What's Going On?!

Ranma shot up in his tent. The dream had visited him again, this time more vivid than ever. It was burned into his memory. Every last detail was etched with a diamond into his mind. The icy knife, the trees all around, the smoking wreckage, the body next to the tree, Akane's dripping wet hair, and the green outfit she was wearing. He was sure this was a vision of what could be. He climbed out of bed to use the bathroom away from camp with an uneasy feeling deep in the pit of his stomach. Upon returning, there was a deafening crack as a flash of lightning split the sky. As if on cue, the downpour began. Cold drops hit Ranma's face as he stared at the sky. He shivered. He had hoped he wouldn't have to turn into a girl today, but now he couldn't avoid it. "Hey, Ranma hold this," said Akane from behind him as she handed Ranma a metal pot. It was icy to the touch. With a flash of foreboding he turned to look at Akane. Her hair was dripping and she was wearing a green raincoat. Ranma gasped mentally as a flash of recognition shot through his mind. It was going to happen today!

After breakfast they resumed their journey. Ranma was on double alert, and didn't say a word. After only a short while they came to a clearing. of broken trees. There, at the far end, was a smoking wreck, the flames doused by the rain, which was still falling. Then they noticed the armored figure propped against a tree. Ranma saw the body reach for something ever so slowly, so slowly he probably wouldn't have caught it if he weren't looking for it. Ranma waited. Akane and Genma stood behind him at a gesture of his hand. He appeared to observe the environment and take mental notes, but he never took his eyes off the body. He's gonna do it soon, thought Ranma.

Suddenly, almost too fast too see, Ranma sidestepped as the figure shot his arm out, and Ranma snatched a blur out of the air. Looking down at it, he saw it was a long dagger, two feet, hilt and blade. "You're good," came a man's voice from the figure, barely audible above the din of the storm. "In all my years, I've never not hit my target before. Who are you? As a matter of fact, where am I?" "There's a lot of questions that need answering," said Ranma, "But right now we need to get you back to shelter, assuming you don't attack us again." "I give you my word," he said soberly. "My honor as a warrior. I can assure you it was a case of a mistaken sense of danger." Satisfied, his panda, I mean father, nodded at Ranma. "Can you walk?" asked Ranma. The armored man stood up and stepped forward gingerly out of the shadows, giving the group a better look at him.

His armor looked very high tech and futuristic. It was composed of sage green plates over a black body glove. His visor was yellow and reflective. "My leg was injured," he said, looking at his right knee, "But I did a good enough job myself to walk at least. Let me get my weapons and then we can go." He went over to the tree and bent down. He returned with a sleek silver pistol, a strange automatic rifle, a peculiar sniper rifle, and a powerful-looking shotgun, all of which the company gazed at in wonder. Walking over to Ranma, he took his hand and said, "Miss, I am deeply sorry that I tried to kill you. I am trained to kill. I am not proud to say this, but I was made for combat. And I have just returned from a war zone. I was being shot down when I turned towards your town. They left me when I reached it, and when I crashed I was sure they would go around and come for me. I thought you were one of them. As a token of my deepest apologies, I will let you keep that knife for yourself. It is long, but fashioned from a rare metal and forged in a special manner so that it is incredibly light. This makes it easy to throw or move it quickly, and it is nearly indestuctible. It is one of the finest blades ever made. It will protect you if you use it well. Again, I am truly sorry."

He let go of Ranma's hand. He looked at the knife for a moment, and then laughed out loud. "Whooo, well, I wasn't expecting that!" he said, turning the dagger over in his hands as he looked at its stunningly intricate and beautiful engravings he had, strangely, not noticed before. "But uh, thank you anyways. I'm sure you really didn't mean it." "Then we are all ok?" asked the man. "Yeah," said Ranma with a smile. Akane stared in disbelief at Ranma. This was the nicest she had ever seen him be, without being mean afterwards. Ranma really meant what he said. Akane wondered if this had anything to do with his dream and their now open love? She pondered over this even until they had reached the Tendo Dojo later that afternoon.

Ranma cast off his pack in his room and went to the bathroom. As he was walking, Ranma murmured, "I'm freezing! I need a long hot bath." "So do I!" said Akane cheerfully from behind him. Ranma clenched his fists. ARRGH!, he thought. "Can I go first?" she asked Ranma. No, no, NO! thought Ranma. He turned around to reject her. Seeing Akane's smiling face warmed him up almost as well as a hot shower. Ranma unclenched his fists and his head of steam blew off. "Sure!" said Ranma. "I'll just wash up in my bathroom." Akane was sure Ranma would say no, but was again surprised by Ranma's kindness. She went in the room and turned on the water. As she untied her robe, she wondered why there would be such a change in Ranma so suddenly. She took off her robe and set it aside. She eased herself into the water and sighed in relief.

I was chilled to the bone! she thought to herself. Ranma must have been too. Why didn't he refuse and take his bath first? I guess I'll just have to ask him later. And I wonder what's going on with that guy in the armor. So many questions. At that she slid up to her neck in the water, and tried to clear her head of questions for the duration of her bath. But she could not. She sighed. It's gonna drive me crazy if I don't get those answers now, so I might as well start by getting out, she thought. Rising reluctantly from the tub, she dried herself off and dressed before heading to Ranma's room.

