Special Author's Note: 'Smarter?' Book 1 is titled 'Smarter', Book 2 is titled 'Alpha'. Book 3 is titled 'The Calm', and Book 4 is titled 'Omega'. Sorry for any confusion!
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Standard Disclaimer (Not that I'm into all this, but…)
Smarter? Part 2:
Alpha: Chapter 2:
Control
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Ryouga closed his eyes as Ranma-chan sped towards him.
"Stop. You will not pass through the barrier, Chaos." Ryouga opened his eyes and saw a young man standing in front of him with a hand facing toward Ranma. A shimmering shield had been erected in front of them, and Ranma was pacing on the other side.
"Says who? I can break this with ease." Ranma-chan hissed, a treacherous grin spreading across her face.
"You may be able to, but I am Reijo Ishiro, mage of Order, and brother to Yuki Ishiro. I'm sure you wouldn't hurt my sibling, even indirectly, so give up."
"A smart one, eh? Well, it seems you've won this round, Order Mage, be wary of the oncoming darkness. Explain it to my mortal form." Ranma-chan smiled, before flopping into a sitting position on the ground, and rubbing her head. She let out a moan, and collapsed to her side, sleeping.
"Terra chose Chaos as her avatar? This will complicate some matters..."
"Brother! What are you doing here? Is Ranma all right?"
"He is fine, but there's something you should know. The reason he is able to channel chaos magic is...well... he is the incarnation of Chaos. Chaos is dying, and has chosen him as her successor. You didn't feel a crazed avatar, you felt Chaos breaking the barrier between worlds and dimensions."
"This could complicate things to no end..."
"Yes, it could. We have to explain everything to Ranma when he wakes up."
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'This is could be profitable,' Nabiki thought, listening through headphones in her room. 'I can sell this to Cologne and Happosai, and Kuno would be thrilled to know that his pig-tailed goddess was really otherworldly in ways.' Nabiki quickly picked up the phone... and found the wires cut and being held in Dr. Tofu's hands.
"Tell me, Nabiki, would you really want Chaos herself to be mad at you? She could make your life more chaotic than Ranma's after all. I don't think it would be fun." Tofu gave Nabiki a reproachful look, before giving her the wires, and turning to leave the house. Unfortunately, he was caught up in an unexpected activity, "K-K-Kasumi! Fancy meeting you here!" The said activity would be known as the breaking of the Tendo home.
Nabiki calculated the damage totals, and fainted on the spot.
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Ranma-chan rubbed her head, groaning in pain. The world slowly spun around and focused in front of her eyes.
"He's awake, sister."
Ranma-chan looked up and saw the young man who had stopped her rampage. She managed to whisper out, "Thanks for stopping me..." before collapsing onto her back as she saw swirls fly around her head.
"Oh, geez. There has to be a leaky Order mage around here," Yuki muttered. She looked around and spotted the 'leaky Order mage'. A lone figure was perched at the edge of the parking lot, balancing on a cane.
"Cologne..." Yuki stared as her brother seemed to go crazy after muttering the name. "You foolish amateur! You still can't get the Order magic under control!? Even this four-week student has been able to control the Chaos energies! Geez! You're killing him with your leaking order!"
"You think son-in-law is able to die from a little leaky Order, idiot? I doubt it."
"You're right, Ranma won't die from the Order," Reijo sneered, sarcastically, "after all, the fact that he is Chaos incarnate won't let him die!" He glared at Cologne to finish his statement.
"You think son-in-law is Chaos herself? Don't delude yourself with male arrogance. She would never choose a gender-bender like him to hold herself." Cologne smiled triumphantly as she hobbled closer to Ranma.
"No, you may be right." Ranma-chan's voice floated out from her prone form. "Chaos wouldn't choose me because I'm a so-called 'gender-bender' ("which by the way, makes me not want to marry Shampoo even more." Cologne grimaced here) but she would choose me for the chaos in my life. And also, I have Jusenkyou's balancing seal thing. It makes my male and female forms no stronger than each other. You know of this, right Cologne, matriarch of the Amazons?" Ranma-chan had sat up partway through her speech, and was now glaring daggers at the wrinkled figure on the cane.
"!" was all Cologne could think of in reply. She could see Ranma's skin fluctuating from male to female because of the clashing energies, and she knew that if the insides were to change to the wrong size... that Ranma would probably die... or give birth to child that he fathered and mothered.
Ranma-chan wondered why Cologne had left laughing her head off. She shivered as she thought of the disturbing sound Cologne made in order to laugh. A little while ago, she wouldn't have believed that Cologne could make a laugh almost as good as Kodachi's, but now she believed.
"Okay, Ranma. We need a new name for your female form. How about using your customary 'Ranko'?" Yuki smiled at Ranma-chan.
"Okay, Yuki, but why?"
"Our superiors will try to kill us under the beliefs that we haven't 'cleansed' someone of a 'Chaos cursed life'."
"Kuno related?"
"Tatewaki's great-grandfather."
"Makes sense."
P-chan shivered on the ground, sorry for the poor trainees that were under Great-Grandfather Kuno's care. Then he wondered when he had turned into a pig...
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Author's Notes:
Wheeeee! I'm soooooooo bored! I typed up two things today! I also got my parents pissed! I raised my grades and they got pissed! ... That makes no sense... oh well. Anyway, I posted a short crossover fic for Ranma/Spirited Away. I was bored. It's sort of an AU story. Go read it if you want.
2 chapters in one week! Yay! I'm uploading them separately though, because I'm too lazy to find my floppy disk again. Have fun, and enjoy the story!
E-mail me any complaints, questions, comments, or suggestions. Or put them in the review section. R&R or C&C! Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed the fic!
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-Ayanami Rei