Märchen Awakens Ranma.
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma or Mar Heaven. If I did I wouldn't have to go to school.
A/N: Thank you people who reviewed.
majinbuu7985: Yeah, I thought they pronounced it a bit strange, Japanese is a strange language : ). It's true that the manga doesn't say anything about the ghosts being sealed by the chess, but this chapter was based on the anime, where it does happen.
ranma-saotome-cursed-fighter: I'm not sure I'll give Ranma an Arm, I mean he's strong enough without it.
Yay, I found a prereader so I hope this'll make my chapters get better.
And I almost forgot, I'm sorry it took so long to write this chapter.
Okay here goes.
------------------------------------------Chapter 5: The War Game begins-------------------------------
"Ginta" A voice said "Wake up Ginta" Ginta slowly roused from his slumber. "Oh, good. You finally woke up!" The girl named Snow said.
"Good morning, Gintan" Dorothy said.
"Yeah" Ginta said a bit absentmindly.
"Don't you remember?" Babbo asked.
"Eh? Ranma beat up that spiky-headed guy and then I blew a hole in the wall with version 3…" Ginta said.
"So that's why you've been sleeping all this time" Snow said "You wouldn't wake up at all! I got worried about you, Ginta."
"All this time?" Ginta asked, with confusion on his face.
"It's already morning" Nanashi said.
"I would've liked to see it, that version 3" Jack said.
"By the way, where are Ranma and Ryouga?" Ginta asked when he noticed the two weren't with him.
"Oh, those two are busy with their morning routine" Ukyo said. Just after that, Ryouga flew over them, landing behind them.
"Come on, Ryouga!" Ranma yelled. "Even you aren't this slow." Ryouga stood up, only to be trampled by a horde of people running towards the group, yelling things like "It's Ginta-dono" and "He has woken up".
"Everyone in Mar is a hero" One of the villagers said "We're having a feast tonight! With the heroes!" Then all the villagers charged in and lifted them on their hands.
"Hey! Aren't you forgetting someone!" Babbo yelled angered. "Me too!"
"That's right!" An other villager said and some villagers rushed to him and threw him into the air. Unfortunately, Babbo was a bit heavy and they all fell over.
"That was so pitiful…" Babbo said.
"That's because you're so heavy" Ginta said happily. Then Ranma, Ryouga and Ukyo came over.
"We'll do it in their place" Ranma said. And the four of them grabbed Babbo and threw him up, sending him flying.
"Wasn't that a bit too high?" Ginta asked.
"Heh. Well we're not really used to this world yet so…" Ranma said sheepishly. "I think I'm going to get used to that now. I'll be back in a few minutes" And Ranma walked of. "Oh besides, keep an eye out for Ryouga, he could get lost in his own bathtub"
Then just as he took another step, Babbo came crashing down behind him, leaving a large crater.
"You insolent fools!" He yelled in anger "You threw me to high!"
"Well, maybe you ought to lose some weight then" Ranma said casually "Anyway, I'm off" And he was.
When he was walking, he was reminiscing about the Tendo dojo. 'Not that it's bad here, but it doesn't feel like being with the Tendo's. Mr. Tendo would probably cry that the schools would never be joined now and he'd be quieted down by Kasumi's "there there, father, don't cry"' He smirked at the tought 'And Nabiki has to stop selling nude pictures of him for a while. She won't mind, since there's one stomach less to fill. Pop wouldn't care either, after all the only thing he ever cared about was stealing my food when I was little. Akane would probably have a harder time. With the almighty fiancé not around, the Hentai Horde must've come back in action. And of course Kuno would go after Akane, now that he's scared away the evil sorcerer Saotome' He chuckled at this one 'Shampoo and Kodachi would probably see this as betrayal, going away with Ukyo. When I return I'm definitely gonna have it. Probably from Mousse as well for saddening Shampoo. Konatsu would've closed down the restaurant and search for Ukyo, as she hasn't come home. Akane would probably wonder where P-chan is, since he hasn't come home in a few days. Well, so here I am, in a world I don't know, fighting some bunch of idiots trying to take over this world. I'd better have fun fighting this war.'
