Tactics 1/2
By RankoSaotome
Disclaimer: FFT/FFTA and Ranma 1/2 do not belong to me, they belong to Square Enix and Rumiko Takahashi respectively.
"Argh, this game is so frustrating!!!" Ranma Saotome, martial artist teenager extraordinair, grumbled as he threw his PS2 controller to the ground before him. It's been almost two years since he came to the Tendos, and it's been relatively more calm ever since the failed wedding. His wish was finally coming true, to live a normal life.
That, of course, involved getting a hobby. At first, nothing but sports seemed to seek him out, but that was when he first tried THE GAME, Final Fantasy Tactics. He'd instantly been hooked on the game's immense strategic gameplay, and the graphics were nice enough to suck him into the world.
But he was Ranma Saotome, the invincible fighter and god killer! Him, being a gamer! It was like some kind of joke he couldn't seem to understand! But... after a few tournaments, he had enough pure cash to, not only pay off Nabiki for the last time, but to buy himself a PS2 and a copy of his beloved strategy RPG.
Of course, then the frustration of the game made itself known. He would get to the battle with Algus after Teta's death, and get stuck trying to beat it. None of his tactics worked, and the CPU beat him every time.
Thus, he'd just heard of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. At first, he was weary of the title, but when he'd heard repeatedly of how good it was, and how it was quite a bit easier than FFT, Ranma slowly began to decide to get the game and check it out.
He did, he beat it quickly, then seemed to lose interest. Thus, he was back to square one, and returning back to the impossible, to him, FFT.
"Come on, Ranma-kun, we'll be late for the party."
"Coming, Kasumi." Ranma exclaimed as he turned his system off, getting to his feet and gathering one group of clothing and a small backpack. Turning off his tv, he began to change.
When he was done, he stood in the homemade garb, handmade by Kasumi, of Marche Radiuju, complete with Anti-Law cards made of the same material used for trading cards and a fake Diamond Sword strung over his shoulder, courtesy of Mousse.
In the bag, incase he got splashed, was a complete outfit of Agrias Oaks, with a Long Sword attached to it. Of course, for his Marche outfit, he had to dye his hair blond and gel it into the right style, he was extra careful to make sure his gel could easily wash out, as well as the dye in his hair. For Agrias' outfit, he brought the hair dye.
Once he was satisfied he looked just like the main character of FFTA, he stored the Agrias bag in weaponspace, ala the Hidden Weapons technique, and left the room, moving down the stairs to join the others.
Everyone had a costume for the party, though few actually looked the parts or would actually act like it. Akane was Sailor Mercury of Sailor Moon, Kasumi was Belldandy of Ah! Megumi-Sama, Nabiki was supposed to be, shudder, Nuku Nuku, a catgirl. Only Soun and Genma weren't in costume, as they were going to head to a bar instead of the party to... "plan the wedding of Akane and Ranma".
"I was wondering how your costume was going to look, Ranma-kun. Does it fit right?" Ranma smiled and spread his arms out at his sides, giving a slight bow and looking himself over.
"It fits fine, Kasumi. Thanks for makin' it for me, what with all the other costumes you were makin'."
"It was my pleasure, Ranma-kun. I'm glad you like it!" Kasumi smiled her genuinely happy smile, which Ranma had only recently begun to understand which was which, and Ranma couldn't help but smile with her.
"RANMA!!!" No need to guess who that was. "How dare you flirt with my sister?!" Hint number two!
"If I was gonna flirt with Kasumi, I'd do better than that, you kawaiikune tomboy! You can't even ACT like Sailor Mercury, can you?"
"Hmph!! I'll have you know I make a better Sailor Mercury than you make a Marche Radiuju." And thus, the delusions of Akane Tendo begin.
"I'll have you know Sailor Mercury is calm, collected, and kawaii. You, my dear tomboy, are no such things."
"RANMA NO BAKA!!!" As Akane pulled back to swing her mallet, Kasumi imposed herself between the two. The year had changed Kasumi as well, if only a little bit. When the makings of a froan came upon her features, Ranma and Akane halted immediately.
"Now, you two stop this instant. If you two fight now, we'll be late for the party. So calm yourselves and let's get moving."
"Alright, Kasumi."
"Yes, Oneechan."
