P-Chan's Revenge
Chapter 3: The Switch
-Looks at message written in last chapter- "I'm not the fastest at typing in the world so don't stop reading if I don't update for a couple of weeks!" Eheheh. –Looks at when the second chapter was published- Thanksgiving Day. Agh! I'm so sorry for not updating for 3 months!! –Bows- Forgive me! I've had so much to do and my dad's been in the hospital for surgery so please forgive me! –Ahem- In other matters, this chapter won't be as long as the last one but I will try and get the 4th chapter up a lot quicker than this one, and I promise that it'll be the rising action! The normal things apply: If you wish to contact me for any reason my e-mail address is rabidotaku22@hotmail.com and my AIM screen name is rabidotaku22. I hope that you aren't disappointed with this chapter, even after not working for all of those months, slowly adding sentence by sentence. All right, I'm blabbering on. Please R&R!! And thank you all for your patience with me.
Ranma 1/2 is © Rumiko Takahashi AND DOES NOT BELONG TO ME!
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When Ryouga awoke from his sudden symptoms of lethargy, he found himself facing the eastern window in his room. Slowly opening his eyes, he realized that it was pitch black outside. "Ooh." moaned Ryouga "How long have I been asleep? I don't even remember what I'd been doing…"
Ryouga then felt an excruciating pain in both of his arms and looked down at them, the memory of what he had done to himself returning to him. Scribbled on his arms were Akane's name, and a picture of a Sleeping Shirokiro. "W-Wait," grimaced Ryouga, his hands trembling as he reached his other hand over to examine the newly found picture of his beloved pet.
As Ryouga's fingers edged closer and closer to the picture, the image started to move as Shirokiro yawned widely and scratched her half-white, half-black body. Noticing her master, the sleepy dog happily barked, causing Ryouga's trembling hand to pass through the picture of Shirokiro on his arm.
Ryouga yelped in fright, expecting a huge wave of pain to overcome him, but when he felt none, his tension subsided. But pain would've been better than the reality at this moment in time, for Ryouga sat numb with terror, his left arm reaching through his translucent right arm.
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"Is that Ranma?" asked a voice, which sounded as old as fermented cheese.
"Aiyaa! Ranma?" cried a young woman's voice, tinted with a slight Chinese accent. "Has he come to see Shampoo?" A young woman emerged from the open doors of the Cat Café, her long purple hair swinging wildly as she ran. Her hair was pulled back into two buns on either side of the top of her head, and two long strands of her glistening hair hung down on either side of her face, attached near the bottom with small golden bells.
Her name was Shampoo; an Amazon warrior who was bound to marry Ranma by her tribal Amazon Law, for Ranma had accidentally defeated her in battle. Ranma had ironically fallen unconscious in front of the restaurant where Shampoo and her Great-Grandmother Cologne lived and worked.
"Aiyaa!" cried Shampoo in despair, noticing the unconscious Ranma in front of the Cat Café. Running over to his limp body and turning him over, Shampoo noticed the crude markings on his face, which seemed to be pulsing with a strange aura.
"Great-Grandmother!" called Shampoo in concern, holding Ranma's body close to her as though it would die if she let it go for even an instant. "Ranma no look so good!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming!' echoed the old voice approaching slowly followed by the clunk of a cane. Soon a shriveled-up old lady emerged from the Café sitting on top of a cane. She was probably only a few inches taller than a foot, and looked as though she was over a hundred years old. She had long gray hair that pushed back on her forehead by a red headband and was wearing a tiny oriental dress that covered her whole body.
"Oh, my," spoke Cologne when she spotted the unconscious Ranma. "What has my son-in-law done now?" chuckling, Cologne edged nearer to Ranma, but soon noticed the strange markings on his forehead and widening her eyes.
"Shampoo!" cried Cologne in surprise "Did you do this to Ranma?"
"Great-Grandmother!" retorted Shampoo "You think that I do this to Mao Lin? He like this when I come out! What are strange markings on face?"
