~~~~~~
2d: Now the fun begins...
~~~~~~
"WHAT?!" Four voices rang out.
"Oh my." Correction, make that five.
For some reason Kasumi wasn't as adverse
to the idea as might have been expected by
those who knew her.
Genma looked at him, this couldn't be his son....could it?
This guy looked like he could tear Genma's bear form
apart without even trying. There was a faint resemblance
to his boy, but this man looked older and possessed a
confidence that he had never ever seen in his son before.
Then he looked into his eyes. Genma froze like a mouse
staring up at a falcon diving toward him for the kill.
This was Ranma, there was no doubt about it.
An older, harder and much more dangerous
Ranma but it was him, the eyes never lied.
There was no disguising the wild spirit burning
within them, with terrifying certainty he knew that
whatever trials his son had gone through had only
made him stronger and that Genma no longer had
any hold over him. Fast on the heels of that realization
was the accompanying denial, he'd used the boy before
and he could do it again. After all he was Ranma's father,
the boy had still respected that even after he no longer
respected Genma as an individual. He owned his insolent
son, a few weeks couldn't have broken his control so easily.
Somehow that line of reasoning wasn't
as reassuring to him as it should have been.
Nabiki licked her suddenly dry lips, the room was
feeling rather warm all of a sudden. This wasn't at all
what she had expected. A dumb jock this was not,
she was looking at some prime grade A beef here.
A flash of silver from his hand caught her eye.
Well, if he could afford a trinket like that he
wasn't exactly starving, she concluded.
Suddenly this engagement business
didn't seem so bad after all. Worse case
scenerio; she'd make some money off of
him, Best case: she'd have a well off husband
that wasn't hard to look at. A win-win situation,
just the way she liked it.
Akane snorted rudely, he was a guy even if he
was kind of attractive. She'd had handsome guys
after her too and she knew they were all perverted
pond scum. Kuno was handsome and look
at how he behaved! This one was the same as the rest of
them she decided. Only Doctor Tofu was different from
the rest of the male gender. She HATED boys!!!
Although Akane was beginning to get a bit irritated that
he hadn't seemed to even notice her yet. If there was one
thing that Akane hated even more then boys it was
not being the center of attention. She was the most popular
girl in school after all, why else would all those stupid
boys be chasing her?
Soun was confused. So he did what came naturally to him.
Take the first emotion that comes along and run with it.
"I'M SO HAPPY YOU'RE ALIVE SON!!!"
The Soun Tendo Glomp(tm), distant cousin
to the Amazon Glomp(tm), was locked on
target and engaged.
"Huh?" Ranma moved to the side to avoid being
crushed by what appeared to be a hysterical
water fountain. Soun found himself clutching
only air.
"Is he always like this?" Ranma asked.
"Not all of the time." Oh dear, she hoped he
would forgive Father's rude behavior. Kasumi
wondered if Ranma would think her too forward
if she asked him out now.
To everyone else it appeared as if he had
just vanished and then reappeared at Kasumi's side.
There was a synchonized blink.
That finally snapped them out of their shock.
"You...YOU PERVERT!!"
How dare he try to take advantage of her sister like that!
Akane fumed, her mind lynching the mild sense of
disappointment that she had unexpectedly felt.
Ranma ignored her, his attention focusing on Genma now
that the immediate threat had been avoided. He did not
look happy, in fact the chilling glare he was shooting at
the overweight buffoon made a Siberian blizzard look
downright cozy.
"Excuse me, I'm sorry to trouble you but is there someplace
that I can have a little *talk* with my father in private? There
are some things that need to be resolved before we can
finish introductions. "
"Well, the dojo's available...." Maybe she could ask him
after dinner, Kasumi drifted off a little as her long repressed
imagination and hormones started to explore that line of thought.
A harmless little daydream couldn't hurt anyone and who
knew, it might not be just a fantasy for long.
"Thanks! C'mon Pop." He grabbed his old man by the ear
and dragged him out of the room despite Genma's protests.
"Ow! Hey leggo!! This no way to
treat your fath...Owowowow!!!"
"Hey!! I'm talking to you!!! Don't you dare turn your back to me!!!"
Akane's temper grew as her words had absolutely no
effect on this boy. How dare he act like she wasn't even here!
Nabiki's eyebrows raised.
{So the little princess finally meets a guy who won't
bow and scrape toward her...Interesting.
This fiancee is looking better by the minute. I wonder
what other goodies he's hiding.}
If there was one thing that motivated Nabiki more then money it was
her curiosity. Nothing piqued her interest faster then a mystery,
knowledge meant power and power meant control. Nabiki had been
seeking control ever since her mother had passed away, the drive for
answers and the order they provided had not dimmed through the years.
A small feline smile crossed her lips.
~~~~~~~~
In the Tendo Dojo a confrontation was taking place.
A flick of Ranma's wrist sent Genma sprawling onto
the hard wooden floor. Then he dropped his suitcase
and backpack on the worn boards. Ranma wanted to
have as much maneuverability as possible when he had
it out with his Pop, even though it had been years since
he'd last seen Genma he remembered all too well how
sneaky the old man could be, especially when trying
to escape responsibility for his behavior.
Ranma waited a few moments for his father to pull
himself together, taking the time to study Genma
through eyes hardened by knowledge and experience
and compare it to what he remembered.
{Funny, I thought he was taller then that.}
His last memories had been of a man who had been
an imposing master of the martial arts to be heeded, if not respected.
Despite his contempt for Genma as a parent Ranma still had
acknowledged the old man's skill as a fighter, so seeing him
now was a shock, Especially considering he'd only been gone a
few weeks in this world's time. He hadn't realized that the
years of fighting against some of the most powerful beings
in the Multiverse had affected his standards. The young knight
had become accustomed to beings possessing the strength of
ten men as the norm, many of his opponents had been many
times stronger then even he was and Ranma's own
enhanced physical prowess was nothing to sneer at.
All he saw now was the remains of a once formidable fighter
succumbing to years of excess and sloth. The ironcorded muscles
Genma had once been known for were steadily degrading into fat.
The once proud frame of steel that had survived so many battles
was weakening as it started to succumb to the first symptoms
of age and gluttony.
"Ranma! You're alive!!"
"About time that fact sunk in Pop. You looked like
you didn't even recognize me for a minute back there."
Ranma had found it surprisingly easy to fall back into
old patterns, the roughness in his speech bore
almost no resemblance to the educated
voice of Captain Saotome, hero of the Alliance.
It was a concession he had to make with his
return home, if he used his regular voice here it
would arouse suspicions he couldn't afford.
Sooner or later he'd have to transform and it
would be best if no one made the connection between
the recently returned Saotome and Earth's newest protecter.
He especially didn't want certain interested parties
to find out that a certain irritating CosmoKnight
was laying low in a backwater dimension that just happened to
be his home. The Splugorth had long memories
and they weren't the only ones after his head.
It had reached the point where he had lost
count of the number of beings that wanted him dead,
enslaved, or worse for ruining their nefarious little schemes.
Ranma just seemed to have a knack for pissing the wrong people off.
"At last you can fulfill the pledge made between our two schools!"
"What are you talking about?" Ranma was caught off guard by
this sudden change in the topic.
Genma had decided to exploit the old chink in Ranma's
emotional armor, his honor. For as long as his son had
known about duty and responsibility he'd been using
that to get Ranma to do what he wanted. It was the
perfect weapon for someone without scruples,
the boy might complain and bluster but in the end he always
did as he was told.
{This occasion shouldn't be any different }
Genma thought as he explained the details
of the engagement to his unsuspecting son.
"WHAT?!"
Just when he'd thought the old man couldn't sink any lower...
"So you see boy, it's a matter of family honor.
You must marry a Tendo."
"No."
"Good, so you'll choose...NO??? This is your
duty as the Heir of the Anything Goes School! You can't refuse!
Do you want to disgrace the Saotome name?! Oh the shame!! My
son has no honor!!!"
"You're the last person that should be
talking to me about honor *Dad*."
The emphasis on the last was dripping with scorn as Ranma
got over his shock and got down to the business he'd
dragged his father in here for.
"Impudent boy!! I need to teach you to respect your father!"
For all his arrogant bluster Genma was unsure
if he could still defeat his son. There was hard streak
within the boy now, he couldn't find any explanation for it
but it made him nervous. But he couldn't let him get away
with that kind of disrespect!
Genma's Pride and Common Sense were at war with each other.
So far it was a stalemate, Genma tended to avoid situations where
he might lose but he WAS a Saotome.
"Anytime you're ready old man. You've got a lot of
explaining to do and one way or another I'm going to
get answers from you." That cocky tone had been the
doom of worse things then Genma. The pitch was
calculated to cause the maximum amount of irritation
and anger to Ranma's opponents and was extremely effective as
several deceased beings could testify to if they hadn't been reduced
to their component molecules.
Pride won out. Genma went into his ready combat stance.
"This is for your own good Ranma, know
that this will hurt me more then it will you."
{You have no idea how right you are, Pops.}
The pigtailed young man looked unconcerned as
he stretched his arms behind the back of his head
and yawned. Ranma had been blessed with the opportunity
to study the several milleniums worth of combat techniques
developed from all over the Multiverse and he had not wasted it.
Genma had no idea what he was getting into, the
only real challenge for Ranma was defeating his
relatively frail parent without accidentally killing
or crippling him in the process. Even a pulled punch
would probably splatter the old man across the dojo.
A quick review of his available styles found one that
should work, advanced Tai-chi was his preferred
choice when going up against normal humanoids
he needed to take alive and unharmed.
Well...mostly unharmed anyway.
Still, his careless manner wasn't quite
as open as it seemed. Genma was still a master
of the Anything Goes Style after all. Ranma's seeming
indifference to that was more bluff and deception
than actual disregard. One of the most valuable lessons
he had ever learned from his various sensei had been
that sometimes a confident front was more effective then
striking a blow in achieving victory over one's opponent.
And it was working, a fine sheen of nervous sweat
covered Genma's exposed brow as he tried to figure
out what his son was up to.
"Your move, Oyaji."