"Good. Now, if everyone is done fighting, perhaps we can go." Ranma slowly nodded and moved to follow Kasumi, choosing to ignore his father's bellyaching about how he looks so much like a pansy.
"Hey, Ranma?"
"What is it, Akane?"
"Mr. Saotome's onto something..." She started as we continued walking. I turned my head to regard her critically. "You look like a pansy in that getup. You could NEVER be Marche!!"
"I believe you challenged me to BE Marche for the night and I challenged YOU to be Sailor Mercury."
"Yeah, so what?"
"For your information, Mercury wouldn't even think of making a comment like that." Ranma was treated to hearing Akane choke on her next words. "I suggest you watch your mouth and your 'holier than thou' attitude." Akane sputtered at Ranma's statement, as the Soldier moved on ahead to walk next to Kasumi, leaving Akane to mull over his words and fume in anger.
"Thanks for the costume, Kasumi. You got every detail on it, thank you." Kasumi smiled once again, turning to Ranma and allowing the Soldier to see the fake tattoos all across the girl's face.
"I'm glad you like it, Ranma-kun. I worked really hard on it, especially the card pouch. That was really the hardest part!" Kasumi laughed a little, bringing a large smile to Ranma's face as he followed, leaving Akane behind with Nabiki and the fathers.
- - - - - - -
Further travel was mostly uneventful, with the fathers leaving quietly, and that's ignoring Genma's still protests to his son's garb. With a shrug, Ranma just ignored the man's comments.
The party was well into the night by the time they arrived, with several people already several sheets to the wind and some already plastered. It took a little time to get used to those people, but it was more fun when they entered.
The party inside was really well started, with people in costume already dancing on this nice Halloween night, men in varying costumes. From vampires, to werewolves, to varying characters from animes and video games. The girls ranged from witches, to catgirls, to Amazons shudder, to still anime and game characters.
Ranma had decided long since he arrived that he wouldn't dance with any of his fiances. He'd decided he wanted to dance with a girl that he didn't know, one who had no idea who he was. Which was fortunate since they were now in Juuban and not Nerima.
"Well, a Marche! And I had long since given up hope for finding a dancing partner..." Ranma blinked and slowly turned, his eyes going a little wider as he took in the redhead before him. She was definately Ritz, one could tell by the clothes and hair, and Ranma could only smile in greeting. This was her... this was the girl he wanted to dance with.
"What's your name?" Ranma slowly asked, turning completely to face her as his eyes looked her over. She was completely dressed as Ritz, with even so much as a replica Femme Fatale at her right hip, correct since Ritz is left-handed.
"My name's Coulesse Raybrandt, but everyone calls me Ritz. Both for the clothes, and this being my natural hair color." 'Ritz, how fitting.' Ranma thought as he smiled and bowed to the girl, bringing a smile to her face. "And your name, young soldier?"
"Ranma Saotome, but you can call me Marche for tonight, if you wish..."
"Well then, Marche, would you like to dance with me?"
"I'd love to, Ritz." Ranma offered his hand to Ritz, the redhead nimbly taking it with a wide smile, Ranma slowly escorting her onto the dancefloor and taking hold of her opposite hand in his free one. Rather awkwardly, they released their first hands, Ranma's dropping to rest on Ritz's left hip while Ritz's came up to rest on Ranma's chest.
With a smile, they began to slowdance.
Over in a corner, Akane fumed, failing in her efforts to be Sailor Mercury.
Two couples over, Kasumi, along with Tofu Ono, who was dressed as Lue'der of Landlock, both stopped dancing and watched the couple.
Nabiki, off making contacts, stopped long enough to inspect what Ranma was doing, then wondering what she could do to profit from this for several seconds before discarding the idea. She just decided to let Ranma have his fun, but be there when her father and Mr. Saotome chewed him out.
Ukyou, on one side of the room, cursed before slumping her shoulders. She was dressed as Ichizu from Yu-Gi-Oh!, and had come expecting to be Ranma's dancing partner. With a sigh, she moved away, looked back once, and left the party.
Shampoo was forcefully ejected by her Amazonian aunt, who was also the ambassador from China, when Shampoo moved to kill Ritz. She was now under heavy guard and in lots of trouble with the Chinese government.
