Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma 1/2, Sailormoon, or Oh My Goddess. All I
own are MVC2 noobs who think they can win just because they have Cable.
Warning: The Lotus in Konoha blooms twice.
Warning: Altaverse (Keiichi ain't here, and the senshi timeline is
all messed up.)
"words"
'thoughts'
A Time for Wild Horses chapter 18
by Jose Argao
"Shining Blade!"
Lilith shot straight up into the air, one bladed wing aimed
at Setsuna. The Senshi of Pluto easily twisted in midair to avoid the
attack, taking the opportunity to strike Lilith with her staff while
the young succubus was still vulnerable. Lilith quickly fell on the
ground, slamming onto the hard concrete of the race track surrounding
Juuban High's athletic field. She cried out in pain as her delicate
wings twisted out of shape beneath her.
"Hey, that really hurt!"
Setsuna tried to follow her attack up with a kick to Lilith's
head, but her opponent was too fast for her. The younger combatant
rolled to the side to avoid Setsuna's strike and flipped to her feet
to resume the battle. With a shrill cry she launched herself into a
spinning jump, her wings extending themselves out to the sides as
lethal saw blades.
"Soul Spin!"
The senshi of time blocked Lilith's attack with her staff,
then backhanded Lilith across the face. The impact caused Lilith to
slam into the wall of a nearby building before crashing back onto the
pavement. The little succubus shook her head to clear it as she got
up out of the dusty crater.
"Ow... I think I broke a nail back there...."
Setsuna paid no heed to her opponent's complaints. She raised
the Time Staff above her head as swirls of purple mist formed around
her. The mist quickly coalesced into a glowing ball of energy. With a
slight turn, she sent the ball hurtling towards her opponent.
"Dead Scream."
Lilith's eyes went wide when she saw that Setsuna's attack was
headed straight for her. It was moving too fast for her to avoid. The
young succubus had no choice but to grit her teeth, raise her wings
protectively in front of her, and hope for the best.
Setsuna's attack made contact with Lilith's diminutive form,
the resulting explosion sending her petite form through the wall that
she had hit earlier. Setsuna walked towards the hole Lilith made and
stepped into the building, noting that it was a music room of some
sort. She saw Lilith in the middle of a pile of broken instruments,
trying to get back on her feet. The older woman pointed her staff at
her opponent and spoke in a low voice.
"You cannot win, child. You have great speed, but you lack
the raw power needed to fight me on an equal footing. I am giving you
a chance to surrender. Yield, and I shall spare your life. Continue
fighting, and I will kill you."
To Setsuna's surprise, Lilith suddenly started giggling after
listening to her words. Had her opponent gone completely mad?
The young succubus pointed a dainty finger at the Senshi of
Pluto. "You're going to kill me? Are you sure that's what you really
want to do? I don't think so."
Setsuna's anger flared up at Lilith's behavior. She raised her
staff once more, charged up her energy, then....
Nothing.
The senshi of time's eyes went wide. What was going on here?
She had the staff all fired up and ready. She was fully prepared to
obliterate her opponent, but for some reason she couldn't make herself
do it. Lilith surprised her by suddenly laughing out loud.
"What's the matter, lady? Weren't you going to kill me?"
Setsuna tried to blast Lilith off the face of the Earth once
more, failing miserably. She lowered the Time Staff and tried to figure
out what was happening. She could still move, so Lilith hadn't used any
paralyzing techniques on her. She could still feel her energy, so it
hadn't been drained. For some reason, though, she couldn't attack. She
glared daggers at her opponent.
"What have you done to me?"
Lilith skipped closer to her opponent until they were almost
face to face. She wore a smile that annoyed the elder combatant
thoroughly. She tilted her head to the side and giggled once more.
"Well... I haven't really done anything to you. Nothing much,
anyway. I just let your real emotions come to the surface."
Setsuna frowned. "My... my real emotions?"
Lilith nodded vigorously. "Yeah, that's right! You see, you
don't really want to kill me."
The green-haired fighter shook her head. She was starting
to feel drowsy for some reason. In her mind she started hearing faint
traces of... music? "I... don't?"
Lilith smiled. "Yep. You were only going to do that because
you thought I was going to steal Ranma away from you."
Setsuna stepped backwards. Something was happening. She
couldn't think straight. Was Lilith behind this?
The young succubus walked over to Setsuna's side. "Don't worry.
My sister and I are perfectly willing to share Ranma. That's a good
thing, isn't it? It's always nice to share."
Beads of sweat started to form on Setsuna's brow. That wasn't
right, was it? There was something wrong with what Lilith was saying,
but she couldn't seem to put her finger on exactly what it was.
"Don't... understand...."
Lilith walked behind Setsuna and put her arms around the older
woman's waist. "So you see, it really is pointless to kill me. You
don't have to do it. You can just do what you _really_ want. In fact,
you can start right now! You don't have to be shy. I know what you
want to do."
Setsuna blinked. "What I... want?"
Lilith flew up until her face was level with Setsuna's. She
pulled her opponent's ear towards herself and whispered softly into
it. "You want to dance."
The senshi of time heaved a sigh of relief. Her opponent
was right. She didn't _really_ come here to kill anyone. She was just
afraid to lose Ranma. Now that she didn't have to worry about that
anymore, she could just do what she wanted and everything would be
fine. Right now, what she wanted to do more than anything was to just
dance the night away.
Lilith winced as the senshi of time started to move and shake
to an imaginary beat. Setsuna's will was strong, and the act of
suppressing it was taking its toll on her. Her sister would have to
beat Urd fast. She couldn't keep this up for very long.
*****
"Take this!"
Urd flew at Morrigan and struck the former ruler of the Makai
realm with a high kick. Morrigan blocked it with her forearm, but was
pushed backwards straight towards World of Elegance, who pounded her
with both fists to send her hurtling downwards. She managed to right
herself before hitting the ground, but Urd was already approaching her
for another attack. Morrigan's hands glowed with power as she pointed
her fists at her opponent.
"Soul Fist!"
A large, yellow ball of energy flew from Morrigan's fists and
headed for Urd, who managed to evade it at the last moment. The goddess
of the past wasn't quick enough to dodge Morrigan's follow-up attack,
however. She took a kick to her midsection as a consequence. World of
Elegance tried to nail Morrigan with an energy attack, but the succubus
quickly flew out of its way.
Urd smirked at her opponent. "I have to admit that you're
pretty good. For a succubus, I mean. I didn't think low-level demons
could be so strong."
Morrigan smiled. "That was nothing. I haven't even begun to
fight. Oh, and your angel is about to take a hit."
World of Elegance's eyes went wide. She turned around to see
that Morrigan's Soul Fist, which Urd had evaded earlier, was now headed
straight for her. It was too late to move out of the energy ball's way,
so she just blocked it.
A large explosion followed the impact. World of Elegance fell
to the ground, creating a sizable crater where she hit. Urd winced as
she felt the pain of Morrigan's attack through her connection to World
of Elegance. Her eyes blazed with fury directed at her opponent.
"You little cheat! How dare you!"
Morrigan just grinned. "This from someone who claims never to
fight fair? I hardly think you're qualified to judge me."
Urd flew at her opponent and attacked with a flurry of punches
and kicks. Morrigan blocked most of them, but Urd managed to get in a
few solid hits. She topped her attack off with a strong roundhouse kick
that caught Morrigan on her side and sent her flying. It was Urd's turn
to smile this time.
"How about that?"
Morrigan laughed. "I barely felt it."
The goddess of the past frowned. She hadn't paid much attention
in class during her younger days, but she was pretty sure it was
impossible for a succubus to fight like her current opponent. Morrigan
was turning out to be even more powerful than Setsuna had been!
Something fishy was going on here. Something that she wasn't aware of.
But what could it be? She had to find out soon or Morrigan might
actually win. If she ended up losing to a succubus in a fight, she'd
never live it down.
Morrigan, on the other hand, was practically bursting with
excitement. She had known that Ranma and Makoto's energy would make
her stronger, but the actual effects surprised even herself. She was
simultaneously fighting a goddess, controlling Ranma and Makoto's
bodies, and keeping their minds locked in Ranma's dream world. Despite
this, she didn't feel strained at all. It seemed that Ranma was
gathering amazing amounts of energy from Makoto.
The shapely succubus idly wondered what they were doing back
in Ranma's dream that enabled the flow of so much energy. It was surely
loads of fun, and probably illegal. It was unfortunate that she had to
fight Urd right now. She would have loved to join in.
*****
"Wow... that was... great...."
Ranma smiled broadly and nodded to himself. He was lying with
Makoto on a bed in his dream world, his mistress having gone away
earlier for some reason or another. Despite his earlier misgivings, he
had to admit that Morrigan's earlier suggestion to have some fun with
Makoto was nothing short of brilliant. Makoto was young, pretty, and
willing to do anything he asked of her. He had taken advantage of these
traits to fulfill his greatest fantasies... several times. Needless to
say, he felt like the king of the world at the moment.
Ranma turned to his side, gazing at the beautiful face of
Makoto. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing evenly, probably
sleeping. Ranma idly wondered if people could dream when they slept
in a dream world. Makoto looked so peaceful and cute sleeping like
that, it was a shame he had to wake her up so soon. Ranma brought
his mouth up to Makoto's ear and whispered softly.
"Mako-chan... time to wake up...."
Makoto's brow furrowed and her eyes fluttered open. She looked
up to see Ranma's smiling face.
"Mako-chan, I need you again."
Makoto rolled her eyes. "Again? Ranma, I don't want to do it
anymore. We've been at it for hours! I'm really starting to get tired,
and my tongue feels like it's about to fall off."
Ranma raised his face a bit and kissed Makoto's cheek. "Aw,
come on, I promise this'll be the last time. Just once more, please!
I need it so bad...."
Makoto sat up on the bed and crossed her arms in front of her
chest. She turned away from Ranma in annoyance. Although she liked him
well enough, she was starting to think that he was only interested in
one thing. Not that she didn't like what they did, of course. It was
actually quite delightful to see how she could give him such happiness
with so little effort. However, too much of anything is bound too be
bad and she was quite sure that Ranma had been having way too much fun
at her expense.
"One more time? That's what you said the _last_ time, and the
time before that. If you're so hard up, why don't you take care of your
needs yourself?"
