Tendou Akane was in Hell. Kunou was bad enough, obsessing on her after she had beaten him in
a freestyle fighting tournament, but when another student (he seemed nice enough, too) had asked
her out (Akane would have accepted), Kunou had become violent, beating him within an inch of his
life and sending him to the hospital. Now, he wouldn't even talk to her! As if that wasn't enough,
Kunou had subsequently decreed that only one who could beat her in combat would "have the right to
claim the fierce tigress Tendou Akane". As a result, she was being treated like a possession, and
obsessed over to such a degree that she had to beat up almost fifty students (and Kunou) every
morning just to get to class on time!
Still worse, the other girls at school didn't understand her plight. They were treating her
like some kind of pariah for her so-called "popularity" with the boys. At least Sayuri and Yuka,
two of her oldest friends, understood and were sympathetic. A few of the other girls were somewhat
understanding as well, not to mention her sisters, but still...
Tofu-sensei was as understanding as always, and probably the only thing keeping her from
becoming turned off towards men altogether and becoming some kind of raving lesbian.
Intellectually, she understood that not *all* men were perverts, or even most, but it certainly
seemed like it!
-------------------
Reflection,
By
Aleh,
Prologue Two: The Other Side of the Mirror
-------------------
Meanwhile, Tendou Nabiki was frustrated. She had *TRIED* to convince Kunou that Akane simply
didn't like him. She had *TRIED* to get him to call off the morning fights. In fact, she had
managed to make the Hentai Horde, as Akane called it, to be considerably smaller than it would have
been without her efforts. The remainder were the true perverts and idiots, those who 'thought with
their other head', as she had heard somewhere. She had considered going so far as to blackmail
Kunou into leaving Akane alone, but she was well aware that without Kunou's money, her family would
lose the dojo, and were she to blackmail him, he wouldn't be nearly as forthcoming. As ironic as it
was, Kunou's obsession with Akane was helping her family keep out of debt. At least Akane
understood her problem and her actions... As she mused, her thoughts turned more and more towards
her entire situation.
Kasumi was, as always, the family's anchor, the center of stability in the midst of chaos.
Nabiki didn't know what she'd do without her there to provide an attentive ear to Nabiki's
problems, the kind of gentile emotional support that she was famous for, and, when things got to
be too much for Nabiki to handle, a shoulder to cry on.
Of course, Nabiki couldn't forget her best friend, the person who had helped break her out of
the emotional shell that she had retreated into after her mother's death. Rei had been there when
no one else was, when no one else *COULD* be, and Nabiki still owed her a debt of gratitude. Rei,
of course, denied that, saying that it was only what anyone would have done when seeing a friend
in such pain, but that only made Nabiki more grateful, more thankful that she had a friend like
her.
Nabiki only regretted that Rei lived so far away. While Juuban and Nerima were both wards of
Tokyo, it was still a long enough trip that she couldn't make it on a daily basis. It would be nice
if they went to the same school, but the fact that they stayed as close as they did despite the
difficulty only made Nabiki treasure the friendship more. Lately, Rei had made a group of friends,
and introduced Nabiki to them. Actually, they considered Nabiki an honorary member, treating her
as one of them whenever she could stop by. It was nice to have a place that she could belong,
especially after having to sacrifice her place in the usual circles at Furinkan in order to bring
in enough money to keep the dojo afloat. True, she had her place, but it was the position of a
distant and aloof businesswoman, a ruthless mercenary. Occasionally people would give her sympathy
for her situation, even pity, but that only made things worse.
The thought of Rei's friends brought a slight smile to Nabiki's face. Tsukino Usagi was a
ditz, the eternal personification of the stereotypical blonde, yet had a quiet inner strength and
a virtual aura of friendliness that made you just want to reach out and hug her. Usagi-chan was
almost like Kasumi in that regard (although most certainly *NOT* in cooking skills), although her
aura was that of a whirlwind, healing and making you lose track of your wounds through sheer
activity, while Kasumi's was that of a soothing breeze, relaxing you until you forgot your more
mundane aches and pains.
Mizuno Ami, on the other hand, was a quiet bookworm, the eternally shy girl who nonetheless
had a spine of steel. When pressed, Ami was loyal beyond belief, always there for those who she
cared for. In many ways, she was Usagi's opposite, yet they had the same kind, caring heart.