~~~~~~~
-Dimensional Lab Pocket
Washu frowned thoughtfully as her fingers danced on her
hyperdimensional terminal. That rip in the space-time continuum
that she had detected earlier had occurred in exactly the same
spot where an unusual energy phenomena had taken place only
a few weeks before the Rift had appeared. She'd only found that
now while cross-referencing her backup files. Her main system
was still repairing itself from the damage caused last month after
Mihoshi had dragged Tenchi off to a picnic and somehow
managed to get the two of them lost in her lab instead.
That Ditzy Detective was just...unexplainable!!
The genuis scientist in a twelve year old's body decided to
stop thinking about that, it only made her head hurt. This new
mystery was more of a concern. Washu didn't believe in coincidence,
she was the one who'd disproved its existance seven thousand years ago.
Any doubt she'd had about their visitor's existence was
laid to rest the minute her satellites had picked up a small
object moving faster then Ryo-ohki's ship form traveling
across the Sea of Japan. Unfortunately her equipment had
lost track of the intruder soon after it had landed
somewhere in Tokyo. This was going to take awhile,
but she was WASHU!! The greatest genius scientist in the Universe!!!
Whoever had entered this dimensional plane of
reality didn't stand a chance against her.
Ryoko and Ayeka shivered as the sound of
fiendish laughter rung throughout the house.
Hadn't Washu promised that her door was
soundproofed?
~~~~~~~
-Juuban District
"The time-stream has been disrupted."
"GAAAAHHH!! DON'T DO THAT SETSUNA!!!"
The Inners looked like they were
about to have a collective heartattack.
Couldn't the Guardian of Time ever make
a *normal* entrance for once?!
"I see the gang's all here."
A handsome bishonen blonde leaned against
the temple door. Beside her were two other
girls.
"Haruka! Micheru! Hotaru!"
Usagi looked happy to see her friends
despite the situation that had brought
them all together again.
"What's happened? How has the time-stream been altered?"
Ami went straight for the heart of the matter.
"A Rift has opened and let *something * into our Universe.
Whatever it is, it's good at hiding and possesses an
extraordinary strength. Its very existance has already sent
ripples along the very fabric of reality, I can attempt
to minimize the damage but this invader must be found and
destroyed quickly before the effects of its presence become permanent."
"Huh? Could you repeat that in simple Japanese?"
Makoto and Minako had gotten lost somewhere
around the second sentence of Setsuna's speech.
Their leader hadn't fared much better, Usagi's eyes had
crossed from the sheer effort of trying to break down
that giant mouthful into something she could understand.
Setsuna sighed. She sometimes forgot that they were just
high school girls now, not the educated princesses from
the Silver Millenium who had been well tutored
on the subjects of Magic and Dimensional Travel.
"Masaka..." Luna turned deathly pale
as the meaning of those words sank in.
Artemis was already white as a sheet so
it was hard to tell how much of it was
natural and how much was pure unadultrated fear.
They remembered all too well what
the potential consequences of this could be.
The shattered remains of the Moon Kingdom
were a grim reminder of what had happened
the last time a Rift had appeared on Earth...
~~~~~~~~
In a darkness beyond any hope of light,
three presences stirred. Their mistress had finally returned.
A chill filled the dimensions of the chamber, one
that caused the blood to freeze and the soul to gibber in fear.
Metall'a was here.
Bery'l dropped to her knees before her lord and master.
Zois'te and Malach'te both stiffened, they secretly feared that this
was only the prelude to a fate far worse then death. Alien
Intelligences weren't known for mercy, their capacity of cruelty
and sadism was infamous throughout the Megaverse as being on
par with most Greater Demons and Diabolic Gods. Metall'a in
particular had little use for those who failed her, even though
they be her own life essences. The generals had been absorbed
by the malevolent entity over a thousand years
ago, their souls now belonged to it forever.
"Incompetents...I AM SURROUNDED BY INCOMPETENT FOOLS!!!"
The psychic backlash from the entity's telepathic
temper tantrum caused barbed lances of icy hot pain to
shoot through its minions' temples, an agony they bore
silently less they attract her attention.
How long had they been trapped here?
Time seemed meaningless in the Negaverse.
No sun lit the desolate skies, the denizens of this
eternally static realm of dark nightmares were ageless,
living only to feed and to hate.
It seemed as if only yesterday that their
physical bodies had been destroyed, banishing
the life essences animating them back to the
dimension they originated from. It had always been that way,
Queen Serenity had never realized that all the evil threats
that had appeared time and time again within the Silver Millenium
had actually been only a single one that kept returning time and time
again. Each and every Youma, even the Generals and Bery'l herself were
mere tiny fragments of Metall'a's very life force. They could not be
truly killed except here in the darkness that had spawned them, anything
else merely sent them back to the Negaverse where their creator awaited.
"You cost me dearly Bery'l."
The mighty selfproclaimed queen of evil
paled as she was singled out. Metall'a had
been raging ever since their defeat in the Arctic,
and her wrath had been truly terrifying to behold.
It appeared that she was finally finished and ready
to at last renew her eons long assault against
that pitiful third class dimension that had
thwarted her at every turn.
The issue that interested Bery'l
more was whether or not a certain
red-haired villainess would live long
enough to be a part of those plans.
She had sacrifeced her soul to this malevolent
being, there was no turning back now or ever.
A giant dark crystal materialized in front of the black
cloud that was the intelligence's true form.
Within it was imprisoned a figure that was familar to all.
"Jedi'te!!" The three gasped as they looked
up from where they knelt, surprise momentarily
overcoming their fear.
"I do not appreciate losing my servants, more so
when their loss costs me power!!!"
Bery'l screamed as her mind was
systematically flayed alive, the pain was
excruciating yet left no physical marks on her.
The fact that it only felt real was no comfort however,
the mental rape was intense enough to make her want to
die yet always remained just below the point of driving
her totally insane. Torture was an art after all, and Metall'a was
enjoying her meal with the finesse of a gourmet diner.
The diabolic entity was a Psychic Vampire to whom
pain and fear were meat and drink. The stronger the
emotions the sweeter they tasted and she proceeded to squeeze
every last drop from her servant. Every cry of agony was a
choice morsel that she greedily devoured, the bursts of unremitting
terror only whet her appetite for more, always more.....
At last the malicious cloud released its captive. Bery'l
slumped bonelessly to the ground, too weak to even
roll with the impact.
"You shall live foolish Queen. I have invested
too much time and energy into you, to just destroy
destroy you now would only hamper my efforts. But
make no mistake Bery'l, I will tolerate your bungling NO LONGER!!!
You will heed my every command or else what you have just felt
will pale in comparison to what I will do to you. If you can not serve
me in one form, you will serve me in another."
Bery'l's eyes widened in stark horror at
the sight of the jeweled sword that was revealed
within the smoky tendrils of her Master.
A nearly complete Rune weapon that was lacking
only its source of power...
...a Soul.
~~~~~~~
The crystal prison shattered.
The last of the three Dark Generals
was free once more.
Once there had been four of them, cruel
and merciless agents of chaos and destruction.
Then the unthinkable had happened.
Somehow Nephlite had broken free from
the Master. Instead of returning to Metall'a and
a suitable punishment the traitor had actually
managed to escape and return to being just a
human soul.
A free human soul.
The Generals found themselves envying Nephlite.
~~~~~~~~~~
"How'd I get stuck with this?!" A tall, bronzed and well
built white-blonde Goddess of the Past (On probation)
asked herself as she walked around the streets of Tokyo,
already bored out of her mind. She had better things to do
then search for some mysterious visiter from another dimension,
her favorite soaps were on now!
*Flashback*
"Jan Ken Po!" Two hands swung back and
forth to finally reveal an open palm and a closed fist respectfully.
"Hah hah! Paper beats rock!! Have fun Urd!!"
"Arrrrggghh!!!"
"Now Urd, Kami-sama needs one of us to investigate this."
"Easy for you to say Belldandy, you're not the one who's
powers have been suspended. It'll take me forever!!"
"Tough luck sis!" Skuld raspberried her older sister in victory.
"I want a rematch!!"
"No way old lady!! You lost!!"
"WHAT did you call me?! Grrrr...I'll get you!!!"
"Oh dear."
"Help!!"
"COME BACK HERE PIPSQUEAK!!!"
*End Flashback*
{Stupid anomaly! Unless the being that came
through that rip is tall, handsome and knows
how to show a girl a good time I'm gonna blast it
into a million little pieces when I find it for getting me
into this.}
"Hmm? I could have sworn I heard thunder..."
{Must just be all those men collapsing when they see me, I guess.}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The strained silence stretched out between the two combatants.
A koi briefly broke the surface of the pond.
"OY TO SHAH!" Genma opened with high punch
sweep kick combo that would have caught the old
Ranma flatfooted and given him one heck of a bruising.
This wiser and much more experienced Ranma tilted
his upper body a fraction of a degree to the side, the punch
missing his face by a hair. A subtle shift of his shoulders and a
redirection of Genma's forward momentum sent the older man
tumbling to the right, his aggressive style was being turned
against him. This would be Ranma's only freebie, a new unexpected
and unwelcome discovery had been made him in those first cruical
seconds. A tingle of danger that had started the moment his father
had launched his attack, and that had been followed by the shock
of actually feeling the impact of the deflected kick as he'd countered
it. that should not have been possible unless....
The young CosmoKnight realized that the damn
curse must have somehow altered his father
into a creature of magic in both forms, and
unfortunately that was one of the few things
that could actually injure or even kill him.
{Damn! So much for just a simple takedown,
he's got no compunctions about beating the
crap out of me but I can't use anything except
my most passive styles. Well I wanted a
challenge, looks like I got it.}
A few more testing strikes from Genma were
all avoided or blocked, in return the bald man
was slammed into the floor a few times but escaped
relatively unscathed.
"Do you know why I tracked you here Pops?
Haven't you wondered why I simply didn't just
leave and go off on my own when you left Jusenkyo?
I certainly would have been better off."
Father and son circled each other warily, looking for
any sign of an opening. Ranma had dropped his careless act
and taken his old fighting stance with a few modifications.
"You're my boy! You'd never desert your old man!!!"
"Hmph. Tell me Pops, does the name Li Zang ring a bell?
Or how about Kisaragi, Daikokuji, or the other dozen or so
families that I can name offhand that you swindled? Not
counting of course the several hundred stores and restaurants
that you used *ME* as collateral to pay for your debts!"
{Uh oh, looks like he's found out about them.}
"Uh....I can explain!!"