"I'm not exactly sure," muttered Cologne in concern. "I'll be able to look at the markings better inside. Do you think that you can carry him?"
"Yes! Yes!" purred Shampoo happily lifting Ranma with ease, demonstrating her years of training in an Amazon Village. Carrying him inside, Shampoo noticed his lifeless hand was grasping something. "Aiyaa!" cried Shampoo in confusion, as if to alert Cologne of some danger, "Look in Ranma hand!"
"What is it now Shampoo?" asked Cologne, losing patience in her great-granddaughter "You don't have to yell, I'm standing right next to you!"
Shampoo ignored this statement and lifted up Ranma's arm, removing the object from his hand that she had noticed. Cologne gave a quiet chuckle as she held up the two pieces of clothing, examining them closely.
"Why do these clothes look so familiar?" questioned Cologne handing the folded shirt and pants to her great-granddaughter.
"W-wait," stammered Shampoo lifting up the shirt, a yellow and black bandanna drifting out. "R-Ryouga…"
"What did you say child?" cried Cologne, "Son-in-law's Rival? The boy who turns into a pig?"
"Shampoo nodded her head and said "He always try to steal Akane away from Ranma…"
"It all makes sense now…" muttered Cologne edging inside to the table where Shampoo had left the unconscious Ranma. Cologne ran her finger along the marks on his face, but quickly pulled her hand back. "His face… his body temperature is extremely high…"
"What?" exclaimed Shampoo immediately running over to his side and gently resting her hands on his forehead. She let out a silent scream when she reached over to feel Ranma's sweaty brow, for his forehead must've been at least 100˚ Fahrenheit. "I'll be right back."
Shampoo ran into the back of the Café so fast she ran into a disgruntled Mousse, who was wondering why the stove (Whom he thought was Shampoo) wouldn't respond to his offer of a date with him. The force from the girl's body slamming into him caused Mousse to fly straight into the stove.
"What the hell?" cried Mousse, his large bottle cap glasses on top of his silky mane of long black hair falling off. Mousse looked around in distress but only saw shadows because of his horrible vision.
"Is that you Saotome?" yelled Mousse struggling to get up in his long Chinese-style robe. Mousse toward the closest visible object to him and released a hidden chain from beneath his robe.
"You so stupid Mousse!" called Shampoo from the sink where she was wetting a towel for Ranma's forehead.
"Sh-Shampoo?" stammered Mousse, obviously excited that his one and only love was near to him.
"Yes!" chirped Shampoo in a sickenly sweet voice, "you mind get your chain off me now?"
Mousse brightened at Shampoo's tone of voice and happily replied "Sure Shampoo! Sorry I did that… I couldn't see real wee you know?" with that, Mousse picked up his overly large glasses from the floor and covered his handsome face with them.
Shampoo smiled sweetly and raising her voice to a more-menacing tone, "Well that good Mousse! Now you be able to see when duck!" And with that, Shampoo put her finger over the running faucet and sprayed Mousse with a blast of ice-cold water, transforming him into a white duck. Mousse quacked in distress while Shampoo continued to fill a small bucket with warm, soapy water for Ranma; and when she was done, returned to the main room where an unconscious Ranma still lay.
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Ranma your such a jerk! Screamed the voice in Akane's head as she broke bricks with her bare hands out in the backyard of her house. Why're you so Jealous of P-Chan? He's just a pig! And why were you putting all of the blame on Ryouga?
"I swear…" growled Akane menacingly, raising her voice into such a loud scream that the residents of Kyoto could hear it; breaking through two pieces of concrete so violently that she forcefully slammed her hand into the solid ground.
Akane winced in pain but still let out a deep sigh of pleasure and said "that's better…" Akane lifted her throbbing hand and stood up, the pain soon oblivious to her. She was too angry for pain. Walking through the living room, she couldn't help feeling some sort of abnormal presence, whether it good or bad; but was always able to brush the insecure feeling out of her mind and continue on with her business.
"Hey Kasumi," called Akane when she entered the kitchen for a snack and had noticed her older sister making preparations for dinner.