Yet Ranma and Ritz were oblivious of all this, so absorbed in their dancing that the twirling couple hardly noticed the people around them. So intent they were on each other, they didn't notice when the music changed, they didn't notice when people slowly began making a large circle around them to watch the couple dance their graceful dance.
Slowly, three songs passed them by, and they were both still going on strong in the same steps. In those same moments, there were more reactions.
Police apprehended Akane on two counts of endangering people and three counts of resisting arrest when she pulled out her mallet. She would be spending a bit of time in Juuban prison for women.
Nabiki found herself a catboy dancing partner and joined one of the small groups that was still dancing outside the Ranma&Ritz circle.
Kasumi was clapping along with several others. Tofu was also clapping and giving support.
Ukyou was already gone.
Shampoo was scheduled to be deported back to China for her actions and for violating her visa. She had tried to fight her way out, but when her aunt threatened to have her thrown out of the Amazonian tribes for causing irrepairable damage, it shut her up and forced herself back to China.
Ranma and Ritz finally began to slow on the last song, slowly coming to a stop before Ranma smiled and gestured to her. The both left the dancefloor, moving over to an empty table and seating themselves before waiting out for the awards.
"That was quite some dancing, Marche. I'm glad I found you tonight..." Ritz remarked with a smile, placing her left hand on the table and reaching across halfway. Ranma smiled and covered her hand with his right, gently cupping her hand in his as they waited.
The awards were quick, with Ranma and Ritz winning 'best dancers' and 'cutest couple'. Kasumi won as 'best costume' and 'best costume designer', though she also won for 'most enthusiastic' for her help making the party possible.
When it came down to the end, Kasumi and Tofu won for 'couple of the night', though that didn't stop almost all the couples from cheering them on. With smiles, Ranma and Ritz had been among the group to cheer the loudest for the Tendo sister.
They had enjoyed the night thoroughly.
- - - - - - -
"So, this is where you live, Ritz?"
"Yes, it's a nice house, but my parents are almost never home. I don't expect them to be waiting for me."
"That's a shame, Ritz."
"Well, Marche, perhaps we'll see each other again sometime. Maybe for some coffee or something?" Ritz questioned with a wink. Ranma slowly smiled before nodding.
"Sounds wonderful, Ritz... Sounds wonderful."
END
Disclaimer: FFT/FFTA and Ranma 1/2 do not belong to me, they belong to Square Enix and Rumiko Takahashi respectively.
"Argh, this game is so frustrating!!!" Ranma Saotome, martial artist teenager extraordinair, grumbled as he threw his PS2 controller to the ground before him. It's been almost two years since he came to the Tendos, and it's been relatively more calm ever since the failed wedding. His wish was finally coming true, to live a normal life.
That, of course, involved getting a hobby. At first, nothing but sports seemed to seek him out, but that was when he first tried THE GAME, Final Fantasy Tactics. He'd instantly been hooked on the game's immense strategic gameplay, and the graphics were nice enough to suck him into the world.
But he was Ranma Saotome, the invincible fighter and god killer! Him, being a gamer! It was like some kind of joke he couldn't seem to understand! But... after a few tournaments, he had enough pure cash to, not only pay off Nabiki for the last time, but to buy himself a PS2 and a copy of his beloved strategy RPG.
Of course, then the frustration of the game made itself known. He would get to the battle with Algus after Teta's death, and get stuck trying to beat it. None of his tactics worked, and the CPU beat him every time.
Thus, he'd just heard of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. At first, he was weary of the title, but when he'd heard repeatedly of how good it was, and how it was quite a bit easier than FFT, Ranma slowly began to decide to get the game and check it out.
He did, he beat it quickly, then seemed to lose interest. Thus, he was back to square one, and returning back to the impossible, to him, FFT.
"Come on, Ranma-kun, we'll be late for the party."
"Coming, Kasumi." Ranma exclaimed as he turned his system off, getting to his feet and gathering one group of clothing and a small backpack. Turning off his tv, he began to change.
When he was done, he stood in the homemade garb, handmade by Kasumi, of Marche Radiuju, complete with Anti-Law cards made of the same material used for trading cards and a fake Diamond Sword strung over his shoulder, courtesy of Mousse.
In the bag, incase he got splashed, was a complete outfit of Agrias Oaks, with a Long Sword attached to it. Of course, for his Marche outfit, he had to dye his hair blond and gel it into the right style, he was extra careful to make sure his gel could easily wash out, as well as the dye in his hair. For Agrias' outfit, he brought the hair dye.