Ranma sighed as he sat up himself. It looked like he would have
to use a bit of Saotome charm to get what he wanted. He wrapped his
arms around Makoto's waist and kissed the back of her neck.
"But it feels so much better when you do it for me, Mako-chan.
It's just not the same when I do it."
Ranma started kissing Makoto's neck, making the young girl
smile despite herself. Ranma was so cute when he begged her like that,
and what harm would it do if she gave in to him just one more time
anyway? She reached behind her to pull Ranma off and turned around to
face him.
"Just one more time, then no more?"
Ranma grinned and nodded vigorously. "Absolutely!"
"Okay, here it comes." Makoto took a deep breath to prepare
herself.
"Ranma Saotome is the best martial artist in the world!"
Makoto had barely finished saying the words when she found
herself wrapped tightly in Ranma's arms once again.
"Thanks, Mako-chan. I think that was the best one yet! You're
the greatest! Do you think you could do it again? Right now, maybe?"
Makoto groaned in defeat.
*****
"Happo no Yen Coin Return!"
Mamoru flipped high into the air, twisting about to avoid
various blasts of energy directed towards him courtesy of his teenaged
opponent. It was easy enough. He had been watching Usagi and her
friends flit about while being attacked long enough to be something of
an expert at running away. Ms. Hinako's aim wasn't anything to write
home about anyway.
Actually, he could have just ducked to the right and saved
himself a lot of effort, but it wouldn't have looked half as impressive
as an acrobatic display. Although it was dark, he was hoping that
Hinako's energy attack would be bright enough to illuminate his amazing
skills. At the very least, Hinako herself should be just about swept
off her feet.
Mamoru landed gracefully on his feet, then favored Ms. Hinako
with a smile. "This is just silly. Haven't the past few minutes made
you realize something very important?"
Hinako paused in the middle of charging up for another attack,
frowned as she thought for a bit, then brightened considerably as she
figured out what he was talking about.
"Your fly is open!"
Mamoru blinked twice, looked down, then blushed bright red.
With more confidence than a man making an impression of Free Willy
would normally be able to muster, he zipped up and started talking
again.
"What I meant was that you can't win. It doesn't matter how
many times you fire those beams at me, I'll dodge them every time! It
would be much simpler if you just declare your undying love for me
right now so I can get on with beating the rest of the ladies into
affection. There are only so many hours in a night, you know, and I
was hoping to arrange for some fun and games before going to slee--
what on Earth is going on over there?"
Hinako turned to look at where Mamoru was looking, but didn't
find anything really interesting. It was just Ranma facing off against
some blue-haired girl who didn't look anything like Akane.
*****
"Why aren't you attacking? Are you afraid of me?" Ami fought
to keep herself calm to make herself sound convincing, but her voice
cracked a bit, revealing her own fear to her opponent.
Ranma smiled. "Afraid? Naw, I'm not afraid. I just thought I
should let you attack first. It'd be so boring if our fight was over
before it even began, especially since you went to so much trouble
to set it up."
Ami frowned, but she was smiling inside. Ranma's overconfidence
was the key to defeating him. It was her secret weapon. Droplets of
water spiraled up from the ground and gathered in her hands as she
prepared to attack. With a slight twirl, she fired the water at Ranma.
"Shining Aqua Illusion!"
Water shot out Sailor Mercury's hands and headed towards Ranma
as she attacked, but he evaded it with ease. Ranma jumped into the air,
Ami sending blasts of water at him as he did so. He twisted and turned
in the air to avoid them, only to find that a larger blast of water was
headed right towards where he was going to fall.
Ami smiled as she saw Ranma fall towards her attack. He had
behaved exactly like she predicted, taking the time to taunt her with
his speed instead of going right for her like he should have done. Now
she had him right where she wanted him. He would fall onto her attack
and--
"Mouko Takabisha!"
Ranma fired a large golden beam of energy at Sailor Mercury's
attack as he fell, causing it to evaporate immediately. He fell to the
ground on his feet, unharmed. Ami's jaw dropped. Ranma laughed at her
surprise.
"That was pretty good, but not good enough. My turn!"
In an instant, Ranma disappeared from view. Ami frantically
searched around her to find him, but found no success. This was bad.
He could be hiding anywhere! If only her computer hadn't been damaged
when she fought Makoto, she could just--
"Eeeek!"
Ami jumped into the air and ran forward, pulling her skirt
down as she did so. She turned around and saw Ranma laughing at her.
She glared at him.
"You pervert! How could you!"
Ranma shrugged. "Consider that a warning. You're too slow,
even compared to your little friends. The next time I get behind you,
you're going down."
Ami took a deep breath as she stared at Ranma. He was still
standing in front of her, but she knew that at any moment he could
attack with blinding speed.
All of her previous strategies had failed because his speed
made him almost impossible to hit. How was she supposed to win this
fight? The senshi of Mercury glanced to her side and saw that Usagi
had gathered the bodies of their friends in a corner and was trying
to revive them somehow.
Ami smiled. She had an idea.
Sailor Mercury started to glow bright blue as she charged up
for her attack. This was her only chance. If her plan didn't work, she
wouldn't have enough energy left to keep fighting if she wanted to.
Sweat started beading on her brow as she concentrated. Ami started to
glow brighter and brighter as she gathered more power. Finally, she
stretched her arms out and released all the energy she had built up.
"Shabon Spray Freezing!"
The whole area was instantly covered with bubbles and a thick
blue mist. Ranma calmly picked up a small pebble and threw it at a
bubble. The bubble popped and the pebble fell to the ground, frozen.
Ranma smirked at Sailor Mercury. "I can dodge every single one
of these bubbles if I wanted to."
Ami smirked back at her opponent. "Really? I'd like to see you
try. Take this!"
With a gesture of her hands, Ami caused all the bubbles to
fly towards Ranma. The teenaged martial artist dodged frantically to
avoid getting frozen. He was almost hit several times, but in the end
he managed to evade them all.
"Hah! I told you could do it! Those bubbles were nothing. I
didn't even break a sweat. This fight is over."
Ranma took one step forward and slipped on a patch of ice on
the ground. He quickly jumped back to his feet but it was already too
late. Sailor Mercury had taken the opportunity to form a barrier of
solid ice all around him!
Ami inwardly rejoiced. Her plan worked! Ranma was now trapped
in a prison of solid ice. She turned towards Usagi and shouted at the
top of her lungs.
"Now, Sailormoon! Hit him now!"
Usagi got to her feet and started twirling around to do her
healing attack. She raised her wand high into the air and started
focusing her power onto it. She started to glow as she gathered more
and more energy.
"Moon..."
Ami raised both hands to the cage to better focus her power.
Ranma was trying to break through the ice with his fists and she had
to constantly reinforce it with her energy. The act was draining her
of power fast, and she wasn't sure if she could contain Ranma long
enough for Usagi to hit him. If only Usagi's attack didn't take so long
to execute!
Ami scowled in frustration. Whoever came up with the idea of
incorporating dances into attacks anyway? Not only did it take forever
to do even the weakest attacks, it made the senshi vulnerable to sleazy
photographers looking to make a quick buck by selling photos of them
'in action'.
"Healing..."
Ami fell to her knees as she lost more and more power. Her
life flashed before her eyes, and she blushed despite herself during
the naughtier bits.
"Esca-- ooof!"
Just as she was about to do her attack, Usagi slipped on
another patch of ice left over from Ami's attack. She rubbed her bottom
as the pain of falling on her butt from a standing position hit her
full force. "Owie... it hurts...."
Ami fell to her knees, her power completely spent. All of the
ice she created started melting rapidly as the energy that kept it
solid ran out. Ice cold water drenched the ground everywhere, pooling
in the lower areas and running down the walls of the barrier she had
trapped Ranma in. She waited expectantly for Ranma to burst out of his
prison and put her out of her misery.
The sight that greeted her when the ice cage melted took her
completely by surprise.
*****
"Momma, I'm starving! I wanna eat spaghetti!"
Rose turned around from feeding the triplets in order to
address the hunger of her only son. "Ryota dear, we don't have any
spaghetti. If you want, mommy will make you some instant ramen.
Would you like that, honey?"
"I don't want ramen! I want spaghetti! Ramen tastes like poo!"
Rose's eyes flared. "Now dear, ramen does _not_ taste like...
who taught you that word anyway?"
Ryota grinned at his mother. "Uncle Ryoga did! I was playing
in the living room and Uncle Ryoga was talking to Dad and he said that
instant ramen tastes like poo!"
Rose frowned at her son. "Listen to me, dear, that word is
_not_ to be used in polite conver-- Akane don't throw that!"
Ryota nodded briskly while Rose tended to his younger sister.
He wondered whether he should inform her that Kasumi and Nabiki were
trying to jab each other with their utensils but decided against it
since he wanted to see what would happen if one of them succeeded.
"Okay, mom. I'll just use the other one that Uncle Ryoga
taught me. It's a different word but it means the same thing! It's
sh--"
Rose clamped a hand over her son's mouth. "Son I... I'm going
to have a talk with your father. In the meantime, don't use any words
that your Uncle Ryoga taught you in front of your sisters!"
Rose called out towards the living room, where her husband
was watching a baseball game. "Ranma, do you have any idea what kind
of language your friends have been teaching our son?"
Hearing no answer, Rose made her way out of the kitchen and
started walking towards the living room. She hadn't even gotten halfway
when the sound of a little girl bawling interrupted her.
"Mommeeeee! Shampoo took my dolly again!"
Rose ran up the stairs and opened the room her two eldest
daughters shared. Ukyo was crying her eyes out while her older sister
Shampoo was sitting on her bed and playing with one of Ukyo's dolls.
"Shampoo, why did you take Ukyo's doll?"
Shampoo pointed an accusing finger at her younger sister. "She
started it! She took my tea set!"
Rose rolled her eyes and turned to Ukyo. "Why did you take
Shampoo's tea set?"
Ukyo stopped crying and tried to speak between sobs. "I... I...
I just wanted... to have a... tea party."
Rose turned towards Shampoo. "Look, your sister just wants to
have a tea party. Why don't you just lend her your tea set for a bit?"
Shampoo pouted. "I only gonna lend her my tea set if she's
gonna invite me to her tea party."
Rose turned towards her other daughter. "Did you hear that,
honey? Shampoo will let you borrow her tea set if you just invite her
to your tea party!"