"Oh thank goodness you're back Akane," replied Kasumi.
"Why is something wrong?" questioned Akane in concern.
"No, nothing." Returned Kasumi "It's just that dinner's ready and Ranma's not here-"
"No way!" screeched Akane, unable to hold her frustration at Ranma inside her. "I don't even have the slightest idea to where the jerk ran off to!"
"Akane!" scolded Kasumi cutting her off, "Whatever happened between you two to make you so angry can be resolved! It's not your decision whether or not Ranma gets to eat dinner or not! Now go!"
"Fine!" cried an exasperated Akane exiting the kitchen and entering the hallway where she slipped on her shoes and ran out the front door.
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Ryouga had managed to remember why his left arm was reaching through his right and was full of excitement. "It's time…" he barely managed to sputter, raising himself to his shaky feet. Shirokiro didn't seem to see any difference in her owner, raising herself to her own feet and trotting over to her owner. As Shirokiro reached Ryouga's legs, they seemed to turn translucent; allowing Shirokiro to pass through. Ryouga flinched, expecting a huge wave of pain to overcome him, but he felt none. Ryouga looked down at his legs and expecting them to be the same ghost-like appearance, but surprisingly they had returned to a normal living human's legs.
Ryouga's mouth creased into a wicked smile as thoughts of finally winning Akane over swarm into his mind. "This is it Shirokiro!" cackled Ryouga positioning himself into a victory pose. Ryouga headed back downstairs toward the door but tripped on something along the way.
"Oof!" Cried Ryouga falling hard onto the wooden floor landing on something, which crushed under his weight. What did I trip on? Wondered Ryouga raising himself to his knees and peering down at the object, which he had tripped over.
"Oh, no!" gasped Ryouga peering down at the broken remnants of the red urn. "Now I won't be able to conceal Ranma!" Ryouga in a rush of panic and anxiety picked up the broken remnants of the urn and rushed them to the kitchen.
"Arrgh!" groaned Ryouga "I don't remember where the glue is!" In a state of utter confusion, Ryouga hastily opened all of the cupboards and drawers in the kitchen searching for an adhere to repair the broken urn.
"Ah-ha!" cried a relieved Ryouga when he spotted the closest thing to glue that could be possible be found in a Japanese kitchen. "Nato! *" Ryouga quickly opened the small container which instantly let out a horrific smell.
"My God!" chocked Ryouga placing the lid back on the container, "How old is THAT? I mean it smells bad enough when it's fresh but this smells at least 20 times worse!" Ryouga looked down at the label on the container and nearly fainted when he saw the expiration date.
"F-four months ago…?" stammered Ryouga obviously horrified about what could be living in the container. Bringing himself back into reality, Ryouga spotted the clock on the kitchen wall.
"Gah!" cried Ryouga in despair when he noticed the time. "It's nearly 18 (6) o' clock!" Ryouga scrummed through the drawers again and pulled out another edible adhesive.
"this is my last resort," stated Ryouga holding up a jar of bean paste. Opening the lid, Ryouga was glad that the only thing that he smelled was the sweet smell of beans. Dipping his fingers into the jar and lifting out some bean paste, Ryouga realized something terrible.
"H-how am I able to touch this?" stammered Ryouga in terror, remembering how he and ShiroKiro had both penetrated his body. Ryouga lifted his hand with bean paste on it up to his face to examine it, realizing that he HAD been able to touch intimate objects such as the container of nato and the jar of bean paste. "Maybe the only things that penetrate my body are things that are alive…"
Ryouga shook off the feeling of discomfort and carefully tried to repair the broken with the bean paste; but to no avail. Ryouga wouldn't give up though. After many attempts at rebuilding the broken urn, Ryouga gave up and decided that the real issue right now was to take over Ranma's body before the effects of the marker wore off.