"Oh you're going to be doing a lot more then just telling,
you're going to be making amends for a LONG time.
I'll make sure of that."
Genma started to sweat again, this was not good.
That was enough of a distraction for Ranma to close
the distance between them before he realized it.
The fight ended rather quickly after that.
~~~~~~~~~
The Tendos' curiosity grew as the sounds of a
scuffle drifted from the Dojo. They could hear some
shouting and heated conversation but the distance and
walls of the building in between made the exact words
the two were saying indecipherable. Several suspicious thumps
came a few moments later followed by complete silence.
Somehow the absence of sound was worse then the shouting.
The seconds stretched into minutes, the curiosity of Soun and
his daughters had just reached its peak when the door slid open.
A smiling Ranma dragged his semiconscious
father back into the house.
~~~~~~~~
-A little later
"Once again, this is my dear old friend....
"Genma Saotome." The bald, slightly overweight
martial artist's voice was subdued when he spoke this time.
"And my son....."
"Ranma Saotome. Pleased to meet you."
He smiled politely from his seated position, trying to make a
good impression. It would make things easier when Ranma
explained that he couldn't accept the engagment. At least
that was what the Martial Artist and occasional Savior of the Galaxy
hoped, he still had a nagging suspicion that stopping this would be
more difficult then just a simple "no".
None of the girls met his eye, Kasumi was staring down at
her hands with a slight blush on her rosy face. Nabiki was observing
her younger sister while occasionally stealing a glance of Ranma,
trying for the *meek and proper prospective wife* impression.
Akane was still irked over being ignored earlier and pointedly refused
to even look in his general direction.
{Oops, have I committed a social blunder?}
Ranma hoped not, his memory of proper Japanese manners was rather fuzzy
though. The closest thing to it that he `d encountered had been the Bushido
Federation of the Onis and he doubted that those customs would be well
received here.(1)
"Ah well then, these are my daughters."
Soun could barely restrain himself as the
dream that had sustained him through the
master's training and his wife's death was
at last being fullfilled. The Schools would
be joined at last!
"Kasumi, she's nineteen."
"Oh my." Kasumi hoped that she would be picked. Her
expectations weren't high though, Nabiki or Akane would
probably be the one chosen since they were so popular.(2)
"Nabiki, she's seventeen."
{Pick me! Pick me!!}
"And Akane, she's sixteen. Pick any one you want
and she'll be your new fiancee."
"Hmph! You better not choose me!"
Akane finally glared at this guy who she'd probably
wind up engaged to anyway since neither of her older sisters
had her good looks. Only Docter Tofu hadn't noticed that she
was in the full bloom of womanhood and she was working
on changing that.
"Um...I've got just one question for you Mr. Tendo."
"Yes?"
"Exactly how drunk were you and
my father when the two of you made this promise?"
"Uh...." Stammered the mustached father of three.
{How'd he know about that?!}
"I'm really sorry, but I'm afraid I've
got to refuse your generous offer. See, I never
agreed to this engagement business
and Pops..."
A slightly irritated look was shot at the instigater of this mess.
"...well I finally convinced him that I'm not going to
be the one paying for *his* mistakes."
"What?!!" Of all the responses they'd been expecting,
this wasn't one of them. Today seemed to be just full of
surprises for the Tendo family.
"But this is a matter of family honor!!"
Soun wailed, his dreams crashing
around him like expensive pottery
at terminal velocity.
"I don't care. I won't marry because my pitiful excuse
for a parent thinks I'm some kind of merchandise to bartered away
to the highest bidder. Hell, if I'd wanted a bride I
could've gotten hitched a long time ago to any number
of girls that asked, but I haven't met the right one yet."(3)
{Though not for the lack of them trying...}
The sound of crashing cash registers echoed loudly in Nabiki's head.
{No! No!! NO!!! This can't be happening!! I finally meet
a prospective fiancee and he's NOT interested in this engagement!?}
Akane's mood improved slightly, at least
this guy didn't want the engagment too. Although that
last comment about all the girls chasing him was rubbing a
few of her nerves the wrong way. The nerve of him!
What did he think he was?! God's gift to women?!
Kasumi had yet to make a response.
Ranma studied the eldest daughter carefully, he really
didn't want to hurt anyone but an arranged marriage
was where he drew the line. So far Kasumi had been
the only one to make him feel welcome, the tea had
been just the thing he'd needed after that match with his father.
He admitted to himself that he probably could let himself
fall for someone like her. Ranma was sometimes dense but
he wasn't blind, even covered in that housedress he could tell
that Kasumi's beauty would be a rare and precious
treasure once it was revealed. Add that to the mild psychic
abilities his partner had picked up and the genuine compassion
he saw in her eyes and you had a woman that made going home
something to look forward to.(4)
In another time and place, Ranma might have just gone along with
this engagement nonsense and picked the eldest daughter to live
happily ever after with. But not here, not now. No girl deserved
to be put through the chaos that surrounded his life.
He didn't want to one day find out that one of his many enemies
had killed or even worse captured someone he cared for to use as
a pawn against him. Ranma had seen it happen to a few other Knights
before, and it wasn't pretty. Most of them had Fallen, in two cases
Ranma had been forced to kill the Knights for succumbing to the
darkness and the madness of revenge when their loved ones had been
slain. It was one thing to strike down an inhuman monster that you
knew beyond a shadow of a doubt was evil and deserving of death,
it was another story entirely to fight against someone who'd you
called friend and worked alongside mere hours or days before.
Or worse yet,even if by some miracle his spouse
was able to avoid all the troubles and dangers that
were as much a part of him as his Cosmic Armor.
He would still be forced to watch as the girl he
chose grew old and died while Ranma lived on physically
unchanged by the years and decades as they rolled ever
onward long after her remains would crumble into dust.
He wasn't ready for a relationship of that magnitude.
To expose that much of his soul to another person was
too much to ask of him. There had been a brief time
several years ago when he'd thought he was ready to risk
it, when he'd believed that he might find the closeness
that his first teachers had found in each other.
But he'd been denied the chance to ever find out.
{Angel...}
The Tendo patriarch was finally coming out of his
shock as the younger Saotome became lost in deep
thought. Since tears and pleading hadn't
worked it was time to switch tactics.
"YOU WILL MARRY ONE OF MY DAUGHTERS
AND FULLFILL THE PLEDGE BETWEEN OUR SCHOOLS!!!"
Aside from making Ranma wish that Mr. Tendo had paid more
attention to his oral hygiene the shouting had no effect.
"No."
"Are you saying my daughters aren't good enough for you?!!!"
The first stages of the Dreaded Demon God Of Terror Giant
Head Attack started to emerge. The older man's eyes started to
glow like yellow coals as his tongue blackened and forked out
"No, I'm just not going to be forced to marry them."
He tried to keep calm, how many times was he going to
have to repeat these same words before it sunk in that
Ranma was NOT going to be pushed into this?
"WHY YOU!!!"
The terrifying image appeared overhead as Soun
unleashed his ultimate attack to cow the boy into submission.
This dreaded technique had even defeated the dreaded master,
a mere teenager didn't stand a chance. The schools would be united by
noon tomorrow!
Except that this young man's sky blue eyes hardened and returned
the manifested projected outrage glare for glare.
It was an attack and Ranma treated it like one. Offended pride met
solid control and unshakeable confidence, the air around him
chilled as the Knight briefly let a glimpse of the person lying within
him show in his eyes. For the span of a heartbeat Soun saw a man capable
of tearing apart titanium steel girders like folder paper and who knew
exactly what he was capable of and how to use it with deadly precision.
It was like looking into the eyes of a giant predator, one that was safe
as long as it was left alone but quite able to make the idiot that
disturbed him regret it. Ranma had experienced worse things then this
simple scare tactic, Mr. Tendo would have to do a lot better then that!
Soun was locked in a staring match that would
determine the decision of the Tendo-Saotome union.
He flinched, unable to meet that overwhelming gaze any longer.
Ranma grinned, there had never been any doubt in his mind
as to what the outcome would be.
"Won't you please stay for awhile at least?"
Kasumi finally spoke up.
{Oh no.} That familar sinking feeling was back,
Ranma swallowed hard as he looked at her
silently pleading expression.
The region just below his ribs turned to jelly and the young
knight was suffering the oddest sensations in the vicinity of
his brain as his logic centers melted.
Common sense lost to big brown eyes.
"Ah...sure, okay."
~~~~~~
"He has no backbone when it comes to women."
"You're one to talk, Mr. "Yes Minako-chan, I'll be happy
to do the cleaning and the cooking"."
"Have you ever tasted my wife's cooking or
seen a room after she's cleaned it?"
"Uh, no. Actually I can't say that I have."
"Trust me, I love her with all my heart but some
things are better left alone."
"That bad?"
"I'd rather not say."
"Ah, I see. That bad huh."
"Let's get back to the story."
~~~~~~~
-Actually not that far away
Pantha Zo'a had struck again.
Cutey Honey looked up to see the
shining full moon hanging overhead and
as if mocking her a faint image of her
eternal foe grinned back evilly at the
lovely warrior.
{"As long as mankind exists, so shall we!"}
Those were the words Dolmeck had taunted her with.
{"Then I will fight you each time you come back,
Cutey Honey will not lose!! Even if I have to return
again and again, I will defeat you!!!" }
She'd lived by that promise ever since she sent Dolmeck and
Pantha Zo'a back to the Hell that had spawned them. But Evil
refused to die so easily, instead it took a different route.
The weakminded and the easily corrupted were first seduced
by Zo'a's whispered promises then transformed into twisted
and powerful monsters when they succumbed to the darkness within.
No sooner had the city been freed from a one menace then it
had found itself threatened by an even more insidious threat
This night had been just another in a long series of running battles,
and once again the only real winner had been Panth'a Zo'a.
Honey could do nothing for the people that had been killed by
Diamond Tarantula tonight, nor could she say anything that would ease
the suffering of those who had lost family and loved ones. Even
when she finally killed the misguided fool that had taken Zo'a's
offer of power the villain's soul was only sent to the Dimension of
Darkness to feed the Dark Specter.
Cutey Honey was a Battle Android, the most
advanced one on the planet.
But even her indomitable spirit was starting to flag as the
never-ending tide of youma continued to come...
Only a miracle could stop the slow but steady losses the
forces of Light were taking in this War which could have
only one eventual conclusion.