Kino Makoto was another example of the same effect. On the surface, she was the eternal
tomboy, much like Akane in that regard, and a notorious flirt (although not *QUITE* as bad as
Minako) who was always comparing people to her 'old sempai'. Beneath that exterior, however, was
a kindred soul to the others, someone who was loyal unto death to her friends. Nabiki was extremely
proud to count herself among that number.
Aino Minako was another matter. She had the bearing of someone who had been through hell and
back, that of a war veteran in many respects. True, you had to look into her eyes to see it, but
it was there. She had a long and painful past, one that she didn't talk about much. On the other
hand, she was very cheerful (overcompensating, perhaps), and even more of a flirt and boy-chaser
than Makoto. Once again, she was loyal to her friends, and essentially a kind person (although
Nabiki sincerely hoped that she and Usagi never got together with Akane in the kitchen).
At a glance, the five of them had almost nothing in common, but beyond the superficial
details, they were so much alike that it was actually scary (well, in some regards, anyways), and
that was without even counting what Nabiki knew about them. Who would have thought that Rei was a
reincarnated princess from an ancient magical civilization? Nabiki sighed at the thought. While it
would've been nice in some regards to be one of the Senshi, she knew that it wasn't something for
her. After all, Nabiki wasn't much of a fighter (then again, neither were Ami or Usagi, but that
was beside the point), and wouldn't last a week in the superheroine business. She'd just stay in
the background and help in her own quiet way, as she always did.
-------------------
Kasumi was worried. Her little sister had to deal with a horde of perverted boys every
morning, and neither she nor Nabiki could do anything about it. That Kunou boy was so... not nice!
Really! The way he went after Akane was just not proper! Kasumi was almost tempted to scold him!
And then there was Nabiki. Kasumi was certain that she was hiding something from her, but
Kasumi couldn't figure out what. She thought that it had something to do with those new friends of
hers, and it couldn't be something too bad... after all, they were such nice girls. Oh, well.
Whatever it was, she was certain that everything would turn out alright... now she just had to
return this book to Tofu-sensei...
Over at a nearby clinic, a certain doctor's glasses fogged up for no apparent reason.
-------------------
Saotome Ranko was just plain annoyed. Just because her brother couldn't run ten yards without
gasping for breath wasn't a reason to make fun of the Art. Really, he just couldn't understand
it... after all, she *WAS* the heir to the Musabetsu Kakutou Saotome Ryu. It only made sense that
she would take it seriously, although she was beginning to think that her father didn't. Her
brother really didn't have to tease her about it. Really, saying that she was more of a man than
he was! Not that he was much of one, but that was beside the point. And the pranks...
-------------------
In Juuban, Hino Rei sat in front of the Sacred Fire, trying to find anything that could help
the Senshi find the Messiah. Staring into the blessed flame, she began to make out images, things
beyond the Vision of Silence that had recently haunted her readings. As she gazed into her
prophetic pyrotechnics, her view shifted, first to an image of a pigtailed boy fighting an eight-
headed dragon in a forest, then the same boy battling a pheonix. She gasped in awe as the fight
destroyed a mountain, and again as the pheonix met its bloody end. Her eyes widened in shock as she
saw him screaming in grief over a body that she instantly recognised as Tendou Akane's and then
crying tears of joy as Akane's still form opened her eyes. Her mouth opened in surprise as she saw
him weeping over a bloody corpse, mangled almost beyond recognition. Her eyes bugged out as the
image shifted to him facing off against a small army, his eyes showing endless pain, grief, rage
and hatred. Her jaw dropped as she saw him tear into his opponents, firing blades of nothingness
that sliced his foes into pieces and tearing into them with claws of blue energy. She watched as
the image became scenes of other fights, as he slew demon after demon, as he hunted youma after
youma. Then the image shifted to him standing next to an old and grey Nabiki, still looking almost
entirely unchanged. Next, it became him fighting the pheonix once again, his opponent's fires
seeming to sink into his skin as he effortlessly tore his foe apart. With that, the images ended
and Rei almost ran to her communicator to call the others. This bore looking into.