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Akane's mind swarmed with anger over Ranma as she trudged down the streets of Nerima, looking for the cursed boy. Flames seemed to be emitting from her body as she remembered once again how Ranma always blamed things on poor Ryouga and was so jealous of P-Chan. People moved to their appropriate side of the road and carried on with their business, afraid to come in contact with the fuming girl. Akane first decided to stop by Ukyo's Okonomiyaki, for Ranma could've stopped there for a free meal.
"Hey Ukyo," called Akane when she entered the restaurant. "Is Ranma here?" A girl wearing black pants and a purple kimono top, tied back by two strands of white clothe walked out of the back. Over her shoulder was an odd holster, not for holding bullets or knives, but for holding small spatulas. On her back was a giant 4 four-foot spatula, which she used in fighting. Her long brown hair was tied at the top by a large white bow, holding her hair firmly in place.
"Huh? Akane?" questioned Ukyo noticing her visitor. "What's up?"
"Is Ranma here?" asked Akane looking around the small restaurant for the familiar braid.
"Ranma…" whispered Ukyo in deep thought. "Nope! I haven't seen a trace of Ranma-honey today!"
Then there's only one other place that he could possibly be… thought Akane The Cat Café!
"Thanks for your help Ukyo!" shouted Akane as she exited the building running in the direction of the Cat Café.
"Don't forget to tell Ranma-honey that I said hello!" yelled Ukyo as Akane ran out of the building.
Akane once again was running down the streets of Nerima, this time in search of the local Chinese restaurant the Cat Café. Akane was running in such a fast pace, and had so much on her mind that she didn't even notice that she passed right through an Astral Ryouga. What she did feel though was that exact same aura she had felt at the dojo, only this time much stronger.
Akane quickly spun around in a defensive stance, fist up and ready. But what she expected to be some kind of demon turned out to be a disgruntled Ryouga, trying to locate a defenseless Ranma.
"R-Ryouga?" questioned Akane tilting her head to the side a bit, feeling there was something different about him. "What are you doing here?"
"Ah-Akane!" stammered Ryouga in his usual embarrassed way. "I was...um… just looking for Ranma! He didn't look to good y'know? I wanted to check on him and see if he was all right!"
"Oh, Ryouga," said Akane her tension subsiding "You're such a good friend to Ranma! I'm pretty sure that he's shacking out at the Cat Café. I was just heading there myself! Want to come along with me?"
"Oh Akane…" sighed Ryouga "That would be wonderful!"
"All right!" chirped Akane leading the way, "Just follow me!"
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"Aiyaa!" cried Shampoo in distress, dabbing a still unconscious Ranma's brow with a moist towel. "Ranma no look any better! The mark is still there too! Why it no come off?"
"It's a cursed mark," whispered Cologne, reading one of her ancient Chinese scrolls.
"What?" shouted Shampoo, "What you mean Great-Grandmother? Have you found out what strange markings are?"
"I think so," answered Cologne, deep in thought. "This ancient scroll says that there is a now-extinct plant in China that grew mysterious red and black berries. The berries were made into a strange ink and were used to force someone into a state of stupor."
"A loss of mental awareness?" gasped Shampoo, "But Ranma in much more bad shape than that! He no move in hours!"
"The berries also put the person into a temporary coma and ups their body temperature to an abnormal degree it seems…" continued Cologne "The marks on Ranma's head were black weren't they Shampoo?"
"Yes…" spoke Shampoo, stroking Ranma's hair with her hand.
"It's just as I thought then…" continued Cologne "Someone did this to him. The black marker is used to create an astral projection of their body. Someone is trying to manipulate Ranma!"
"You mean!" gasped Shampoo, "that someone is trying to control Ranma's body?"
"That's right," answered Cologne "someone must've somehow managed to swindle and save the ancient berries and turn them into ink. Who could've done this?"
After a moment of silent thought Shampoo cried out "Great-Grandmother! Remember we find Ryouga's clothes with Ranma? He was holding them? Could it be-"\
Shampoo's sentence was cut of as footsteps were heard emerging the building. And the loud cry of Ranma's name as the footsteps hurried over.
"Ranma!" cried Akane reaching the table where he lay "What's wrong? Wake up stupid!"
