Chapter 2
On the Prowl
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It felt good, to be out at night, running around, on the prowl for some excitement.
A thing cloak was wrapped around his waist, his tail flying in the breeze. He looked at it for a moment, it flicking in the moonlight. He had first been surprised that he had so much power in it, as he never saw cats use it like he could. But Cologne, the Amazon elder who had taught him, had said it was simple because of his primate heritage from evolution that made the tail so strong and durable.
That talk had convinced him he could use it to hang from a tree.
The sore ass and wounded pride had taught him otherwise.
But that was the last thing he wanted to be thinking of now. Now, even though he was in a city, even though there wasn't a cloud in the sky, he needed to do this, he needed to run free.
But his mind was still having difficulty understanding what had happened back at the Tendo Dojo.
Kasumi had said she wanted him to stay and try to be his friend; to see what could happen was saved for another time. She had even asked if he could try and teach her some of the martial arts he learned, since his helping with the chores would leave her with more free time.
Nabiki had said he could stay, as a friend. She herself was unsure if anything could come from it, but she did offer to help him on ways to earn his keep. For the moment, she declined his offer to train her, saying she wasn't ready for that yet.
Akane, she had been the weirdest to deal with. She said he could stay, but if he did anything perverted, she would kick his ass, an empty threat considering he defeated her with his tail. She had admitted wanting to be trained, but stormed off when he started the meditations she needed to practice, her temper still not letting her acknowledge that she needed help.
So that was why he was out here now, running along rooftops, exploring the city of Nerima and beyond.
It felt good to be free, the part of him that was now a cat seemed to demand this. He thrived at running around at night, chasing through the forests of China. One of the Amazons, a girl named Shampoo, had even enjoyed these games, saying it was good speed training for her. But he merely saw it as a way for him to feel free. Not many people would go out at night, even fewer still into thick forests, and even fewer still that would look up into the trees to spot what made no noise.
But here, in Nerima, it was slightly different. He no longer needed to extend his ki claws to keep from falling out of trees, as the flat roofs were much better. He did not have to worry about a stray owl, a hidden branch that even his enhanced eyes could not see; he just had to jump from one roof to the next, one light pole to the next, and even on a clear night be shrouded in darkness.
I live for moments like this, the moments of freedom. No stupid panda, no commitments, no sex-changing curses, just the joy of pure freedom, of being above it all, if even for a moment.
But even for Ranma, peaceful moments came quickly to an end. A faint scent caught his nose, making him come to an abrupt stop on the current roof, his claws digging into the tiles. He resumed his stance on two legs, raising his nose higher into the air. He inhaled small breaths, trying to locate the scent again. Finally finding it, he followed the wind, a single thought on his mind now.
Demon. I must hunt demon.
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Ranma was watching from a roof top as a large demon was being attacked by several girls wearing outfits even he would be embarrassed to be seen in. I swear, I am probably not the best person to say this, but even my girl side has more modesty than those girls. Who the hell fights in a sailor top and a mini skirt? That's just asking for perverts.
But the girls seemed to be holding their own. He watched as the launched attacks at the creature, magical by what his nose was telling him. It had taken him three days to be able to tell the difference between magic and ki attacks with his feline senses.
But the result was the same: aim, fire, and watch target go boom.
But the target never went boom. It always came back for more. Ranma watched the girls fighting, forcing his mind to focus on their style rather than any perverted thoughts or judgments at how bad they were fairing because they were girls.
Living with Amazons for two weeks would make anyone forget such ideas of a dominant sex.
He noticed how only three of them seemed to have any type of martial arts training, one with short blond hair, one with long blond hair in a single ponytail, and one with long brown hair. The others seemed to just be dodging and attacking when they could, often calling out the names of their attacks. While this may be necessary for some magic attacks unless you trained hard enough, to throw a damn tiara and call out that you were doing it was just plain stupid.
I swear some people never take their craft seriously. I mean, even I don't call out my ki attacks anymore, let alone go into an attack and cry out 'Saotome Style of Anything Goes Martial Arts…' like an idiot.
But it was obvious the girls were beginning to lose. It didn't help that some idiot showed up, spouting poetry and throwing roses at it. Ranma just shook his head. I could have stayed in China where it was nice and quiet, no weird demons, no idiots throwing roses; well there was Mousse and that Fist of the White Swan which ended up being a training toilet, but where in hell do all these idiots come from.
