said.
Aerie nodded "Well, he's already left with Solaufein but if you wish to catch up to him I can give you the name of the wizard who sent him."
"Thank you, we'd appreciate that." Ryo said.
"Will give you all that tomorrow. Since I'm sure you've had a long journey you can stay in the inn tonight, our treat." Aerie said
Ryo started to protest when Haer'Dalis raised his hand. "Don't bother trying to fight with her Ryo, besides we owe you for helping Ranma to keep his head on his shoulders during that incident with the 'Night Knives'."
The young men sighed but agreed. With that settled the rest of the evening was filled with conversation and laughter.
-----
Solaufein had just closed the door to his office when he nearly ran into a girl that'd not been there several moments before. 'I swear these women can teleport.' He thought.
"Mr. Devir." She greeted warmly. "I'm so glad I caught you before you took off!"
'Of course you are' he thought sourly. He fixed a smile on his face to humor her. "I see, so what did you want?"
She closed the distance between them slightly. Almost pressing her 'gifts' into his chest. "Well, I learned that you don't have anyone at home to cook for you and I thought that I'd invite you to my house for some home cooking."
He watched her eyes rove over him unabashedly. It didn't take much imagination to figure her evening with him would involve more than just a hot meal. "Thank you but no, I have other plans." He slipped around her and began walking briskly away.
He noted that she turned to follow. Persistent little thing, wasn't she. So to avoid a potentially uncomfortable encounter he dove out the nearest window once he was out of her sight. Thankfully he was on the first floor which made things easier. Once he was sure she'd gone by, he quickly made his way to a moderately sized club house not to far from the Gym. He'd intentionally set off in the wrong direction before so the eager teacher wouldn't figure out where he was truly going.
He'd been forced to do things like this the entire time he'd worked here, as the female teachers and some of the bolder students had been fairly intent and creative on gaining his attention. So a longer walk was easily a small price to pay to avoid romance starved teachers and disturbingly man hungry school girls.
When he finally entered the building he found Ranma already there observing its occupants as they practiced. Not surprising as he'd asked him to be come here earlier on during the lunch break. Noticing his comrade the bard tossed him a small salute, which he nodded to before taking up a position next to him to observe the Fencing club.
Unlike the Kendo clubs dojo, the Fencing club's was filled with awards and trophies. Some for individual achievement but many more were team championship medals.
Ranma gazed at the most ornate trophies in a case near the back and gave a low whistle. "Local, Province, and Regional champs." He glanced at his friend "And from what I've seen today, I'd say these guys are almost good enough to give me pause, and that's saying something."
The Drow didn't bother to comment on that, mostly cause he was right. Ranma was the most talented person he'd ever seen wielding a rapier, but there was no need to tell him that.
One of the more capable students took a break from his practice and approached the two former residents of Faerun. "Solaufein-sensei, is this the one you were telling us about?" The teen was athletically built, with dark hair and sharp gray eyes.
"Yes it is." He cleared his throat. "Ranma Saotome, this is Tenshi Shirow captain of the Fencing team. Ranma this is the best Fencer here, Tenshi."
The too shook hands while openly appraising one another.
Ranma spoke first "I must admit, from what I've seen here you all are very talented, yet the Kendo team seems to get all the glory, without a quarter of the awards, why is that?"
Tenshi chuckled "In a word, Kuno."
"Tatawaki, how?"
"He has a lot of pull in this school, so our victories aren't really acknowledged on campus." He shrugged. "We don't mind, we didn't join for the glory but to practice the art."
Ranma glanced at Solaufein who seem more than pleased with his answer. "So why am I here?"
"In a month's time they are to face Otahori Academy for the national title." Solaufein began "They have been the champs 3 years running and if these boys are to win, they could use some help, and you know more about fencing than I do.
Ranma frowned, he had wanted to leave once he'd gotten to know his biological parents, however who knew how long that would take. Then there was all the music on this world he could study, like that Jazz stuff he'd heard in the shop he'd passed through the night before. If things fell apart with his parents, he'd stay to learn a little more about that at
least.
The young bard looked up to find both of them looking a t him expectantly. Without a word, he strode over to the wall and grabbed a face mask and Rapier. Slipping the Mask on as he walked back he looked at the Tenshi. "All right, I'm in. Now let's see what you got."
Solaufein backed up to give them room while Tenshi smiled as he pulled down his own mask. Solaufein backed up to.
The two saluted one another, then Ranma said "En garde!" -----
"So what's this about daughter." Soun asked of his middle child while sipping some tea in the living room.
"Well, there's a young man who wants to meet you." She nibbled on a cracker. "Says he has some questions about his family he hopes you can answer."
Soun nodded, not unwilling to help if he could "And what is this boys name?"
She reached for another cracker "Ranma Saotome." She said idly.
Soun froze, "I'm sorry what was that name again."
Nabiki looked up from her cracker, her eyes intently studying her father's face. "Ranma Saotome."
Soun closed his eyes and wondered. Could it be that after all these years, that Genma's boy had returned? Could he dare hope that the pledge would yet be fulfilled. He opened his eyes and did his best to keep the hope out of his voice. "Daughter, when is coming by?"
Nabiki noted the hope in voice, and resolved to investigate this as soon as she got a chance. "Probably sometime tomorrow evening."
The Tendo Patriarch seemed pleased "Good, good."
