Final Chapter, End of an Era.
Akane Tendo stood in the Tendo family dojo, doing warm up Katas. Punching and kicking furiously, she finished one of the intermediate level moves in the Tendo School's move set.
Walking over to the Dojo's entrance, Akane looked out upon a beautiful day in the Nerima district. Sighing in a mixture of sadness, regret and a bit of contentment, she noticed something on the horizon.
"What the?" Akane muttered, shading her eyes. What ever the thing on the horizon was, it sure was bright. It almost looked like a second sun and it seemed to be getting bigger.
Akane's speculation on what the object in the sky was quickly ended as it seemed to start moving downward, impacting with the ground somewhere near the school. Akane's two older sisters, Nabiki and Kasumi, walked out into the yard, curious to find out what she was looking at.
"Oh my!" Kasumi gasped, seeing the tremendous blast of dust and debris that spewed into the sky from the impact site.
"This can't be good." Nabiki said, her calculating eyes taking in all around her.
Then the three sisters heard it, a rumbling sound, almost like an earth quake. No, that wasn't quite it.
"RUN!" Akane screamed, pushing Kasumi and Nabiki forward. The three sisters began running down the street, the massive shockwave from the impact of the Zentraedi reflex cannon blast closing on them.
As the blast caught up, Akane's last thought was, 'I have to protect my sisters!'
HR.
Ku Lon of the Chinese Amazons stopped in her preparation of Ramin noodles in the back of the Neko-Hanten restaurant as she felt something. Tilting her head, she attempted to get a clearer sense of what she felt, but could only be certain that it was some sort of strange, artificial seeming chi signature.
"Shampoo!" Cologne called, "Get Mr. Part Time and tell him to pack our things."
The purple haired Amazon known as Shampoo poked her head around the wall in between the kitchen and the rest of the restaurant. "Why we pack, Great Grandmother?"
"Do not question me girl, just do as you are told." Cologne snapped, feeling uneasy at the fact that the strange energy seemed to be growing closer, and stronger.
"I sorry great grandmother. I tell mousse right away!" Shampoo said, feeling uneasy at the old woman's tone. She hoped that what ever was going on wasn't going to be too dangerous.
Ironically, the Zentraedi beam took that moment to strike, wiping the Neko-Hanten and all within off of the face of the earth.
HR.
Ranma Saotome ran down the hall leading to the Wild Horse briefing room. He had just seen the bombardment of earth and was positive that the captain was going to want all squadrons up in the air. Ben Dixon ran up behind Ranma.
"Is it true?" I heard that the Zentraedi just bombarded earth."
"Yeah, didn't you see it? it was on every television in the entire ship." Ranma said. "Now let's go. Command'll want us up soon. Where's Max?"
"I think I saw him and Miriya coming this way earlier." Ben said, turning into the briefing room behind Ranma. His statement was confirmed as Wild Horse flight two's pilots, as well as Max and Miriya, already waited inside.
"Good." Ranma said, walking up to the podium in front of the squadron. "Alright people. From what we have seen, this is definitely the largest group of Zentraedi we have ever faced. The earth may have been bombarded but there is still a chance that there are survivors. We must defend the Macross and earth from any further attacks. Miriya, has Max shown you enough of the basics to fly a Veritech yet?"
Miriya nodded. "Max too good teacher. I know how fly Veritech."
"Good. Well, if that's everything." Ranma said, "Let's go."
HR.
Wild Horse squadron launched, followed by Skull, Gold, Blue and any other squadrons that were available on the Macross. Even a new squadron, "Vermillion," had been constructed, using some of the Zentraedi refugees that could learn to fly Veritechs.
In addition to this force, Bretai and Azonia had sent some of they're battle pods, painted in a different scheme from Dolza's, to help fight the battle. The Zentraedi and Meltraedi flag ships were also floating in space near the Macross.
"We don't stand a chance." Ben muttered, accidentally broadcasting it over the squadron frequency.
"Shut up Ben." Ranma retorted. "I don't need to hear that right now."
Unfortunately, Ben was quite right. The Zentraedi forces were overwhelming. There were more battleships than there normally were fighters in an engagement and there was one monstrous ship that seemed to be the attack's leader.
Shrugging inside his Veritech, Ranma pushed his thrusters full forward. "Well guys, Let's show 'em what the Wild Horses can do!" He said, broadcasting to his squadron. Acknowledgements came from all of the planes, accept Miriya who said, "Who you call Guy?"
Erm… right…" Ranma said, "Way to take the wind out of my sails there, Miriya."
Ben and Max laughed.
HR.
On the bridge of the SDF-1, Captain Gloval looked on as the Macross's fighters and their allies' battle pods flew out to engage the enemy. "How many enemy ships are out there?" He asked, dreading the answer.
"We don't know sir." Lang responded. "After the bombardment stops we can better estimate the number." His voice was cut off as something on his sensor panel began to beap. "Hold on a second." Lang carefully studied his instruments.