His thoughts were quickly ended when the demon had managed to grab hold of one of the blond girl with twin pony tails. Deciding that he was tired of watching Ranma jumped off the roof, planting his foot in front of him, aiming for what he hoped was the things face. His paw…hand was raised, a small amount of chi forming claws to free the girl.
"Hey ugly, look up!"
He couldn't believe the demon had fallen for that. He did believe as his foot connected, sending the demon back a good twenty feet and indenting the concrete. Upon connecting with the kick, Ranma spun around, releasing the chi in his claws and striking the demon's arm, forcing it to release the girl as it cried out in pain, before Ranma grabbed the girl and hopped off towards her friends.
"Here, watch her for a moment." He handed her off to the girl with the short blond hair before hopping into the air, his arms pulled against his chest as he diverted a large amount of energy into his ki claws. Just this once. "Saotome School Final Attack, Cat Fist Vacuum Blades!"
The demon looked up as Ranma flung his arms in a downward curve, but watched even more with horror as ten red lines sprang from his hands and towards the demon itself. It never even got the final thought of Oh shi… finished before the blades cleaved it, reducing it to dust. Ranma landed in front of it, bending his knees and poking the ashes with his hand.
"Damn demons, you think they would learn to dodge when someone says look up or not look at someone who is attacking you from fifty feet away. The demons in China at least try to avoid them."
He was stopped by the feeling of someone scratching his head behind his ears, causing his cat side to take over.
Ranma began to purr.
"Saturn, stop that! He could be another demon!"
"Calm down Uranus, he is just a cute little kitty."
"Damn it Moon! He could be dangerous."
Ranma snapped out of his purring state and backed off the small dark haired girl. Turning back his attention to the girls, he realized the one he saved was being referred to as Moon, the short haired one he handed her to was Uranus, and the small girl petting him…again…was Saturn. "Damn it! I am not a demon, I am a cursed guy! Why does…everyone…call…me…a…demon!" Ranma once again found it hard to concentrate as Saturn was once again rubbing his head, finding his sweet spot behind his ears.
"Nice cat-guy. You wouldn't hurt us, would you?" Saturn continued to pet Ranma behind his ears, giggling slightly at how loud he was purring at her, absently wondering if Haruka-papa would allow her to keep him, even if he wasn't a pet.
A sudden sense made Ranma move his head, backing away slightly from a dark shadow. "I know you're there, come on out!"
A new girl walked out from the shadows, holding a staff with long green hair. "You're Ranma Saotome I take it."
Ranma's growl increased. "If you're here to either kill me or 'remove the demon' from me, forget it. Ain't no cure for my curses. So back off!"
The new girl simply shook her head. "My name is Sailor Pluto, and I meant no harm. I was merely asking if my information was correct. Are you Ranma Saotome, heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts?"
Ranma stayed in his attack stance, not letting this woman's calm speech sway him. Only I could find damn hippies in Japan. "I learned a while ago that people who know your name tend to come after you, so you'll forgive me for not denying or confirming your idea."
The one he knew of as Moon stepped forward. "But we are warriors and defenders of Love and Justice, why can't you trust us?"
Pluto spoke before Ranma could. "Because he has been chased for the last month by people claiming to want to help him or kill him, either way, the results were the same, they basically tried to kill him, thinking him a monster."
Ranma was beginning to get worried at how this woman seemed to know so much about him. He knew no one was following him. "Damn it, I don't know how you know that about me, but for the last damn time, I ain't…no…monster."
He was caught again by Saturn's petting attack. "Good Ranma, Pluto doesn't mean any harm. She's a good person, just like you. Ain't you a good person Ranma?"
Ranma only answered by purring again, his mind desperately wondering how this girl kept sneaking up on him and finding his sweet spot, bringing him down from his heightened alert state to barely managing to keep from rubbing against her. Always one in every crowd that comes up and begins petting me. That still won't stop me from whacking her with my tail if she asks to rub my belly.
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Ranma had finally made it back to the dojo. The Sailor Senshi or whatever they called themselves had finally stopped pestering her, especially since he was a little upset when that Moon girl came over and began to pet him like Saturn was, until she asked to rub his tummy and he tripped her with his tail. She actually started crying until he told her that he doesn't like to be that reminded of how cat-like he had become. Of course, having that Pluto girl douse him with water to show his first curse didn't make things any easier, changing him from his black hair and panther fur to his red hair female side with red-tiger-like fur, and she had to be talked down by Saturn and Moon not to show her how much she hated water.