"I take it you know something of him."
"Yes, daughter but it would be best to wait until he's here before I say anything." He stood up "Now I must take care of some things, so If you'll excuse me." And with that he left.
Nabiki watched him leave, knowing he was hiding something and trying to decided what to do about it.
-----
Akane was working out in the dojo, or more appropriately working out her frustrations. Ever since Ranma and that new teacher arrived things had not been so good for her. Ranma, though not a martial artist was the new darling amongst most of the girls. Obviously the warlock was using some kind of spell to charm them all, but how she was to stop it, she didn't know. Then there was that teacher, due to the ever growing assertions amongst the student body that he was better than her, even though he was obviously a weapon user, primarily, had caused her to challenge him in gym class.
She'd lost.
Badly.
The instant the fight started, he was on her. She didn't know how he moved that fast, but the results had been effective, she's been tossed around like a rag doll before being dumped unceremoniously on her rear. The shock had been so much that she hadn't challenged him again during the whole period. But she was sure of one thing, he'd cheated, cause no one could move that fast. The problem was how to prove it, or at least overcome it the next time she faced him.
"Uh, hi Akane."
The youngest Tendo looked up from her bricks in surprise to find Ryoga. The lost boy had been coming around for a year now ever since she'd found him in the street one cold night and brought him in. He was one of the few nice guys she'd met.
She tried to smile "Hi Ryoga, how are you doing."
The lost boy looked at her curiously "I'm fine, but you seem down though?"
She sighed "Two new guys at my school are causing trouble." She flopped down on the dojo floor. "One of them, Ranma's his name, is using magic to charm my friends and I don't know how to stop him. The other, Solaufein, cheated in a one-on-one fight causing me to lose."
Hibiki looked absolutely appalled at this "I can't believe it." His Horror turned to anger. "Don't worry Akane, I'll make them pay for what they've done!" and with that he charged out of the dojo.
Akane smiled it was good to have such friends.
-----
Cologne raced through the village as the sound of battle reached her ears. A few minutes ago she'd felt a massive surge of magical energy, which had been followed by the sounds of combat. As she rounded the last building she gasped in shock. All around her were the unconscious forms of her Amazon warriors, the reason for which was obviously the two males and a beast that were currently at the center of a ring of amazons. As she closed, she could see that one male was obviously a talented fighter as he dropped two of her amazons before whipping around to knock down a third. The beast was protecting the other male as a ball of energy formed in his hands, once released the ball impacted several amazons who became paralyzed. Mousse, seeing this hurled a series of chains at the spell caster. The warrior, moving faster than she'd expected, grabbed the chains then used them to whip Mousse up into the air, only to slam him into the other attacking amazons, using him like a ball and chain. Eventually he yanked the bruised Amazon male close, grabbed his cloths, cocked back his fist then froze as he got a good look at him.
"Halt!" Cologne yelled. Those amazons getting ready to attack backed down, but stood at the ready. Mousse was to dazed to do anything but stare at his opponent, who called over his friend to look at the myopic warrior. Cologne reached the three just in time to see the reason for their surprise, Because except for the ears, and hair the spellcaster and Mousse looked exactly the same.
"Soul analogue." The pointy eared Mu Tzu said, in excitement "This man must be my analogue! Fascinating, absolutely fascinating!"
Ryo frowned at his companion "He was trying to kill you a moment ago."
"Which I would like to know the reason for?" Cologne asked.
The men looked down at the diminutive warrior "A half-ling?" Ryo asked his friend. Mu Tzu shrugged.
Cologne frowned "No, I am not. Now will someone tell me what happened?"
Mu Tzu began to answer as Ryo tossed his captive to one of the healers going around to the injured females. "We were trying to locate a friend of ours and ended up here. This young lady." He pointed to Shampoo who was currently frozen by his spell. "Started yelling in my face before I could get my translation stone out. Next thing I know, we're under attack."
"We thought they were musk elder." One young Amazon supplied.
"I see." She sighed "I apologize gentlemen on behalf of the tribe, you were falsely accused and attacked. I guarantee you safe passage out of our lands."
"Thank you elder." Ryo said while Mu Tzu began pulling a giant carpet from a small bag at his waist. "We appreciate that."
With a flick of his wrist the carpet unfolded, and to the surprise of all hovered a foot of the ground. The beast which appeared to be a wolf on steroids hoped on.
Cologne sighed at another missed chance. As much as she wanted to hold up the marriage law, these two had already bested some of her amazons and she suspected they'd been going easy. No need to antagonize them further at least not on village grounds. Then something occurred to her.
"Who were you looking for?"
The two hoped on the carpet. "Ranma and Solaufein" Mu Tzu replied off hand.
"One wouldn't happen to have a small dragon and the other really dark skin?" The elder asked.
Ryo looked at her in surprise "Why yes, how did you know that?"
"They arrived a few days ago, and caused quite a stir. Do you know where they have gone? There is some business we need to take up with them."
Mu Tzu stared at her then shrugged "If my tracking spell was right they are in some place called Japan."
"If you want we could give them a message from you?" Ryo added.
Cologne shook her head "No need, we shall speak to them ourselves."
"Suit yourself." Mu Tzu said, then spoke something else to the carpet which rose up in the air then shot off in the direction of Nippon.
"Great grandmother?"
The elder turned to her granddaughter "Pack your things, you, myself and some others are going to Japan."