Ranma shed his clothes and tossed them in the hamper. Going to the sink, he turned on the hot water an splashed himself all over. As he finished drying, he heard a knock at the door. "Just a minute!" he yelled. He tossed the towel aside and quickly dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. He opened the door to find the armored man standing there. "Excuse me," he said, "But your father and Mr. Tendo have both agreed that I should stay in your room while I am here and have all my questions answered by you." He paused and cocked his head to one side. Ranma could almost see the puzzled expression on his face behind the visor. "Although since they are the elder ones they should answer my questions and give me lodging in their rooms," he said. "But that's what they said. I'm sorry if I caused you any inconvenience." "Nah, that's ok," Ranma said as he clenched his fist behind his back, "They're just weird like that. Actually, I think that's a big part of the reason I love and care for them," he mused. "Anyhow, come on in. Make yourself at home." The man entered and Ranma shut the door behind them.

Just then there was another knock at his door. Opening it again, he saw that it was Akane this time. "Hey, um, I was wondering if I could come in," she said shyly. "Dad said I'd find the man here, and I uh, wanted to, kinda, ask him some questions?" "Sure, I was just about to do that myself," said Ranma. "Plus," said Ranma as Akane entered and he shut the door, "You can help answer his questions too." Akane and Ranma sat on the bed while the armored man opted for a chair to take his armor off on. "My name, if you don't know, is Ranma Saotome, and this my fiance, Akane Tendo," said Ranma as the man started to remove his armor. Akane blushed. "So, what's your name?" "Well," said the man, "Since I was genetically enhanced and trained, I have always been referred to as my title, Master Chief. However, I used to go by the name Jonathan Depp, the third."

"Wait," said Akane, "You're the grandchild of the Johnny Depp?" "Yes," said the man and placed an arm guard on the floor, "It's actually quite interesting to have him as a grandfather. I still retain virtually all of his inherent charm, looks, and just plain weirdness, too. I chose a career in military service after a short life as a film star, unlike my father and grandfather. Yeah, I guess you ask that because you'd think I would stay in showbusiness to carry on the legacy." "No," said Akane, "I ask you that because it's impossible to be his grandchild." "Why it's perfectly possible," said Johnny, "If he had my dad in 2009, and my dad lives until 2039 before having me, and it's now 2064, that would make me twenty five, and as soon as I get my helmet off you'll see that I fit that age. It is 2064, right?" Akane and Ranma looked at each other. "No," said Ranma. Johnny was leaning back in his chair, trying to get his back plate off. "It's the year 2004." There was a big crash as Johnny fell over backwards, a silence, and then Ranma and Akane burst out laughing. Everyone else wondered what was going on, but didn't dare check.

After a few minutes, Johnny got his armor off and Ranma and Akane could see he looked almost exactly like his grandfather. And then, after a few stiff drinks, Johnny continued their two sided interrogation long into the night. After all was said and done and comprehended, Akane and Ranma went downstairs and told everyone what they had just found out about their new guest. But you probably already know all of it. What got everyone scratching their heads was how Johnny explained how he went backwards in time through a wormhole created by a massive energy release in his gravometric distortion compensator as he passed through the vicinity of a black hole and this and that and blah blah blah, you get the idea.

Akane then pulled Ranma into the kitchen while everyone else was making sense of what they heard. "Ranma," she said. "There's been something else on my mind lately. Since you got attacked by Johnny, you've been a lot nicer than you ever used to be. What's going on?" Ranma looked into her large, beautiful, questioning eyes and sighed. "I'm not sure myself," he said at last. "Something about the way he was so nice to me reminded me of how well I'd always wanted to be treated by you. And then I realized that if I wanted to get that kindness from you, I would have to do the same for you, and for everyone else. I think that all it is, is that you make me want to be a better man." He smiled softly. "Oh Ranma," she whispered, "That was so beautiful!" She rushed into his large, comforting arms. Ranma chuckled silently. I've been waiting to use that line since I first saw that movie, he thought. Genma came by the kitchen and ducked out of the doorway when he saw them. He closed the door quietly.

For a long while, they held each other, not quite knowing what to say. Finally, Ranma spoke. "Akane, as much as I love you and as much as it pains me to say this, I think we should wait," he said. "I think we should wait to show our love openly until we're ready to actually get married. It would be best. Also," he said with a wink, "It'll be more fun." When Akane backed away from Ranma to look at him, he expected her to be on the verge of tears. Instead, to his surprise and relief, there was only a mischevious smirk. "Oh, you're so bad!" she teased. "Alright, it sounds good to me. Just promise you'll still show it to me in private occasionally, ok?" "Sure," he said, "In fact, why don't you and me go straight to bed right now and get it on?" The look on Akane's face was priceless. Ranma laughed out loud. "Sorry," he said, "I just couldn't resist. How about a kiss instead?" "You've got along way to go to get rid of the jerk in you," she said in her best scolding tone. Ranma looked hurt. "But then," she said in a softer tone, pulling him close, "I never said I wanted a completely good boy." She kissed him slowly, then turned and walked out of the kitchen. She looked back and smiled. "See you tomorrow," she said with a wink. Ranma sighed. "She's so cute."