But was it already too late?
~~~~~~~~~
-Back at the Betting Plane
*WHUMP*
Shadow was the first one to pick himself
up from the massive group facefault.
"Phaseworld Technology...a CosmoKnight...
...and now MAGIC TATTOOS?! Are you out of your mind?!!"
The Cosmoknight he was addressing just looked smug.
"Is that even possible?!" The Guardian asked as
Rowan pulled out his sourcebook.
"I'm afraid so, there's nothing here that says he can't
get them since Ranma is *technically* still human."
"You're hiding something from us aren't you?"
"Yup." Zora finally answered.
Shadow pulled out his own sourcebook and
rubbed his eyes, the beginnings of a killer
headache starting to form.
Surely *THAT* couldn't be legal.
*$*$*$*$*
(1) The Kunos would probably be the only ones who'd *like* it.
(2)*Shrugs* She's been working to keep the family in one piece,
can you blame her for lack of confidence in her ability to catch a guy?
(3)How many of us have used this excuse before? Ranma's not as
confident with the ladies as he sounds.
(4)If you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about then
you are obviously too young to be reading this.
*$*$*$*$*$*
Ranma sighed as he scrubbed himself in preperation
for a long hot soak the Tendo's bath.
{How do I wind up in these situations?}
Somehow during that brief period of temporary insanity he'd
wound up agreeing to stay at the Tendo home as a guest for an
undetermined length of time. It hadn't helped any that every time
he'd tried to raise an objection either Kasumi or Nabiki
had given him that *look*, the one that twisted his tongue around
into saying "yes" instead of "no". It was just too pathetic,
after finally getting out of this whole fiancee mess he wound
up stuck here anyway.
After washing off with a bucket of cold water
the young man proceeded to enter the bath proper.
A low hiss of pleasure escaped Ranma's lips as he stepped
into the welcoming warmth, the water starting to relax the
tension in his muscles that the last few hours had built up.
{At least this isn't too bad, things could be worse.}
[You're hopeless.]
{Ishtar, you're too much of a cynic. Nothing has exploded,
no assassins are running around trying to cut my head off,
and the only magic for several miles in any direction is the
stuff I brought back with me. Trust me, there's nothing to
worry about.}
[That you know about, you mean.]
{It'll be a piece of cake.}
[So says the man beguiled by a pair of puppy dog eyes.]
{It's not my fault! Dad's the one responsible for this!!}
[Fine, be that way. I'm not jealous. Oh no, I'm just your
weapon and sometimes partner so I couldn't dream of...]
{Ishtar! It's not like that!! You know I'd free you if-}
[It's okay..I'm sorry Ranma, that was uncalled for. But it's just
that...]
{I know...believe me, I know. *Sigh* My life's changing so fast that
I can't get stuck dwelling on everything that goes wrong. Even though
I came from this world it seems so alien now, I'm not sure if there's
anyplace that feels like home anymore.}
[The Great Saotome, Pirate Extraordinare and Most Eligible
Bachelor in six quadrants is feeling sorry for himself? The sky
must be falling, someone notify the Galactic Inquirer!]
{That's not funny!!}
[Yes it is!]
{No it's not!!}
[Is too!]
{Is not!}
[Is too!]
~~~~~~
-Phase World, Rifts Earth, Wormwood, and Various Other Places
The same phrase was uttered a thousand different ways in a
hundred various languages in over a dozen different dimensions.
But the meaning was always the same,
"Find Ranma Saotome and kill him!".
Word of the infamous troubleshooter's mysterious
vanishing act had spread across the Multiverse faster
then you could say "Spulgorth suck slime" despite the
best efforts of the Alliance to keep their officer's sudden
leave of absence a secret.
Needless to say this did not bode well for our hero...
~~~~~~~~~~
-Kreeghor Imperial Center
"So the Untamed Stallion is without her captain?"
"Yes, Admiral."
"You've faced the Wild Horse before haven't
you, Captain Jarenz?"
"I've confronted him sixteen times in the past two years, sir."
"So you feel that you have some insight as to how the man thinks?"
"Yes."
"Tell me, do you think that the rumors are true
and that this Rebel has run off to hide in fear?"
"No Sir!"
"Oh? Explain your reasoning Captain."
"Saotome is neither a coward nor a fool. He's
never lost a battle against our forces or anyone
else's. He is the enemy but even most of our officers
hold a grudging respect for his skill, the only man
that ispossibly his military equal is Captain Tylor
of the CCW Space Force. If the Wild Horse has indeed
left this dimension of his own free will it is because
he is following a higher plan, one that could possibly
threaten the Empire itself."
"Are you sure of that assessment Captain?"
"I'd stake my life on it."
"Then you will."
"Sir?"
"Congratulations Captain. You are
now appointed commander of our Imperial
Operation Codename: "Broken Mustang" to
capture Captain Ranma Saotome for his public
execution by an Imperial Firing Squad.
Here is where you will meet your Task Force.
Serve the Empire well."
"As you command Admiral."
{Soon Saotome... You will face the Ironclaw
again and this time *I* shall be victorious!!!}
~~~~~~~~~~~
-Atlantis
"But Lord Splynncryth has forbidden any direct action against
the one called Ranma without his personal permisson...NO!!...Please
have mercy!! AAAAGHHAAAIIIiiiieee..."
*Snap*
The other advisers watched as the tentacled horror that
they called master proceeded to twist off the head of the
unfortunate soul that had contradicted him as easily as a normal
man would twist the cap off a bottle of beer.
Sluggar'n popped the head into its main
feeding orifice and crunched gruesomely
down on the tasty tidbit. The rest of the body was
stuffed in bit by bit, drool and other less savory fluids
dripped down to coat the corpse and made it easier to
slide in.
As the Splugorth Intelligence finished its impromptu snack
it shot a dangerous look at its minions, now minus one.
"Does anyone *else* have an objection to raise?"
The bipeds all shook their heads in negation enthusiastically,
their vocal cords weren't working at the moment.
"Good."
{Good help is so hard to find, I'll have to remember this loss when I
finally get my appendges on that cursed do-gooder. He has much
to answer for...}
~~~~~~~~~
-Phase World, The Center
"They won't take it."
"What?! The Galactic Assassin's Guild turned this job DOWN??!!!
Did they at least say why??"
"Apperently the man has made too many friends in the wrong places.
The Guild wants no trouble with Justin Tylor or Vash the Stampede,
let alone the rest of Saotome's allies and contacts. Besides which
they already tried, apparently after losing nearly three quarters
of their best agents as well as several of their High Council members they
decided to cut their losses and run. Ranma is permanantly exempt from
them. None of the professionals could be persuaded to go after him either,
they just told me that it couldn't be done."
"Damn! That means we have to use company assets!! Which means
a loss of revenue!!! Damn that Saotome's hide!!! Why couldn't he die
cheaply!!!!"
"Shall I contact our people in public relations then?"
"OF COURSE!!! Naruni Enterprises never lets someone who's
interfered in its deals go!! It's bad for business!!!"
~~~~~~~~~
-I send you into Another Dimension
Kasumi was busy in the kitchen preparing the evening meal.
She was paying even more special attention to the food then
was normal, even for her. She wanted everything to be perfect
for their guest...er...guests.
Delicious smells emanated outward as the eldest daughter went all out,
cooking up a feast that would be able to feed twenty normal people and
just might be enough for the entire household and the Saotomes.
"A man's heart is won through his stomach.", that was how it
went in the novels followed by the heroine being taken away for
steamy passionate...
A slightly dazed gleam filled the cooking girl's eyes.
One spilled bottle of soysauce later that went all over
the front of her apron and dress was a reminder that
now was not the time to be having naughty daydreams.
"Oh dear, what a mess! I need to clean up, it would be rude to meet
Ranma...um, I mean the Saotomes in this."
In her distraction Kasumi promptly forgot a few things.
Like the fact that someone else was already using the bath.
Or that she'd meant to warn her sisters that Ranma was in
the bath.
Dinner was fine though, nothing short of Demonic Possession
could cause Kasumi Tendo to ruin a meal.
~~~~~~~~
-Upstairs
Nabiki Tendo was scheming.
That was nothing new.
{I have to somehow persuade this hunk that
I'm his best choice...but how?! Maybe a quick
soak will clear my head.}
Now this on the other hand...
~~~~~~~
Akane was fuming. This wasn't unusual.
"That...that...THAT JERK!!!"
Nor was this.
Her fist smacked into the well worn punching bag as
she worked off her anger in the Dojo.
Or this.
She'd tried to be nice after it turned out that the Saotomes
would be staying here for awhile. She'd offering to spar with him
and see how good of a martial artist (not as good as her of course)
he was. That BAKA had smiled weakly and...
AND HE'D TURNED HER DOWN!!!
That arrogant, condescending, chauvinistic...BOY!!!
As her anger cooled slighty from the physical extertion
Akane realized that her stained gi was getting a little...rank.
"I guess I need a bath."
That always helped to relax her. Then
she could figure out a way to deal with that
sexist attitude of Ranma's, she would get him
to fight her even if it killed him!!
~~~~~~~~~
-Watching you from afar
Rowan started counting.
"3. 2. 1...Now."
~~~~~~
-And we're back
Just as Ranma was toweling off his
head the door to the bath slid open.
He was so involved in his telepathic
argument that he missed it entirely.
Three pairs of female eyes widened.....
*$*$*$*$*$*
Captain Rashul "Ironclaw" Jarenz: True Atlantian who commands the
Imperial Battle Cruiser INS Dark Impaler. He is Saotome's deadliest
rival in the Three Galaxies and they've clashed repeatedly over the
years. His nickname comes from his oversized bionic left hand that is
built to look like a Dragon's talons. The original hand was initially
in an armored gauntlet until Ranma cut it off during a daring rescue
misson inside the Impaler. This event left the officer nearly dead from
blood loss and created a thirst for vengence that has only burned hotter
as time passed. He's a villian but one with a code of honor. In Rift's
terms he's got an Aberrant alignment (Lawful Evil for the AD&D people).
Possesses a fair amount of magical skill and owns an Impaler Rune weapon
that his ship is named after, both serve to make him extremely dangerous
to the brave CosmoKnight. The bionic hand is gimmicked too of course.
Vibroblades and laser fingers make this one hand you do not want to shake!