------
"Yes, Genma that's what my daughter told me." Soun paused as the person on the other end of the phone spoke. "Yes, tomorrow evening..Excellent I'll see you then!"
Soun Tendo hung up the phone and grinned stupidly, soon his dream would come true!
To Be Continued
Author Notes: This chapter was mostly set up for what's going to happen in the future. Expect the Ryoga Mousse analogues to have more headaches from the native versions. I do kind of like the idea of the various analogues of the Nerima Crew showing up and wrecking Havoc because of their differences and similarites to the main caste.
Current thoughts
Kasumi = Dread lord Kasumi
Nabiki = Rogue
Akane = Barbarian whose name translates to 'Runs with mallets'
Kuno = Paladin in the service of Lathander, and in good standing.
Kodachi = Paladin in the service of Lathander, and in good standing.
Preview for Chapter 3 (Yes, I'm still working on it.)
It was a normal day for lieutenant Akira Jinna. Do a patrol of his piece of Japanese Air space and return home in time to catch a brew with his buddies down at the Giggling Geisha.
"Mustang this is Ghost do you have visual on that bogey."
A bogey wasn't to odd either, might just be some idiot civy pilot who was off course or a glitch in their infallible system.
"Stand by ghost."
It was probably nothing.
"Mustang, do you see anything."
So imagine his surprise when he saw two men riding a flying carpet over the ocean.
"Mustang do you copy?"
Years of training came into play as he managed to keep control of his craft while his mind reeled at the implications. The two youths seemed to notice his presence and waved.
"Mustang here, go ahead."
The one in a yellow and black bandana pulled out a sign, scribbled a quick message and held it up.
"Mustang do you have a bogey?"
The sign read 'Which way to Nerima?'
"Ghost that's a negative. Must be a glitch in the system."
Checking his map over at a glance he then pointed the pair in the right direction. Who waved again before taking off.
"Ghost this is Mustang."
"Go ahead."
"You may want to check the bases water supply, just in case."
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters nor am I making any money from this. Please do not sue me.
Chapter 2
******* It was a day full of surprises for the Inner Senshi. First was running into Malachite who should be dead, second was finding said supposedly deceased dark general wielding some new type of power and commanding creatures of a like they'd not seen before, and third was running into their dark savior and lastly was coming back to Rei's Shrine only to find the Outer Senshi calmly waiting for them.
Setsuna held up a hand to forestall questions "Please take a seat, and help yours self to the refreshments. I'll explain in a moment"
The inners, tired from their ordeal numbly did as told, with Usagi taking extra large helpings of cookies and juice.
After everyone was settled in Setsuna began. "The time stream is in flux, the battle you had today was not originally supposed to happen." She began bluntly "The reason for this being that our goal of bringing back Crystal Tokyo has caught the eye of Cyric the mad, also known as the God of Murder, Death etc."
Usagi nearly choked on a cookie when the Senshi of time made this announcement. Rei pounded her friends back, while the rest of the Senshi let that Sink in.
"So, we have to face a God this time?" Minako asked.
Setsuna smiled reassuringly "No, there are rules for God mortal interactions. Thus he cannot directly get involved, however he has resurrected Beryle, her minions and a few others and set them under a new master whose face has yet to be revealed to me at the time gate or by other means. All I can tell is that he is knowledgeable and experienced."
"Could it have been that guy the Senshi ran into? He was not apart of the silver millennium." Luna added
Setsuna shook her head. "No, he and his friend are here on another errand though the goddess Eilistraee, manipulated events so that their timing would coincide with our need. Basically they are our back up if need be. And I fear we will need it."
The room was quite as everyone digested this latest bit of information, eventually Ami spoke up. "So what do we do now?"
"For the moment we have too little information to go on." She replied "We are forced to wait and see what happens."
The assembled girls did not like the sound of that at all. Ami spoke again after a moment of thought. "Can you tell us anything about these allies of ours?"
Setsuna smiled slightly, she'd expected that question from her. "Yes actually." She filched a cookie from the tray, idly munching on it as she decided what to say. "They are from a world that is very different from our own. A world of steeped in magic and mystery called Toril. The one you met today is called Solaufein, a talented dark elf warrior."
"Is he single?" Makoto asked.
Luna sighed tiredly, while Setsuna arched an eyebrow. "Yes, he is currently
unattached, though I wouldn't get your hopes up. He has not had very many good experiences with women."
Makoto looked about to ask her to expand on that, but realized she was getting some exasperated looks from the cats and so thought better of it.
"He has a lot of experience engaging these new types of foes in close quarters combat." Setsuna continued. " His friend, the other one you two met on the street that day," She looked at the Senshis of love and thunder. " is known as Ranma Saotome. A master of the musical and a student of the arcane. His knowledge of what will face shall be invaluable. They also have friends who may aid us if they think it necessary. So please do not alienate them, we WILL need all the help we can get." She leaned forward and stared pointedly at the two moon cats. Artemis nodded immediately while Luna hesitated a moment before nodding herself. Satisfied the Senshi of time sat back.
"I will attempt to make contact with them later this week, until then, be on your toes."