Ukyo frowned in disgust. "I don't wanna invite Shampoo to my
tea party."
Rose's face twitched at Ukyo's reply. "Why not, dear?"
Ukyo glared at her older sister. "'Cuz she's ugly."
At that, Shampoo sprang from her bed and tackled her sister
to the ground. "I am _not_ ugly!"
Ukyo grabbed handfuls of Shampoo's hair as she shouted back.
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too infinity!"
"Am not infinity!"
"Hey, you can't do that! Am not infinity doesn't beat are too
infinity!"
"It does too beat are too infinity!"
"Does not!"
"Does too!"
"Does not!"
"Mommeeeee!"
"Enough!"
Rose fought to stay calm as she stared her daughters down.
Sensing that their mother was angry and they were in danger of being
on the receiving end of some serious spanking, the two girls piped
down. Rose picked up the doll on Shampoo's bed and sat it down on the
toy chair in the middle of the room. She took the tea set from Ukyo's
bed and arranged it on the table. She then sat her daughters down on
opposite sides of the toy table.
"What are you two going to say to each other?"
The two youngsters exchanged looks of mutual hatred as they
said the words that their mother expected.
"I'm sorry I took your tea set and pulled your hair and called
you ugly."
"I'm sorry I took your doll and knocked you over."
Rose nodded in satisfaction. "Now you two are going to have
a tea party, and you're going to enjoy it! Am I making myself clear?"
The two children frowned as they replied in chorus.
"Yes, Mom."
Rose walked angrily out of the room and made her way to the
living room, where Ranma was still watching baseball.
"Do you have any idea where your children are right now?"
Ranma ignored her and continued watching. Rose growled in
anger and stalked towards the television before turning it off.
"I said do you have any idea where your children are right
now?"
Having noticed that the television was turned off and his
wife was in another of her moods, Ranma raised an eyebrow and acted
like nothing was amiss.
"Where the kids are? What are you talking about? You didn't
lose any of them, did you?"
Rose rolled her eyes. "That's not what I mean! What I mean is
that while you were here watching your stupid baseball game, I was
feeding the triplets and working out a peace treaty between your two
older daughters and... and... did you know that Ryoga has been teaching
Ryota all kinds of words that little children shouldn't know?"
Ranma grinned. "He's all grown up now, isn't he?"
Rose started wringing her hands in anger. "Ranma, Ryota is
eight years old!"
Ranma nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I know. I've been thinking
that it's time I taught him a few moves so he won't get beat up on by
the bullies in the playground. Didn't you tell me that he came home
the other day with two missing front teeth?"
Rose glared daggers at her husband. "Ranma, those two front
teeth didn't belong to Ryota. He's a bully himself! I've been called
to school twice already because of his behavior."
Ranma smiled. "Yep, he's a chip off the ol' block alright. A
fighter just like his father!"
Rose's shoulders sagged in defeat. She turned away from her
husband and wiped a tear from her eye. "Ranma, how can you say that?
Our children are turning into little monsters and you don't even seem
to be concerned!"
Ranma got up from the couch put his arms around Rose. "Hey,
relax. They're beautiful, perfect little kids. They're gonna grow up
to be beautiful and perfect just like their mother. Have I told you
lately that you're beautiful, honey? I'd never guess from looking at
you that you've already had six children!"
Rose turned her face away to hide the smile that made its way
unbidden to the corners of her lips. "Ranma, don't change the subject.
I'm... I... oooh...."
Ranma massaged his wife's shoulders slowly as he rained soft
kisses on the nape of her neck and behind her ear. "Actually, I _have_
been thinking a lot about the kids lately."
Rose closed her eyes as she enjoyed the affections of her
husband. "Really?"
Ranma whispered softly into Rose's left ear as he continued
massaging her. "Yeah, I've been thinking that we ought to have a few
more."
*****
"Nooooo!"
Rose sat up from her bed and looked at her surroundings. She
was drenched in sweat and breathing in gasps. Whatever dream she had
just had, she was glad she couldn't remember it.
'Where am I?,' Rose asked herself as she took in her
surroundings while trying to figure out how she got there.
"Oh, you're awake! How nice. Would you like something to
drink? Tea perhaps? Ryoga already left, by the way."
Rose turned to the source of the voice and recognized it as
Kasumi. The sight of the eldest Tendo daughter reminded her of what
happened. she was talking to Ranma's mother and trying to make the
woman understand that she was there to keep Ranma from Bison's evil
clutches, not to bear his children. It hadn't gone well.
"Er... listen, about marrying Ranma...."
Kasumi smiled brightly at Rose. "Oh, don't worry about it.
Mousse told us everything. Actually, I've been meaning to apologize
to you. I had no idea you didn't want to marry Ranma yet."
Rose breathed a sigh of relief. "It's okay, I don't really
mind. I thought that Ryoga and Mousse were exaggerating when they
told me about Ranma's womanizing ways but apparently-- did you just
say I don't want to marry Ranma _yet_?"
Kasumi regarded Rose with an expression of amusement. "Well,
of course. Now that you've gotten involved with him, it's pretty much
inevitable."
Rose laughed out loud. "I don't know what you're talking about,
but I _know_ I'd never want to marry Ranma. He's too young!"
Kasumi giggled cutely as she retrieved a sheet of paper from
behind her. "Would you care to make a bet? Nabiki has the odds pegged
at ten to one in your favor."
*****
Ranma, now in female form, looked around himself in confusion.
The last thing he remembered was falling asleep in Makoto's apartment.
He even remembered having a strange dream involving her. Now, however,
he was standing in the middle of a field and soaking wet.
The amount of destruction in the area around him indicated
that a battle had taken place there. The state of his clothing coupled
with the splitting headache that he was feeling hinted that there was
a good chance he was involved in it somehow. The presence of Usagi and
her friends in their cheerleading outfits was a sign that they were
involved in it too, and their broken down states told him that they
were probably losing. The generous amount of nubile female flesh on
display told him nothing, but he took all of it in just the same.
Ranma knew he had to quickly and carefully analyze what he
knew and figure out what was going on. By correlating the present
circumstances with his past experiences, he determined that there was
a good chance that he had either found or acquired a brand new fiance.
Maybe even several of them.
Ranma sighed. New fiancees were always trouble, but he could
never really bring himself to hate them. They were much too cute and
cuddly. They were like puppies, but with less fur and more curves. He
would just have to find some way to ditch them until he could figure
out how he was going to settle his marriage problems once and for--
"My Lady Athan, you have returned! It is I, Endymion. Finally,
after all these years, we can be together!"
Ranma turned around to see a strange man wearing a top hat
running towards him. The inhuman speed with which the man moved and
the crazed, lecherous look in his eyes made it clear what he wanted.
"Happo no Yen Coin Return!"
A large energy attack came at the man from behind him and
threw him into the sky. A large sweat drop formed behind Ranma's head
as he watched the man's form shrink until it was but a speck in the
sky.
"Yeah! I got him! Take _that_, you delinquent!"
Ranma recognized the voice before he even turned to the man's
assailant. Ms. Hinako was jumping up and down with glee, displaying
that her teenaged form had just as much bounce as her adult body. She
stopped when she saw him looking at her and pointed at him.
"As for you, Mr. Saotome, I'm taking you home with me!"
A thousand possibilities of what she could have meant by that
went through Ranma's mind, none of them good. He turned around to run
away from the deranged teacher and found himself face to face with
Ami Mizuno.
"A girl... Ranma... you...."
Ami mumbled a few more words that Ranma couldn't understand
and poked Ranma's breasts a few times with her finger.
"Real... they're... you're...."
Ranma shook his head. His new friends hadn't been able to
give him good advice when he told them of his girl problems so he was
hoping to keep his curse under wraps. Now the cat was out of the bag
and he'd have to explain himself.
"Er... about this whole girl thing... it's kinda hard to
explain but--"
"My fault! It's all my fault! Ranma I'm so sorry... I don't
know how but I reactivated your curse!" Ami broke down into tears and
covered her face in shame.
Ranma suddenly found himself face to face with a half-naked,
crying girl. Being in such a situation would be bad enough normally,
but it was doubly so because he wasn't exactly sure what the situation
was. It looked like Ami already knew about his curse, though. Probably
by listening to rumors about him from Nerima. Oh well, at least he
wouldn't have to waste time explaining it to her and her friends.
"Uh... yeah. I guess you did."
*****
"You're moving a little slower there! Are you tired already?"
Urd smirked at Morrigan as she and World of Elegance formed
deadly balls of fire in their hands. They surrounded Morrigan, one on
each side. Seconds later, they unleashed their flaming projectiles
upon their opponent.
Morrigan tried to form an energy barrier to reflect the shots,
but was surprised to find that she could not. The shapely succubus was
forced to fly out of the way instead, barely evading her opponents'
attacks.
Morrigan raised her eyebrows in wonder. Could it be that... no.
What she was thinking was impossible. Ranma couldn't have escaped. She
just made a mistake. That was all.
"Kyaaaa!"
Morrigan threw a kick aimed at Urd's face which the goddess of
love evaded easily. She followed it up with a slash of her wings which
met with similar results. Urd retaliated with a backhand blow that sent
her tumbling across the ground.
"What's the matter? All tired out? I could go on like this for
few more hundred years at least!"
Morrigan struggled to stand and spat blood onto the ground.
The flow of energy coming from Ranma had stopped, leaving her unable
to match her opponent's power. What happened? Could Ranma have escaped
her binding? That was impossible! Still, she couldn't deny that she
could no longer feel her connection to Ranma and her energy was going
down to dangerously low levels.
*****
"Dead Scream."
Lilith was caught completely by surprise by Setsuna's attack.
She attempted to dodge it at the last minute, but she wasn't fast
enough. The ball of energy hit her left leg and exploded with a loud
bang. The impact sent her flying through the wall of the music room.
As luck would have it, she slammed straight into Morrigan,
who was standing outside. Setsuna calmly walked out through the hole
Lilith left in the wall and raised her staff towards the pair.
"It would appear that you exhausted all of your power getting
me to do the Macarena. The fun and games are over. I am giving you one
last chance. Surrender or die."
From the air, Urd landed gracefully on the ground opposite
Setsuna. World of Elegance followed shortly. She charged up a ball of
energy in her hand and smirked at the two succubae.