-------------------
In the Gates of Time, Sailor Pluto developed a headache as the timeline began to splinter and
frey.
-------------------
End Prologue Two
-------------------
Okay, I've been getting a lot of comparisons to Careful Destiny. Yes, the stories so far bear
some similarity. What people don't seem to realize is that Careful Destiny is just one of an entire
genre of fanfiction. Messed Up and Field of Change are good examples of two other ones based on
Ranma. Heck, there's even a playstation game (Chrono Cross) based on the theme. Several things are
the same in the two worlds, simply because the chains of events leading up to them were
undisturbed. Several other things are different as well. This is *NOT* an altered version of the
Careful Destiny universe; it's an alteration of the canon Ranma/Sailor Moon universe. Careful
Destiny's world is similar in some respects because the initial changes are similar.
Some guy calling himself 'Otaku' gave me the most constructive review following this theme
that I've seen yet, so I'm going to take the time to answer his points in order.
So you're dropping Ranma into a modified version of the "Careful Destiny" universe?
Nope.
That could be pretty cool, just as long as you don't use the same plot devices:
1)Ranma refuses to leave and has a falling out with Genma early on,
Refuses to leave? Leave what/where? As for having a falling out, that's inevitable in some
form or another. Ranma's going to be pretty pissed at Genma very quickly, especially with what
Genma thinks of him (or his alternate self).
2)other-Ranma's got a girlfriend who acts as a foil to his pursuit of a relationship with Akane,
Nope. He's too pathetic for that.
3)his relationship with Ranko develops into something nearly incestuous...You get the idea. :)
Not going to happen. I never liked that about CD, anyway.
Anyway, this looks like it might be a fun read, so which of the scouts is Nabiki?
I hope this prologue answered *THAT* question.
Anyway, this prologue served to set the stage in the second universe. Just to clear up
continuity questions, Ranma's world (Or World A) is the canon Ranmaverse, three hundred and one
years after the end of the manga. Sailor Moon was going on in the background during this time,
although Ranma never came into contact with those events. He knows of the Senshi only as a vague
urban legend. The first prologue, including the bit about Sailor Pluto, takes place in that world.
The other world (or World B) is a universe where Ranma never went on the infamous training
trip, for reasons that will become clear later, and as such has had his life go *VERY* differently,
partially because he never went on the trip, and partially for the *REASONS* that he never went
on the trip. Sailor Moon's timeline has a minor divergance which will be explained later. Time-
wise, it's around the time that Ranma would show up at the Tendou Dojo in canon Ranma and just
before the deaths of Uranus and Neptune in Sailor Moon.
Oh, and Vodka, I deleted your review because you ignored something I said in the author's
notes when writing it, not because I disagreed with it, and left me no way to respond. If you had
left me an e-mail address or some way to contact you, I would've just sent an explanation and
responded publicly in Chapter One. To answer your accusations, however, I am not portraying Shampoo
as a homicidal maniac. I haven't given the details of what happened, and what I have given has been
from Ranma's perspective. Regarding your statement about chichés, I have no problem with them,
although I generally try to avoid or parody them. See "Now This Is Just Plain Nuts" for a number of
examples of the latter. In summary: you don't know what happened, except that Shampoo killed Akane.
You don't know why she did it, what the circumstances were, and so on. I commented in my author's
notes for the first prologue about that, and you chose to ignore it. I do not generally delete
reviews unless they're spam, make no sense (I once deleted a review that read "vry fny pls cntnu"
from The Art), or that don't give me a chance to respond to a statement that I normally would.
In short, if you place a copy of your first review and leave an e-mail address, I'd be glad
to leave it there. If you disagree with my portrayal of a character, I'd be glad to discuss it with
you. If you think that my works are worthless pieces of trash, I'd like to know why so that I can
improve them. If you like my stories, I'm glad you enjoy them. If you have mixed feelings, I'd
absolutely love to talk about the reasons. After all, that's one of the best ways for me to improve
my writing. If, on the other hand, you flame me in a review, I'll delete it. If you write a review
that has nothing to do with the story, I'll delete it. Et cetera. Now I'm updating my story simply
with a response to your reviews, just because you didn't give me any other way to do it. I hope
that you read this and appreciate the effort involved.
a freestyle fighting tournament, but when another student (he seemed nice enough, too) had asked
her out (Akane would have accepted), Kunou had become violent, beating him within an inch of his
life and sending him to the hospital. Now, he wouldn't even talk to her! As if that wasn't enough,
Kunou had subsequently decreed that only one who could beat her in combat would "have the right to
claim the fierce tigress Tendou Akane". As a result, she was being treated like a possession, and
obsessed over to such a degree that she had to beat up almost fifty students (and Kunou) every
morning just to get to class on time!