Once he was satisfied he looked just like the main character of FFTA, he stored the Agrias bag in weaponspace, ala the Hidden Weapons technique, and left the room, moving down the stairs to join the others.
Everyone had a costume for the party, though few actually looked the parts or would actually act like it. Akane was Sailor Mercury of Sailor Moon, Kasumi was Belldandy of Ah! Megumi-Sama, Nabiki was supposed to be, shudder, Nuku Nuku, a catgirl. Only Soun and Genma weren't in costume, as they were going to head to a bar instead of the party to... "plan the wedding of Akane and Ranma".
"I was wondering how your costume was going to look, Ranma-kun. Does it fit right?" Ranma smiled and spread his arms out at his sides, giving a slight bow and looking himself over.
"It fits fine, Kasumi. Thanks for makin' it for me, what with all the other costumes you were makin'."
"It was my pleasure, Ranma-kun. I'm glad you like it!" Kasumi smiled her genuinely happy smile, which Ranma had only recently begun to understand which was which, and Ranma couldn't help but smile with her.
"RANMA!!!" No need to guess who that was. "How dare you flirt with my sister?!" Hint number two!
"If I was gonna flirt with Kasumi, I'd do better than that, you kawaiikune tomboy! You can't even ACT like Sailor Mercury, can you?"
"Hmph!! I'll have you know I make a better Sailor Mercury than you make a Marche Radiuju." And thus, the delusions of Akane Tendo begin.
"I'll have you know Sailor Mercury is calm, collected, and kawaii. You, my dear tomboy, are no such things."
"RANMA NO BAKA!!!" As Akane pulled back to swing her mallet, Kasumi imposed herself between the two. The year had changed Kasumi as well, if only a little bit. When the makings of a froan came upon her features, Ranma and Akane halted immediately.
"Now, you two stop this instant. If you two fight now, we'll be late for the party. So calm yourselves and let's get moving."
"Alright, Kasumi."
"Yes, Oneechan."
"Good. Now, if everyone is done fighting, perhaps we can go." Ranma slowly nodded and moved to follow Kasumi, choosing to ignore his father's bellyaching about how he looks so much like a pansy.
"Hey, Ranma?"
"What is it, Akane?"
"Mr. Saotome's onto something..." She started as we continued walking. I turned my head to regard her critically. "You look like a pansy in that getup. You could NEVER be Marche!!"
"I believe you challenged me to BE Marche for the night and I challenged YOU to be Sailor Mercury."
"Yeah, so what?"
"For your information, Mercury wouldn't even think of making a comment like that." Ranma was treated to hearing Akane choke on her next words. "I suggest you watch your mouth and your 'holier than thou' attitude." Akane sputtered at Ranma's statement, as the Soldier moved on ahead to walk next to Kasumi, leaving Akane to mull over his words and fume in anger.
"Thanks for the costume, Kasumi. You got every detail on it, thank you." Kasumi smiled once again, turning to Ranma and allowing the Soldier to see the fake tattoos all across the girl's face.
"I'm glad you like it, Ranma-kun. I worked really hard on it, especially the card pouch. That was really the hardest part!" Kasumi laughed a little, bringing a large smile to Ranma's face as he followed, leaving Akane behind with Nabiki and the fathers.
- - - - - - -
Further travel was mostly uneventful, with the fathers leaving quietly, and that's ignoring Genma's still protests to his son's garb. With a shrug, Ranma just ignored the man's comments.
The party was well into the night by the time they arrived, with several people already several sheets to the wind and some already plastered. It took a little time to get used to those people, but it was more fun when they entered.
The party inside was really well started, with people in costume already dancing on this nice Halloween night, men in varying costumes. From vampires, to werewolves, to varying characters from animes and video games. The girls ranged from witches, to catgirls, to Amazons shudder, to still anime and game characters.
Ranma had decided long since he arrived that he wouldn't dance with any of his fiances. He'd decided he wanted to dance with a girl that he didn't know, one who had no idea who he was. Which was fortunate since they were now in Juuban and not Nerima.