"Well, it looks like you two have lost this one."
Lilith tried to stand but the pain in her hip prevented her
from doing so. She cried out as red hot flashes of pain crawled through
her body. She turned to Morrigan, and the two of them exchanged
meaningful looks. They were backed into a corner now, and there was
only one thing they could do.
Morrigan and Lilith took each other in their arms and started
kissing passionately.
*****
"Aaaargh! How could I ever live with myself after the way I
acted... and to a nice girl like Kasumi no less! I'm nothing but a
scumbag who treats women like dirt and takes them for granted! I've
turned into that which I hate the most! I've become like Ranma!"
Ryoga held his head low in shame as he ran aimlessly through
street after street. He didn't know what to do now. He loved Akane
with all of his heart, but he couldn't bear to show his face to Kasumi
after what he put her through. He would just have to stay away from
the Tendo residence from now on. A man like him had no business in the
warm, caring environment that Akane lived in. Akane... if only he
could look upon her just one last--
"Ouch! Watch where you're going, would you!"
Ryoga turned his head to see what had hit him. It might have
been a person, an animal, or even a car. He was just too out of it to
notice. His eyes detected what looked like a person in front of him,
but he couldn't be sure because the tears were making it hard to see.
He took one of the bandannas tied around his head and wiped his eyes
before taking another look. He was promptly treated to the sight of
an unknown schoolgirl's underwear. Blood started to flow from both of
his nostrils.
*****
"Ow..."
Akane winced as she brought her legs together and rubbed her
bottom gingerly. That guy had come out from around the corner too fast
for her to stop. She was running pretty fast when she hit that guy,
but he hadn't even moved when she bumped into him. Well, he was surely
going to move when she gave him a taste of her--
"Ryoga!"
Akane's anger quickly dissipated when she discovered that it
was just her friend, Ryoga. He was probably lost again, which would
explain why he hadn't been able to avoid her. He seemed a bit out of
it, though. His nose was bleeding, too.
Worried, she waved a hand in front of his face to try and get
his attention. "Ryoga, are you okay?"
A sickly smile appeared on Ryoga's face as the image of that
girl's panties etched itself into his memories. Being the gentleman
that he was, such sights were rarely presented to him. They were rare
treasures to be kept forever.
"White... with... Hello ki-- aaah!"
Akane cradled her stinging right hand as she waited for
Ryoga's reaction. She had slapped him pretty hard, but he was acting
like he'd lost his mind or something.
Ryoga's eyes slowly regained focus. What had happened just now?
He remembered walking around, thinking about how he had wronged Kasumi,
then nothing. He looked up and found a familiar visage looking back at
him.
"A... Akane! What are you doing here? Did I circle back to
Nerima?"
Akane smiled with relief. Ryoga was finally acting like his
old self. "Hello, Ryoga. This isn't Nerima. We're in Juuban right now.
Actually, I'm here looking for Ranma."
Ryoga frowned. "Ranma? What's he doing in Juuban?"
*****
"Ms. Akane! Ms. Akane! Where are you?"
Konatsu looked around him, trying to find where Akane had
gone. He was running after her, trying to tell her that the school
was in the opposite direction from where she was running to, but he
lost sight of her when he stopped to help an old lady cross the road.
Now all he could do was walk towards the school and hope she would
eventually find her way there.
"Looking for someone?"
Konatsu stopped to see who spoke, then smiled brightly when
he found out who it was.
"Nabiki-san! What are you doing here?"
Nabiki grinned at Ukyo's friend. She had met him before at the
Ucchan's and liked him straight away. He was simple-minded and easy to
manipulate, just like Ranma.
"I'm going over to the school to bring Ranma home. What about
you, what are _you_ doing here?"
Konatsu grinned and scratched the back of his head. "The same
thing, actually, only I was with Ms. Akane... and now she's run off."
Nabiki smiled back. "Well, that's our Akane for you. She's
always going off on her own and getting into trouble. Don't worry about
her, though. She can take care of herself."
Konatsu nodded thoughtfully. "I see. In that case, I should
accompany you instead. You don't know any martial arts and I could
protect you if you were to get in danger."
Nabiki looped her arm around Konatsu's and started walking
towards the school again.
"You know, that's not such a bad idea."
*****
"I see. Ranma spent all that time goofing off in Nerima just
so he could transfer here where he can be free to do what he wants with
those two girlfriends of his that he never told anyone about."
Akane nodded towards Ryoga in agreement. "Exactly."
Ryoga balled his hands into fists in his anger. "That sly
little snake, playing with your feelings that way. All those times that
he picked fights with me... he must have been planning this from the
start! To think that I've been tricked into playing a part in his evil
plans... it's unforgivable! I'm going to kill him!"
Akane smiled at Ryoga. Finally, someone who understood her
feelings! "You do that, Ryoga. Come with me, I think the school's this
way."
*****
"I'm sorry, Ranma. I'm so sorry!"
Ranma raised an eyebrow at Ami's reaction to his change. He
had seen people laugh, gape in wonder, fall madly in love, fall madly
in lust, and run away in fear the first time they saw him change. Ami
would be the first to burst into tears, though.
"Hey... it's not all that bad... I've kinda gotten--"
"No," Ami interrupted before Ranma could finish what he was
saying. "Even if it was an accident, it's my fault that you got that
way. I should take responsibility for it."
"Um... great."
Ranma wasn't exactly sure what the big deal about taking
responsibility for getting him wet was. At most, she'd have to get him
some hot water and run his clothes through the dryer.
"I've come to a decision." Ami's eyes hardened with resolve
as she clenched her right hand into a fist.
"I'm going to marry you."
*****
Author's Rant
First off, I'd like to thank Black Dragon for nagging me about
this chapter and forcing me to get off my lazy ass and sit down to do
some writing. This chapter would have been even later in coming if it
wasn't for him!
Speaking of which, I'm sure a lot of you are wondering what
happened to me these past few months. Contrary to the rumors that have
been floating around, I did _not_ elope with Britney Spears, marry her
in a top secret wedding ceremony in Vegas, then proceed to perform so
horribly in our honeymoon that she had an affair with Madonna. Nope
nope nope.
(awkward silence)
I'm sorry, what was I saying just now? Whatever it was,
ignore it. I haven't been taking my medication lately and the suspense
of waiting for Naruto chapter 193 has been driving me up the walls.
It's sorta like how Black Dragon gets when I don't update,
except it's much harder for him because he lives in a deep, dark
dungeon where all the walls are equipped with sharp, pointy spikes
that pierce the tires of his porche when he tries to drive up them.
(awkward silence, a tumbleweed rolls past)
What was that? I seem to have forgotten everything that I did
for the past five minutes or so. It's a side effect of the medication
I just took. I don't really mind, though. I figure it's a small price
to pay for the ability to realize that I'm a delusional fool who thinks
Black Dragon lives in a dungeon and has fantasies involving Vegas,
Britney Spears, and Madonna.
Now where was I?
Oh, yeah. I was writing the author's notes. Anyway, I'd like to
start off by thanking Black Dragon for nagging me about this chapter
and forcing me to get off my lazy ass and sit down to do some writing.
He actually thought I'd lost interest in writing ATFWH! This chapter
would have been even later in coming if it wasn't for him! It's really
amazing how much one nagging email can get me moving (nudge, nudge,
wink, wink)
I wonder why more people don't email me like Black Dragon
did telling me how cool my fic is and why there isn't more of it
coming out? (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)
Seriously, I'm kinda worried that everyone forgot about me
since it really _has_ been a while. I reinstalled my email client and
the inbox looks so barren without all the flames... er... I mean the
_fanmail_ filling it up.
Speaking of which, I'm sure a lot of you are wondering what
happened to me these past few months. Has it really been almost a
quarter of a year since I updated? You bet it has! Have I been working
on making ATFWH the best fic ever all this time? Hell no!
The thing is, I had no idea getting my master's degree would
entail so much work. I've just finished work on a histogram matching
image search program and right now I'm busy learning JMS (the Java
Messaging System) and as we all know, JMS is the root of all evil.
It's the reason Iraq was invaded and the cause of half of all blue
screens encountered by windows users worldwide.
If anyone knows how to send and receive files with JMS, please
tell me before I turn into a delusional fool who thinks Black Dragon
lives in a dungeon and has fantasies involving Vegas, Britney Spears,
and Madonna. Seriously, it's driving me up the walls, folks.
Well, aside from my adventures with JMS, I've also been busy
watching/reading Naruto (which rules), finishing watching Sakura Wars
(which sucked), downloading Saigado and Mogudan's latest stuff (which
rulz), learning to become the greatest Soul Calibur 2 Talim player the
world has ever seen (not even close), applying savage beats in Magic:
the Gathering, catching up on reading the Uncanny X-Men, searching for
manga scans of Futari Ecchi (chaotixubs's bittorent link for chapter 11
is too chaotix), complaining about how much Snk vs Capcom sucks,
watching the new season of Full Metal Panic (Tessa-sama/Sagara forever!
Chidori sucks and shares a name with a sissy move from Naruto!),
failing to find a single place to download Comic Party, and having
crazy delusions involving Vegas, Britney Spears, and Madonna.
Naw, I'm not annoyed with how they'd seemingly do anything to
sell a few more records. Not at all.
Needless to say, I haven't been able to spend as much time
on fanfiction writing as I would have wanted to. In spite on the huge
gap between the release of this chapter and the last one, I actually
spent less time on this chapter than any of the previous ones.
I wanted to finish up the fight on this chapter, but it just
wasn't written in the stars. Next chapter, maybe, I hope. (as an aside,
I started out thinking that ATFWH would be about fifteen chapters long)
Finally, I would like to thank Groo, Vex, Egan Mandreck, Kevin
Henry, John Rasmussen, Bryan Cupp, Jiro, Tonyloco, Chester, Shade,
Seaver, Griever, Juan P. Garibotti, and Charles Stitman for all of the
help they have given me on this chapter.
I'm starting to run out of stuff to rant about, so I'm just
gonna thank all the folks who pointed me towards stuff I was looking
for on the net. I owe you all, especially the good people at Sabin's
forum (which disappeared! ;_;).
Please send C&C to ukyo_rulz@edsamail.com.ph
Visit my homepage (www.geocities.com/ex_fuk) for new chapters.
own are MVC2 noobs who think they can win just because they have Cable.