----- Next day, in an unrevealed location
Jadeite licked his lips while straightening his uniform. Before him was the door to the new masters chambers, a door he needed to go through to deliver the news he had. Considering it was bad news, he was not looking forward to this. Although the new master was ruthless he had yet to show Beryl's preferred style of dealing with bad news, which was to kill anyone involved in it. He idly consider the similarities between Beryle and that movie villain Darth Vader. Neither could stand for incompetence and had little patience for failure. However Vader had a Galaxy spanning army under his heel, so offing a few people here and there was not as big a problem as it was for Beryle. Even so, she'd done in her own Generals and it cost her. Hopefully, this new master would not be so quick to kill his own.
Squarely setting his shoulders Jadeite knocked on the door.
"Enter." A grave voice called.
The General immediately obeyed and pushed the door open. Inside, he found not a throne room, or bed chamber, but a arcane lab. The room was filled with various apparatus designed to study and manipulate magical phenomena. At it's center stood a tall broad shoulder man dressed in much more simple, if mystical, looking clothing than what Jadeite was used to from his leaders. At the moment the man stood before a large tube that was filled with some sort of liquid. The naked form of former Queen Beryle could be made out to be floating in the tube. Judging by her eyes, she was a sleep, likely exhausted from whatever manipulations he'd been performing on her.
"Take a seat Jadeite, I'll be with you in a moment."
The young general quickly found himself a chair nearby, and sat down to watch. As he did so, the master began to caste his spell. Arcs of red lighting began to flash through Beryle at a slow but steady pace, forcing her to painful consciousness. As each one lashed through her she twitched violently. Soon, the arcs increased in frequency and intensity. Eventually the former queen was writhing in pain as the arcs mercilessly assaulted her. All the while, the new master watched with an impassive gaze. Eventually, the storm of electricity subsided, and Beryl fell again to unconsciousness.
Finished with his work, the Master turned from the tube and approached Jadeite. Although emotions were rarely evident on his face, the general knew, that he was satisfied with whatever he had accomplished. "Report, Jadeite."
He sat up straighter, "Malachite failed sir. He was killed in action without killing any of the Senshi."
The other man frowned "Unfortunate, I'd though what I gave him would be enough." He considered for a moment before continuing. "No matter, his death at the Senshi's hands at least brought us valuable information."
Jadeite licked his lips, 'Here we go' he thought. "The imp that was watching the fight said he was not killed by the Senshi."
The master stared at him "Continue."
"He died by another warrior not affiliated with them. I think the Imp called the creature a 'Drow'." Jadeite would have continued but the plain look of annoyance on his master face brought him up short. "Sir, is something wrong."
"Quite possibly." He admitted "Send the imp here, I'll want to speak with him myself. I then want you to round up the others and have them meet me in the audience chamber in two hours. Also tell them to suspend ALL operations until I say otherwise. Do you understand?" His stare told him of the penalty for failing in this task.
He nodded vigorously "Yes sir, I understand.'
"Then what are you still doing here?"
Jadeite surged to his feet. "Right, I'll get to it sir." He then turned and moved at a fast but relatively dignified pace to the door.
Once he was gone the master sat down "This could complicate things." He said to no one in particular.
----- Lunch time Furinkan
Ranma looked over the poster for the second time and the contract for the fifth. Nabiki had shown him one earlier that morning before school started, that one'd had an obscene number of small type print, and when he'd finally managed to read it, he'd been forced to declare the deal unacceptable. The girl had been surprised, but acquiesced. Amazingly by lunch she'd head another drawn up for him to sign. Though he suspected she made both at the same time, just in case.
"Well, are you going to sign or what?" Nabiki nibbled on a cracker across the table from Ranma.
Ranma ignored her as he read through a sixth time, while idle stroking Ucchan's neck. Once satisfied that she wasn't trying to cheat him, he signed. "There all done." he slid the contract to Nabiki, who checked it over, to make sure he signed everything.
Ranma took a bite of the apple he'd pulled out of a pouch on his belt, as Nabiki finished her check of the document. "Well, all's in order. I'll tell my daddy to expect you after the concert."
Ranma nodded, to his amazement the girl had gotten everything together for this in a real short period of time. Almost like she had been prepared for something like this, and just needed to give the words.
"I'll expect you here bright and early tomorrow."
He smirked "No problem. Pleasure doing business with you miss Tendo." He rose and strode away as she to left to take care of things on her end.
Ranma cursed under his breath. The first thing he'd found in his locker this morning had been a flood of love notes. He'd already let the others down as gently as he could but there was one left, and it'd likely be the worst. Picking up his pace he made his way over to a less well traveled area of campus.
There he found Yuka leaning against a cherry tree in full bloom. Not good.
Mustering his courage he approached. Yuka hearing his footfalls looked up. "You came!" She smiled in joy and Ranma cursed himself for romancing her the day before.
The pseudo dragon said.
Ranma glared at his companion
Once close enough, he began "Yuka, you're a pretty girl, and your real nice but."
The smile fell from her face as did several tears. "You don't like me?" she sniffed, "I should've known" she wiped at her eyes as Ranma began to mentally kick himself. "I mean how could an ugly girl like."
Yuka gasped as she found herself pulled into a tight embrace. "You are NOT ugly." Ranma stated firmly. "You have a lovely figure and even more important a lovely soul!" Ranma held her away so she could see his face. She turned hers away but he brought it back gently with his hand. "You're a beautiful person Yuka, and I would go out with you but I." Ranma trailed off, trying to figure out how to say this.
Her own eyes grew wide as she realized what he was driving at "You.were rejected too?"