And with that he turned around and returned to the group.
"Babbo are you still pouting?" He heard Ginta ask in the distance.
"Of course" Babbo said in a sad voice "I'm also a hero who helped out Vestry"
"That's why the villagers are preparing a celebration in thanks" Jack said.
"That's right" Nanashi chimed in "Don't worry 'bout the small stuff an' just have some fun"
"By the way" Ginta said when he noticed Ranma walking towards them "How come you're a guy again, Ranma?"
"Now that I think of it, he was, without a doubt, a girl" Snow said.
"So what's the deal with our gendershifting friend?" Nanashi asked.
"Well, let's say magic doesn't only happen in this world" Ranma began. "When I was in my world training with my pop, we went to the accursed training grounds, Jusenkyo. At Jusenkyo there are thousands of springs, each with their own tragic history. If you fall into one you'll be cursed for life, and whenever you're splashed with cold water, you turn into that what drowned there last. As you could see last night, I fell into the spring of drowned girl. Hot water reverses the curse and you'll take your original form when splashed with hot water. That's about it" Ranma finished and he was glaring at Ryouga.
"We'll that sure sucks" Nanashi said, breaking the awkward silence that came up.
"It sure does, but I have come to live with it and I found the advantages of being a girl" Ranma said with a grin.
"Advantages?" Dorothy looked confused
"Like, flirting with an ice cream man to get extra scoops" Ranma replied chukling.
"Or you could enter in on a girl's bath, without getting scolded and slammed for it" Nanashi said. He was rewarded with lump on his head, courtesy of a broom.
"Why would I want to do that" Ranma said "If I want to see a nude girl I just need a mirror"
"Yeah but seeing yourself all the time gets boring, so…" Nanashi said and he was cut of by another broom whack.
"You know Nanashi, you're the biggest pervert I've ever met" Dorothy yelled.
"Then I guess it's a good thing we didn't take Happosai with us" Ranma said a bit shivering.
"That would be truly hell on this world" Ukyo said also shivering.
"Is he that bad?" Snow asked.
"Compared to him, the Chess are cute little puppies" Ryouga said "You should be very grateful you don't know him and that he isn't on this world"
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"Now, all of you" Babbo said, in the orange sky of the setting sun "Let's start celebrating!"
"Party time!" Ginta yelled.
"I'm gonna eat my fill" Jack said.
"Time to drink" Babbo yelled.
"Chicks!" Nanashi yelled happily.
"That's all you think about" Dorothy said with a sigh.
"Thank you Ginta-san" A villager said to Ginta, who was eating some vegetables Jack farmed. "Everyone is looking happy for the first time in a while. For those of us who at one point thought of nothing but death, Jack-san gave us all these vegetables!" He said while looking at a pile of vegetables.
"No, it's no big deal!" Jack said sheepishly.
"I'd say it was a big deal, Jack" Ginta said "No matter what, isn't that a little bit to much?"
"Yeah" Jack said, sweatdropping as he looked back towards the huge jungle of vegetable plants "It surprised me too, my magical power increased along with the Nature stone of earth that I got from Sister Dorothy. Looks like we've grown a bit!"
"And" The villager continued "By healing each and everyone, Snow-san gave us health again" He said this while looking over to the girl who was drinking some liquid.
"Ed" Snow said, a little bit to happy "We're gonna party tonight" Then she burst out laughing.
"Argh, the princess" Ed freaked out a bit "You filled your cup with the booze tank, right?"
Snow calmed down just long enough to say a short little "Yeah" before she burst out laughing again.
"The princess and booze. Once she starts laughing, she will continue for an hour" Ed said to no one in particular.
"And Ginta-san, the one who went to the underground lake and defeated the Chess and Nanashi-san" The villager said.
"Ah you're mistaken" Ginta said "I didn't defeat the Chess there, it was Ranma. He should get the credit you're giving me"
"Ah, Nanashi-san!" A woman squealed before the villager could respond. They all looked in the direction of the sound. There they saw a really, REALY happy Nanashi being hugged by three women.