Warning: The Lotus in Konoha blooms twice.
Warning: Altaverse (Keiichi ain't here, and the senshi timeline is
all messed up.)
"words"
'thoughts'
A Time for Wild Horses chapter 18
by Jose Argao
"Shining Blade!"
Lilith shot straight up into the air, one bladed wing aimed
at Setsuna. The Senshi of Pluto easily twisted in midair to avoid the
attack, taking the opportunity to strike Lilith with her staff while
the young succubus was still vulnerable. Lilith quickly fell on the
ground, slamming onto the hard concrete of the race track surrounding
Juuban High's athletic field. She cried out in pain as her delicate
wings twisted out of shape beneath her.
"Hey, that really hurt!"
Setsuna tried to follow her attack up with a kick to Lilith's
head, but her opponent was too fast for her. The younger combatant
rolled to the side to avoid Setsuna's strike and flipped to her feet
to resume the battle. With a shrill cry she launched herself into a
spinning jump, her wings extending themselves out to the sides as
lethal saw blades.
"Soul Spin!"
The senshi of time blocked Lilith's attack with her staff,
then backhanded Lilith across the face. The impact caused Lilith to
slam into the wall of a nearby building before crashing back onto the
pavement. The little succubus shook her head to clear it as she got
up out of the dusty crater.
"Ow... I think I broke a nail back there...."
Setsuna paid no heed to her opponent's complaints. She raised
the Time Staff above her head as swirls of purple mist formed around
her. The mist quickly coalesced into a glowing ball of energy. With a
slight turn, she sent the ball hurtling towards her opponent.
"Dead Scream."
Lilith's eyes went wide when she saw that Setsuna's attack was
headed straight for her. It was moving too fast for her to avoid. The
young succubus had no choice but to grit her teeth, raise her wings
protectively in front of her, and hope for the best.
Setsuna's attack made contact with Lilith's diminutive form,
the resulting explosion sending her petite form through the wall that
she had hit earlier. Setsuna walked towards the hole Lilith made and
stepped into the building, noting that it was a music room of some
sort. She saw Lilith in the middle of a pile of broken instruments,
trying to get back on her feet. The older woman pointed her staff at
her opponent and spoke in a low voice.
"You cannot win, child. You have great speed, but you lack
the raw power needed to fight me on an equal footing. I am giving you
a chance to surrender. Yield, and I shall spare your life. Continue
fighting, and I will kill you."
To Setsuna's surprise, Lilith suddenly started giggling after
listening to her words. Had her opponent gone completely mad?
The young succubus pointed a dainty finger at the Senshi of
Pluto. "You're going to kill me? Are you sure that's what you really
want to do? I don't think so."
Setsuna's anger flared up at Lilith's behavior. She raised her
staff once more, charged up her energy, then....
Nothing.
The senshi of time's eyes went wide. What was going on here?
She had the staff all fired up and ready. She was fully prepared to
obliterate her opponent, but for some reason she couldn't make herself
do it. Lilith surprised her by suddenly laughing out loud.
"What's the matter, lady? Weren't you going to kill me?"
Setsuna tried to blast Lilith off the face of the Earth once
more, failing miserably. She lowered the Time Staff and tried to figure
out what was happening. She could still move, so Lilith hadn't used any
paralyzing techniques on her. She could still feel her energy, so it
hadn't been drained. For some reason, though, she couldn't attack. She
glared daggers at her opponent.
"What have you done to me?"
Lilith skipped closer to her opponent until they were almost
face to face. She wore a smile that annoyed the elder combatant
thoroughly. She tilted her head to the side and giggled once more.
"Well... I haven't really done anything to you. Nothing much,
anyway. I just let your real emotions come to the surface."
Setsuna frowned. "My... my real emotions?"
Lilith nodded vigorously. "Yeah, that's right! You see, you
don't really want to kill me."
The green-haired fighter shook her head. She was starting
to feel drowsy for some reason. In her mind she started hearing faint
traces of... music? "I... don't?"
Lilith smiled. "Yep. You were only going to do that because
you thought I was going to steal Ranma away from you."
Setsuna stepped backwards. Something was happening. She
couldn't think straight. Was Lilith behind this?
The young succubus walked over to Setsuna's side. "Don't worry.
My sister and I are perfectly willing to share Ranma. That's a good
thing, isn't it? It's always nice to share."
Beads of sweat started to form on Setsuna's brow. That wasn't
right, was it? There was something wrong with what Lilith was saying,
but she couldn't seem to put her finger on exactly what it was.
"Don't... understand...."
Lilith walked behind Setsuna and put her arms around the older
woman's waist. "So you see, it really is pointless to kill me. You
don't have to do it. You can just do what you _really_ want. In fact,
you can start right now! You don't have to be shy. I know what you
want to do."
Setsuna blinked. "What I... want?"
Lilith flew up until her face was level with Setsuna's. She
pulled her opponent's ear towards herself and whispered softly into
it. "You want to dance."
The senshi of time heaved a sigh of relief. Her opponent
was right. She didn't _really_ come here to kill anyone. She was just
afraid to lose Ranma. Now that she didn't have to worry about that
anymore, she could just do what she wanted and everything would be
fine. Right now, what she wanted to do more than anything was to just
dance the night away.
Lilith winced as the senshi of time started to move and shake
to an imaginary beat. Setsuna's will was strong, and the act of
suppressing it was taking its toll on her. Her sister would have to
beat Urd fast. She couldn't keep this up for very long.
*****
"Take this!"
Urd flew at Morrigan and struck the former ruler of the Makai
realm with a high kick. Morrigan blocked it with her forearm, but was
pushed backwards straight towards World of Elegance, who pounded her
with both fists to send her hurtling downwards. She managed to right
herself before hitting the ground, but Urd was already approaching her
for another attack. Morrigan's hands glowed with power as she pointed
her fists at her opponent.
"Soul Fist!"
A large, yellow ball of energy flew from Morrigan's fists and
headed for Urd, who managed to evade it at the last moment. The goddess
of the past wasn't quick enough to dodge Morrigan's follow-up attack,
however. She took a kick to her midsection as a consequence. World of
Elegance tried to nail Morrigan with an energy attack, but the succubus
quickly flew out of its way.
Urd smirked at her opponent. "I have to admit that you're
pretty good. For a succubus, I mean. I didn't think low-level demons
could be so strong."
Morrigan smiled. "That was nothing. I haven't even begun to
fight. Oh, and your angel is about to take a hit."
World of Elegance's eyes went wide. She turned around to see
that Morrigan's Soul Fist, which Urd had evaded earlier, was now headed
straight for her. It was too late to move out of the energy ball's way,
so she just blocked it.
A large explosion followed the impact. World of Elegance fell
to the ground, creating a sizable crater where she hit. Urd winced as
she felt the pain of Morrigan's attack through her connection to World
of Elegance. Her eyes blazed with fury directed at her opponent.
"You little cheat! How dare you!"
Morrigan just grinned. "This from someone who claims never to
fight fair? I hardly think you're qualified to judge me."
Urd flew at her opponent and attacked with a flurry of punches
and kicks. Morrigan blocked most of them, but Urd managed to get in a
few solid hits. She topped her attack off with a strong roundhouse kick
that caught Morrigan on her side and sent her flying. It was Urd's turn
to smile this time.
"How about that?"
Morrigan laughed. "I barely felt it."
The goddess of the past frowned. She hadn't paid much attention
in class during her younger days, but she was pretty sure it was
impossible for a succubus to fight like her current opponent. Morrigan
was turning out to be even more powerful than Setsuna had been!
Something fishy was going on here. Something that she wasn't aware of.
But what could it be? She had to find out soon or Morrigan might
actually win. If she ended up losing to a succubus in a fight, she'd
never live it down.
Morrigan, on the other hand, was practically bursting with
excitement. She had known that Ranma and Makoto's energy would make
her stronger, but the actual effects surprised even herself. She was
simultaneously fighting a goddess, controlling Ranma and Makoto's
bodies, and keeping their minds locked in Ranma's dream world. Despite
this, she didn't feel strained at all. It seemed that Ranma was
gathering amazing amounts of energy from Makoto.
The shapely succubus idly wondered what they were doing back
in Ranma's dream that enabled the flow of so much energy. It was surely
loads of fun, and probably illegal. It was unfortunate that she had to
fight Urd right now. She would have loved to join in.
*****
"Wow... that was... great...."
Ranma smiled broadly and nodded to himself. He was lying with
Makoto on a bed in his dream world, his mistress having gone away
earlier for some reason or another. Despite his earlier misgivings, he
had to admit that Morrigan's earlier suggestion to have some fun with
Makoto was nothing short of brilliant. Makoto was young, pretty, and
willing to do anything he asked of her. He had taken advantage of these
traits to fulfill his greatest fantasies... several times. Needless to
say, he felt like the king of the world at the moment.
Ranma turned to his side, gazing at the beautiful face of
Makoto. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing evenly, probably
sleeping. Ranma idly wondered if people could dream when they slept
in a dream world. Makoto looked so peaceful and cute sleeping like
that, it was a shame he had to wake her up so soon. Ranma brought
his mouth up to Makoto's ear and whispered softly.
"Mako-chan... time to wake up...."
Makoto's brow furrowed and her eyes fluttered open. She looked
up to see Ranma's smiling face.
"Mako-chan, I need you again."
Makoto rolled her eyes. "Again? Ranma, I don't want to do it
anymore. We've been at it for hours! I'm really starting to get tired,
and my tongue feels like it's about to fall off."
Ranma raised his face a bit and kissed Makoto's cheek. "Aw,
come on, I promise this'll be the last time. Just once more, please!
I need it so bad...."
Makoto sat up on the bed and crossed her arms in front of her
chest. She turned away from Ranma in annoyance. Although she liked him
well enough, she was starting to think that he was only interested in
one thing. Not that she didn't like what they did, of course. It was
actually quite delightful to see how she could give him such happiness
with so little effort. However, too much of anything is bound too be
bad and she was quite sure that Ranma had been having way too much fun
at her expense.
"One more time? That's what you said the _last_ time, and the
time before that. If you're so hard up, why don't you take care of your
needs yourself?"
