Ranma Aqua-Isekai'd, by Chaos Orchid
Chapter 17: The Fortress of Real Heroes
Eyeshadow leaped on the roof. "You know you're going to have to go to the Daddies' Compound, now, Ranma."
"You said they have guards. Let them practice handling a monster. It may not be friendly, but it ain't an enemy like your Phoenix People," the other redhead said.
"You are both going to the Fortress of Real Heroes." Cologne now landed on the roof. It was an impressive feat as she was still wearing her mǎtí xié platform slippers. (And they irritated Ranma as they made the beautiful woman seem even taller next to the too cute and short redheads,)
"Do I have to, Elder Cologne?" Eyeshadow tried not to whine. "Ranma just showed she can handle the cursed Nylon by herself. At least when it's human-sized."
"But can you? Remember, you are assigned to become as experienced at using Ranma's abilities as he is. Now, go, the both of you!"
"Wait! Wait! I'm going with you!" The rooftop was getting especially crowded with the preteen Sweetie joining them. To a stranger she would have seemed cute, especially with her short cape.
"The Tattler," Eyeshadow said under her breath. Ranma agreed with her fraternal twin; the little girl was expected to report to her grandmother how well they had handled the situation.
"Carry me!" she practically ordered Ranma.
"Just change into a bird again!" She was also Cologne's pet falcon.
"Haven't you been told birds don't like to fly in rain?"
"The magic guardian cloud," Ranma frowned. And Sweetie climbed up on her to ride piggyback.
"Go before I chase you off my roof with Hairdo!" Cologne ordered. Her last words to them were, "Eyeshadow is the team leader!"
"Not you," Ranma told the annoyance hanging off of her as she leaped to the next roof.
"You have nice, wide high hips for me to rest from." The kid's 'innocent' words attacked Ranma's memories of manhood. And her breath said it directly into an ear.
The other girl with wide high hips was supposed to be their leader, but it was Ranma who was in front, showing her how to rooftop hop, going from a three-story building to a one-story, two-story, down to a one-story, etc., slowing down slightly to adjust for leaping across streets.
And then they came to the walls of the 'Village' by name. It may have started out as a village, but now it was a town of several hundred people. A town of women, Ranma reminded herself. The men lived in their own…What? Compound? Fortress? Prison?
"Stop!" Eyeshadow said as she caught up with them. "I have to give the right signal and password or the wall guards will attack us."
Ranma looked down at the girls on the whitewashed wall. Like all the other of their guards she'd seen so far, they weren't unformed, but had on different styles of clothing from different eras that seemed more or less complement their martial arts skills of choice. She even saw a woman like Shé, covered only in ropes (barely). She may have been the sensei of the squad leader Ranma had to live with as she was clearly older, Shé's (and their) senpai. She had no problem climbing her own ropes up the wall. She paused halfway up to, herself, study them.
Eyeshadow stood on one foot while she patted her head and circled her belly.
"That's a signal? Stupid," Ranma critiqued.
"It shows I don't have talons on my feet and hands. That's the biggest difference between Phoenixites and humans. Or animals."
The signal was acceptable enough for the mostly uncovered woman to toss a lasso around their roof's chimney and swing over to them. "Password of the Day!" she ordered. Her professionalism was lost for a second when she noticed Sweetie waving at her from one of the redhead's back.
"I haven't been told it, yet, Hér," Eyeshadow told her. "Yesterday's was 'Don't be surprised'."
"We were," Sweetie grinned, patting Ranma on the head.
It didn't help Ranma's mood. "Just give us a pass. Look, we have Cologne's kid with us! That makes us official!"
"You must be the new immigrant the rumors are about," Hér said. "We know better than to trust the Mischief-maker."
"The rumors!" Eyeshadow hit her palm from the idea. "I'm training under Ranma and this is a training exercise!"
"They both have red hair and are petite, busty and cute!" Sweetie now attacked two(!) manhoods at the same time.
Hér nodded. "They share the same drowned young girl. That rumor is correct. Alright. You may leave without interference." And she waved to the guards watching them from the wall.
Ranma could have leaped the plaza between the last roof and the town wall, but it would have been a training exercise for herself as well. And, then, only if she weren't carrying the extra weight of the Aggravation. She jumped to the ground and jogged her way to the gate, Eyeshadow following.
"Giddy up, Horsey!" Sweetie laughed as her ride continued the run.
"No swattin' the butt-Or the boobs!"
