Disclaimer: Nothing here really belongs to me, I'm just borrowing the characters to tell a story right quick. If someone wants to borrow from me, for whatever reason, feel free. I can hardly complain, since I'm borrowing from Ranma, Sailor Moon, and likely other anime and fanfiction for that matter :)
Authors Notes: Here's chapter two, new formatting style in place. Let me know if this style is readable or not. After all the help I've been offered on the topic, I really want to get at least that much right :P As always, I have nothing like a pre-reader, just me, myself, and a spell checker. I will appreciate any commentary, useful, or flame-like :) Useful commentary will be put to use as soon as I take it in :)
Consequences and Surprises
Chimneys, telephone poles, fence posts. All these things were briefly touched by slippered feet, without any real attention given to doing so. As long as it was in his path, it became part of the road he was bounding along as fast as he could make himself go. Judging by the screaming of the wind as he whipped along, that was plenty fast enough.
Now what. I meant to tell them that, but it really didn't make anything better. I still feel like breaking something!
Ranma grimaced as his head pounded and his temper refused to give way to the Soul of Ice he had been using. It was all that had let him get through doing that in the first place. Especially after seeing how Akane and Kasumi reacted... Kasumi he had expected a little sadness from. She was just nice that way. But the pale faced horror she had shown... Akane though, that had shocked him almost out of the technique entirely! She didn't just blow him off, or say good riddance. He had been bracing himself for something like that, not the confused disbelief she had shown at his tirade.
His father, no... Genma had reacted almost exactly as he'd expected. No matter how bad something seemed to be for his supposed son, Genma only cared about what affected himself. To the fat panda, no one else counted... No one ever had.
Now he was faced with quite a few loose ends, even after cutting ties the way he had.
Damn it, I don't even have a way to go ronin without leaving a lot of problems to deal with. My family is a total loss, even the half I didn't want to lose.
His face twisted as he thought of his former mother.
I couldn't even go to her with these things, Genma's promises weren't hers to break. If he didn't undo his messes, then it was up to me to fix em... Lazy bastard..
A brief glimmer of chi began leaving a green and red trail behind the leaping figure as he lost his grip on it for a moment.
Crap! I gotta keep that wrapped up!
He gritted his teeth in his effort to concentrate, and the faint trail of chi stopped following him as he kept rushing along.
I really don't need to leave an obvious path for all the loonies to follow. Not that they won't anyway, but I really don't need to speed them up any.
He cast his gaze around, just now starting to take stock of where he was and where he was headed at the moment.
The Amazons are going to get wind of this pretty soon, along with the old letch.. The rest don't have any real cause to come after me... other than pure stupidity or insanity. Guess I can't predict the Kuno's. Then again, I never tried anyway.. Damn crazies never did do anything that made sense.
His mind started churning over the likely reactions of all those left not yet dealt with.
I need to find a place I can hole up for a while. Somewhere I can deal with anyone that follows me, or attacks without paying attention to who or what's around them. Can't let any non-combatants get caught up in one of these explosions of random violence. No one else in this madhouse ever cared to check before they start throwing around high powered attacks!
Ranma's eyes finally settled on a small, unused lot near the edge of Nerima.
Whew... I didn't think I was this close to the edge yet. Oh well, its as good a spot as any to bring all this crap to an end.
Ranma dropped from the last roof line near the edge of the lot to the remaining rubble in the lot. A quick look around revealed a large mostly dirt covered area, with the remains of a condemned two story building in the center.
This ought to work fine. Plenty of room, nothing valuable to break, and no neighbors close enough to worry about them. All that's left is to wait on the rest of them to decide to chase me down. Feh. That shouldn't take very long. I give em an hour tops, before they start showing up to scream and fight.
Ranma slowly sat down on the edge of a broken wall, near the front of the buildings remains. He worked to bring his anger, and the resulting boiling chi, under control while he had some peace.
He slowly, but surely, felt his emotions begin to settle as he entered a light meditation. He kept his senses trained on his surroundings though. It wouldn't help anything to get jumped while he dealt with this. With a brief shudder, his body relaxed slightly as he entered the state of mental clarity he needed. It was going to be hard to keep holding the bulk of his strength back, if he couldn't deal with the coming people without feeling so damn angry.