Ranma sighed as he sat up himself. It looked like he would have
to use a bit of Saotome charm to get what he wanted. He wrapped his
arms around Makoto's waist and kissed the back of her neck.
"But it feels so much better when you do it for me, Mako-chan.
It's just not the same when I do it."
Ranma started kissing Makoto's neck, making the young girl
smile despite herself. Ranma was so cute when he begged her like that,
and what harm would it do if she gave in to him just one more time
anyway? She reached behind her to pull Ranma off and turned around to
face him.
"Just one more time, then no more?"
Ranma grinned and nodded vigorously. "Absolutely!"
"Okay, here it comes." Makoto took a deep breath to prepare
herself.
"Ranma Saotome is the best martial artist in the world!"
Makoto had barely finished saying the words when she found
herself wrapped tightly in Ranma's arms once again.
"Thanks, Mako-chan. I think that was the best one yet! You're
the greatest! Do you think you could do it again? Right now, maybe?"
Makoto groaned in defeat.
*****
"Happo no Yen Coin Return!"
Mamoru flipped high into the air, twisting about to avoid
various blasts of energy directed towards him courtesy of his teenaged
opponent. It was easy enough. He had been watching Usagi and her
friends flit about while being attacked long enough to be something of
an expert at running away. Ms. Hinako's aim wasn't anything to write
home about anyway.
Actually, he could have just ducked to the right and saved
himself a lot of effort, but it wouldn't have looked half as impressive
as an acrobatic display. Although it was dark, he was hoping that
Hinako's energy attack would be bright enough to illuminate his amazing
skills. At the very least, Hinako herself should be just about swept
off her feet.
Mamoru landed gracefully on his feet, then favored Ms. Hinako
with a smile. "This is just silly. Haven't the past few minutes made
you realize something very important?"
Hinako paused in the middle of charging up for another attack,
frowned as she thought for a bit, then brightened considerably as she
figured out what he was talking about.
"Your fly is open!"
Mamoru blinked twice, looked down, then blushed bright red.
With more confidence than a man making an impression of Free Willy
would normally be able to muster, he zipped up and started talking
again.
"What I meant was that you can't win. It doesn't matter how
many times you fire those beams at me, I'll dodge them every time! It
would be much simpler if you just declare your undying love for me
right now so I can get on with beating the rest of the ladies into
affection. There are only so many hours in a night, you know, and I
was hoping to arrange for some fun and games before going to slee--
what on Earth is going on over there?"
Hinako turned to look at where Mamoru was looking, but didn't
find anything really interesting. It was just Ranma facing off against
some blue-haired girl who didn't look anything like Akane.
*****
"Why aren't you attacking? Are you afraid of me?" Ami fought
to keep herself calm to make herself sound convincing, but her voice
cracked a bit, revealing her own fear to her opponent.
Ranma smiled. "Afraid? Naw, I'm not afraid. I just thought I
should let you attack first. It'd be so boring if our fight was over
before it even began, especially since you went to so much trouble
to set it up."
Ami frowned, but she was smiling inside. Ranma's overconfidence
was the key to defeating him. It was her secret weapon. Droplets of
water spiraled up from the ground and gathered in her hands as she
prepared to attack. With a slight twirl, she fired the water at Ranma.
"Shining Aqua Illusion!"
Water shot out Sailor Mercury's hands and headed towards Ranma
as she attacked, but he evaded it with ease. Ranma jumped into the air,
Ami sending blasts of water at him as he did so. He twisted and turned
in the air to avoid them, only to find that a larger blast of water was
headed right towards where he was going to fall.
Ami smiled as she saw Ranma fall towards her attack. He had
behaved exactly like she predicted, taking the time to taunt her with
his speed instead of going right for her like he should have done. Now
she had him right where she wanted him. He would fall onto her attack
and--
"Mouko Takabisha!"
Ranma fired a large golden beam of energy at Sailor Mercury's
attack as he fell, causing it to evaporate immediately. He fell to the
ground on his feet, unharmed. Ami's jaw dropped. Ranma laughed at her
surprise.
"That was pretty good, but not good enough. My turn!"
In an instant, Ranma disappeared from view. Ami frantically
searched around her to find him, but found no success. This was bad.
He could be hiding anywhere! If only her computer hadn't been damaged
when she fought Makoto, she could just--
"Eeeek!"
Ami jumped into the air and ran forward, pulling her skirt
down as she did so. She turned around and saw Ranma laughing at her.
She glared at him.
"You pervert! How could you!"
Ranma shrugged. "Consider that a warning. You're too slow,
even compared to your little friends. The next time I get behind you,
you're going down."
Ami took a deep breath as she stared at Ranma. He was still
standing in front of her, but she knew that at any moment he could
attack with blinding speed.
All of her previous strategies had failed because his speed
made him almost impossible to hit. How was she supposed to win this
fight? The senshi of Mercury glanced to her side and saw that Usagi
had gathered the bodies of their friends in a corner and was trying
to revive them somehow.
Ami smiled. She had an idea.
Sailor Mercury started to glow bright blue as she charged up
for her attack. This was her only chance. If her plan didn't work, she
wouldn't have enough energy left to keep fighting if she wanted to.
Sweat started beading on her brow as she concentrated. Ami started to
glow brighter and brighter as she gathered more power. Finally, she
stretched her arms out and released all the energy she had built up.
"Shabon Spray Freezing!"
The whole area was instantly covered with bubbles and a thick
blue mist. Ranma calmly picked up a small pebble and threw it at a
bubble. The bubble popped and the pebble fell to the ground, frozen.
Ranma smirked at Sailor Mercury. "I can dodge every single one
of these bubbles if I wanted to."
Ami smirked back at her opponent. "Really? I'd like to see you
try. Take this!"
With a gesture of her hands, Ami caused all the bubbles to
fly towards Ranma. The teenaged martial artist dodged frantically to
avoid getting frozen. He was almost hit several times, but in the end
he managed to evade them all.
"Hah! I told you could do it! Those bubbles were nothing. I
didn't even break a sweat. This fight is over."
Ranma took one step forward and slipped on a patch of ice on
the ground. He quickly jumped back to his feet but it was already too
late. Sailor Mercury had taken the opportunity to form a barrier of
solid ice all around him!
Ami inwardly rejoiced. Her plan worked! Ranma was now trapped
in a prison of solid ice. She turned towards Usagi and shouted at the
top of her lungs.
"Now, Sailormoon! Hit him now!"
Usagi got to her feet and started twirling around to do her
healing attack. She raised her wand high into the air and started
focusing her power onto it. She started to glow as she gathered more
and more energy.
"Moon..."
Ami raised both hands to the cage to better focus her power.
Ranma was trying to break through the ice with his fists and she had
to constantly reinforce it with her energy. The act was draining her
of power fast, and she wasn't sure if she could contain Ranma long
enough for Usagi to hit him. If only Usagi's attack didn't take so long
to execute!
Ami scowled in frustration. Whoever came up with the idea of
incorporating dances into attacks anyway? Not only did it take forever
to do even the weakest attacks, it made the senshi vulnerable to sleazy
photographers looking to make a quick buck by selling photos of them
'in action'.
"Healing..."
Ami fell to her knees as she lost more and more power. Her
life flashed before her eyes, and she blushed despite herself during
the naughtier bits.
"Esca-- ooof!"
Just as she was about to do her attack, Usagi slipped on
another patch of ice left over from Ami's attack. She rubbed her bottom
as the pain of falling on her butt from a standing position hit her
full force. "Owie... it hurts...."
Ami fell to her knees, her power completely spent. All of the
ice she created started melting rapidly as the energy that kept it
solid ran out. Ice cold water drenched the ground everywhere, pooling
in the lower areas and running down the walls of the barrier she had
trapped Ranma in. She waited expectantly for Ranma to burst out of his
prison and put her out of her misery.
The sight that greeted her when the ice cage melted took her
completely by surprise.
*****
"Momma, I'm starving! I wanna eat spaghetti!"
Rose turned around from feeding the triplets in order to
address the hunger of her only son. "Ryota dear, we don't have any
spaghetti. If you want, mommy will make you some instant ramen.
Would you like that, honey?"
"I don't want ramen! I want spaghetti! Ramen tastes like poo!"
Rose's eyes flared. "Now dear, ramen does _not_ taste like...
who taught you that word anyway?"
Ryota grinned at his mother. "Uncle Ryoga did! I was playing
in the living room and Uncle Ryoga was talking to Dad and he said that
instant ramen tastes like poo!"
Rose frowned at her son. "Listen to me, dear, that word is
_not_ to be used in polite conver-- Akane don't throw that!"
Ryota nodded briskly while Rose tended to his younger sister.
He wondered whether he should inform her that Kasumi and Nabiki were
trying to jab each other with their utensils but decided against it
since he wanted to see what would happen if one of them succeeded.
"Okay, mom. I'll just use the other one that Uncle Ryoga
taught me. It's a different word but it means the same thing! It's
sh--"
Rose clamped a hand over her son's mouth. "Son I... I'm going
to have a talk with your father. In the meantime, don't use any words
that your Uncle Ryoga taught you in front of your sisters!"
Rose called out towards the living room, where her husband
was watching a baseball game. "Ranma, do you have any idea what kind
of language your friends have been teaching our son?"
Hearing no answer, Rose made her way out of the kitchen and
started walking towards the living room. She hadn't even gotten halfway
when the sound of a little girl bawling interrupted her.
"Mommeeeee! Shampoo took my dolly again!"
Rose ran up the stairs and opened the room her two eldest
daughters shared. Ukyo was crying her eyes out while her older sister
Shampoo was sitting on her bed and playing with one of Ukyo's dolls.
"Shampoo, why did you take Ukyo's doll?"
Shampoo pointed an accusing finger at her younger sister. "She
started it! She took my tea set!"
Rose rolled her eyes and turned to Ukyo. "Why did you take
Shampoo's tea set?"
Ukyo stopped crying and tried to speak between sobs. "I... I...
I just wanted... to have a... tea party."
Rose turned towards Shampoo. "Look, your sister just wants to
have a tea party. Why don't you just lend her your tea set for a bit?"
Shampoo pouted. "I only gonna lend her my tea set if she's
gonna invite me to her tea party."
Rose turned towards her other daughter. "Did you hear that,
honey? Shampoo will let you borrow her tea set if you just invite her
to your tea party!"