He sighed sadly "Yeah, there would be a LOT of complications if we were to start dating so she thought it best that we don't." He chuckled "Such is life." He smiled at her "So I'm not emotionally ready for anything serious right now, but there are plenty of other men out there for you."
She shook her head. "All the good ones are after Akane."
Ranma arched an eyebrow. "Really, what about him?" Yuka traced his finger and found him pointing to the very bookish Shin Hayama. A nice guy but a little to short by the standards of most girls. "He and a bunch of others have totally ignored the morning mob scene. I suggest you get to know him before you reject him totally off hand."
Yuka looked up at Ranma then back to Shin. The boy adjusted his glasses as he continued reading his book, 'Shannara' something. She had to admit, he did look kind of cute in those glasses. She looked at Ranma "Thanks for being so kind." Then she blinked as something occurred to her. "How could you play such joyous music yesterday when you were sad?"
"I'm a musician, and an actor. You learn to hide how your real feelings while on stage. Besides, I'm always cheered up when I play for an appreciative crowd." He gave her a friendly shove towards Shin. "Now get over there and introduce yourself." Yuka waved back once then raced over to Shin.
The boy was surprised at being approached but the two quickly began to talk, and soon were very engrossed in their conversation. Ranma smiled at his handiwork.
"Not bad 'matchmaker'." a dry voice commented.
Ranma turned to find Solaufein leaning against the tree. "And where have you been?"
The Drow shrugged "Dispensing some discipline. Anyway I need to talk to you in private." Ranma nodded and followed after him.
Elsewhere a suspicious pair of eyes watched the whole thing.
----
Meanwhile, Kuno railed at the indignity of being trussed up like a turkey and left in the Gym by the new teacher for his latest assault.
----
The resurrected Witches 5 and the Dark Generals stood nervously in the audience chamber. As none but Jadeite had a clue as to why they'd been called from their tasks, they were understandably nervous about what this might entail. Thankfully they were not forced to wait long, as the master entered the room, Beryle trailing behind him.
Jadeite covered his surprise as did everyone else. For although she looked much like she did when he last saw her, even dressed the same, there was something not right in her gaze.
The master, seeing their curious glances whispered something into the former Queens ear. She nodded as he turned to address them. "I'm sure you all are wondering about Beryle, so I'll make this quick. Kunzite attack me."
"What?"
He cocked his head to the side slightly "Must I repeat myself?"
Without any more prompting the general fired of a blast of magical energy at the master. To the surprise of all, Beryl raised her arms and the blast was reflected back at it's originator. Kunzite covered his face as the white hot bolt of energy threatened to slam into him. But was saved as the master dismissed the bolt with a wave of his hand. "Beryle, here, is my devoted body guard. If any of you begin to think of taking my place, consider that you will have to get by her first." He stared at the assembled "And then you'll still have me to deal with."
Jadeite looked around and could tell that the point had been made.
Beryl remained in her corner, watching each of them like a pit bull eyeing a potential intruder, while the master spoke "As some of you are aware, Malachite was killed by an unnamed warrior. While we do not know who he is we do know that he is a dark elf or Drow. This was confirmed by the imp that was sent to watch over Malachite."
He waited a moment before he continued. "Since you are unfamiliar with these creatures I shall educate you on them." He waved his hands and two images shimmered into view. The taller and more muscular of the two was obviously female, while the other was a smaller male. "Drow are the favored children of the Goddess Lloth queen of spiders and, except for a few notable exceptions, are an evil, cunning and ruthless race. Their talent for torture has surprised some lower pit fiends in the past, and some demons even learn the finer arts of inflicting
pain from them." He waved and hand and the images faded. "We do not yet know if he is the scout for some sort of Drow expedition or maybe one of those notable exceptions. Either way, we cannot act without further information as to the threat he may present."
Low murmurs spread through the gathering. He continued on "Kunzite, Zoicite I want you to continue finding any potential allies and threats outside Japan. However, you are to make no move to recruit or dispose of anyone." The two dark generals bowed in acceptance. "Witches, I want you to suspend all operations dealing with the corruption of government officials, consolidate your hold on the ones you already have, but nothing more." The Five witches bowed as well. "Jadeite." The general stood up straight. "You will find out as much about this Drow as possible without alerting him. I want to know where he lives, works and what time he pees. Leave nothing out." Jadeite bowed as well.
He stared at the assembled. "You have your orders, make it happen."
"Yes, sir!" they said as one, then filed out of the room.
Once they were gone he rubbed his temples. "To come this close and be forced to wait. Intolerable!"
"Master Irenicus." Beryl began, her voice filled with concern "Is there any way I can ease your pain?" Her eyes looked to his, almost pleading with him to let her help him. His spirits lifted, not at her concern for she could show nothing else for him, such was the nature of his spell, but for the power of the enchantment he'd wrought over her. For who better to protect him, than someone who believed themselve in love with him.
A ghost of a smile appeared on his face, more for her benefit than anything. "Thank you Beryle." And now he looked at her, really looked at her. She was beautiful and perhaps her charms would be enough to sooth most men, but not him. The only arms he wished to be in, were denied to him, for now. "Your concern is enough, I need nothing more from you right now."
As he passed her by on his way to his own chambers, he could see her sadness in not being able to comfort him with herself. The ghostly smile returned, as Irenicus congratulated himself on his reworking of her mind.