With a sigh and a quick shake of his head, Ranma left the light trance he had entered.
Here she comes.. eh? that's odd... I wonder why the old ghoul is here alone?
Ranma stood up slowly and let himself drop into a loose ready stance, just in case.
The distinct sound of a wooden stick clacking on roof tiles echoed over the lot as Elder Cologne came bouncing into view. She moved without hurrying to the lot itself, the simply hopped up to the edge of the wall that Ranma was waiting on. She turned to face him, and simply gazed expressionlessly for a moment.
"So.. finally decided to act instead of react eh, Son-in-Law?" came the familiar raspy voice of the Elder.
"Eh? What do you mean finally?" Ranma gaped at the tiny Elder with surprise showing clearly in his face.
"I mean to say, I had hoped you would finally realize that nothing would change for the better, if you never made an effort to change things for yourself."
She smirked slightly as she settled herself down into a seated position on the walls edge.
"You've done very well in learning the art boy, but life is a lesson that takes much effort to enter through that thick skull of yours."
Ranma simply blinked, stunned past all his expectations with this last statement from the old ghoul. He sank down and sat abruptly as he began to realize he had no idea what the crazy old ghoul was up to now. It made no sense at all that she had wanted him to do this... or at least something like it.
"Wait... you mean you approve of this? You wanted me to do this? I figured you would just jump me and try and run off to China with me, not sit here and congratulate me!"
"Approve of this? Well, that might be a bit more than I meant, but close enough. You have been in dire need of a dose of spine in my opinion, and this is a good sign that you've started to grow one for yourself."
She grinned at the scowl now showing on his face.
"Now, now, Son-in-Law.. Don't get too worked up. I still have matters to settle with you after all. You still need to take care of my great grand-daughter's loss of honor!"
The elder's face settled into a firm stare at this announcement.
Ranma's expression firmed up as well.
"There's a couple things I have to make real clear you old... Elder Cologne. I won't be going back to China for any reason, and I am not going to put up with being forced to do anything by anyone!"
He struggled not to lose his current hold on his temper, especially as the elder had merely raised an eyebrow at this statement.
"What will you offer me then Ranma? I cannot let the matter rest as it is. My great grand-daughter must have her honor restored, one way or another. On this point, I will not budge."
Her eyes narrowed as she gazed at the young mans face.
"You must be willing to make a worthy offer to Shampoo and the village itself, if you want to avoid dealing with the two Kisses you have been given."
She paused and laid her hands in her lap.
"I'd hate to have to re-instate the Kiss of Death, which is all I currently have left as an option the way things stand boy.", her voice sounding particularly tired at that moment.
In a puzzled and somewhat confused voice Ranma blurted out, "Worthy offer? What the... What can I offer a whole village that they would want? All I know how to do is fight, and everyone in your village can already do that."
He shook his head and gave the elder a puzzled look. He really hadn't expected her to do anything like this. What did she expect from him? This sort of deal making was Nabiki's area... not his!
Rolling her eyes ever so slightly, she replied, "Ranma, do you even realize what you have done over the last year or so? Perhaps I can jog your memory a little. The Orochi, Prince Herb, for heavens sake Saffron! Do any of these names ring a bell Ranma?"
Both eyebrows going up he shrugged and said, "Well yeah... I fought all those guys I suppose.."
"And what was the outcome in each case Ranma?"
"Err, I beat them.. after a rematch in Herb's case I suppose. Why does this matter, umm.. Elder?" a very puzzled Ranma asked.
"You foolish boy.. All right, I'll give you one last lesson on this sort of thing today. This is likely the last lesson I will be able to give you for quite a while, so listen up. In this last year, you have defeated both of the most feared enemies of my tribe, with little more than an eye blink of time to train. None of the warriors of the village would even dream of attempting something so insane as attacking Lord Saffron without years, even decades of training, as well as support from dozens of allies. Even then, we would expect a near total loss of life, in exchange for slowing him down! Do you begin to realize what we might see in you my boy? Think! Then try and make an offer I should be willing to hear."
The elder then settled back, and peered hopefully at Ranma's once again stunned features.