Ukyo frowned in disgust. "I don't wanna invite Shampoo to my
tea party."
Rose's face twitched at Ukyo's reply. "Why not, dear?"
Ukyo glared at her older sister. "'Cuz she's ugly."
At that, Shampoo sprang from her bed and tackled her sister
to the ground. "I am _not_ ugly!"
Ukyo grabbed handfuls of Shampoo's hair as she shouted back.
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too infinity!"
"Am not infinity!"
"Hey, you can't do that! Am not infinity doesn't beat are too
infinity!"
"It does too beat are too infinity!"
"Does not!"
"Does too!"
"Does not!"
"Mommeeeee!"
"Enough!"
Rose fought to stay calm as she stared her daughters down.
Sensing that their mother was angry and they were in danger of being
on the receiving end of some serious spanking, the two girls piped
down. Rose picked up the doll on Shampoo's bed and sat it down on the
toy chair in the middle of the room. She took the tea set from Ukyo's
bed and arranged it on the table. She then sat her daughters down on
opposite sides of the toy table.
"What are you two going to say to each other?"
The two youngsters exchanged looks of mutual hatred as they
said the words that their mother expected.
"I'm sorry I took your tea set and pulled your hair and called
you ugly."
"I'm sorry I took your doll and knocked you over."
Rose nodded in satisfaction. "Now you two are going to have
a tea party, and you're going to enjoy it! Am I making myself clear?"
The two children frowned as they replied in chorus.
"Yes, Mom."
Rose walked angrily out of the room and made her way to the
living room, where Ranma was still watching baseball.
"Do you have any idea where your children are right now?"
Ranma ignored her and continued watching. Rose growled in
anger and stalked towards the television before turning it off.
"I said do you have any idea where your children are right
now?"
Having noticed that the television was turned off and his
wife was in another of her moods, Ranma raised an eyebrow and acted
like nothing was amiss.
"Where the kids are? What are you talking about? You didn't
lose any of them, did you?"
Rose rolled her eyes. "That's not what I mean! What I mean is
that while you were here watching your stupid baseball game, I was
feeding the triplets and working out a peace treaty between your two
older daughters and... and... did you know that Ryoga has been teaching
Ryota all kinds of words that little children shouldn't know?"
Ranma grinned. "He's all grown up now, isn't he?"
Rose started wringing her hands in anger. "Ranma, Ryota is
eight years old!"
Ranma nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I know. I've been thinking
that it's time I taught him a few moves so he won't get beat up on by
the bullies in the playground. Didn't you tell me that he came home
the other day with two missing front teeth?"
Rose glared daggers at her husband. "Ranma, those two front
teeth didn't belong to Ryota. He's a bully himself! I've been called
to school twice already because of his behavior."
Ranma smiled. "Yep, he's a chip off the ol' block alright. A
fighter just like his father!"
Rose's shoulders sagged in defeat. She turned away from her
husband and wiped a tear from her eye. "Ranma, how can you say that?
Our children are turning into little monsters and you don't even seem
to be concerned!"
Ranma got up from the couch put his arms around Rose. "Hey,
relax. They're beautiful, perfect little kids. They're gonna grow up
to be beautiful and perfect just like their mother. Have I told you
lately that you're beautiful, honey? I'd never guess from looking at
you that you've already had six children!"
Rose turned her face away to hide the smile that made its way
unbidden to the corners of her lips. "Ranma, don't change the subject.
I'm... I... oooh...."
Ranma massaged his wife's shoulders slowly as he rained soft
kisses on the nape of her neck and behind her ear. "Actually, I _have_
been thinking a lot about the kids lately."
Rose closed her eyes as she enjoyed the affections of her
husband. "Really?"
Ranma whispered softly into Rose's left ear as he continued
massaging her. "Yeah, I've been thinking that we ought to have a few
more."
*****
"Nooooo!"
Rose sat up from her bed and looked at her surroundings. She
was drenched in sweat and breathing in gasps. Whatever dream she had
just had, she was glad she couldn't remember it.
'Where am I?,' Rose asked herself as she took in her
surroundings while trying to figure out how she got there.
"Oh, you're awake! How nice. Would you like something to
drink? Tea perhaps? Ryoga already left, by the way."
Rose turned to the source of the voice and recognized it as
Kasumi. The sight of the eldest Tendo daughter reminded her of what
happened. she was talking to Ranma's mother and trying to make the
woman understand that she was there to keep Ranma from Bison's evil
clutches, not to bear his children. It hadn't gone well.
"Er... listen, about marrying Ranma...."
Kasumi smiled brightly at Rose. "Oh, don't worry about it.
Mousse told us everything. Actually, I've been meaning to apologize
to you. I had no idea you didn't want to marry Ranma yet."
Rose breathed a sigh of relief. "It's okay, I don't really
mind. I thought that Ryoga and Mousse were exaggerating when they
told me about Ranma's womanizing ways but apparently-- did you just
say I don't want to marry Ranma _yet_?"
Kasumi regarded Rose with an expression of amusement. "Well,
of course. Now that you've gotten involved with him, it's pretty much
inevitable."
Rose laughed out loud. "I don't know what you're talking about,
but I _know_ I'd never want to marry Ranma. He's too young!"
Kasumi giggled cutely as she retrieved a sheet of paper from
behind her. "Would you care to make a bet? Nabiki has the odds pegged
at ten to one in your favor."
*****
Ranma, now in female form, looked around himself in confusion.
The last thing he remembered was falling asleep in Makoto's apartment.
He even remembered having a strange dream involving her. Now, however,
he was standing in the middle of a field and soaking wet.
The amount of destruction in the area around him indicated
that a battle had taken place there. The state of his clothing coupled
with the splitting headache that he was feeling hinted that there was
a good chance he was involved in it somehow. The presence of Usagi and
her friends in their cheerleading outfits was a sign that they were
involved in it too, and their broken down states told him that they
were probably losing. The generous amount of nubile female flesh on
display told him nothing, but he took all of it in just the same.
Ranma knew he had to quickly and carefully analyze what he
knew and figure out what was going on. By correlating the present
circumstances with his past experiences, he determined that there was
a good chance that he had either found or acquired a brand new fiance.
Maybe even several of them.
Ranma sighed. New fiancees were always trouble, but he could
never really bring himself to hate them. They were much too cute and
cuddly. They were like puppies, but with less fur and more curves. He
would just have to find some way to ditch them until he could figure
out how he was going to settle his marriage problems once and for--
"My Lady Athan, you have returned! It is I, Endymion. Finally,
after all these years, we can be together!"
Ranma turned around to see a strange man wearing a top hat
running towards him. The inhuman speed with which the man moved and
the crazed, lecherous look in his eyes made it clear what he wanted.
"Happo no Yen Coin Return!"
A large energy attack came at the man from behind him and
threw him into the sky. A large sweat drop formed behind Ranma's head
as he watched the man's form shrink until it was but a speck in the
sky.
"Yeah! I got him! Take _that_, you delinquent!"
Ranma recognized the voice before he even turned to the man's
assailant. Ms. Hinako was jumping up and down with glee, displaying
that her teenaged form had just as much bounce as her adult body. She
stopped when she saw him looking at her and pointed at him.
"As for you, Mr. Saotome, I'm taking you home with me!"
A thousand possibilities of what she could have meant by that
went through Ranma's mind, none of them good. He turned around to run
away from the deranged teacher and found himself face to face with
Ami Mizuno.
"A girl... Ranma... you...."
Ami mumbled a few more words that Ranma couldn't understand
and poked Ranma's breasts a few times with her finger.
"Real... they're... you're...."
Ranma shook his head. His new friends hadn't been able to
give him good advice when he told them of his girl problems so he was
hoping to keep his curse under wraps. Now the cat was out of the bag
and he'd have to explain himself.
"Er... about this whole girl thing... it's kinda hard to
explain but--"
"My fault! It's all my fault! Ranma I'm so sorry... I don't
know how but I reactivated your curse!" Ami broke down into tears and
covered her face in shame.
Ranma suddenly found himself face to face with a half-naked,
crying girl. Being in such a situation would be bad enough normally,
but it was doubly so because he wasn't exactly sure what the situation
was. It looked like Ami already knew about his curse, though. Probably
by listening to rumors about him from Nerima. Oh well, at least he
wouldn't have to waste time explaining it to her and her friends.
"Uh... yeah. I guess you did."
*****
"You're moving a little slower there! Are you tired already?"
Urd smirked at Morrigan as she and World of Elegance formed
deadly balls of fire in their hands. They surrounded Morrigan, one on
each side. Seconds later, they unleashed their flaming projectiles
upon their opponent.
Morrigan tried to form an energy barrier to reflect the shots,
but was surprised to find that she could not. The shapely succubus was
forced to fly out of the way instead, barely evading her opponents'
attacks.
Morrigan raised her eyebrows in wonder. Could it be that... no.
What she was thinking was impossible. Ranma couldn't have escaped. She
just made a mistake. That was all.
"Kyaaaa!"
Morrigan threw a kick aimed at Urd's face which the goddess of
love evaded easily. She followed it up with a slash of her wings which
met with similar results. Urd retaliated with a backhand blow that sent
her tumbling across the ground.
"What's the matter? All tired out? I could go on like this for
few more hundred years at least!"
Morrigan struggled to stand and spat blood onto the ground.
The flow of energy coming from Ranma had stopped, leaving her unable
to match her opponent's power. What happened? Could Ranma have escaped
her binding? That was impossible! Still, she couldn't deny that she
could no longer feel her connection to Ranma and her energy was going
down to dangerously low levels.
*****
"Dead Scream."
Lilith was caught completely by surprise by Setsuna's attack.
She attempted to dodge it at the last minute, but she wasn't fast
enough. The ball of energy hit her left leg and exploded with a loud
bang. The impact sent her flying through the wall of the music room.
As luck would have it, she slammed straight into Morrigan,
who was standing outside. Setsuna calmly walked out through the hole
Lilith left in the wall and raised her staff towards the pair.
"It would appear that you exhausted all of your power getting
me to do the Macarena. The fun and games are over. I am giving you one
last chance. Surrender or die."
From the air, Urd landed gracefully on the ground opposite
Setsuna. World of Elegance followed shortly. She charged up a ball of
energy in her hand and smirked at the two succubae.
