Well, we're now starting into the actual competition, although Ranma and company won't be on yet! They'll be performing in the next chapter.
Sorry about confusion caused by all these rewrites. But, I look at it this way. I was able to add some other stuff that was floating around in my head. It's like a directors cut. Now, you may not be able to properly read everything until fanfiction dot net updates it properly (I have to spell it out because they remove web addresses from here and in reviews). So, give it time to update properly.
It was finally the day of the competition. The band members were in a line, carrying their instruments (Akane carried one of the guitars in addition to her keyboard so that Ryoga could help Mousse with the large drum set.)
The man up front accepted their application form and (checked the synthesizer to make sure it wasn't programmed with an entire song beforehand.) He then noticed the application was missing one important thing.
"What's the name of your group?"
Everyone looked at each other. They hadn't thought of a name.
Ranma thought about it and huddled with the group. After they agreed, he turned back to the official with is answer.
"Well, we're…the Cursed."
Taking their equipment to the designated area, the group went to their assigned room. It wasn't big, but it had chairs, three vanity mirrors, and a sink.
Ryoga plopped into a chair.
"You okay? You look tired," Akane asked him.
"Probably nervous about the competition. It's even started giving me weird dreams," Ranma said.
"What dream you?" Shampoo asked.
"I was on stage singing. Both of me. My boy and girl forms were side by side. Akane was there also. She had this green dress on, and she had some sort of half keyboard, half guitar looking thing."
"Well, I dreamed I was up in the North Pole again. I was P-Chan, carrying a microphone in my hand. I was running towards Akane, with Happosai, dressed like a piglet and also with a microphone, chasing after me."
Ranma nodded his head. Then he stopped. "Wait…North Pole again? Is there anywhere you haven't been, man?"
"A few European countries, I think. That's it," Ryoga said.
The others couldn't tell if he was joking or not.
"Shampoo dream she in front of many people, wearing large hat. Shampoo picked up mike to sing, but then woke up."
"I dreamed I was singing a love song, and was in a cute outfit," Akane said. "I finished my song, but then Kuno thought I was singing about him, and he chased me!"
"My dream was really weird," Mousse said. "I was on top of a tower, next to another tower on fire. I had a mike in front of me. A helicopter came up and aimed a large gun at me. I sliced the mike stand, and then the top of the building exploded."
Everyone else looked at him.
"Mousse, you been drinking?" Shampoo asked.
"No."
"Anyway, when do we go on?" Ryoga asked.
Ranma looked at the papers the official had given him. "We're group number seventeen. And there are eighteen groups…darn! We're next to last to go on!"
"At least we can observe the competition," Mousse pointed out.
They headed towards the stage, when they heard something over the intercom.
"Would group one please report to the stage?"
"It already starting!" Shampoo said.
They were near the stage. "I wonder if there's anyone playing who we'll recognize," Akane said. They then stopped when they saw the first group. They recognized the members, that was for sure.
"It's A..Azuza Shiratori, the girl who tried to take me and name me Charlotte!" Ryoga whispered.
"And there's Mikado Sanzenin, Azuza's skating partner, who wants to kiss every pretty woman in Japan!" Ranma said in a low voice through clenched teeth.
"There's Mariko Konjo, the cheerleader that caused our school to lose a volleyball match that one time," Akane said in a similar manner as Ranma.
"And Maomolin, spirit who looking for bride for over three thousand years but cannot find even single woman that accept proposal because is good for nothing, shaggy old ghost cat!" Shampoo said rather loudly. This caused the whole first group and her band to look at her. "What?"
"You don't have to rub it in!" Maomolin said, sniffling.
"Don't worry, you're so cute, Bijou!" Azusa said, hugging the ghost cat.
Bijou? Akane thought. She remembered reading about a girl that played piano. She has a hamster with the same name…
"Well if it isn't Ranma Saotome, and his lovely fiancée, Akane Tendo. And who is this beauty?" Mikado said, getting close to Shampoo.
Shampoo responded by hitting him with a bonburi, while Mousse wrapped him up in a hidden chain. Both then kicked him away.
"Great kick!" Mariko said, jumping and shaking a pair of pom-poms. "But the game hasn't even started. We're going to win this!"
The odd group left for the stage (much to Ranma's relief. Being near that ghost cat always scared him), while the Cursed went to the back.
At the stage, the judges introduced the band. "Here's our first group, the Golden Notes!"
"No, our name is The Jacques" Azuza said.