"And Dorothy-san" The villager said.
"I didn't defeat them though" Dorothy said casually
"The ones who lost their lives would also be pleased" The villager continued "Especially you, Ginta-san. You gave us all courage"
"A child like you is fighting hard against the Chess" Another villager said.
"We adults can't just be flickering out" A third said.
"Vestry will be revived with the power of which you have given us" The first one said. "We will do it"
Then Dorothy stood up and walked away. Ginta noticed this and walked after her. He found her sitting on a well, gazing at the stars.
"It makes you kind of happy, doesn't it, Dorothy?" Ginta asked.
"Ginta, you're so kind" Dorothy said with a slight giggle.
"You're not happy?" Ginta asked again.
"Me? Let's see…" Dorothy said "I'd be happy if you gave me the key Arm that you got in the underground lake"
"What's that!" Ginta asked really shocked.
Dorothy giggled again. "Just kidding"
"Dorothy, you're from the witches' land, right?" Ginta asked "Why did you come out here?"
"In order to look for Arms" Dorothy said, dropping her voice "And I'm looking for a certain woman in order to kill her"
This left Ginta in shock.
"You're kidding, right?" Ginta asked, still a bit taken back. Dorothy remained silent. Then Ginta fell over by a strong blow to his head.
"Snow-chan Kick!" Snow yelled happily as she flew gracefully through the air. She was still under the influence of the booze, thus she was laughing like a maniac.
"What are you doing, you idiot princess!" Ginta yelled, obviously angered.
"That's because Ginta keeps talking to Dorothy and it's really boring!" Snow yelled back, waving with her arms.
"Oh" Ed said, crying his puppy eyes out "I can finally see the energetic princess! Until now she has been holding back because she was being pursued."
"Hey, is she really that type of character?" Jack asked.
"Jack, you shouldn't jump to conclusions" Ranma said as he, Ukyo and Ryouga walked towards them "I have been smacked around cities because of that"
Then Nanashi came stumbling towards them, obviously drunk "This is a good place!" He yelled "Saving people ain't that bad either" When he looked up, his eyes widened. He got serious instantly "Ginta! Look at the moon"
They all lifted their heads to look at the moon and they found it to be… strange.
"What's that? The moon" Ginta asked.
"The moon is like a mirror!" One of the villagers said. Then a figure appeared on the surface of the strange moon. He looked like someone of the KKK but then black clothes. He started to speak.
"To all beings within Mar Heaven who hold us, the Chess no Koma, in enmity… I hereby announce: The war game will be revived once more!"
"As I thought, it has come" Ed said.
"The war game is the event held six years ago, were you fight the Chess" One of the villagers stated.
The 'moonman' started talking again. "The location is the Ragenrave Castle, which is in the center of Mar Heaven. To this castle which has already fallen to us," The moon showed a map with the location of Ragenrave Castle "All who would wish to challenge us should come. The grudge of six years ago, we have not forgotten it. If no one appears, we will completely burn all of Mar Heaven! We'll be waiting for the participation of those humans who can amuse us. Especially you, Babbo, who, being Phantom's Arm, betrayed the Chess and the boy who controls him. The gathering is the day after tomorrow, at noon. We'll be waiting." And with that the moon returned to it's normal state.
"Let's go, Ginta" Snow said after a while. "To Ragenrave."
"Yeah" Jack said trying to hide his fear and failing miserably "So that there won't be any more places like Vestry. Especially me, who, until just recently, was plowing fields and making vegetables, can I do it!"
"With the Cross Guard being on the verge of extinction" Ed said "we do not know how many will actually make it to Ragenrave. We must go"
"We don't need the Cross Guard" Nanashi said "Not now I'm here"
"Hey, you stole my line" Ranma whined.
"Looks like I can't escape this, huh?" Dorothy said. 'And there's something that bothers me'
"Ginta-san" One of the villagers said "We will use all our strength to rebuild the village that was destroyed"
"May we entrust this to you?" Another asked. "The fate of this world"
"We know that it's pitiful" Yet another said "But we don't have any power. However, you, who has the power to fight against the Chess, you can give all of Mar Heaven courage and hope!"