----- Warning!!!
Spoilers for Never winter Nights ahead
Athkatla, Copper Cornet
The crowd erupted into applause as Aerie and Haer' Dalis finished their duet . The two thespians bowed before the appreciative crowd, before disappearing into the back.
"Well, sung my sparrow!" he pulled his wife close preparing to give her kiss when someone cleared their throat. The two lovers looked up to find two of Ranma's sometime adventuring companions.
"Sorry, to interrupt." Mu Tzu began "We were in the neighborhood and decided to drop in. We did not mean to intrude." Ryoga grunted his agreement
Haer'Dalis smiled, "No need to apologize, we are always happy to have such good friends in company." He waved them to a table. "Sit, I will get us something to drink."
The two boys plus Aerie took a seat while the Tiefling left in search of appropriate refreshment. Aerie took a good look at them both and had to admit, they'd grown into young men since she'd last seen them and handsome ones at that. Mu Tzu was a young and talented Elven Sorcerer. His oversized white robes, were covered in arcane symbols and would appear to make his movements clumsy, but she'd seen him in action. The young master of the mystical could move much faster and more accurately than you'd expect, allowing him to cast spells while dodging arrows and other missiles or pull wands from Baevar knows where.
He was also handsome if a little tall for an elf. His black, nearly blue hair cascaded down his face and with his small glasses he looked much like a roguish scholar.
Ryoga, or Ryo as he preferred to be called, while still handsome was forever dressed in the clothing of his order of monks. Which stressed simplicity and moderation in all things. Though a quiet sense of power seemed to permeate his every movement and his wisdom had aided his friends on more than one occasion.
She smiled "You two have matured quite a bit since I last saw you."
"Indeed they have." Haer'Dalis began as he re-entered the room, food and drink sitting upon a tray, which he dished out to all assembled. "Last I heard you two where the heroes of Neverwinter, saving them from that creator race."
Ryo scratched the back of his head nervously "It wasn't anything that big, we just did what anyone else would do, Right Mu Tzu."
The sorcerer nodded "Right, anyone else would've done the same." He took a sip from his drink.
Aerie held her cup before her face "You boys are far to modest, you saved the city and maybe even the world. That is never a small thing."
The two blushed a bit under the praise.
"Now," Haer'Dalis set his mug down "What's this I hear about one of you dating the famous Paladin Aribeth?"
Ryo snickered and looked at his companion. Mu Tzu mock glared at his friend, before turning to the couple. "During the whole conflict myself and Aribeth became pretty close. Whether anything else will come of it," he shrugged " I don't know."
Aerie blinked "What about that nice girl on Evermeet?"
Mu Tzu set his cup down and stared at the Avarial "You mean the blade singer Xian Pu? by Corellon that girls a stalker! Always, 'Mu Tzu my love! My Darling!' Ugh!" he shook his head "The last three girls I dated she drove off saying that all obstacles to our happiness together must be removed. Heck, she's the reason I left Evermeet and put so much distance between it and me!"
Mu Tzu took a moment to calm down. Haer'Dalis changed the subject. "So what brings you to these parts?"
"More like who, we were trying to find Ranma. We received a letter from him saying he was leaving to find his past. We sure as heck can't let him go alone to another plane, who knows what kind of trouble he'd get into, so we plan to tag along. We would've come sooner but the business in Neverwinter delayed us." Ryo said.
Aerie nodded "Well, he's already left with Solaufein but if you wish to catch up to him I can give you the name of the wizard who sent him."
"Thank you, we'd appreciate that." Ryo said.
"Will give you all that tomorrow. Since I'm sure you've had a long journey you can stay in the inn tonight, our treat." Aerie said
Ryo started to protest when Haer'Dalis raised his hand. "Don't bother trying to fight with her Ryo, besides we owe you for helping Ranma to keep his head on his shoulders during that incident with the 'Night Knives'."
The young men sighed but agreed. With that settled the rest of the evening was filled with conversation and laughter.
-----
Solaufein had just closed the door to his office when he nearly ran into a girl that'd not been there several moments before. 'I swear these women can teleport.' He thought.
"Mr. Devir." She greeted warmly. "I'm so glad I caught you before you took off!"
'Of course you are' he thought sourly. He fixed a smile on his face to humor her. "I see, so what did you want?"
She closed the distance between them slightly. Almost pressing her 'gifts' into his chest. "Well, I learned that you don't have anyone at home to cook for you and I thought that I'd invite you to my house for some home cooking."
He watched her eyes rove over him unabashedly. It didn't take much imagination to figure her evening with him would involve more than just a hot meal. "Thank you but no, I have other plans." He slipped around her and began walking briskly away.
He noted that she turned to follow. Persistent little thing, wasn't she. So to avoid a potentially uncomfortable encounter he dove out the nearest window once he was out of her sight. Thankfully he was on the first floor which made things easier. Once he was sure she'd gone by, he quickly made his way to a moderately sized club house not to far from the Gym. He'd intentionally set off in the wrong direction before so the eager teacher wouldn't figure out where he was truly going.
He'd been forced to do things like this the entire time he'd worked here, as the female teachers and some of the bolder students had been fairly intent and creative on gaining his attention. So a longer walk was easily a small price to pay to avoid romance starved teachers and disturbingly man hungry school girls.