Still worse, the other girls at school didn't understand her plight. They were treating her
like some kind of pariah for her so-called "popularity" with the boys. At least Sayuri and Yuka,
two of her oldest friends, understood and were sympathetic. A few of the other girls were somewhat
understanding as well, not to mention her sisters, but still...
Tofu-sensei was as understanding as always, and probably the only thing keeping her from
becoming turned off towards men altogether and becoming some kind of raving lesbian.
Intellectually, she understood that not *all* men were perverts, or even most, but it certainly
seemed like it!
-------------------
Reflection,
By
Aleh,
Prologue Two: The Other Side of the Mirror
-------------------
Meanwhile, Tendou Nabiki was frustrated. She had *TRIED* to convince Kunou that Akane simply
didn't like him. She had *TRIED* to get him to call off the morning fights. In fact, she had
managed to make the Hentai Horde, as Akane called it, to be considerably smaller than it would have
been without her efforts. The remainder were the true perverts and idiots, those who 'thought with
their other head', as she had heard somewhere. She had considered going so far as to blackmail
Kunou into leaving Akane alone, but she was well aware that without Kunou's money, her family would
lose the dojo, and were she to blackmail him, he wouldn't be nearly as forthcoming. As ironic as it
was, Kunou's obsession with Akane was helping her family keep out of debt. At least Akane
understood her problem and her actions... As she mused, her thoughts turned more and more towards
her entire situation.
Kasumi was, as always, the family's anchor, the center of stability in the midst of chaos.
Nabiki didn't know what she'd do without her there to provide an attentive ear to Nabiki's
problems, the kind of gentile emotional support that she was famous for, and, when things got to
be too much for Nabiki to handle, a shoulder to cry on.
Of course, Nabiki couldn't forget her best friend, the person who had helped break her out of
the emotional shell that she had retreated into after her mother's death. Rei had been there when
no one else was, when no one else *COULD* be, and Nabiki still owed her a debt of gratitude. Rei,
of course, denied that, saying that it was only what anyone would have done when seeing a friend
in such pain, but that only made Nabiki more grateful, more thankful that she had a friend like
her.
Nabiki only regretted that Rei lived so far away. While Juuban and Nerima were both wards of
Tokyo, it was still a long enough trip that she couldn't make it on a daily basis. It would be nice
if they went to the same school, but the fact that they stayed as close as they did despite the
difficulty only made Nabiki treasure the friendship more. Lately, Rei had made a group of friends,
and introduced Nabiki to them. Actually, they considered Nabiki an honorary member, treating her
as one of them whenever she could stop by. It was nice to have a place that she could belong,
especially after having to sacrifice her place in the usual circles at Furinkan in order to bring
in enough money to keep the dojo afloat. True, she had her place, but it was the position of a
distant and aloof businesswoman, a ruthless mercenary. Occasionally people would give her sympathy
for her situation, even pity, but that only made things worse.
The thought of Rei's friends brought a slight smile to Nabiki's face. Tsukino Usagi was a
ditz, the eternal personification of the stereotypical blonde, yet had a quiet inner strength and
a virtual aura of friendliness that made you just want to reach out and hug her. Usagi-chan was
almost like Kasumi in that regard (although most certainly *NOT* in cooking skills), although her
aura was that of a whirlwind, healing and making you lose track of your wounds through sheer
activity, while Kasumi's was that of a soothing breeze, relaxing you until you forgot your more
mundane aches and pains.
Mizuno Ami, on the other hand, was a quiet bookworm, the eternally shy girl who nonetheless
had a spine of steel. When pressed, Ami was loyal beyond belief, always there for those who she
cared for. In many ways, she was Usagi's opposite, yet they had the same kind, caring heart.