Ranma was reeling internally at this point. This day had been the cap to a volcano of anger and frustration, topped off by the shocks he'd received at the Tendo's when he had blown his top and cut ties... Now his entire idea of what Cologne had been wanting all this time was being turned on its ear! Make an offer? Defeated her enemies? What the heck was this? Feeling decidedly dizzy at this point, Ranma began rubbing his temples and tried to do as she'd asked.
He knew he had been better than most of the people he had met and fought for the past few years. The few times he was over matched, he just trained and came back to win the next round.. But surely he wasn't the only one that could have done these things? Was he? Well... judging by how serious the elder was being, maybe that really was the case. He hadn't really had time to compare himself to anyone outside of the usual suspects in a long while.
Hmm... she probably won't care if I take a look, seeing that she's tryin to teach me something here..
Ranma focused briefly on Cologne, and tried to get a idea of the strength of her chi. He hadn't even bothered to do this in the past, since he had assumed she would simply hide it from him. A few moments later, eyes bulging as he stared, Ranma nearly fell over in shock yet again.
Ranma blurted out, "I'm stronger than you? When? How? No way!"
Cologne began to chuckle out loud at the expression on the boy's face.
She grinned at him and said, "That's not an offer sonny boy, but it is an accurate observation. I will likely know more styles and techniques for some time, but I have not made a habit of fighting every powerful opponent I stumble across. Much less challenge gods to personal combat. I'd wondered how long it was going to take you to clue in on some of what I'm trying to say here. So then, beyond a somewhat rude way to say something like that... What else have you thought of?"
Ranma shook his head ruefully. This really felt strange to say.. but well.. it made sense, as long as you accepted what the elder had pointed out...
"I still won't be marryin anyone.. but maybe I could come to China, if you need me. I mean, if either of those two guys, you know.. Herb and Saffron, try attacking you.. I could head over there, and kick their butts for you.. That sound like a good deal? I mean, for droppin those Kisses and stuff?", Ranma nervously queried the elder.
The elder shook her head slowly as she started speaking, "Oh Ranma my boy, while better than not making an offer at all... That was really pathetic. Still, I'll take your offer. I'll even take it in the best light possible my boy. I will bring your offer to the rest of the Council and have the Kisses removed. I will expect no trouble from you though, if I ever have to call on you my boy. I know your sense of honor, so I'll not require anything but your word. Next time though, be firm when you make an offer like that. Not everyone has first hand evidence that you can back up your words. Offers made without at least the appearance of confidence are usually laughed off at best."
She stood and stretched lightly before saying, "Now then, I doubt the little delays I have placed in the path of the others will last much longer. So, if you wish to say anything else, now is the time."
"Well, yeah.. I guess I'll stick to saying thanks. You've done more in the last few minutes for me, than I remember anyone doing over the last two years. I guess I ought to say goodbye too, seeing as I doubt I'll be back here, or visiting China anytime soon. I'll try and get some kind of message to you I guess, when I find a place to stay for longer than a day or two..." Ranma trailed off at this, his face falling a bit.
"I wish you luck then my boy. It seems our time is up. Try not to do anything permanent to anyone.. I can feel that you are in control of yourself at the moment... Try to keep it that way until you've finished here."
With that last bit of advice, and a nod to Ranma, she swiftly dropped from the remains of the wall they had spoken on and leapt over the other side of the fence at the edge of the lot. Within a handful of seconds, the predicted others came bounding and leaping into view at the side of the lot opposite of the elders exit.
Ranma's lips twisted into a grimace, as he saw who all had arrived. Happosai, Ucchan, Ryoga, and Mousse all landed in various spots in the area next to the wall he stood on. He quickly decided on an approach. He brought his chi into tight focus and prepared to treat this round seriously. Control, or no control, he refused to be caught unprepared for the likely attacks from at least three of this group.
Two of them, true to the days trend, failed to play the game as he had expected. Both Happosai and Mousse simply leaped a second time and landed on nearby roofs. Happosai taking out a pipe and settling down, apparently to watch. Mousse simply folding his arms into his sleeves, and peering at the building Ranma was on with a neutral expression on his face.
Ryoga, however,did not disappoint.
"Ranma! You will pay for making Akane cry!", came the by now familiar words. Ryoga didn't stop at all, simply entering the lot and bounding straight at Ranma, umbrella leading the way.