"What is it Commander?" Gloval asked, worriedly.
"It's earth. Grand Cannon 1 has survived and is charging to fire. They will not hit us, as we are out of arc, however they will take out a large number of enemy ships."
Gloval smiled. 'Finally something going our way.' He thought, looking out upon the battle field again.
As Gloval and the bridge crew watched, an immense beam of white energy burst from the surface of the earth and tore into the fleet of Zentraedi ships. The beam began moving slightly, carving a path of destruction and debris before it faded out.
"Captain, reports are coming in that Grand Cannon 1 destroyed itself with that last shot. We aren't going to get any more help from earth." Sammy porter reported, from her comm station.
Gloval nodded. "Commander Lang, begin transformation sequence and prepare the main cannon. Ms. Porter, broadcast audio files LM-1 through LM-15 on all non squadron related frequencies."
Lang nodded but Sammy blinked. "But sir, those are…"
"I know what those are." Gloval said. "I just hope I'm right."
Shrugging, Sammy tapped the keys to begin playing Lin Minmei music through the comm system.
HR.
Ranma blinked as he heard something strange coming over his radio. "Is that?" He muttered, disbelieving. "It is!" He said, now just wondering what Captain Gloval was thinking. Coming over almost all frequencies, was music from Minmei's first album.
Strangely, the music actually seemed to have an effect on the Enemy battle pods. They seemed to stop in space, as if the pilots had stopped to listen. A few of they're friendly battle pods did the same but most of them continued to fight. Deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth, the Macross's squadrons went back to attacking the now stationary battle pods.
This state did not last for a very long time, however, the number of enemy pods was severely decreased during the time that they sat stationary.
This did not seem to be enough, as even without most of they're battle pods, the larger battle cruisers were dangerous. They fired reflex cannons, pegging several Veritechs and many more of the less maneuverable allied battle pods. They were also bombarding the SDF-1, which didn't want to put up the ODB for fear of it overloading, and Bretai and Azonia's flag ships.
HR.
Captain Gloval's expression was grim as he held his pipe in his hand. Sammy, realizing that this was an incredibly important battle, decided not to comment.
"How many of ours are left?" Gloval asked, tensely.
Kim young responded. "we've lost all of Gold and Blue. Vermilion's mostly gone as well."
Gloval swore. "Commander Lang, I'm afraid we'll have to carry out plan B."
Emil Lang nodded. "Understood." His voice sounded defeated as he typed away at his console.
Lisa blinked. "Plan B?" She asked, puzzled.
Gloval looked grimly at Lisa. "You will find out."
HR.
Ranma continued fighting the Zentraedi battle pods, flying through large crowds of them. Although a very large amount of the fighters had been taken out by the initial attacks and "Operation Minmei," the rest had recovered and they were still a very powerful force. This was the largest battle Ranma had ever been in He had destroyed several battle cruisers himself with his laser cannon and his chi reserves were almost critically low but he knew that he had to fight on. Akane may still be alive, and Nabiki and Kasumi, His parents… they were all still depending on him. No matter what they had done, they all still needed him. And of course, there was Lisa.
Suddenly, Ranma was brought out of his thoughts of the battle by a cry for help. "This is Skull lead. I need some help here."
Looking over, Ranma saw three Battle pods on Rick hunter's tail. "Hold on Rick. I'm coming." He said, as he pushed all of his power into his thrusters. Blazing forward, Ranma took aim at one of the three pods and shot. It blew up in a cloud of debris. Unfortunately, he was too late as the second and third battle pods had already fired. Both scored direct hits on Rick, who was getting tired from the constant battle.
"Aw, Damn it! My systems are failing! I can't…" Rick's voice fizzled out as his Veritech disintegrated.
"No!" Ranma yelled, shooting the other two pods into wreckage. "Damn it Rick, No!"
HR.
Roy Fokker watched in stunned silence from an engineering bay, looking up at a television that was showing the macross's external cameras. "Little brother.." He breathed, witnessing Rick's death. He collapsed to the floor, as close to tears as he had ever been.
HR.
Ranma looked on in horror as another of his friends died by the hands of the Zentraedi. He couldn't take it any more. First Hiro, then Roy was badly wounded, then earth was almost destroyed, and now this. Ranma snapped. Anyone in a Veritech or with any chi sensitivity could feel it. Ranma's Veritech let out a massive shockwave of Chi, mingled with reflex energy. The chi was bright yellow, laced with flickering lines of red. When it came in contact with a battle pod, it vaporised it. Strangely enough, any friendly units that were in range seemed to be unaffected.
After this show of power, Ranma's Veritech blurred into motion. Ranma subconsciously drew in every bit of power he had, including one piece that was almost always buried. Three long blades of light extended from Ranma's Veritech's hands as it switched to battleoid mode. He held the hands up, crossed the blades and charged straight at the massive lead enemy ship.
As Ranma charged, He screamed. "You WILL PAY!" Everyone onboard the SDF-1 and in any friendly craft heard Ranma's cry of fury, as it had been automatically broadcast over all frequencies.
