Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Ranma ½ , apart from the DVDs, but that's all, unfortunately!
Chapter Six: Can't Wait For Tomorrow
…Akane awoke to hear a bucket being smashed over a large panda's head.
"Feh! Stupid Panda!"
"Ranma what –"
"Go back to sleep, Akane," said a female Ranma, tiredly, "it's going to be a very, very long day. Believe me, I know."
Mousse watched Shampoo leave, as he finished setting up the cooking equipment in the back, he was not put out in the slightest that they had moved from Nerima to the Capitol, as long as he was near Shampoo, nothing could bother him at all.
He had wondered why they were upping the business so quickly, he had been almost ecstatic that they were moving away from that 'enemy of women' Saotome, who lorded over his harem, one of which was his love, Shampoo, but they had been moving to go with him.
Mousse smirked to himself when he found Saotome, he would get his comeuppance, once and for all, and Shampoo would be his to love. After all this was the Chinese New Year.
Mousse had followed his beloved, ducking away literally and figuratively from the old monkey mummy and after Shampoo's ringing bell.
He circled around and spotted his prey, he fluttered down and whipping out a hot kettle and spare robe and trousers, he changed back. He peaked around the corner to see if his enemy had appeared yet. He pulled his glasses off to clean off the specs of dust that made it harder to see properly in the bright sunlight.
Then he heard a crash and his love's beautiful tones, lifting his heart, "Ni ho!"
"Shampoo." his hated enemy said, in a rather dead voice, which Mousse took no note of, because he was sure that the fiend loved the fact there were now two women doting on him.
"Airen!" He heard Shampoo purr, his anger toward Saotome upped several more levels, he cared about Amazon law, not to a vast extent, but enough to know that he had to beat Ranma, and release Shampoo from her duty.
"I'll just leave you -" started Akane, Saotome's other but seemingly more reluctant fiancée.
"'Bye, 'bye, violent g –" Started Shampoo, cheerfully. Mousse guessed it was cue now.
"Will you let go of me, I can't breathe!"
"Shampoo I love you!" said Mousse leaping at his beloved, holding her in his arms, if Saotome got to do it, why not him, who truly deserved her. Although she was a lot stockier than he last remembered.
"EEEK!" shouted Shampoo, in a very un-Shampoo voice. "Shampoo's behind you, you PERVERT!"
WHAM!
Mousse appeared in front of Ranma and Shampoo.
"Saotome, you thief of the heart," spat Mousse, finding a new pair of glasses, "unhand my fair –"
"You want to fight, Mousse?" interrupted Ranma, his voice seemed to be devoid of all emotion, "of course you do, so now you will have one, but this will not be about Shampoo, this is about us, right? No one else is involved, got it? But not here."
"Fine, I will let you choose the place of your death." Bit out Mousse.
"Follow me!" Ranma jumped into the air, Mousse followed him closely.
"RANMA! Where are you going?" shouted Akane.
"I'll back later!" he shouted back.
"Airen be back for Shampoo's special surprise, yes?"
"That won't be likely." Muttered Mousse, grinning as he leapt after Saotome.
"Stop running, you COWARD!" shouted Mousse, as he landed on the top of the short building.
Saotome stopped a few feet from Mousse, his back to him.
"Well, shall we fight, are you ready to submit, enemy of women?"
"So we fight," said Saotome, in the same dead voice, "is that all you know what to do, Mousse? We both know the outcome, yet you still persist."
"I will defeat you, Saotome," declared Mousse, defiantly.
"Ha," said Ranma, lightly, "I've tried everything," he said, quietly, as if talking to himself, "I've tried to reason with you, tried to be stronger to pummel it into you, I've even resorted to drugging you, but now I've HAD ENOUGH! THIS IS THE LAST TIME!" Mousse stared at his enemy's back, shocked, after a moment, Saotome continued bitterly, "I'll tell you straight, Mousse, you can take it or leave it, I don't care about anything now: I don't want anything to do with Shampoo, or Cologne or you, or any of your whole damned tribe. You can keep it –"
"NANI?" Mousse exclaimed, "How dare you?! How dare you cast Shampoo away so casually, you womanising ba –"
"THAT'S IT!" shouted Saotome, turning around, "ENOUGH TALK, PREPARE TO DIE, DUCK BOY!" Saotome jumped into the air, straight for Mousse.
Mousse stood mermised by the brightest battle aura he had and would ever see in his entire life...
…Akane awoke to a bone cracking noise.
"Stop bothering me, POP!" shouted Ranma.
Akane looked at the pigtailed martial artist, as he held his father's arm at a rather unnatural angle, while the rest of his body was folded like a badly shaped pritzel.
Ranma looked up at her, with a blank expression. "'morning." He said.
Kuno always prided himself on his kendo abilities, after all was not the finest martial arts form ever conceived, his weapon could only ever be a bokken, maybe a katana against his most deadly of foes, maybe, possibly.