Ucchan, her face distorted by both anger and signs of having cried recently, simply jumped to the top of the wall at a slight angle to Ryoga's leap. She said absolutely nothing as she came. Her face set and her giant spatula cocked.
Ranma skipped right past his usual fare. No insults, no comments at all. He slipped to the left of Ryoga's umbrella, placing Ucchan on the other side from him, then simply unleashed a full five hundred punches charged with chi into Ryoga's right side without even bothering to name the attack he used. His right leg lashed out and pushed his dazed target into the path of Ucchan's landing spot and the he simply circled around them both as they rolled out from the bad landings.
In a nearly expressionless voice Ranma ground out, "I don't have time for you and your stupid unannounced attacks Ryoga. Say goodnight, cause I'm only going to take the time to listen to words. Fighting is going to get you beaten to a pulp right now."
With that, he pulled far more chi into his hands than he had ever bothered to while fighting in Nerima, and simply blew Ryoga down through the remains of the building they were on, and well into a smoking hole on the other side. He immediately threw himself backwards and under the swing of Ucchan's weapon, just in time to get a close look at its business end. He then snapped both hands up and grabbed hold of the weapons shaft. A strong pull, followed by a backwards roll, brought Ucchan within reach of his legs.
He pulled her through a complete rotation, scissoring both legs around her as they went. When the roll was finished, he had her weapon across her body, and her arms pinned to her sides firmly with his legs.
As he tightened his grip he then said, "All right Ucchan. What'll it be... Talking, or the other option."
Ukyo struggled hard for a moment, trying to break the grip.. only to find the pressure increasing on all sides as a result.
Ranma just shook his head with a weary expression on his face and said, "No... not going to let you move, till you answer me.."
Ukyo finally let out a cry of frustration and lay still. She glowered at him from where she was pinned, anger warring with other emotions in her eyes.
"Why? Why did you just give up? How could you do this again? You always find some way to leave me behind!" she nearly shouted at him.
Ranma gave Ukyo a very startled look, gaping at her in confusion..
"What..? Leave you..? What the heck does that mean?" he spluttered out.
"What do you think Jackass! You managed to go and trash any chance at all for any of us! I can't marry a ronin!" she screamed with more than a hint of grief under the anger she was feeling.
"Damn it Ucchan, that's the whole point of this! I don't want to marry anyone, so long as it's going to dishonor anyone else too. There wasn't any other way to make this mess work out. I did everything I knew how to do..." he trailed off with a mix of frustration and sadness in his voice.
"Oh gods... you could have come to me. I would have helped you fix this mess if you'd just asked! I love you, you idiot! I wanted to be your wife..." she nearly burst into tears as she forced herself to talk instead.
Ranma slumped a little, then simply rolled off of Ukyo and sat next to her. He left her weapon where she could reach it, if she wanted to. Ukyo just sat up and pulled her legs up, sitting Indian style. Turning to stare at Ranma, she put her chin into her hands and just blew out a breath.
"Ucc... Ukyo. I just don't.. I just wanted to stop all the problems. I never wanted to marry anyone. I just wanted a real friend or two... Guess this is one more thing I ought to pound the panda for. He's too damn good at ruining everything he touches."
Ranma clenched his fists and hunched his body tighter, forcing himself to look back at Ukyo as she gazed at his face sadly.
Ukyo started out sullenly saying, "Well, you've managed to break all the engagements all right... And I have to agree about the panda, that flea bitten bastard is going to feel a lot more pain before I'm done with him! As for real friends... What the heck do you think I am you idiot?" Her voice had risen into indignant tones by the end of her words.
Ranma winced a bit at first, but his face slid into a mostly neutral expression as he replied, "You were a Fiance Ukyo.. not a friend, not really... You were as much a part of all the craziness as anyone else in this stupid circus. Or don't you recall throwing bombs at me at that idiotic wedding? I would have loved to just have one person I could call a friend. But that's never happened to me. With all the dangerous crap going on around me, even the bravest of the normal kids in school made sure to smile and wave from a distance. Anyone that could maybe handle some of the crap, was practically guaranteed to be involved in it! Heck, even before I got here it wasn't any better. Good old Genma managed to deny me any chance to get to know anyone even slightly, before making me run along to even more insane training grounds!"