"Well, a Marche! And I had long since given up hope for finding a dancing partner..." Ranma blinked and slowly turned, his eyes going a little wider as he took in the redhead before him. She was definately Ritz, one could tell by the clothes and hair, and Ranma could only smile in greeting. This was her... this was the girl he wanted to dance with.
"What's your name?" Ranma slowly asked, turning completely to face her as his eyes looked her over. She was completely dressed as Ritz, with even so much as a replica Femme Fatale at her right hip, correct since Ritz is left-handed.
"My name's Coulesse Raybrandt, but everyone calls me Ritz. Both for the clothes, and this being my natural hair color." 'Ritz, how fitting.' Ranma thought as he smiled and bowed to the girl, bringing a smile to her face. "And your name, young soldier?"
"Ranma Saotome, but you can call me Marche for tonight, if you wish..."
"Well then, Marche, would you like to dance with me?"
"I'd love to, Ritz." Ranma offered his hand to Ritz, the redhead nimbly taking it with a wide smile, Ranma slowly escorting her onto the dancefloor and taking hold of her opposite hand in his free one. Rather awkwardly, they released their first hands, Ranma's dropping to rest on Ritz's left hip while Ritz's came up to rest on Ranma's chest.
With a smile, they began to slowdance.
Over in a corner, Akane fumed, failing in her efforts to be Sailor Mercury.
Two couples over, Kasumi, along with Tofu Ono, who was dressed as Lue'der of Landlock, both stopped dancing and watched the couple.
Nabiki, off making contacts, stopped long enough to inspect what Ranma was doing, then wondering what she could do to profit from this for several seconds before discarding the idea. She just decided to let Ranma have his fun, but be there when her father and Mr. Saotome chewed him out.
Ukyou, on one side of the room, cursed before slumping her shoulders. She was dressed as Ichizu from Yu-Gi-Oh!, and had come expecting to be Ranma's dancing partner. With a sigh, she moved away, looked back once, and left the party.
Shampoo was forcefully ejected by her Amazonian aunt, who was also the ambassador from China, when Shampoo moved to kill Ritz. She was now under heavy guard and in lots of trouble with the Chinese government.
Yet Ranma and Ritz were oblivious of all this, so absorbed in their dancing that the twirling couple hardly noticed the people around them. So intent they were on each other, they didn't notice when the music changed, they didn't notice when people slowly began making a large circle around them to watch the couple dance their graceful dance.
Slowly, three songs passed them by, and they were both still going on strong in the same steps. In those same moments, there were more reactions.
Police apprehended Akane on two counts of endangering people and three counts of resisting arrest when she pulled out her mallet. She would be spending a bit of time in Juuban prison for women.
Nabiki found herself a catboy dancing partner and joined one of the small groups that was still dancing outside the Ranma&Ritz circle.
Kasumi was clapping along with several others. Tofu was also clapping and giving support.
Ukyou was already gone.
Shampoo was scheduled to be deported back to China for her actions and for violating her visa. She had tried to fight her way out, but when her aunt threatened to have her thrown out of the Amazonian tribes for causing irrepairable damage, it shut her up and forced herself back to China.
Ranma and Ritz finally began to slow on the last song, slowly coming to a stop before Ranma smiled and gestured to her. The both left the dancefloor, moving over to an empty table and seating themselves before waiting out for the awards.
"That was quite some dancing, Marche. I'm glad I found you tonight..." Ritz remarked with a smile, placing her left hand on the table and reaching across halfway. Ranma smiled and covered her hand with his right, gently cupping her hand in his as they waited.
The awards were quick, with Ranma and Ritz winning 'best dancers' and 'cutest couple'. Kasumi won as 'best costume' and 'best costume designer', though she also won for 'most enthusiastic' for her help making the party possible.
When it came down to the end, Kasumi and Tofu won for 'couple of the night', though that didn't stop almost all the couples from cheering them on. With smiles, Ranma and Ritz had been among the group to cheer the loudest for the Tendo sister.
They had enjoyed the night thoroughly.
- - - - - - -
"So, this is where you live, Ritz?"
"Yes, it's a nice house, but my parents are almost never home. I don't expect them to be waiting for me."
"That's a shame, Ritz."
"Well, Marche, perhaps we'll see each other again sometime. Maybe for some coffee or something?" Ritz questioned with a wink. Ranma slowly smiled before nodding.
"Sounds wonderful, Ritz... Sounds wonderful."
END