Kino Makoto was another example of the same effect. On the surface, she was the eternal
tomboy, much like Akane in that regard, and a notorious flirt (although not *QUITE* as bad as
Minako) who was always comparing people to her 'old sempai'. Beneath that exterior, however, was
a kindred soul to the others, someone who was loyal unto death to her friends. Nabiki was extremely
proud to count herself among that number.
Aino Minako was another matter. She had the bearing of someone who had been through hell and
back, that of a war veteran in many respects. True, you had to look into her eyes to see it, but
it was there. She had a long and painful past, one that she didn't talk about much. On the other
hand, she was very cheerful (overcompensating, perhaps), and even more of a flirt and boy-chaser
than Makoto. Once again, she was loyal to her friends, and essentially a kind person (although
Nabiki sincerely hoped that she and Usagi never got together with Akane in the kitchen).
At a glance, the five of them had almost nothing in common, but beyond the superficial
details, they were so much alike that it was actually scary (well, in some regards, anyways), and
that was without even counting what Nabiki knew about them. Who would have thought that Rei was a
reincarnated princess from an ancient magical civilization? Nabiki sighed at the thought. While it
would've been nice in some regards to be one of the Senshi, she knew that it wasn't something for
her. After all, Nabiki wasn't much of a fighter (then again, neither were Ami or Usagi, but that
was beside the point), and wouldn't last a week in the superheroine business. She'd just stay in
the background and help in her own quiet way, as she always did.
-------------------
Kasumi was worried. Her little sister had to deal with a horde of perverted boys every
morning, and neither she nor Nabiki could do anything about it. That Kunou boy was so... not nice!
Really! The way he went after Akane was just not proper! Kasumi was almost tempted to scold him!
And then there was Nabiki. Kasumi was certain that she was hiding something from her, but
Kasumi couldn't figure out what. She thought that it had something to do with those new friends of
hers, and it couldn't be something too bad... after all, they were such nice girls. Oh, well.
Whatever it was, she was certain that everything would turn out alright... now she just had to
return this book to Tofu-sensei...
Over at a nearby clinic, a certain doctor's glasses fogged up for no apparent reason.
-------------------
Saotome Ranko was just plain annoyed. Just because her brother couldn't run ten yards without
gasping for breath wasn't a reason to make fun of the Art. Really, he just couldn't understand
it... after all, she *WAS* the heir to the Musabetsu Kakutou Saotome Ryu. It only made sense that
she would take it seriously, although she was beginning to think that her father didn't. Her
brother really didn't have to tease her about it. Really, saying that she was more of a man than
he was! Not that he was much of one, but that was beside the point. And the pranks...
-------------------
In Juuban, Hino Rei sat in front of the Sacred Fire, trying to find anything that could help
the Senshi find the Messiah. Staring into the blessed flame, she began to make out images, things
beyond the Vision of Silence that had recently haunted her readings. As she gazed into her
prophetic pyrotechnics, her view shifted, first to an image of a pigtailed boy fighting an eight-
headed dragon in a forest, then the same boy battling a pheonix. She gasped in awe as the fight
destroyed a mountain, and again as the pheonix met its bloody end. Her eyes widened in shock as she
saw him screaming in grief over a body that she instantly recognised as Tendou Akane's and then
crying tears of joy as Akane's still form opened her eyes. Her mouth opened in surprise as she saw
him weeping over a bloody corpse, mangled almost beyond recognition. Her eyes bugged out as the
image shifted to him facing off against a small army, his eyes showing endless pain, grief, rage
and hatred. Her jaw dropped as she saw him tear into his opponents, firing blades of nothingness
that sliced his foes into pieces and tearing into them with claws of blue energy. She watched as
the image became scenes of other fights, as he slew demon after demon, as he hunted youma after
youma. Then the image shifted to him standing next to an old and grey Nabiki, still looking almost
entirely unchanged. Next, it became him fighting the pheonix once again, his opponent's fires
seeming to sink into his skin as he effortlessly tore his foe apart. With that, the images ended
and Rei almost ran to her communicator to call the others. This bore looking into.