"No, we're the Golden Notes," Mikado said.
"I'm going to have to agree with Golden Notes," Maomolin said.
"Me too," Mariko said.
"Meanies," Azusa let out, and turned her head away.
The judges shrugged. "Ok, you may begin your first song."
Azuza went to the lead singer microphone. Maomolin pulled out a saxophone. Mikado sat at the drums. Mariko picked up the guitar and went to one of the other microphones.
"Our first song is called My Sweet Possessions," Azuza said.
They started playing the instruments. Azuza swayed back and forth to the lead in music, then she started singing.
Kuno was in a room in the back with the other members of his band, getting ready. He then stopped what he was doing when he heard the song from the stage.
"Those voices…I know I've heard them before," he said.
He left the room to investigate. The others decided to look also.
"They sound pretty good. We better make sure to drink a lot of the talent potion before we go on," Gosunkugi said as he went down the hall.
Talent potion? Kasumi thought. She and Dr. Tofu were backstage, going to visit Ranma, Akane, and the rest of their band. Nobody from Kuno's band even recognized them as they went passed.
"I can't believe they'd actually cheat!" Tofu said after the band was out of hearing range.
"I agree. It's not honorable," Kasumi said.
"Should we even the odds a little?" Tofu asked her.
"Yes, let's."
They quietly slipped into the room and looked around. Tofu noticed the bottles of green liquid on the table. He picked one of them up. "This is it," he said. "I can feel the magical powers in it." He then saw a sink and proceeded to pour the contents into it. Kasumi picked up some more bottles and brought them over to the sink.
Just as the last of it was poured out, Kuno and the rest came back in.
"What…what are you doing to my potion!" Gosunkugi yelled when he saw his work go down the drain.
"Just evening up the odds," Tofu answered before getting into a battle stance.
"Can you make more of it?" Kuno asked.
"I don't have the time or ingredients! We'll have to forfeit!"
Ken ran towards Tofu and Kasumi. "I'll teach you to mess up our plans!"
Kasumi gasped when she saw who she thought was Ranma. "How could you do this to Akane?" she gasped, and slapped Ken.
'Ranma' fell to the ground. "I didn't mean to hit him…uh...her that hard," Kasumi said.
When she hit the ground, the red wig came off, revealing 'Ranma's' true identity.
"Copycat Ken, you vile cur!" Kuno yelled.
"Err…gotta go!" Ken yelled, and ran for the door. He ran into Gosunkugi, who was thinking about the loss of his potion. Both were knocked out from the collision.
Kodachi attacked them with her ribbon. "I won't let Akane Tendo get in my way, nor any of her servants!"
Kasumi was frozen in place as the ribbon flew at her, but Tofu caught it in his hand. He gave it a good tug, causing the crazy gymnast to fly right past them, and into Kuno, knocking him out. She hit the floor and rolled to a stop, and glared at Tofu. "You're no ordinary doctor."
Tofu had an angry look on his face. "If you attack the woman I love again, you won't need my help. You'll need a mortician."
Kasumi just looked at him. Did he just say he loves me?
Kodachi tried to get up, but couldn't for some reason. "When you flew past, I hit a pressure point in your back to prevent you from moving. Don't worry. It'll wear off in an hour or so," Tofu informed her.
Kasumi and Tofu calmly walked away, leaving Kodachi trying to stand, and the others out cold. Unfortunately, Kuno was only faking.
These two are mere pawns of that wicked Ranma, he thought to himself. I must free them and everyone else!
And there it is. Sorry, you won't see Kuno performing (I'm not writing a song for every group here!) although the song the Golden Notes was origionally going to sing was My Sweet Passion, the theme song for Amy Rose from Sonic Adventure. It seemed to fit. About the dreams that Ranma, Akane, Ryoga, Shampoo, and Mousse had: they're all scenes from the Hot Fighting Songs DVD. I don't know if the part after Akane's song was supposed to be a mock advertisement for an action movie or what. Since I don't consider this part of the official storyline, I decided to add parts in as a dream.
Oh, and that Bijou thing is a Hamtaro reference. Does anyone remember Hamtaro?
I'm not sure when the next part will be up. I've got this thing called the real world to deal with. Hopefully by Sunday.
Oh, and no more major rewrites. If someone wants to point out pacing problems, I'll make a note of it for my next fic (if there is a next one), but not for this one.
Hmm…I wonder if Kuno's dad could be in the contest, singing that one commercial I keep seeing on TV. "You put the lime in the Coke, you nut…"