The Blue Thunder of Furiken High, knew that the bokken would defeat his most deadly and devious of foes.
Ranma Saotome.
The wretch knew this, and had attempted escaping Kuno's noble quest to free his loves from Saotome's magical bonds, today was the day he would finally set them free from his vile perverted claws.
He strode purposefully up a dark alley. Nabiki Tendo, though he hated and detested her selling of information to him for such prices, was useful, and his time to conquer his foe was near.
He turned a corner, bokken held in both hands.
"Kuno." Said the pigtailed enemy of women, "Think you take me, do you? Your stick is useless, you've known that since we met, why don't you come at me with your bare hands, or are you too honourless to fight fair?" the Bain of Kuno's life grinned.
In the recesses of Kuno's warped samurai mind, it managed to note that the grin was more feral than before, before it had been self–assured and cocky, and the eyes, that had burned the same way as that ignorant grin, where blank, almost as if he were dead.
"Unlike you, Saotome, I am honourable," Kuno smirked, dropping one hand from the bokken, "So, today is the day you brought low, by my bare hands at that." He dropped the bokken.
Saotome's grin widened, and he leapt into the air, straight at Kuno…
"He ate all of it?!"
"My honourable son, suffering for his fiancée's sake!"
"Oh my!"
"He ate ALL OF IT?"
"My little girl cooked again, what horrors he has faced! WAAHH! HE WANTED TO PLEASE HIS FIANCEE!"
"HE ATE A THREE COURSE MEAL OF AKANE'S COOKING AND HE ATE ALL OF IT!!"
"It's an interesting shade of green." commented Kasumi, with a strained smile.
The shuddering mass, that resided was covered by several duvets and blankets, the pigtail limp on the pillows, while several buckets had been positioned strategically around the bed, even in the corners of the room (in case of projectile vomiting), although Akane's cooking was known to cause severe stomach ache, anything was possible with a full meal.
Suddenly the shuddering mass leaped from the bed and stuck its head in a bucket, making horrid retching noises and then another, as the first was full, and continued for quiet some time.
"I think we are going to need a few more buckets." Commented Kasumi, pleasantly, picking up the phone.
"Ewww!" exclaimed Nabiki, wincing, "he did eat ALL OF IT!!"
Ryouga stood before his most hated enemy, it was a moment he had been waiting for, once he had managed to get away from Akane's loving arms and turn back without her knowing.
But as with all things in his life, this was kind of a let down, Ranma was not in his usual battle stance he took against Ryouga. Sure, he never looked like he was in a battle stance when he was in a fight, the way he sometimes stood there as though he was just passing the time, but Ryouga knew that was a fake. This stance, however, was not his usual stance.
It was as if he was depressed, but how could that be? That's not possible, although Ryouga had made it his life's work to make it possible. Could it have finally of happened? His prays answered at last?
"Cowardly bastard!" he roared, aiming to impale Ranma on his umbrella, "fight me properly. 'Fraid you'll lose Akane to me, if you fight for real."
Ranma deftly dodged the strike, as though he had seen it coming a mile off, Ryouga tried to alter his trajectory, but found that Ranma had somehow accounted for that as well.
How could Ranma be predicting my moves? He thought, as Ranma sent a punch to his side of his head, breaking his nose and held his head in a tight arm lock.
"I could very easily beat you into jelly, Ryouga," hissed Ranma into his ear, "but today, your luck is in." he smirked, in scary imitation of Nabiki. "Because today, kids, we are going for a little drive!"
Ryouga looked into Ranma's eyes, and what he saw there stopped the flow of blood from coming out of his broken nose.
"YOU'RE STUPID!"
"Really!"
"YOU'RE MAD!"
"You don't say!"
"YOU'RE INSANE!"
"All these compliments!" Laughed the pigtailed maniac at the wheel, "Look at me I'm blushing!!"
"YOU'RE ALL OF IT AND MORE!!" yelled Ryouga, he would have lunged for the steering wheel, smashed Ranma's face with his fists, anything if Ranma had not knocked him cold and tied him up in various bits of chain and rope, including the seatbelt. "STOP THIS CAR AT ONCE!"
"Yer know somethin', Pig boy?" said Ranma suddenly, horribly calm, as they roared through traffic, the wrong way, "All my life I've been told what to do, 'Be a great martial artist!', 'Become a 'man amongst men'', 'Prepare to die!' and also 'Be kind to you're psycho fiancée' Well, shall I tell you what I think of all that, shall I?" He growled, "FEH! That's what I think! FEH! FEH! FEH!" he turned to a stunned Ryouga, then suddenly smiled manically again, "Say, would you like a turn at the wheel!? You would, great!!"
Ryouga watched in fascinated horror as Ranma ripped the steering wheel from the dash and put it in his lap.
"You insane loony! What the hell are you –"
SPLASH!
"There you go, Ryouga," said Ranma, grinning madly, "I hate to alarm you, but I cut the brake line before we set off, hope that's not a problem for yer, heh-heh!"