"Well, it looks like you two have lost this one."
Lilith tried to stand but the pain in her hip prevented her
from doing so. She cried out as red hot flashes of pain crawled through
her body. She turned to Morrigan, and the two of them exchanged
meaningful looks. They were backed into a corner now, and there was
only one thing they could do.
Morrigan and Lilith took each other in their arms and started
kissing passionately.
*****
"Aaaargh! How could I ever live with myself after the way I
acted... and to a nice girl like Kasumi no less! I'm nothing but a
scumbag who treats women like dirt and takes them for granted! I've
turned into that which I hate the most! I've become like Ranma!"
Ryoga held his head low in shame as he ran aimlessly through
street after street. He didn't know what to do now. He loved Akane
with all of his heart, but he couldn't bear to show his face to Kasumi
after what he put her through. He would just have to stay away from
the Tendo residence from now on. A man like him had no business in the
warm, caring environment that Akane lived in. Akane... if only he
could look upon her just one last--
"Ouch! Watch where you're going, would you!"
Ryoga turned his head to see what had hit him. It might have
been a person, an animal, or even a car. He was just too out of it to
notice. His eyes detected what looked like a person in front of him,
but he couldn't be sure because the tears were making it hard to see.
He took one of the bandannas tied around his head and wiped his eyes
before taking another look. He was promptly treated to the sight of
an unknown schoolgirl's underwear. Blood started to flow from both of
his nostrils.
*****
"Ow..."
Akane winced as she brought her legs together and rubbed her
bottom gingerly. That guy had come out from around the corner too fast
for her to stop. She was running pretty fast when she hit that guy,
but he hadn't even moved when she bumped into him. Well, he was surely
going to move when she gave him a taste of her--
"Ryoga!"
Akane's anger quickly dissipated when she discovered that it
was just her friend, Ryoga. He was probably lost again, which would
explain why he hadn't been able to avoid her. He seemed a bit out of
it, though. His nose was bleeding, too.
Worried, she waved a hand in front of his face to try and get
his attention. "Ryoga, are you okay?"
A sickly smile appeared on Ryoga's face as the image of that
girl's panties etched itself into his memories. Being the gentleman
that he was, such sights were rarely presented to him. They were rare
treasures to be kept forever.
"White... with... Hello ki-- aaah!"
Akane cradled her stinging right hand as she waited for
Ryoga's reaction. She had slapped him pretty hard, but he was acting
like he'd lost his mind or something.
Ryoga's eyes slowly regained focus. What had happened just now?
He remembered walking around, thinking about how he had wronged Kasumi,
then nothing. He looked up and found a familiar visage looking back at
him.
"A... Akane! What are you doing here? Did I circle back to
Nerima?"
Akane smiled with relief. Ryoga was finally acting like his
old self. "Hello, Ryoga. This isn't Nerima. We're in Juuban right now.
Actually, I'm here looking for Ranma."
Ryoga frowned. "Ranma? What's he doing in Juuban?"
*****
"Ms. Akane! Ms. Akane! Where are you?"
Konatsu looked around him, trying to find where Akane had
gone. He was running after her, trying to tell her that the school
was in the opposite direction from where she was running to, but he
lost sight of her when he stopped to help an old lady cross the road.
Now all he could do was walk towards the school and hope she would
eventually find her way there.
"Looking for someone?"
Konatsu stopped to see who spoke, then smiled brightly when
he found out who it was.
"Nabiki-san! What are you doing here?"
Nabiki grinned at Ukyo's friend. She had met him before at the
Ucchan's and liked him straight away. He was simple-minded and easy to
manipulate, just like Ranma.
"I'm going over to the school to bring Ranma home. What about
you, what are _you_ doing here?"
Konatsu grinned and scratched the back of his head. "The same
thing, actually, only I was with Ms. Akane... and now she's run off."
Nabiki smiled back. "Well, that's our Akane for you. She's
always going off on her own and getting into trouble. Don't worry about
her, though. She can take care of herself."
Konatsu nodded thoughtfully. "I see. In that case, I should
accompany you instead. You don't know any martial arts and I could
protect you if you were to get in danger."
Nabiki looped her arm around Konatsu's and started walking
towards the school again.
"You know, that's not such a bad idea."
*****
"I see. Ranma spent all that time goofing off in Nerima just
so he could transfer here where he can be free to do what he wants with
those two girlfriends of his that he never told anyone about."
Akane nodded towards Ryoga in agreement. "Exactly."
Ryoga balled his hands into fists in his anger. "That sly
little snake, playing with your feelings that way. All those times that
he picked fights with me... he must have been planning this from the
start! To think that I've been tricked into playing a part in his evil
plans... it's unforgivable! I'm going to kill him!"
Akane smiled at Ryoga. Finally, someone who understood her
feelings! "You do that, Ryoga. Come with me, I think the school's this
way."
*****
"I'm sorry, Ranma. I'm so sorry!"
Ranma raised an eyebrow at Ami's reaction to his change. He
had seen people laugh, gape in wonder, fall madly in love, fall madly
in lust, and run away in fear the first time they saw him change. Ami
would be the first to burst into tears, though.
"Hey... it's not all that bad... I've kinda gotten--"
"No," Ami interrupted before Ranma could finish what he was
saying. "Even if it was an accident, it's my fault that you got that
way. I should take responsibility for it."
"Um... great."
Ranma wasn't exactly sure what the big deal about taking
responsibility for getting him wet was. At most, she'd have to get him
some hot water and run his clothes through the dryer.
"I've come to a decision." Ami's eyes hardened with resolve
as she clenched her right hand into a fist.
"I'm going to marry you."
*****
Author's Rant
First off, I'd like to thank Black Dragon for nagging me about
this chapter and forcing me to get off my lazy ass and sit down to do
some writing. This chapter would have been even later in coming if it
wasn't for him!
Speaking of which, I'm sure a lot of you are wondering what
happened to me these past few months. Contrary to the rumors that have
been floating around, I did _not_ elope with Britney Spears, marry her
in a top secret wedding ceremony in Vegas, then proceed to perform so
horribly in our honeymoon that she had an affair with Madonna. Nope
nope nope.
(awkward silence)
I'm sorry, what was I saying just now? Whatever it was,
ignore it. I haven't been taking my medication lately and the suspense
of waiting for Naruto chapter 193 has been driving me up the walls.
It's sorta like how Black Dragon gets when I don't update,
except it's much harder for him because he lives in a deep, dark
dungeon where all the walls are equipped with sharp, pointy spikes
that pierce the tires of his porche when he tries to drive up them.
(awkward silence, a tumbleweed rolls past)
What was that? I seem to have forgotten everything that I did
for the past five minutes or so. It's a side effect of the medication
I just took. I don't really mind, though. I figure it's a small price
to pay for the ability to realize that I'm a delusional fool who thinks
Black Dragon lives in a dungeon and has fantasies involving Vegas,
Britney Spears, and Madonna.
Now where was I?
Oh, yeah. I was writing the author's notes. Anyway, I'd like to
start off by thanking Black Dragon for nagging me about this chapter
and forcing me to get off my lazy ass and sit down to do some writing.
He actually thought I'd lost interest in writing ATFWH! This chapter
would have been even later in coming if it wasn't for him! It's really
amazing how much one nagging email can get me moving (nudge, nudge,
wink, wink)
I wonder why more people don't email me like Black Dragon
did telling me how cool my fic is and why there isn't more of it
coming out? (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)
Seriously, I'm kinda worried that everyone forgot about me
since it really _has_ been a while. I reinstalled my email client and
the inbox looks so barren without all the flames... er... I mean the
_fanmail_ filling it up.
Speaking of which, I'm sure a lot of you are wondering what
happened to me these past few months. Has it really been almost a
quarter of a year since I updated? You bet it has! Have I been working
on making ATFWH the best fic ever all this time? Hell no!
The thing is, I had no idea getting my master's degree would
entail so much work. I've just finished work on a histogram matching
image search program and right now I'm busy learning JMS (the Java
Messaging System) and as we all know, JMS is the root of all evil.
It's the reason Iraq was invaded and the cause of half of all blue
screens encountered by windows users worldwide.
If anyone knows how to send and receive files with JMS, please
tell me before I turn into a delusional fool who thinks Black Dragon
lives in a dungeon and has fantasies involving Vegas, Britney Spears,
and Madonna. Seriously, it's driving me up the walls, folks.
Well, aside from my adventures with JMS, I've also been busy
watching/reading Naruto (which rules), finishing watching Sakura Wars
(which sucked), downloading Saigado and Mogudan's latest stuff (which
rulz), learning to become the greatest Soul Calibur 2 Talim player the
world has ever seen (not even close), applying savage beats in Magic:
the Gathering, catching up on reading the Uncanny X-Men, searching for
manga scans of Futari Ecchi (chaotixubs's bittorent link for chapter 11
is too chaotix), complaining about how much Snk vs Capcom sucks,
watching the new season of Full Metal Panic (Tessa-sama/Sagara forever!
Chidori sucks and shares a name with a sissy move from Naruto!),
failing to find a single place to download Comic Party, and having
crazy delusions involving Vegas, Britney Spears, and Madonna.
Naw, I'm not annoyed with how they'd seemingly do anything to
sell a few more records. Not at all.
Needless to say, I haven't been able to spend as much time
on fanfiction writing as I would have wanted to. In spite on the huge
gap between the release of this chapter and the last one, I actually
spent less time on this chapter than any of the previous ones.
I wanted to finish up the fight on this chapter, but it just
wasn't written in the stars. Next chapter, maybe, I hope. (as an aside,
I started out thinking that ATFWH would be about fifteen chapters long)
Finally, I would like to thank Groo, Vex, Egan Mandreck, Kevin
Henry, John Rasmussen, Bryan Cupp, Jiro, Tonyloco, Chester, Shade,
Seaver, Griever, Juan P. Garibotti, and Charles Stitman for all of the
help they have given me on this chapter.
I'm starting to run out of stuff to rant about, so I'm just
gonna thank all the folks who pointed me towards stuff I was looking
for on the net. I owe you all, especially the good people at Sabin's
forum (which disappeared! ;_;).
Please send C&C to ukyo_rulz@edsamail.com.ph
Visit my homepage (www.geocities.com/ex_fuk) for new chapters.