-------------------
In the Gates of Time, Sailor Pluto developed a headache as the timeline began to splinter and
frey.
-------------------
End Prologue Two
-------------------
Okay, I've been getting a lot of comparisons to Careful Destiny. Yes, the stories so far bear
some similarity. What people don't seem to realize is that Careful Destiny is just one of an entire
genre of fanfiction. Messed Up and Field of Change are good examples of two other ones based on
Ranma. Heck, there's even a playstation game (Chrono Cross) based on the theme. Several things are
the same in the two worlds, simply because the chains of events leading up to them were
undisturbed. Several other things are different as well. This is *NOT* an altered version of the
Careful Destiny universe; it's an alteration of the canon Ranma/Sailor Moon universe. Careful
Destiny's world is similar in some respects because the initial changes are similar.
Some guy calling himself 'Otaku' gave me the most constructive review following this theme
that I've seen yet, so I'm going to take the time to answer his points in order.
So you're dropping Ranma into a modified version of the "Careful Destiny" universe?
Nope.
That could be pretty cool, just as long as you don't use the same plot devices:
1)Ranma refuses to leave and has a falling out with Genma early on,
Refuses to leave? Leave what/where? As for having a falling out, that's inevitable in some
form or another. Ranma's going to be pretty pissed at Genma very quickly, especially with what
Genma thinks of him (or his alternate self).
2)other-Ranma's got a girlfriend who acts as a foil to his pursuit of a relationship with Akane,
Nope. He's too pathetic for that.
3)his relationship with Ranko develops into something nearly incestuous...You get the idea. :)
Not going to happen. I never liked that about CD, anyway.
Anyway, this looks like it might be a fun read, so which of the scouts is Nabiki?
I hope this prologue answered *THAT* question.
Anyway, this prologue served to set the stage in the second universe. Just to clear up
continuity questions, Ranma's world (Or World A) is the canon Ranmaverse, three hundred and one
years after the end of the manga. Sailor Moon was going on in the background during this time,
although Ranma never came into contact with those events. He knows of the Senshi only as a vague
urban legend. The first prologue, including the bit about Sailor Pluto, takes place in that world.
The other world (or World B) is a universe where Ranma never went on the infamous training
trip, for reasons that will become clear later, and as such has had his life go *VERY* differently,
partially because he never went on the trip, and partially for the *REASONS* that he never went
on the trip. Sailor Moon's timeline has a minor divergance which will be explained later. Time-
wise, it's around the time that Ranma would show up at the Tendou Dojo in canon Ranma and just
before the deaths of Uranus and Neptune in Sailor Moon.
Oh, and Vodka, I deleted your review because you ignored something I said in the author's
notes when writing it, not because I disagreed with it, and left me no way to respond. If you had
left me an e-mail address or some way to contact you, I would've just sent an explanation and
responded publicly in Chapter One. To answer your accusations, however, I am not portraying Shampoo
as a homicidal maniac. I haven't given the details of what happened, and what I have given has been
from Ranma's perspective. Regarding your statement about chichés, I have no problem with them,
although I generally try to avoid or parody them. See "Now This Is Just Plain Nuts" for a number of
examples of the latter. In summary: you don't know what happened, except that Shampoo killed Akane.
You don't know why she did it, what the circumstances were, and so on. I commented in my author's
notes for the first prologue about that, and you chose to ignore it. I do not generally delete
reviews unless they're spam, make no sense (I once deleted a review that read "vry fny pls cntnu"
from The Art), or that don't give me a chance to respond to a statement that I normally would.
In short, if you place a copy of your first review and leave an e-mail address, I'd be glad
to leave it there. If you disagree with my portrayal of a character, I'd be glad to discuss it with
you. If you think that my works are worthless pieces of trash, I'd like to know why so that I can
improve them. If you like my stories, I'm glad you enjoy them. If you have mixed feelings, I'd
absolutely love to talk about the reasons. After all, that's one of the best ways for me to improve
my writing. If, on the other hand, you flame me in a review, I'll delete it. If you write a review
that has nothing to do with the story, I'll delete it. Et cetera. Now I'm updating my story simply
with a response to your reviews, just because you didn't give me any other way to do it. I hope
that you read this and appreciate the effort involved.