But they wouldn't let her leave until they gave her what they called a communicator; though she simply called it a woman's compact, and she'd be damned if she carried that all day. But the one who reminded him of Akane, Mercury was her name she believed, said she would get her one that was 'more manly'. They simply said if they needed help or if she did, they could contact each other.
Great, not even one night in my new home and I end up drafted by the pervert woman demon hunter's club. I sure as hell ain't wearing an outfit like that rose guy or one like those girls wear. I do have my limits.
But now she was at the dojo, hoping to get enough peace and quiet to meditate. But found it occupied by Akane performing some katas. Ranma watched her from the ceiling, watched as she performed the basic kata flawlessly, wondering why she wasn't working on a more advanced one, as the smell of sweat coming off her body told him she had easily been at this for an hour.
But she just finished it and went to set up some blocks to break.
She had waited long enough.
"Why are you stopping on a basic kata?"
Akane looked up to see Ranma, now in her girl form, sitting in the rafters. "If you must know, that was as far as my father got before he stopped teaching me."
Ranma just shook her head. "You have enough energy to work on basic katas for over an hour, but lose your temper when I ask you to work on meditation. Now why is that?"
"What do you care, it's not like you'd fight me for real anyway."
Ranma simply walked over to her, grabbed one of the bricks and held it in her hand. "I told you my guy side is stronger than my girl side, and my girl side is faster than my guy side." With that, she crushed the brick in her hand, opening it up and letting the pulverized powder fall to the ground. "If I fought you seriously at full strength, any hit would be fatal. You simply don't have the power to stand up to what I can truly do, and to be fair, nothing really can. So I hold back, training at a level slightly higher than my student so they grow stronger until I have to hold back less and less. You simply think if I fight you with everything I have that you'll get stronger. The truth is if I did that, you'd only get killed."
Akane stayed silent, looking at the powder that had formally been a brick she practiced breaking.
"That wasn't even a fraction of my strength. You want to run before you can crawl, and it just doesn't work that way Akane. If you reach too far to fast, you end up like me, a cursed individual who will always be haunted by their past. I don't know why you're so angry, but I'd guess you'd tell me if you really wanted to. When you're ready to learn, let me know and I'll teach you, better than the ways my pops taught me. But if all you do is think with your anger as your only guide, believe every comment is meant to insult you, then you've already been defeated by yourself."
Ranma left the dojo, deciding that he would rather meditate in his room.
Akane just sat there looking at the concrete dust on the floor, finally beginning to understand just how much Ranma was holding back.
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"Why the hell do we need that freak's help!?" cried Haruka. The girls were still on the roof, having waited fifteen minutes for Ranma to get far enough away so he wouldn't hear them, even with cat ears.
"Because," said Setsuna, "he is a powerful ally against the forces of darkness. Just because he is different doesn't make him a freak. Are you, Michiru, or Hotaru freaks? No, you are just different. So is he, he couldn't really help it if he got cursed to be a cat person, or to be cursed to change genders depending on the water. I really thought you were better than that."
Minako just stood there, knowing she had come across someone named Ranma before, but just couldn't place it.
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Ranma just stood there after he had poured the hot water on himself. Something that had been bugging him since he left the Senshi had finally caught up with him. It was the fighting style of the blond girl with the singular ponytail, the one called Venus. Her scent had been so familiar, and it finally hit him.
"Damn, next time I see her, I'd better apologize to V-chan. Last thing I need is more of my past coming up to bite me in the ass."
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All over the planet and several dimensions, people, gods, goddesses, demons, and assorted creatures began to sneeze their heads off, if they had heads.
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Ranma just shook his head and headed upstairs. A good night's sleep would do him some good.
At least he had one thing going for him. At least he didn't have to go to school tomorrow. Surely his father wouldn't be so stupid to register him for school.
Ranma stopped on the stairs, his face going pale.
Damn it! I should have killed the panda when I had the chance!
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If I messed anything up, then let me know including typos.
Any suggestions on how I should continue the story or improve it would also be accepted.
Also, if you have any suggestions for how this should go, let me know. My own imagination, while vast, always enjoys a new thought. Also, catch me if you don't think I am making the characters true to form, or a way to make them better.