When he finally entered the building he found Ranma already there observing its occupants as they practiced. Not surprising as he'd asked him to be come here earlier on during the lunch break. Noticing his comrade the bard tossed him a small salute, which he nodded to before taking up a position next to him to observe the Fencing club.
Unlike the Kendo clubs dojo, the Fencing club's was filled with awards and trophies. Some for individual achievement but many more were team championship medals.
Ranma gazed at the most ornate trophies in a case near the back and gave a low whistle. "Local, Province, and Regional champs." He glanced at his friend "And from what I've seen today, I'd say these guys are almost good enough to give me pause, and that's saying something."
The Drow didn't bother to comment on that, mostly cause he was right. Ranma was the most talented person he'd ever seen wielding a rapier, but there was no need to tell him that.
One of the more capable students took a break from his practice and approached the two former residents of Faerun. "Solaufein-sensei, is this the one you were telling us about?" The teen was athletically built, with dark hair and sharp gray eyes.
"Yes it is." He cleared his throat. "Ranma Saotome, this is Tenshi Shirow captain of the Fencing team. Ranma this is the best Fencer here, Tenshi."
The too shook hands while openly appraising one another.
Ranma spoke first "I must admit, from what I've seen here you all are very talented, yet the Kendo team seems to get all the glory, without a quarter of the awards, why is that?"
Tenshi chuckled "In a word, Kuno."
"Tatawaki, how?"
"He has a lot of pull in this school, so our victories aren't really acknowledged on campus." He shrugged. "We don't mind, we didn't join for the glory but to practice the art."
Ranma glanced at Solaufein who seem more than pleased with his answer. "So why am I here?"
"In a month's time they are to face Otahori Academy for the national title." Solaufein began "They have been the champs 3 years running and if these boys are to win, they could use some help, and you know more about fencing than I do.
Ranma frowned, he had wanted to leave once he'd gotten to know his biological parents, however who knew how long that would take. Then there was all the music on this world he could study, like that Jazz stuff he'd heard in the shop he'd passed through the night before. If things fell apart with his parents, he'd stay to learn a little more about that at
least.
The young bard looked up to find both of them looking a t him expectantly. Without a word, he strode over to the wall and grabbed a face mask and Rapier. Slipping the Mask on as he walked back he looked at the Tenshi. "All right, I'm in. Now let's see what you got."
Solaufein backed up to give them room while Tenshi smiled as he pulled down his own mask. Solaufein backed up to.
The two saluted one another, then Ranma said "En garde!" -----
"So what's this about daughter." Soun asked of his middle child while sipping some tea in the living room.
"Well, there's a young man who wants to meet you." She nibbled on a cracker. "Says he has some questions about his family he hopes you can answer."
Soun nodded, not unwilling to help if he could "And what is this boys name?"
She reached for another cracker "Ranma Saotome." She said idly.
Soun froze, "I'm sorry what was that name again."
Nabiki looked up from her cracker, her eyes intently studying her father's face. "Ranma Saotome."
Soun closed his eyes and wondered. Could it be that after all these years, that Genma's boy had returned? Could he dare hope that the pledge would yet be fulfilled. He opened his eyes and did his best to keep the hope out of his voice. "Daughter, when is coming by?"
Nabiki noted the hope in voice, and resolved to investigate this as soon as she got a chance. "Probably sometime tomorrow evening."
The Tendo Patriarch seemed pleased "Good, good."
"I take it you know something of him."
"Yes, daughter but it would be best to wait until he's here before I say anything." He stood up "Now I must take care of some things, so If you'll excuse me." And with that he left.
Nabiki watched him leave, knowing he was hiding something and trying to decided what to do about it.
-----
Akane was working out in the dojo, or more appropriately working out her frustrations. Ever since Ranma and that new teacher arrived things had not been so good for her. Ranma, though not a martial artist was the new darling amongst most of the girls. Obviously the warlock was using some kind of spell to charm them all, but how she was to stop it, she didn't know. Then there was that teacher, due to the ever growing assertions amongst the student body that he was better than her, even though he was obviously a weapon user, primarily, had caused her to challenge him in gym class.
She'd lost.
Badly.
The instant the fight started, he was on her. She didn't know how he moved that fast, but the results had been effective, she's been tossed around like a rag doll before being dumped unceremoniously on her rear. The shock had been so much that she hadn't challenged him again during the whole period. But she was sure of one thing, he'd cheated, cause no one could move that fast. The problem was how to prove it, or at least overcome it the next time she faced him.
"Uh, hi Akane."
The youngest Tendo looked up from her bricks in surprise to find Ryoga. The lost boy had been coming around for a year now ever since she'd found him in the street one cold night and brought him in. He was one of the few nice guys she'd met.
She tried to smile "Hi Ryoga, how are you doing."
The lost boy looked at her curiously "I'm fine, but you seem down though?"
She sighed "Two new guys at my school are causing trouble." She flopped down on the dojo floor. "One of them, Ranma's his name, is using magic to charm my friends and I don't know how to stop him. The other, Solaufein, cheated in a one-on-one fight causing me to lose."
Hibiki looked absolutely appalled at this "I can't believe it." His Horror turned to anger. "Don't worry Akane, I'll make them pay for what they've done!" and with that he charged out of the dojo.
Akane smiled it was good to have such friends.