The wide, dirt road outside lead downhill to a smaller town with higher walls. But what startled Ranma was what was painted on the walls! Colorful and in great detail were a giant dragon-headed man and a giant oni-headed spider and…a small scribbled panda?
"We're told the demons can be summoned to protect the Daddies' Compound." The other redhead was easily keeping pace with her.
"Okay. The big ones do look like evil demons. But that doodle graffiti?"
"It's drawn how a child would draw a panda."
"I can draw better than that!" Sweetie bragged.
Eyeshadow ignored her. "It helps them not be too frightened by her brothers."
"Her? It's supposed to be a girl?"
"To the Women Heroes, evil is basically male and that means the more friendly panda one has to be female." She shook her head in exasperation at, "The worse part is the men in the compound think the panda needs the protection of her brothers. It represents the natural order of things to those who haven't been converted.'
"Converted?"
"Don't tell Ranma!" Sweetie yelled. "Let him find out for himself!" And she stretched over and tweaked Eyeshadow's ear. "It's going to be more fun that way!"
After five minutes of jogging, they reached the gates.
"Stop! Stop!" the kid demanded, kicking her heels against Ranma's thighs.
"Why!?"
"Because the curse is being too slow! You should be a male when you find out what happens to you if you don't surrender and become a female!"
"We're here to get the monster away from the kids. And train her, there, if we hafta."
"I wonder how long it will be until the Ox-man starts growing again," Eyeshadow worried. "We better hurry and get him out before he does!"
"But I want Ranma to be a male, now!"
"Too bad!" Man, she had actually gotten her to say that!?
" 'Don't be surprised'," the first redhead said to the gate guards.
"We're takin' this kid to live with the other kids!" the second said, interrupting.
"You can't do that!" Sweetie told her.
"You can't!" the woman with bounce-ball bolos hurriedly said. She obviously didn't want to have to deal with the pest everyday. And the main reason she let them pass was to be rid of her.
"Ox-head Yeti is in the playground and is ready to be escorted home," they were told as the high and heavy wooden gate was unbolted and swung open for them.
The first thing Ranma did was leap up and, on the way down, duck away from the girl's hands. She had caught her and was setting her down in front of her before anybody could react. "There! Your piggyback ride is over. Go find some kids your own age to play with!"
Her escape attempt was foiled by Eyeshadow and she found herself on top of a shoulder, looking down at the girl's pants and butt as she was carried into the Fortress. "I'm the team leader and you're supposed to only be acting on my orders."
"Hmph!" Ranma snorted in great frustration.
She growled when Sweetie pulled an eye open and stuck out her tongue.
"Stop kicking your thighs against my breasts!" her twin told the thrashing Ranma.
"Then let me down! Okay, you're the leader!" But she, Ranma, was the sensei! What training exercise could she find for her that she'd hate?!
When she was set down, what grabbed her attention was a group of three pregnant women talking as they worked near a fountain. One was drawing water for the one scrubbing dirt out of laundry with a washboard. The third was the one currently in charge of babysitting of five little, energetic kids. She may have been the one that had drawn the short end of the stick. "Dèng, change your baby's diaper, already! I have to catch up with Taco!"
(Two of the children stared at the twin redheaded strangers with their own kid.)
Was she really in the Daddies' Compound? Wasn't this where the men were kept under guard by the women? Ranma looked away from the women in drab clothes.
Yes, most of those in her view were, mixed with young girls and boys, men and boys around her own age. But there were a number of women and girls out on the streets, too. They were in various Chinese-style clothes that were basically as unisex as the males. Nothing really unusual about that. These were workaday people who had no reason to dress up. But, still, something was setting off Ranma's alarm. Was it the color of their clothes? Or lack of colors. Except for an item or two, most of them were in black, brown and/or white. Drab were the natural colors of female animals.
Except they weren't animals! They were humans. And the women in her experience liked to….
A chill ran through her that froze her in place for a moment. She didn't want to, but she had to. She had to check out every woman and girl around her! Some were large, many were small, but they all had…baby bumps.
"I think he has it!" Sweetie sang out, laughing and dancing.
Stiff as if her neck were rusty, Ranma turned to the other cursed-to-be-a-girl redhead. Eyeshadow nodded. "Instant Nyannichuan. Become pregnant and it won't wash off until after you've gone through labor pains."
"And the mommies use Instant Nannicuan!" Sweetie said. "Ha, ha!" she announced proudly, "I've had sex education!"