"Can we entrust this to you?" A fourth asked "The war game!"
"Leave it to us" Ginta said, with a semi-heroic semi-ridiculous pose.
"And, when you are victorious, please come back to the revived Vestry" A woman said.
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A lot of exhausted people were sitting down in a wrecked castle. Judging by their armours, most of them were soldiers. Strangely, they all seemed to wait for something.
"It's almost noon" A soldier who had his head bandaged said.
"Yeah, no one is coming" A bald soldier said.
"I wonder if our castle will be destroyed as well" A black haired soldier wondered aloud.
"More importantly, sooner or later, all of Mar Heaven's gonna be destroyed by the Chess no Koma" the bald soldier said.
They all looked up at the sound of footsteps. And there were a lot of footsteps. They were all soldiers as well, but they were different from the soldiers in the castle. When the first one placed one foot inside the castle, a non-soldier person spoke up: "The Cross Guard!"
"This many Cross Guard came!" A soldier exclaimed hopefully.
Then a blue haired boy with a fairy on his shoulder came in. When he looked back he saw an old man in blue approaching the castle.
"And look" The bald soldier spoke up again "It's the number three man… Gaira!"
"The victor of the last War Game" Someone else said. "The one who, in the last game, grasped victory with Danna and Alan!"
The boy walked up to Gaira and they stared at each other for a while. Then Gaira's gaze went down to a chain on the boy's hip.
"Alviss, it seems Alan hasn't come" Gaira said to the boy. "I heard that you met him once, but…" he trailed of.
"That person is probably…" Alviss began but he was cut of.
"Aaaah, did we make it in time?" Ginta asked as he came running in with the others right behind him. They all took a while to be impressed with the size of the castle.
"I came here before to rob people, so it was inside the range of Andarta" Nanashi boasted.
"You do go everywhere don't you?" Ukyo asked accusingly.
"And where's the Chess "Dorothy asked annoyed.
"Aaah" Jack yelled when he looked around and saw Alviss.
"Hey, Alviss." Ginta said "Long time no see."
"Y-Yeah" Alviss replied, without to much enthusiasm 'Ginta? This magical power? He's like a different person.'
"I'm still mad about that time when you turned me into a bird" Jack said visibly trembling.
"Me too" Babbo said "Since you said you would break me and stuff"
"Hey what's with the dog, the kid and the girl?" one soldier whispered to another.
"Are they spectators for the war game?" the other wondered "They don't look like Cross Guard. More importantly, what's with that round thing?"
"Gaira-san, Alan-san has come" Alviss said.
Then a bell rang. And a woman walked out to the balcony.
"To those who have gathered" she said "Welcome, to Ragenrave. You have my heartfelt gratitude" Some soldiers started crying about their princess. "We will now begin the War Game" A table with red orbs came out of the floor. "Before that, we will have a test to see if you are worthy for the War Game. Those of you who wish to participate, please take the magic stones which are placed on the table."
Ginta moved in to take one first, followed immediately by Ranma and the rest.
"I don't have to take it, do I?" Ed asked a bit idioticly.
"I think it's okay" Ginta said "Unless you turn into that other guy, you are totally powerless, so…"
"Begin… test" the princess said. The magic stones started to glow blue and all participants disappeared.
"Where… is this?" Jack asked no one. "And where is everyone?"
"Those stones… They were dimensional" Dorothy said also to no one "They tossed us all in different dimensions.
"Seems I'll have to do this without an audience" Ranma said.
"Oh great. I bet I'll get lost in here" Ryouga scowled "Ranma this is all your fault!"
"Ranchan, were are you?" Ukyo asked.
"Hurry up and come out" Nanashi said and a masked man appeared with two swords on his arms.
"Just a pawn, huh?" Alviss said as the pawn appeared before him as well "For this to be a test, they are underestimating us" The pawn charged at him. Alviss jumped over him and hit him in the neck.
Ginta turned Babbo into the Hammer form, dodged four strikes of the pawn and hit him with the hammer in the stomach.