2d: Now the fun begins...
~~~~~~
"WHAT?!" Four voices rang out.
"Oh my." Correction, make that five.
For some reason Kasumi wasn't as adverse
to the idea as might have been expected by
those who knew her.
Genma looked at him, this couldn't be his son....could it?
This guy looked like he could tear Genma's bear form
apart without even trying. There was a faint resemblance
to his boy, but this man looked older and possessed a
confidence that he had never ever seen in his son before.
Then he looked into his eyes. Genma froze like a mouse
staring up at a falcon diving toward him for the kill.
This was Ranma, there was no doubt about it.
An older, harder and much more dangerous
Ranma but it was him, the eyes never lied.
There was no disguising the wild spirit burning
within them, with terrifying certainty he knew that
whatever trials his son had gone through had only
made him stronger and that Genma no longer had
any hold over him. Fast on the heels of that realization
was the accompanying denial, he'd used the boy before
and he could do it again. After all he was Ranma's father,
the boy had still respected that even after he no longer
respected Genma as an individual. He owned his insolent
son, a few weeks couldn't have broken his control so easily.
Somehow that line of reasoning wasn't
as reassuring to him as it should have been.
Nabiki licked her suddenly dry lips, the room was
feeling rather warm all of a sudden. This wasn't at all
what she had expected. A dumb jock this was not,
she was looking at some prime grade A beef here.
A flash of silver from his hand caught her eye.
Well, if he could afford a trinket like that he
wasn't exactly starving, she concluded.
Suddenly this engagement business
didn't seem so bad after all. Worse case
scenerio; she'd make some money off of
him, Best case: she'd have a well off husband
that wasn't hard to look at. A win-win situation,
just the way she liked it.
Akane snorted rudely, he was a guy even if he
was kind of attractive. She'd had handsome guys
after her too and she knew they were all perverted
pond scum. Kuno was handsome and look
at how he behaved! This one was the same as the rest of
them she decided. Only Doctor Tofu was different from
the rest of the male gender. She HATED boys!!!
Although Akane was beginning to get a bit irritated that
he hadn't seemed to even notice her yet. If there was one
thing that Akane hated even more then boys it was
not being the center of attention. She was the most popular
girl in school after all, why else would all those stupid
boys be chasing her?
Soun was confused. So he did what came naturally to him.
Take the first emotion that comes along and run with it.
"I'M SO HAPPY YOU'RE ALIVE SON!!!"
The Soun Tendo Glomp(tm), distant cousin
to the Amazon Glomp(tm), was locked on
target and engaged.
"Huh?" Ranma moved to the side to avoid being
crushed by what appeared to be a hysterical
water fountain. Soun found himself clutching
only air.
"Is he always like this?" Ranma asked.
"Not all of the time." Oh dear, she hoped he
would forgive Father's rude behavior. Kasumi
wondered if Ranma would think her too forward
if she asked him out now.
To everyone else it appeared as if he had
just vanished and then reappeared at Kasumi's side.
There was a synchonized blink.
That finally snapped them out of their shock.
"You...YOU PERVERT!!"
How dare he try to take advantage of her sister like that!
Akane fumed, her mind lynching the mild sense of
disappointment that she had unexpectedly felt.
Ranma ignored her, his attention focusing on Genma now
that the immediate threat had been avoided. He did not
look happy, in fact the chilling glare he was shooting at
the overweight buffoon made a Siberian blizzard look
downright cozy.
"Excuse me, I'm sorry to trouble you but is there someplace
that I can have a little *talk* with my father in private? There
are some things that need to be resolved before we can
finish introductions. "
"Well, the dojo's available...." Maybe she could ask him
after dinner, Kasumi drifted off a little as her long repressed
imagination and hormones started to explore that line of thought.
A harmless little daydream couldn't hurt anyone and who
knew, it might not be just a fantasy for long.
"Thanks! C'mon Pop." He grabbed his old man by the ear
and dragged him out of the room despite Genma's protests.
"Ow! Hey leggo!! This no way to
treat your fath...Owowowow!!!"
"Hey!! I'm talking to you!!! Don't you dare turn your back to me!!!"
Akane's temper grew as her words had absolutely no
effect on this boy. How dare he act like she wasn't even here!
Nabiki's eyebrows raised.
{So the little princess finally meets a guy who won't
bow and scrape toward her...Interesting.
This fiancee is looking better by the minute. I wonder
what other goodies he's hiding.}
If there was one thing that motivated Nabiki more then money it was
her curiosity. Nothing piqued her interest faster then a mystery,
knowledge meant power and power meant control. Nabiki had been
seeking control ever since her mother had passed away, the drive for
answers and the order they provided had not dimmed through the years.
A small feline smile crossed her lips.
~~~~~~~~
In the Tendo Dojo a confrontation was taking place.
A flick of Ranma's wrist sent Genma sprawling onto
the hard wooden floor. Then he dropped his suitcase
and backpack on the worn boards. Ranma wanted to
have as much maneuverability as possible when he had
it out with his Pop, even though it had been years since
he'd last seen Genma he remembered all too well how
sneaky the old man could be, especially when trying
to escape responsibility for his behavior.
Ranma waited a few moments for his father to pull
himself together, taking the time to study Genma
through eyes hardened by knowledge and experience
and compare it to what he remembered.
{Funny, I thought he was taller then that.}
His last memories had been of a man who had been
an imposing master of the martial arts to be heeded, if not respected.
Despite his contempt for Genma as a parent Ranma still had
acknowledged the old man's skill as a fighter, so seeing him
now was a shock, Especially considering he'd only been gone a
few weeks in this world's time. He hadn't realized that the
years of fighting against some of the most powerful beings
in the Multiverse had affected his standards. The young knight
had become accustomed to beings possessing the strength of
ten men as the norm, many of his opponents had been many
times stronger then even he was and Ranma's own
enhanced physical prowess was nothing to sneer at.
All he saw now was the remains of a once formidable fighter
succumbing to years of excess and sloth. The ironcorded muscles
Genma had once been known for were steadily degrading into fat.
The once proud frame of steel that had survived so many battles
was weakening as it started to succumb to the first symptoms
of age and gluttony.
"Ranma! You're alive!!"
"About time that fact sunk in Pop. You looked like
you didn't even recognize me for a minute back there."
Ranma had found it surprisingly easy to fall back into
old patterns, the roughness in his speech bore
almost no resemblance to the educated
voice of Captain Saotome, hero of the Alliance.
It was a concession he had to make with his
return home, if he used his regular voice here it
would arouse suspicions he couldn't afford.
Sooner or later he'd have to transform and it
would be best if no one made the connection between
the recently returned Saotome and Earth's newest protecter.
He especially didn't want certain interested parties
to find out that a certain irritating CosmoKnight
was laying low in a backwater dimension that just happened to
be his home. The Splugorth had long memories
and they weren't the only ones after his head.
It had reached the point where he had lost
count of the number of beings that wanted him dead,
enslaved, or worse for ruining their nefarious little schemes.
Ranma just seemed to have a knack for pissing the wrong people off.
"At last you can fulfill the pledge made between our two schools!"
"What are you talking about?" Ranma was caught off guard by
this sudden change in the topic.
Genma had decided to exploit the old chink in Ranma's
emotional armor, his honor. For as long as his son had
known about duty and responsibility he'd been using
that to get Ranma to do what he wanted. It was the
perfect weapon for someone without scruples,
the boy might complain and bluster but in the end he always
did as he was told.
{This occasion shouldn't be any different }
Genma thought as he explained the details
of the engagement to his unsuspecting son.
"WHAT?!"
Just when he'd thought the old man couldn't sink any lower...
"So you see boy, it's a matter of family honor.
You must marry a Tendo."
"No."
"Good, so you'll choose...NO??? This is your
duty as the Heir of the Anything Goes School! You can't refuse!
Do you want to disgrace the Saotome name?! Oh the shame!! My
son has no honor!!!"
"You're the last person that should be
talking to me about honor *Dad*."
The emphasis on the last was dripping with scorn as Ranma
got over his shock and got down to the business he'd
dragged his father in here for.
"Impudent boy!! I need to teach you to respect your father!"
For all his arrogant bluster Genma was unsure
if he could still defeat his son. There was hard streak
within the boy now, he couldn't find any explanation for it
but it made him nervous. But he couldn't let him get away
with that kind of disrespect!
Genma's Pride and Common Sense were at war with each other.
So far it was a stalemate, Genma tended to avoid situations where
he might lose but he WAS a Saotome.
"Anytime you're ready old man. You've got a lot of
explaining to do and one way or another I'm going to
get answers from you." That cocky tone had been the
doom of worse things then Genma. The pitch was
calculated to cause the maximum amount of irritation
and anger to Ranma's opponents and was extremely effective as
several deceased beings could testify to if they hadn't been reduced
to their component molecules.
Pride won out. Genma went into his ready combat stance.
"This is for your own good Ranma, know
that this will hurt me more then it will you."
{You have no idea how right you are, Pops.}
The pigtailed young man looked unconcerned as
he stretched his arms behind the back of his head
and yawned. Ranma had been blessed with the opportunity
to study the several milleniums worth of combat techniques
developed from all over the Multiverse and he had not wasted it.
Genma had no idea what he was getting into, the
only real challenge for Ranma was defeating his
relatively frail parent without accidentally killing
or crippling him in the process. Even a pulled punch
would probably splatter the old man across the dojo.
A quick review of his available styles found one that
should work, advanced Tai-chi was his preferred
choice when going up against normal humanoids
he needed to take alive and unharmed.
Well...mostly unharmed anyway.
Still, his careless manner wasn't quite
as open as it seemed. Genma was still a master
of the Anything Goes Style after all. Ranma's seeming
indifference to that was more bluff and deception
than actual disregard. One of the most valuable lessons
he had ever learned from his various sensei had been
that sometimes a confident front was more effective then
striking a blow in achieving victory over one's opponent.
And it was working, a fine sheen of nervous sweat
covered Genma's exposed brow as he tried to figure
out what his son was up to.
"Your move, Oyaji."