"Not really," Eyeshadow said more to herself.
"Really. Really! I'm the granddaughter of the most youngest Elder and I know lot!" She was on the verge of throwing a tantrum.
"She refuses to understand why(!) Cologne is the youngest. She has a great power of denial."
Ranma hesitated to ask. "Uh…Only moms?"
"Cages," Eyeshadow said solemnly. "They automatically come off with Instant Nyannichuan."
Ranma reached for denial. She didn't want to understand what that meant.
"Eggs go into the seeds in the daddy's womb and he grows the baby like a seahorse!" Just because Sweetie said that didn't mean that was what actually happened. Right!? "Twins are common."
"The Birds and the Seahorses," was Eyeshadow's dark, unhappy humor.
Ranma was saved from any more bad news by the now all too familiar enraged bellow of the ox-man monster! (And the cries of scattering children and contralto daddies.) "It's growing again!" Its furry body was just expanding above a one-story building on another street. Here was her chance for action!
Eyeshadow reached the first rooftop a step ahead of her! Aaa!
"Come back! Take me with you!" Sweetie yelled and then screamed.
Ranma treated their roofhopping (Damn soft body!) as a competition and got out ahead of the girl who could only do what she was doing cause her abilities were Ranma's own! She leaped off the last roof before she looked!
And she was blindsided by something that didn't come from the monster-belly blow!
It parkoured off of something and pushed off to attack her again! Slash! It fell to the ground and leaped up at her once more! "Not between the legs, you dirty little pig!" Ranma yelled as she did the splits and caught it by its yellow neckerchief.
"Get Nylon, not the pet!" Eyeshadow ordered as she leaped down on top of the two-story high monster.
Seeing two almost identical redheads confused the little black pig. It gave Ranma time to get rid of the pest!
Deja vu! Ox-man flew to catch it! What annoyed any woman-especially girl-men-made it happy. "Oh, yeah?! You wanna give it back to me like the last time!? Gotta catch me first! Tag, you're it!"
"The Guardian Cloud isn't raining!" Eyeshadow cursed.
"It's like the gift-giver of weapon-space!?" Ranma cursed, running back along the way she'd come by, back towards the gate and the road outside the town! (Meanwhile almost everybody below were following the emergency drill!)
Deja vu! But instead of Phoenixite wings, Eyeshadow was trying to claim control over crane wings on its too wide back. She could direct one of them as it flew.
For less than half a minute. Unfortunately for them and the little black thumb-biter, it chose not to play their games and folded its wings. It dove for the ground Ranma had landed on!
Ranma leaped straight up at it. They were on a collision course!
Only it missed the small target, and Ranma punched its jugular! Only the little fist was unable to do important damage. Though it did have to use its wings now to steady itself.
Eyeshadow was shaken off and landed near her red haired sensei. Then the pig was flicked near the them.
Ranma launched herself at the jugular again! And again and again, down and up as fast as she could! Eyeshadow learned and attacked the monster's diaphragm again and again with each leap! Even the swine got the idea and-when the groggy monster got low enough-headbutted its balls!
The coup de grâce delivered, it gave up the battle and retreated into unconsciousness.
But Ranma and Eyeshadow continued to go at it over and over! This time they used their small hands to not hit but push. All across its body they very rapidly shoved the great body just a little ways back up into the air. It took seconds but it felt like long minutes to them as they transferred its falling momentum to the ground on which they immediately left to took off from to collect yet more of the energy! Even the pig had gone from ankle-biting became the ankle socking. By the time the sleeping giant gently crashed and its furry legs were curled in the fetal positon around the fountain.
(The two kids had something else to stare and wonder at.)
"Now, That(!) was a training exercise!" Eyeshadow said, wiping the sweat from her eyes.
"I don't think it's over," Ranma said, seeing the equally tired pig hoofing the ground, preparing to attack once more.
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []
NOTES:
Just because the demons were evil in manga Chapter 179 "The Cursed Scroll" and S6 E10 "Curse of the Scribbled Panda" doesn't mean these are. If they are, they are under the control of the Elders. For now. These demons can also go from flat, 2D pictures to kaiju monsters.
Chinese and Japanese have no "he, she, it" pronouns. The magic that allows those on This-side to understand each other goes beyond that limitation of the languages to supply some gendered words. Imagine! In a land where people are cursed to change sexes or animals and they talk of "she", "he" and "it".