Ukyo's face slowly dropped further until her hands covered her face as Ranma went on. She let out a long shuddering sigh as he finished.
"I guess it doesn't matter whether or not this was a good idea eh Ranma? You've done it already, and it can't be undone. I wish you would have told me some of this before you boiled over, but like I said.. done is done."
Ukyo scrubbed her face with the palms of her hands, then looked up at him again.
"I can't really fix anything by trying to hit you... I should have known better by now anyway."
She paused and chuckled ruefully before going on, "Your free now, there's nothing binding you to my clan, or me to yours. Just a few memories of a kid I really liked once upon a time. Guess I'll have to tell my father that I can't hunt down someone that doesn't exist anymore..."
She rubbed a hand across her eyes, before any tears could escape. She slowly pulled herself to her feet and turned to face him squarely.
"I probably won't be staying in Nerima, once I can pull myself together anyway. The business was just something to allow me to exist here while I tried... something that just wasn't going to work I guess. Good luck I suppose.. Maybe I'll see you again, but I doubt it'll be anytime soon. I know you do most of the dumber things you do, because of that old man.. But I just can't deal with this, or you for now. Goodbye Ranma."
With that, she grabbed her weapon, and silently dropped off the wall and slowly made her way out of the lot.
Ranma followed her path with his eyes for as long as she was in sight, letting out a sharp breath as she finally walked out of view. That had left another painful ache throbbing away in his chest. Along side the ones he'd always had, and the new ones he'd received at the Tendo's. He didn't understand why he kept feeling this way, but he wished it would stop. It was easier to get hit and hurt where he could see it, at least he was used to that kind of pain. Shaking his head to try to clear his thoughts, he rose to his feet and looked out towards Happosai and Mousse.
In a voice that almost dripped with emotional exhaustion he said, "Do either of you two have anything you have ta say or do to me? I really want this day to be over, so let's just finish this ok?"
Mouse simply shook his head and dropped into a shallow bow towards Ranma from where he stood.
"I have very little to say Ranma. The elder's intentions towards you have been made far too clear to ignore. Besides, I could not ask for a better outcome than the removal of the Kiss of Marriage. My rivalry with you is done, one way or another. I am only here to report the results of today to the elder."
Happosai gave one last pull on his pipe before rising to his feet from where he had seated himself. Calmly blowing out the smoke in a loose circle, he then replied, "I'm only here to offer a few words Ranma, my boy. After all, this is not a time for the usual games I so enjoy playing with my favorite student."
He paused to smirk slightly at him, then went on, "I just wanted to remind you that your status as ronin means nothing to me, boy. You had best keep up your training, as I plan on keeping the heir to my school in top form. Your training in our school is by no means over. Still, so long as you don't outright reject the title.. You've long since been good enough to call yourself a master of the Anything Goes School. If those two fools can claim such a title, then by all means, you have easily earned the same or more. Don't do anything too foolish boy, I will come find you when your ready for a bit more than some words."
The old master simply nodded once to the stunned young man, then smiled as he disappeared entirely from sight on the spot he had been standing in. One moment there, the next gone without a trace. Ranma hadn't even noticed him flex his chi, or make even the smallest of movements. Mousse simply turned and leaped out of sight, once the ancient man had made his exit.
What the hell was all that?
Ranma almost felt like he ought to pinch himself, just to see if he was dreaming all this up. This went way beyond the weirdness he usually lived in. This day had been one of the worst, and one of the strangest in his whole life. Still, with the old Grand Master's surprising offer of mastery in Anything Goes, things weren't quite as hopeless as they had been. He might be able to lever that into some kind of living, if he could survive the old letch's idea of training at least..
Gazing around himself at the now completely empty lot, he began to relax from his heightened state of battle readiness. Most of the expected trouble had come and gone.. or not come at all. He was most likely free of any more attacks, at least for today.
Now what?
I don't have any place to go... I guess I'll just get a good ways out of Nerima on this side of the district, then find a roof top to put up a tent or somethin..
That decided, he shook himself once and leaped off in the direction he had been unconsciously running when he had started his long flight this morning. His pace much slower, if still improbably fast for anyone else, he began looking for a new place to live.