~~~~~~~
-Dimensional Lab Pocket
Washu frowned thoughtfully as her fingers danced on her
hyperdimensional terminal. That rip in the space-time continuum
that she had detected earlier had occurred in exactly the same
spot where an unusual energy phenomena had taken place only
a few weeks before the Rift had appeared. She'd only found that
now while cross-referencing her backup files. Her main system
was still repairing itself from the damage caused last month after
Mihoshi had dragged Tenchi off to a picnic and somehow
managed to get the two of them lost in her lab instead.
That Ditzy Detective was just...unexplainable!!
The genuis scientist in a twelve year old's body decided to
stop thinking about that, it only made her head hurt. This new
mystery was more of a concern. Washu didn't believe in coincidence,
she was the one who'd disproved its existance seven thousand years ago.
Any doubt she'd had about their visitor's existence was
laid to rest the minute her satellites had picked up a small
object moving faster then Ryo-ohki's ship form traveling
across the Sea of Japan. Unfortunately her equipment had
lost track of the intruder soon after it had landed
somewhere in Tokyo. This was going to take awhile,
but she was WASHU!! The greatest genius scientist in the Universe!!!
Whoever had entered this dimensional plane of
reality didn't stand a chance against her.
Ryoko and Ayeka shivered as the sound of
fiendish laughter rung throughout the house.
Hadn't Washu promised that her door was
soundproofed?
~~~~~~~
-Juuban District
"The time-stream has been disrupted."
"GAAAAHHH!! DON'T DO THAT SETSUNA!!!"
The Inners looked like they were
about to have a collective heartattack.
Couldn't the Guardian of Time ever make
a *normal* entrance for once?!
"I see the gang's all here."
A handsome bishonen blonde leaned against
the temple door. Beside her were two other
girls.
"Haruka! Micheru! Hotaru!"
Usagi looked happy to see her friends
despite the situation that had brought
them all together again.
"What's happened? How has the time-stream been altered?"
Ami went straight for the heart of the matter.
"A Rift has opened and let *something * into our Universe.
Whatever it is, it's good at hiding and possesses an
extraordinary strength. Its very existance has already sent
ripples along the very fabric of reality, I can attempt
to minimize the damage but this invader must be found and
destroyed quickly before the effects of its presence become permanent."
"Huh? Could you repeat that in simple Japanese?"
Makoto and Minako had gotten lost somewhere
around the second sentence of Setsuna's speech.
Their leader hadn't fared much better, Usagi's eyes had
crossed from the sheer effort of trying to break down
that giant mouthful into something she could understand.
Setsuna sighed. She sometimes forgot that they were just
high school girls now, not the educated princesses from
the Silver Millenium who had been well tutored
on the subjects of Magic and Dimensional Travel.
"Masaka..." Luna turned deathly pale
as the meaning of those words sank in.
Artemis was already white as a sheet so
it was hard to tell how much of it was
natural and how much was pure unadultrated fear.
They remembered all too well what
the potential consequences of this could be.
The shattered remains of the Moon Kingdom
were a grim reminder of what had happened
the last time a Rift had appeared on Earth...
~~~~~~~~
In a darkness beyond any hope of light,
three presences stirred. Their mistress had finally returned.
A chill filled the dimensions of the chamber, one
that caused the blood to freeze and the soul to gibber in fear.
Metall'a was here.
Bery'l dropped to her knees before her lord and master.
Zois'te and Malach'te both stiffened, they secretly feared that this
was only the prelude to a fate far worse then death. Alien
Intelligences weren't known for mercy, their capacity of cruelty
and sadism was infamous throughout the Megaverse as being on
par with most Greater Demons and Diabolic Gods. Metall'a in
particular had little use for those who failed her, even though
they be her own life essences. The generals had been absorbed
by the malevolent entity over a thousand years
ago, their souls now belonged to it forever.
"Incompetents...I AM SURROUNDED BY INCOMPETENT FOOLS!!!"
The psychic backlash from the entity's telepathic
temper tantrum caused barbed lances of icy hot pain to
shoot through its minions' temples, an agony they bore
silently less they attract her attention.
How long had they been trapped here?
Time seemed meaningless in the Negaverse.
No sun lit the desolate skies, the denizens of this
eternally static realm of dark nightmares were ageless,
living only to feed and to hate.
It seemed as if only yesterday that their
physical bodies had been destroyed, banishing
the life essences animating them back to the
dimension they originated from. It had always been that way,
Queen Serenity had never realized that all the evil threats
that had appeared time and time again within the Silver Millenium
had actually been only a single one that kept returning time and time
again. Each and every Youma, even the Generals and Bery'l herself were
mere tiny fragments of Metall'a's very life force. They could not be
truly killed except here in the darkness that had spawned them, anything
else merely sent them back to the Negaverse where their creator awaited.
"You cost me dearly Bery'l."
The mighty selfproclaimed queen of evil
paled as she was singled out. Metall'a had
been raging ever since their defeat in the Arctic,
and her wrath had been truly terrifying to behold.
It appeared that she was finally finished and ready
to at last renew her eons long assault against
that pitiful third class dimension that had
thwarted her at every turn.
The issue that interested Bery'l
more was whether or not a certain
red-haired villainess would live long
enough to be a part of those plans.
She had sacrifeced her soul to this malevolent
being, there was no turning back now or ever.
A giant dark crystal materialized in front of the black
cloud that was the intelligence's true form.
Within it was imprisoned a figure that was familar to all.
"Jedi'te!!" The three gasped as they looked
up from where they knelt, surprise momentarily
overcoming their fear.
"I do not appreciate losing my servants, more so
when their loss costs me power!!!"
Bery'l screamed as her mind was
systematically flayed alive, the pain was
excruciating yet left no physical marks on her.
The fact that it only felt real was no comfort however,
the mental rape was intense enough to make her want to
die yet always remained just below the point of driving
her totally insane. Torture was an art after all, and Metall'a was
enjoying her meal with the finesse of a gourmet diner.
The diabolic entity was a Psychic Vampire to whom
pain and fear were meat and drink. The stronger the
emotions the sweeter they tasted and she proceeded to squeeze
every last drop from her servant. Every cry of agony was a
choice morsel that she greedily devoured, the bursts of unremitting
terror only whet her appetite for more, always more.....
At last the malicious cloud released its captive. Bery'l
slumped bonelessly to the ground, too weak to even
roll with the impact.
"You shall live foolish Queen. I have invested
too much time and energy into you, to just destroy
destroy you now would only hamper my efforts. But
make no mistake Bery'l, I will tolerate your bungling NO LONGER!!!
You will heed my every command or else what you have just felt
will pale in comparison to what I will do to you. If you can not serve
me in one form, you will serve me in another."
Bery'l's eyes widened in stark horror at
the sight of the jeweled sword that was revealed
within the smoky tendrils of her Master.
A nearly complete Rune weapon that was lacking
only its source of power...
...a Soul.
~~~~~~~
The crystal prison shattered.
The last of the three Dark Generals
was free once more.
Once there had been four of them, cruel
and merciless agents of chaos and destruction.
Then the unthinkable had happened.
Somehow Nephlite had broken free from
the Master. Instead of returning to Metall'a and
a suitable punishment the traitor had actually
managed to escape and return to being just a
human soul.
A free human soul.
The Generals found themselves envying Nephlite.
~~~~~~~~~~
"How'd I get stuck with this?!" A tall, bronzed and well
built white-blonde Goddess of the Past (On probation)
asked herself as she walked around the streets of Tokyo,
already bored out of her mind. She had better things to do
then search for some mysterious visiter from another dimension,
her favorite soaps were on now!
*Flashback*
"Jan Ken Po!" Two hands swung back and
forth to finally reveal an open palm and a closed fist respectfully.
"Hah hah! Paper beats rock!! Have fun Urd!!"
"Arrrrggghh!!!"
"Now Urd, Kami-sama needs one of us to investigate this."
"Easy for you to say Belldandy, you're not the one who's
powers have been suspended. It'll take me forever!!"
"Tough luck sis!" Skuld raspberried her older sister in victory.
"I want a rematch!!"
"No way old lady!! You lost!!"
"WHAT did you call me?! Grrrr...I'll get you!!!"
"Oh dear."
"Help!!"
"COME BACK HERE PIPSQUEAK!!!"
*End Flashback*
{Stupid anomaly! Unless the being that came
through that rip is tall, handsome and knows
how to show a girl a good time I'm gonna blast it
into a million little pieces when I find it for getting me
into this.}
"Hmm? I could have sworn I heard thunder..."
{Must just be all those men collapsing when they see me, I guess.}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The strained silence stretched out between the two combatants.
A koi briefly broke the surface of the pond.
"OY TO SHAH!" Genma opened with high punch
sweep kick combo that would have caught the old
Ranma flatfooted and given him one heck of a bruising.
This wiser and much more experienced Ranma tilted
his upper body a fraction of a degree to the side, the punch
missing his face by a hair. A subtle shift of his shoulders and a
redirection of Genma's forward momentum sent the older man
tumbling to the right, his aggressive style was being turned
against him. This would be Ranma's only freebie, a new unexpected
and unwelcome discovery had been made him in those first cruical
seconds. A tingle of danger that had started the moment his father
had launched his attack, and that had been followed by the shock
of actually feeling the impact of the deflected kick as he'd countered
it. that should not have been possible unless....
The young CosmoKnight realized that the damn
curse must have somehow altered his father
into a creature of magic in both forms, and
unfortunately that was one of the few things
that could actually injure or even kill him.
{Damn! So much for just a simple takedown,
he's got no compunctions about beating the
crap out of me but I can't use anything except
my most passive styles. Well I wanted a
challenge, looks like I got it.}
A few more testing strikes from Genma were
all avoided or blocked, in return the bald man
was slammed into the floor a few times but escaped
relatively unscathed.
"Do you know why I tracked you here Pops?
Haven't you wondered why I simply didn't just
leave and go off on my own when you left Jusenkyo?
I certainly would have been better off."
Father and son circled each other warily, looking for
any sign of an opening. Ranma had dropped his careless act
and taken his old fighting stance with a few modifications.
"You're my boy! You'd never desert your old man!!!"
"Hmph. Tell me Pops, does the name Li Zang ring a bell?
Or how about Kisaragi, Daikokuji, or the other dozen or so
families that I can name offhand that you swindled? Not
counting of course the several hundred stores and restaurants
that you used *ME* as collateral to pay for your debts!"
{Uh oh, looks like he's found out about them.}
"Uh....I can explain!!"