"Akane…" said a calm Ryouga putting his hand gently on her shoulder, "Don't worry. I think that he's fine…"
"What you know about it?" cried Shampoo, rising to her feet in a rage.
Shampoo's tone made Ryouga edge back a little. "I just need to… urm… see if he has any other markings on his…urm…body that….are a little to um… advanced for girls."
"Augh…" moaned Shampoo stepping back herself. "That bad excuse and you know it! I no leave you alone with Ranma!"
"S-Shampoo…" stammered a flushed Akane, "I think that we should…let Ryouga…um…check…I mean we don't know what the markings could have done to him! They may be in p-places that we can't s-see..."
"Akane…dear." Spoke Cologne, "Why don't we just keep Ranma here for now… I'm sure that he'll wake up eventually!"
"No!" cried Akane, her worry over Ranma starting to spill through her tough exterior, "If something is wrong with him, it needs to be figured out NOW! JUST LET RYOUGA SEE IF THE MARK HAS SPREAD ANY!"
"Akane!" cried Cologne in a sharp tone of voice, "There is nothing wrong with him right now!"
Tears started to well up in Akane's eyes as she cried in worry and anger "JUST LET HIM DO IT! I CAN'T BEAR SEEING RANMA THIS WAY!"
And with that, Akane walked over to the unconscious Ranma and took him into her arms and proceeded into the back room. "COME ON RYOUGA!" she yelled from the back, a flushed Ryouga bowing in apology to the owners of the restaurant and heading into the back of the Café. Shampoo and Cologne just looked at one another, to taken aback with Akane's fury to try and stop her.
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Finally… thought Ryouga, standing in front of the unconscious Ranma, ready to make his dreams of winning Akane over a reality. The urn doesn't matter anymore. I'll be able to convince Akane to love me with out any help from anyone. Ryouga's heart was nearly beating out of his chest as he edged closer to Ranma, suddenly feeling words seeping into his mouth…
Open the portal to this body, which will become mine,
Let me seep into him and feel all that he feels,
Happiness or sorrow,
Destruction or rebirth.
I will take on this body to win over my desires!
As the last lines escaped from Ryouga's lips, he felt once again the burning sensation in both of his arms as he watched in horror as Ranma's eyes flew open, stricken with pain and malice at his own burning sensation; right before Ryouga's world became dark; but awoke right away, staring at his own body crumpled on the floor, as the last wisps of Ranma's Astral projection disappeared from sight.
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"Ranma? Ryouga?" called Akane running into the back room. "I thought I heard a noise…are both of you all right?"
"I'm fine Akane…" whispered Ryouga shakily standing up in Ranma's body.
"Ranma!" cried Akane in relief, running over and draping her arms around him, making Ryouga's legs quiver. "You scared me so much running off like that! Are you all right? Where's Ryouga? I have to thank him!"
"Oh! Ryouga! He ran off right after he helped me. I suppose he got lost again…" laughed Ryouga nervously, remembering how he had moved his own body into the back alley.
"Oh…" murmured a sad Akane "I really wanted to thank him for what he did but we better be getting home now! It's time for dinner you know?"
"R-right" said a nervous but delighted Ryouga grasping her hand, something that he would never be able to do as himself. Akane's face turned a bright shade of red at the contact but returning the gesture as they walked through the front entrance of the Café where a dumbfounded Cologne and Shampoo still sat, and out into the warm Nerima evening to Akane's home, the place where Ryouga would finally be able to win over the girl of his dreams.
*Nato is a Japanese ingredient, which is made up of basically fermented beans and is extremely sticky and often eaten for breakfast and sometimes cooked into other things.
A/N AGH! Once again I apologize for the long period of time without an update!! But I hope that this LOOOOONG chapter was able to make up for it! Next up is the part everyone's been waiting for: Ryouga trying to win over Akane's heart in Ranma's body! Thank you to everyone who has sent reviews!! I really appreciate it and hope you will bear with me as this story slowly continues on! Until next time!! Ja ne!
~rabidotaku22