-----
Cologne raced through the village as the sound of battle reached her ears. A few minutes ago she'd felt a massive surge of magical energy, which had been followed by the sounds of combat. As she rounded the last building she gasped in shock. All around her were the unconscious forms of her Amazon warriors, the reason for which was obviously the two males and a beast that were currently at the center of a ring of amazons. As she closed, she could see that one male was obviously a talented fighter as he dropped two of her amazons before whipping around to knock down a third. The beast was protecting the other male as a ball of energy formed in his hands, once released the ball impacted several amazons who became paralyzed. Mousse, seeing this hurled a series of chains at the spell caster. The warrior, moving faster than she'd expected, grabbed the chains then used them to whip Mousse up into the air, only to slam him into the other attacking amazons, using him like a ball and chain. Eventually he yanked the bruised Amazon male close, grabbed his cloths, cocked back his fist then froze as he got a good look at him.
"Halt!" Cologne yelled. Those amazons getting ready to attack backed down, but stood at the ready. Mousse was to dazed to do anything but stare at his opponent, who called over his friend to look at the myopic warrior. Cologne reached the three just in time to see the reason for their surprise, Because except for the ears, and hair the spellcaster and Mousse looked exactly the same.
"Soul analogue." The pointy eared Mu Tzu said, in excitement "This man must be my analogue! Fascinating, absolutely fascinating!"
Ryo frowned at his companion "He was trying to kill you a moment ago."
"Which I would like to know the reason for?" Cologne asked.
The men looked down at the diminutive warrior "A half-ling?" Ryo asked his friend. Mu Tzu shrugged.
Cologne frowned "No, I am not. Now will someone tell me what happened?"
Mu Tzu began to answer as Ryo tossed his captive to one of the healers going around to the injured females. "We were trying to locate a friend of ours and ended up here. This young lady." He pointed to Shampoo who was currently frozen by his spell. "Started yelling in my face before I could get my translation stone out. Next thing I know, we're under attack."
"We thought they were musk elder." One young Amazon supplied.
"I see." She sighed "I apologize gentlemen on behalf of the tribe, you were falsely accused and attacked. I guarantee you safe passage out of our lands."
"Thank you elder." Ryo said while Mu Tzu began pulling a giant carpet from a small bag at his waist. "We appreciate that."
With a flick of his wrist the carpet unfolded, and to the surprise of all hovered a foot of the ground. The beast which appeared to be a wolf on steroids hoped on.
Cologne sighed at another missed chance. As much as she wanted to hold up the marriage law, these two had already bested some of her amazons and she suspected they'd been going easy. No need to antagonize them further at least not on village grounds. Then something occurred to her.
"Who were you looking for?"
The two hoped on the carpet. "Ranma and Solaufein" Mu Tzu replied off hand.
"One wouldn't happen to have a small dragon and the other really dark skin?" The elder asked.
Ryo looked at her in surprise "Why yes, how did you know that?"
"They arrived a few days ago, and caused quite a stir. Do you know where they have gone? There is some business we need to take up with them."
Mu Tzu stared at her then shrugged "If my tracking spell was right they are in some place called Japan."
"If you want we could give them a message from you?" Ryo added.
Cologne shook her head "No need, we shall speak to them ourselves."
"Suit yourself." Mu Tzu said, then spoke something else to the carpet which rose up in the air then shot off in the direction of Nippon.
"Great grandmother?"
The elder turned to her granddaughter "Pack your things, you, myself and some others are going to Japan."
------
"Yes, Genma that's what my daughter told me." Soun paused as the person on the other end of the phone spoke. "Yes, tomorrow evening..Excellent I'll see you then!"
Soun Tendo hung up the phone and grinned stupidly, soon his dream would come true!
To Be Continued
Author Notes: This chapter was mostly set up for what's going to happen in the future. Expect the Ryoga Mousse analogues to have more headaches from the native versions. I do kind of like the idea of the various analogues of the Nerima Crew showing up and wrecking Havoc because of their differences and similarites to the main caste.
Current thoughts
Kasumi = Dread lord Kasumi
Nabiki = Rogue
Akane = Barbarian whose name translates to 'Runs with mallets'
Kuno = Paladin in the service of Lathander, and in good standing.
Kodachi = Paladin in the service of Lathander, and in good standing.
Preview for Chapter 3 (Yes, I'm still working on it.)
It was a normal day for lieutenant Akira Jinna. Do a patrol of his piece of Japanese Air space and return home in time to catch a brew with his buddies down at the Giggling Geisha.
"Mustang this is Ghost do you have visual on that bogey."
A bogey wasn't to odd either, might just be some idiot civy pilot who was off course or a glitch in their infallible system.
"Stand by ghost."
It was probably nothing.
"Mustang, do you see anything."
So imagine his surprise when he saw two men riding a flying carpet over the ocean.
"Mustang do you copy?"
Years of training came into play as he managed to keep control of his craft while his mind reeled at the implications. The two youths seemed to notice his presence and waved.
"Mustang here, go ahead."
The one in a yellow and black bandana pulled out a sign, scribbled a quick message and held it up.
"Mustang do you have a bogey?"
The sign read 'Which way to Nerima?'
"Ghost that's a negative. Must be a glitch in the system."
Checking his map over at a glance he then pointed the pair in the right direction. Who waved again before taking off.
"Ghost this is Mustang."
"Go ahead."
"You may want to check the bases water supply, just in case."