"Oh you're going to be doing a lot more then just telling,
you're going to be making amends for a LONG time.
I'll make sure of that."
Genma started to sweat again, this was not good.
That was enough of a distraction for Ranma to close
the distance between them before he realized it.
The fight ended rather quickly after that.
~~~~~~~~~
The Tendos' curiosity grew as the sounds of a
scuffle drifted from the Dojo. They could hear some
shouting and heated conversation but the distance and
walls of the building in between made the exact words
the two were saying indecipherable. Several suspicious thumps
came a few moments later followed by complete silence.
Somehow the absence of sound was worse then the shouting.
The seconds stretched into minutes, the curiosity of Soun and
his daughters had just reached its peak when the door slid open.
A smiling Ranma dragged his semiconscious
father back into the house.
~~~~~~~~
-A little later
"Once again, this is my dear old friend....
"Genma Saotome." The bald, slightly overweight
martial artist's voice was subdued when he spoke this time.
"And my son....."
"Ranma Saotome. Pleased to meet you."
He smiled politely from his seated position, trying to make a
good impression. It would make things easier when Ranma
explained that he couldn't accept the engagment. At least
that was what the Martial Artist and occasional Savior of the Galaxy
hoped, he still had a nagging suspicion that stopping this would be
more difficult then just a simple "no".
None of the girls met his eye, Kasumi was staring down at
her hands with a slight blush on her rosy face. Nabiki was observing
her younger sister while occasionally stealing a glance of Ranma,
trying for the *meek and proper prospective wife* impression.
Akane was still irked over being ignored earlier and pointedly refused
to even look in his general direction.
{Oops, have I committed a social blunder?}
Ranma hoped not, his memory of proper Japanese manners was rather fuzzy
though. The closest thing to it that he `d encountered had been the Bushido
Federation of the Onis and he doubted that those customs would be well
received here.(1)
"Ah well then, these are my daughters."
Soun could barely restrain himself as the
dream that had sustained him through the
master's training and his wife's death was
at last being fullfilled. The Schools would
be joined at last!
"Kasumi, she's nineteen."
"Oh my." Kasumi hoped that she would be picked. Her
expectations weren't high though, Nabiki or Akane would
probably be the one chosen since they were so popular.(2)
"Nabiki, she's seventeen."
{Pick me! Pick me!!}
"And Akane, she's sixteen. Pick any one you want
and she'll be your new fiancee."
"Hmph! You better not choose me!"
Akane finally glared at this guy who she'd probably
wind up engaged to anyway since neither of her older sisters
had her good looks. Only Docter Tofu hadn't noticed that she
was in the full bloom of womanhood and she was working
on changing that.
"Um...I've got just one question for you Mr. Tendo."
"Yes?"
"Exactly how drunk were you and
my father when the two of you made this promise?"
"Uh...." Stammered the mustached father of three.
{How'd he know about that?!}
"I'm really sorry, but I'm afraid I've
got to refuse your generous offer. See, I never
agreed to this engagement business
and Pops..."
A slightly irritated look was shot at the instigater of this mess.
"...well I finally convinced him that I'm not going to
be the one paying for *his* mistakes."
"What?!!" Of all the responses they'd been expecting,
this wasn't one of them. Today seemed to be just full of
surprises for the Tendo family.
"But this is a matter of family honor!!"
Soun wailed, his dreams crashing
around him like expensive pottery
at terminal velocity.
"I don't care. I won't marry because my pitiful excuse
for a parent thinks I'm some kind of merchandise to bartered away
to the highest bidder. Hell, if I'd wanted a bride I
could've gotten hitched a long time ago to any number
of girls that asked, but I haven't met the right one yet."(3)
{Though not for the lack of them trying...}
The sound of crashing cash registers echoed loudly in Nabiki's head.
{No! No!! NO!!! This can't be happening!! I finally meet
a prospective fiancee and he's NOT interested in this engagement!?}
Akane's mood improved slightly, at least
this guy didn't want the engagment too. Although that
last comment about all the girls chasing him was rubbing a
few of her nerves the wrong way. The nerve of him!
What did he think he was?! God's gift to women?!
Kasumi had yet to make a response.
Ranma studied the eldest daughter carefully, he really
didn't want to hurt anyone but an arranged marriage
was where he drew the line. So far Kasumi had been
the only one to make him feel welcome, the tea had
been just the thing he'd needed after that match with his father.
He admitted to himself that he probably could let himself
fall for someone like her. Ranma was sometimes dense but
he wasn't blind, even covered in that housedress he could tell
that Kasumi's beauty would be a rare and precious
treasure once it was revealed. Add that to the mild psychic
abilities his partner had picked up and the genuine compassion
he saw in her eyes and you had a woman that made going home
something to look forward to.(4)
In another time and place, Ranma might have just gone along with
this engagement nonsense and picked the eldest daughter to live
happily ever after with. But not here, not now. No girl deserved
to be put through the chaos that surrounded his life.
He didn't want to one day find out that one of his many enemies
had killed or even worse captured someone he cared for to use as
a pawn against him. Ranma had seen it happen to a few other Knights
before, and it wasn't pretty. Most of them had Fallen, in two cases
Ranma had been forced to kill the Knights for succumbing to the
darkness and the madness of revenge when their loved ones had been
slain. It was one thing to strike down an inhuman monster that you
knew beyond a shadow of a doubt was evil and deserving of death,
it was another story entirely to fight against someone who'd you
called friend and worked alongside mere hours or days before.
Or worse yet,even if by some miracle his spouse
was able to avoid all the troubles and dangers that
were as much a part of him as his Cosmic Armor.
He would still be forced to watch as the girl he
chose grew old and died while Ranma lived on physically
unchanged by the years and decades as they rolled ever
onward long after her remains would crumble into dust.
He wasn't ready for a relationship of that magnitude.
To expose that much of his soul to another person was
too much to ask of him. There had been a brief time
several years ago when he'd thought he was ready to risk
it, when he'd believed that he might find the closeness
that his first teachers had found in each other.
But he'd been denied the chance to ever find out.
{Angel...}
The Tendo patriarch was finally coming out of his
shock as the younger Saotome became lost in deep
thought. Since tears and pleading hadn't
worked it was time to switch tactics.
"YOU WILL MARRY ONE OF MY DAUGHTERS
AND FULLFILL THE PLEDGE BETWEEN OUR SCHOOLS!!!"
Aside from making Ranma wish that Mr. Tendo had paid more
attention to his oral hygiene the shouting had no effect.
"No."
"Are you saying my daughters aren't good enough for you?!!!"
The first stages of the Dreaded Demon God Of Terror Giant
Head Attack started to emerge. The older man's eyes started to
glow like yellow coals as his tongue blackened and forked out
"No, I'm just not going to be forced to marry them."
He tried to keep calm, how many times was he going to
have to repeat these same words before it sunk in that
Ranma was NOT going to be pushed into this?
"WHY YOU!!!"
The terrifying image appeared overhead as Soun
unleashed his ultimate attack to cow the boy into submission.
This dreaded technique had even defeated the dreaded master,
a mere teenager didn't stand a chance. The schools would be united by
noon tomorrow!
Except that this young man's sky blue eyes hardened and returned
the manifested projected outrage glare for glare.
It was an attack and Ranma treated it like one. Offended pride met
solid control and unshakeable confidence, the air around him
chilled as the Knight briefly let a glimpse of the person lying within
him show in his eyes. For the span of a heartbeat Soun saw a man capable
of tearing apart titanium steel girders like folder paper and who knew
exactly what he was capable of and how to use it with deadly precision.
It was like looking into the eyes of a giant predator, one that was safe
as long as it was left alone but quite able to make the idiot that
disturbed him regret it. Ranma had experienced worse things then this
simple scare tactic, Mr. Tendo would have to do a lot better then that!
Soun was locked in a staring match that would
determine the decision of the Tendo-Saotome union.
He flinched, unable to meet that overwhelming gaze any longer.
Ranma grinned, there had never been any doubt in his mind
as to what the outcome would be.
"Won't you please stay for awhile at least?"
Kasumi finally spoke up.
{Oh no.} That familar sinking feeling was back,
Ranma swallowed hard as he looked at her
silently pleading expression.
The region just below his ribs turned to jelly and the young
knight was suffering the oddest sensations in the vicinity of
his brain as his logic centers melted.
Common sense lost to big brown eyes.
"Ah...sure, okay."
~~~~~~
"He has no backbone when it comes to women."
"You're one to talk, Mr. "Yes Minako-chan, I'll be happy
to do the cleaning and the cooking"."
"Have you ever tasted my wife's cooking or
seen a room after she's cleaned it?"
"Uh, no. Actually I can't say that I have."
"Trust me, I love her with all my heart but some
things are better left alone."
"That bad?"
"I'd rather not say."
"Ah, I see. That bad huh."
"Let's get back to the story."
~~~~~~~
-Actually not that far away
Pantha Zo'a had struck again.
Cutey Honey looked up to see the
shining full moon hanging overhead and
as if mocking her a faint image of her
eternal foe grinned back evilly at the
lovely warrior.
{"As long as mankind exists, so shall we!"}
Those were the words Dolmeck had taunted her with.
{"Then I will fight you each time you come back,
Cutey Honey will not lose!! Even if I have to return
again and again, I will defeat you!!!" }
She'd lived by that promise ever since she sent Dolmeck and
Pantha Zo'a back to the Hell that had spawned them. But Evil
refused to die so easily, instead it took a different route.
The weakminded and the easily corrupted were first seduced
by Zo'a's whispered promises then transformed into twisted
and powerful monsters when they succumbed to the darkness within.
No sooner had the city been freed from a one menace then it
had found itself threatened by an even more insidious threat
This night had been just another in a long series of running battles,
and once again the only real winner had been Panth'a Zo'a.
Honey could do nothing for the people that had been killed by
Diamond Tarantula tonight, nor could she say anything that would ease
the suffering of those who had lost family and loved ones. Even
when she finally killed the misguided fool that had taken Zo'a's
offer of power the villain's soul was only sent to the Dimension of
Darkness to feed the Dark Specter.
Cutey Honey was a Battle Android, the most
advanced one on the planet.
But even her indomitable spirit was starting to flag as the
never-ending tide of youma continued to come...
Only a miracle could stop the slow but steady losses the
forces of Light were taking in this War which could have
only one eventual conclusion.