Jack had his battle scoop ready and deflected a right blow with it. 'The next one is from the left" as the blow came he rolled under the pawn, effectively coming up behind him, jumped up and slashed with the scoop.
Ranma lazily brought up his right leg when the pawn charged him, kicking him in the face, incapacitating him. "That was pathetic"
Ryouga dodged a left blow by ducking and he made an uppercut to chin of the pawn.
Ukyo threw some mini spatulas to stop the pawns charge and used the time to swing her huge spatula into the pawn.
Nanashi just stood there facing the pawn. "They make us do such useless fights" The pawn made a left blow at his head, which was stopped by two fingers. "What's wrong?" Nanashi asked. The pawn made a right blow, which was also stopped by two fingers. "Is that all?" Nanashi jumped up and made a backflip kick. "So stupid"
Snow threw her necklace in the air when the pawn charged. A giant snowman came from the air and hit the pawn.
Dorothy just blew the pawn away with a simple palm strike.
"Oh, they've come back!" Ed shouted.
"Are you guys all right?" Snow asked when she returned.
"That wasn't even a warm up" Nanashi responded.
"What he said" Ranma chimed in.
"What's wrong Alviss?" Ginta asked as he noticed Alviss looking around.
"None of the Cross Guard have come back" Alviss replied "Not even Gaira-san."
Then someone appeared. A purple goblin did. It let out an evil laughter before he spoke "It appears that apart from you, there were none who were able to come back. This time the Cross Guard was rather pitiful. I wonder if all the strong ones disappeared in the last game. They were only trash who fell to mere pawns."
"Where's Gaira-san!" Alviss asked angered "There's no way that one would lose to a pawn!"
The creature let out another laugh "Who said it was only pawns?" A person appeared next to him. She had a purple robe and green hair and was wearing a skull like mask. "Among the magic stones there was one automatic failure. There was one unlucky one. He was probably that one."
Then Gaira appeared, heavily injured. "Alviss. I was careless. That I would lose before the game."
"Snow" Ginta shouted "Tend to his wounds!"
"As expected from the number three man, Gaira" The goblin said "Although he lost, he still lived while his opponent was Chimera. I will praise him for that. Now it appears the winners are these nine. So little. So few. I believe in the last game there were over thirty Cross Guard. And these are all women and children. With this, I do not believe that Phantom would be able to enjoy himself."
"We'll not only enjoy him, we'll scare him to death!" Ginta said.
"We'll make him pee his pants" Ranma agreed. "Hurry up and start the game"
"Now don't be so hasty" The goblin said "Today were the preliminaries. The War Game will start tomorrow. For today, be thankful that you still have your lives and rest well" and he disappeared.
"Just nine" Jack said "The War Game with only us. To tell you the truth, I'm scared Ginta"
"I don't think there is anyone who isn't scared in a war, Jack" Ukyo said.
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Evening fell. And Team Mar is in a dormitory. The princess led them to this place.
"Please rest here" She said.
"Hey you're the princess of this castle right?" Nanashi asked.
"Why were you doin' the opening of the War Game?" Ranma asked.
"It is for my people" the princess replied "If I do not obey them, the lives of the people outside are in jeopardy. In order to protect them, I plan on doing anything. Since I'm the princess of this country."
"I'll beat 'em tomorrow" Ginta said as he started throwing punches in thin air. Unfortunately for Babbo he was in the middle of those punches.
"Don't use me as a punching bag!" Babbo yelled.
"Ginta" Alviss said "Can I trust you? Show me when fighting. I'll be watching."
Then the fairy flew up to Ginta's ear.
"Even though he says that, Al has hopes for you, shrimp" she said.
"You of all people shouldn't be calling me a shrimp" Ginta replied.
"That's right, Jack" Dorothy said in a teasing voice "I'll be watching you" This caused a whimpering effect on Jack.
"Well, I guess something will happen." Nanashi said.
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A/N: Here it is and I hope you liked it. Sorry for the really long wait. I can give you a thousand reasons why, but I won't. It would take to long.
Special thanks to Majinbuu for prereading.
Anyway wait for ma next uppie :)