"BWEEE!"
Ryouga tried to turn the wheel, which was still more or less attached to the wiring of the car, but it was in vain as the car smashed through a side–alleyway and through the trash.
"Lucky there's barely any traffic eh?" grinned Ranma, his arms folded like he did not have a care in the world, "Oops, forgot about that truck."
WHAT TRUCK!?! Ryouga mentally screamed.
Then he saw it, just as it slammed into Ranma's side of the car, crushing it inward.
Ryouga last thought was: When did Ranma learn how to drive?
…Akane awoke to the sound of smashing glass.
"I SAID, STOP BOTHERING ME, DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND JAPANESE!!"
She looked over to see Ranma standing at a broken window. Akane ran over, dropping P–Chan to the bed, and looked out the window to see a wet panda hanging onto the fire–escape below, holding onto the bending railing with one hand, while holding a sign with the other, above a three hundred foot drop.
{Someone help me! My son has gone INSANE!!!}
Kasumi had finished setting the table, with the breakfast that had been sent up by the nice hotel waiters. It felt good not to cook for once.
Since they had set up in the bigger rooms, which was occupied by Genma and Soun, her father was already at the table, reading the paper that had been brought up with the meal, while Genma had gone off to wake –
A horrendous scream of pain shook the room.
Soun looked over at the door, considering whether it was a good idea or not, to see what was going on.
"Oh, my!" exclaimed Kasumi, gently, "that sounded like Uncle Saotome, father."
"Indeed." Said Soun, still weighing his options.
After a minute of silence, there was a knock at the door. Kasumi answered it to find a male Ranma there, in his pyjamas.
"'Morning." He said dully.
"Ranma-kun, good morning," said Kasumi, politely, "did you –"
"Do you have a toaster?" he asked, brushing past her.
"Nani?"
"Nevermind," Ranma took the item off the table, and turned to leave.
"What was that noise earlier, son?" asked Soun, as Ranma was half way out of the door.
"Oh that was just Pop," said Ranma, without any tone to his voice, "nothing important." He closed the door quietly behind him.
"Oh my." Said Kasumi, faintly.
"Odd," said Soun, after a moment, his paper forgotten, "I wonder what that toaster was for?"
After another short silence, the lights flickered.
"Oh my."
"Indeed."
...Akane awoke to someone tugging at her arms.
"Excuse me a second, Akane," said Ranma, holding P-Chan up by his bandana, "just need to borrow P-Chan."
"For what?" asked Akane, indigently.
"Just this." said Ranma, calmly, and drop kicked P-Chan, into a soaked Panda that just been recovering for injuries.
Then had to deal with a set of new injuries, as it was punched back through a window and then down into the street with a rather annoyed black piglet.
Next Chapter: Resolutions of Ranma.
Author's Note (19/1/04): Another chappie done at last! (Everyone cheers!!). I've got a lot of problems with this, in fact I'm having problems with this entire fic. It's kinda run around in circles in my head and I'm about half way through the story, but I will not abandon it, at least I shall try not to. However, it maybe some time before I can get back to this again, so don't expect regular updates, but keep reviewing, this keeps me going…
Also, I have finally gotten the nerve to put up my e-mail address on my bio, which has also been updated, so check it out, but don't all send at once ;).
Here is where I decided to answer some of reviews from the previous chapter, because I think these ones need replies: –
TetsuoTsubushi (2003-09-24)
Darn has it been that long? I'm glad that you liked it Tetsuo and are still interested in the story, and also that you have enjoyed this fic which has kinda changed from what I had originally intended, but all for the better.
dogbertcarroll (2003-09-16)
REWRITE!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Ok, I have to agree with you on the point that the coverage was a little sketchy, I had intended that, because Ranma will discover more things along the way, also that chapter was for the fiancees, but don't worry the Tendos and the Chinese gang and the other characters ideas on the situation will be presented in time.
Sanosuke (2003-09-10)
Yes, that's right, he's been in the time loop for two years, and I've said that they knew each other two years previously, I have not really decided where on the Ranma timeline this is, I started this before I saw the later series of the anime (where I had only seen the first two series), so it's around that sort of time, but I've kept references of what previous happen out of the story. I've shown him growing up a bit, with his speech getting a bit better, but he has not really needed to use the character's quirks against them yet.
pspinler (2003-09-09)
Thanks for the praise, this was easy to start, but I'm finding it harder to maintain with the other ideas that in my head at the moment. I'm glad you liked my characters, I wasn't sure if they were taking up to much of the story, so I shall not let them run riot (well at least not too much! ;-) )
Sanosuke (2003-09-08)
You are aware you sent this in several times, aren't you?
goku (2003-09-08)
Ranma will be visiting a few places outside of the city, dunno where yet. And to who he ends up with, well you'll just have to wait and see.
vizeerlord (2003-09-07)
It's great you want more, but more what, violence? Romance? Comedy? Or shall I take it that you want all three?