But was it already too late?
~~~~~~~~~
-Back at the Betting Plane
*WHUMP*
Shadow was the first one to pick himself
up from the massive group facefault.
"Phaseworld Technology...a CosmoKnight...
...and now MAGIC TATTOOS?! Are you out of your mind?!!"
The Cosmoknight he was addressing just looked smug.
"Is that even possible?!" The Guardian asked as
Rowan pulled out his sourcebook.
"I'm afraid so, there's nothing here that says he can't
get them since Ranma is *technically* still human."
"You're hiding something from us aren't you?"
"Yup." Zora finally answered.
Shadow pulled out his own sourcebook and
rubbed his eyes, the beginnings of a killer
headache starting to form.
Surely *THAT* couldn't be legal.
*$*$*$*$*
(1) The Kunos would probably be the only ones who'd *like* it.
(2)*Shrugs* She's been working to keep the family in one piece,
can you blame her for lack of confidence in her ability to catch a guy?
(3)How many of us have used this excuse before? Ranma's not as
confident with the ladies as he sounds.
(4)If you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about then
you are obviously too young to be reading this.
*$*$*$*$*$*
Ranma sighed as he scrubbed himself in preperation
for a long hot soak the Tendo's bath.
{How do I wind up in these situations?}
Somehow during that brief period of temporary insanity he'd
wound up agreeing to stay at the Tendo home as a guest for an
undetermined length of time. It hadn't helped any that every time
he'd tried to raise an objection either Kasumi or Nabiki
had given him that *look*, the one that twisted his tongue around
into saying "yes" instead of "no". It was just too pathetic,
after finally getting out of this whole fiancee mess he wound
up stuck here anyway.
After washing off with a bucket of cold water
the young man proceeded to enter the bath proper.
A low hiss of pleasure escaped Ranma's lips as he stepped
into the welcoming warmth, the water starting to relax the
tension in his muscles that the last few hours had built up.
{At least this isn't too bad, things could be worse.}
[You're hopeless.]
{Ishtar, you're too much of a cynic. Nothing has exploded,
no assassins are running around trying to cut my head off,
and the only magic for several miles in any direction is the
stuff I brought back with me. Trust me, there's nothing to
worry about.}
[That you know about, you mean.]
{It'll be a piece of cake.}
[So says the man beguiled by a pair of puppy dog eyes.]
{It's not my fault! Dad's the one responsible for this!!}
[Fine, be that way. I'm not jealous. Oh no, I'm just your
weapon and sometimes partner so I couldn't dream of...]
{Ishtar! It's not like that!! You know I'd free you if-}
[It's okay..I'm sorry Ranma, that was uncalled for. But it's just
that...]
{I know...believe me, I know. *Sigh* My life's changing so fast that
I can't get stuck dwelling on everything that goes wrong. Even though
I came from this world it seems so alien now, I'm not sure if there's
anyplace that feels like home anymore.}
[The Great Saotome, Pirate Extraordinare and Most Eligible
Bachelor in six quadrants is feeling sorry for himself? The sky
must be falling, someone notify the Galactic Inquirer!]
{That's not funny!!}
[Yes it is!]
{No it's not!!}
[Is too!]
{Is not!}
[Is too!]
~~~~~~
-Phase World, Rifts Earth, Wormwood, and Various Other Places
The same phrase was uttered a thousand different ways in a
hundred various languages in over a dozen different dimensions.
But the meaning was always the same,
"Find Ranma Saotome and kill him!".
Word of the infamous troubleshooter's mysterious
vanishing act had spread across the Multiverse faster
then you could say "Spulgorth suck slime" despite the
best efforts of the Alliance to keep their officer's sudden
leave of absence a secret.
Needless to say this did not bode well for our hero...
~~~~~~~~~~
-Kreeghor Imperial Center
"So the Untamed Stallion is without her captain?"
"Yes, Admiral."
"You've faced the Wild Horse before haven't
you, Captain Jarenz?"
"I've confronted him sixteen times in the past two years, sir."
"So you feel that you have some insight as to how the man thinks?"
"Yes."
"Tell me, do you think that the rumors are true
and that this Rebel has run off to hide in fear?"
"No Sir!"
"Oh? Explain your reasoning Captain."
"Saotome is neither a coward nor a fool. He's
never lost a battle against our forces or anyone
else's. He is the enemy but even most of our officers
hold a grudging respect for his skill, the only man
that ispossibly his military equal is Captain Tylor
of the CCW Space Force. If the Wild Horse has indeed
left this dimension of his own free will it is because
he is following a higher plan, one that could possibly
threaten the Empire itself."
"Are you sure of that assessment Captain?"
"I'd stake my life on it."
"Then you will."
"Sir?"
"Congratulations Captain. You are
now appointed commander of our Imperial
Operation Codename: "Broken Mustang" to
capture Captain Ranma Saotome for his public
execution by an Imperial Firing Squad.
Here is where you will meet your Task Force.
Serve the Empire well."
"As you command Admiral."
{Soon Saotome... You will face the Ironclaw
again and this time *I* shall be victorious!!!}
~~~~~~~~~~~
-Atlantis
"But Lord Splynncryth has forbidden any direct action against
the one called Ranma without his personal permisson...NO!!...Please
have mercy!! AAAAGHHAAAIIIiiiieee..."
*Snap*
The other advisers watched as the tentacled horror that
they called master proceeded to twist off the head of the
unfortunate soul that had contradicted him as easily as a normal
man would twist the cap off a bottle of beer.
Sluggar'n popped the head into its main
feeding orifice and crunched gruesomely
down on the tasty tidbit. The rest of the body was
stuffed in bit by bit, drool and other less savory fluids
dripped down to coat the corpse and made it easier to
slide in.
As the Splugorth Intelligence finished its impromptu snack
it shot a dangerous look at its minions, now minus one.
"Does anyone *else* have an objection to raise?"
The bipeds all shook their heads in negation enthusiastically,
their vocal cords weren't working at the moment.
"Good."
{Good help is so hard to find, I'll have to remember this loss when I
finally get my appendges on that cursed do-gooder. He has much
to answer for...}
~~~~~~~~~
-Phase World, The Center
"They won't take it."
"What?! The Galactic Assassin's Guild turned this job DOWN??!!!
Did they at least say why??"
"Apperently the man has made too many friends in the wrong places.
The Guild wants no trouble with Justin Tylor or Vash the Stampede,
let alone the rest of Saotome's allies and contacts. Besides which
they already tried, apparently after losing nearly three quarters
of their best agents as well as several of their High Council members they
decided to cut their losses and run. Ranma is permanantly exempt from
them. None of the professionals could be persuaded to go after him either,
they just told me that it couldn't be done."
"Damn! That means we have to use company assets!! Which means
a loss of revenue!!! Damn that Saotome's hide!!! Why couldn't he die
cheaply!!!!"
"Shall I contact our people in public relations then?"
"OF COURSE!!! Naruni Enterprises never lets someone who's
interfered in its deals go!! It's bad for business!!!"
~~~~~~~~~
-I send you into Another Dimension
Kasumi was busy in the kitchen preparing the evening meal.
She was paying even more special attention to the food then
was normal, even for her. She wanted everything to be perfect
for their guest...er...guests.
Delicious smells emanated outward as the eldest daughter went all out,
cooking up a feast that would be able to feed twenty normal people and
just might be enough for the entire household and the Saotomes.
"A man's heart is won through his stomach.", that was how it
went in the novels followed by the heroine being taken away for
steamy passionate...
A slightly dazed gleam filled the cooking girl's eyes.
One spilled bottle of soysauce later that went all over
the front of her apron and dress was a reminder that
now was not the time to be having naughty daydreams.
"Oh dear, what a mess! I need to clean up, it would be rude to meet
Ranma...um, I mean the Saotomes in this."
In her distraction Kasumi promptly forgot a few things.
Like the fact that someone else was already using the bath.
Or that she'd meant to warn her sisters that Ranma was in
the bath.
Dinner was fine though, nothing short of Demonic Possession
could cause Kasumi Tendo to ruin a meal.
~~~~~~~~
-Upstairs
Nabiki Tendo was scheming.
That was nothing new.
{I have to somehow persuade this hunk that
I'm his best choice...but how?! Maybe a quick
soak will clear my head.}
Now this on the other hand...
~~~~~~~
Akane was fuming. This wasn't unusual.
"That...that...THAT JERK!!!"
Nor was this.
Her fist smacked into the well worn punching bag as
she worked off her anger in the Dojo.
Or this.
She'd tried to be nice after it turned out that the Saotomes
would be staying here for awhile. She'd offering to spar with him
and see how good of a martial artist (not as good as her of course)
he was. That BAKA had smiled weakly and...
AND HE'D TURNED HER DOWN!!!
That arrogant, condescending, chauvinistic...BOY!!!
As her anger cooled slighty from the physical extertion
Akane realized that her stained gi was getting a little...rank.
"I guess I need a bath."
That always helped to relax her. Then
she could figure out a way to deal with that
sexist attitude of Ranma's, she would get him
to fight her even if it killed him!!
~~~~~~~~~
-Watching you from afar
Rowan started counting.
"3. 2. 1...Now."
~~~~~~
-And we're back
Just as Ranma was toweling off his
head the door to the bath slid open.
He was so involved in his telepathic
argument that he missed it entirely.
Three pairs of female eyes widened.....
*$*$*$*$*$*
Captain Rashul "Ironclaw" Jarenz: True Atlantian who commands the
Imperial Battle Cruiser INS Dark Impaler. He is Saotome's deadliest
rival in the Three Galaxies and they've clashed repeatedly over the
years. His nickname comes from his oversized bionic left hand that is
built to look like a Dragon's talons. The original hand was initially
in an armored gauntlet until Ranma cut it off during a daring rescue
misson inside the Impaler. This event left the officer nearly dead from
blood loss and created a thirst for vengence that has only burned hotter
as time passed. He's a villian but one with a code of honor. In Rift's
terms he's got an Aberrant alignment (Lawful Evil for the AD&D people).
Possesses a fair amount of magical skill and owns an Impaler Rune weapon
that his ship is named after, both serve to make him extremely dangerous
to the brave CosmoKnight. The bionic hand is gimmicked too of course.
Vibroblades and laser fingers make this one hand you do not want to shake!