HR.
Lisa gasped as she saw Ranma tear into the enemy fleet. He was like some sort of wild animal. He just slammed into battle cruisers and came out the other side with half of the innards torn out. His Veritech's massive battle aura just seemed to deflect any reflex energy beams or missiles that hit it and do even more damage.
"Oh my god." Gloval muttered. "hold off on plan B."
Lang nodded, his look of relief evident.
Everyone on the bridge watched Ranma's furious rage with an odd mixture of fascination and horror. It had appeared that he had gone completely off the deep end and he was unleashing all of his fury at the enemy. Nothing got past him. No battle pod could out manoeuvre Ranma as he flew his plane as if G force and human reflex limitations were not a factor. Lang's Reflexometer showed Ranma's synchronization as a solid blue bar, which, he kept repeating over and over again , was impossible.
HR.
Ranma saw it. The leader of the enemies. The one that he had to destroy. It floated there, shooting at the SDF-1, and Lisa. He had to stop it. Boosting his already extremely powerful battle aura to new heights, he flew full speed into the enemy leader's ship. The last thing supreme commander Dolza saw was an intense flash of light as Ranma's Veritech passed through the bridge of his ship, cutting down. When it hit the power core, Dolza's ship exploded, sending a massive shockwave outwards that crippled almost every other ship in the area. There was no sign of Ranma.
HR. (1.)
Ranma Saotome flew his Veritech towards the large battle ship in the distance. Pulling all of his reflex energy forward, he focused it, along with his Chi, into a solid whitish blade of power at the front of his machine. Slamming into the battle ship, Ranma could almost see the faces of it's bridge crew as he tore through. He plummeted through the bridge floor, headed for a spot in the centre of the ship where his Chi sense said it's main reactor was. As his Veritech slammed through deck after deck of the massive battleship, Ranma began to pull some energy away from his cutting edge and back towards him. He couldn't get enough to perform a space fold of the Veritech… but he had one other option.
HR.
Commander Lisa Hayes watched in astonishment and a little fear as her boyfriend's Veritech slammed into the enemy flag ship. A few seconds later, the flag ship was obliterated by it's own reactor going up in a massive explosion.
Ranma's Veritech was nowhere to be seen, apparently having been vaporized by the explosion that had destroyed the flagship. "Oo… no." Lisa said, her face filling with fear. "Ranma. Sammy, can you detect Ranma's Veritech's radio signal?" Lisa asked, desperate for the answer.
Sammy porter looked down to her console and tapped a few buttons. She looked up sadly. "No Commander. Captain Saotome's plane isn't transmitting."
Lisa slumped to the ground, starting to cry. Suddenly, a voice interrupted her grieving. "Hey Lisa. Whatcha cryin for?"
Whipping her head around, Lisa stared into the eyes of a pigtailed Veritech pilot, who was leaning against a wall of the bridge. "Ranma!" She cried, throwing herself at the martial artist.
Ranma caught Lisa with some difficulty. "I'm Ok. See?" He laughed and hugged her as she buried her face in his shoulder and cried.
Sammy porter reluctantly spoke up. "I'm sorry to interrupt this moment but Commander Bretai is signalling. Apparently without the Flag Ship, he and Commander Azonia were able to convince the remaining enemy battle ships to surrender."
Captain Gloval smiled. "Good. Thank them for all there help and tell them that I will contact them later."
Sammy nodded and turned to her console.
Lisa had pulled herself together somewhat by this point and was only sniffling a bit. Ranma was still holding her, however the strain of even her small weight after his exertions in the Veritech was becoming visible on his face.
"Commander." Captain Gloval spoke up. "You may wish to let Captain Saotome go before he collapses." He then chuckled.
Lisa blushed and let Ranma go, whereupon he slumped to the ground. "Spacefoldin' without a Veritech is REALLY hard, y'know?" Ranma commented, laughing.
Lisa just laughed.
HR.
Lin Minmei sat in the white dragon restaurant, crying. She had just seen Rick hunter shot down before her very eyes. On top of that, her friend Ranma had seemed to go insane after Rick's death and went in on the lead enemy ship in a suicide run. She had lost the man she loved and her best friend in one day. Suddenly, Minmei was brought out of her depressed thoughts by the sound of the White Dragon's front door opening.
Ranma spoke up. "I'm… sorry Minmei."
Minmei looked up, surprised. Ranma stood there, in the front of the White Dragon, looking like he had been run over by a car or two but still alive. "Ranma?" Minmei asked, tentatively. "I thought you were dead!"
Ranma shook his head. "I got out in time. I just wanted to come and see how you were doing, and tell you that I tried. I really did." He sounded almost as depressed and angry at himself as he had when Hiroshi got shot down.
Minmei blinked. Ranma thought that this was all his fault. She was just glad that one of them had made it but She was still very sad about Rick, and it showed In her voice when she spoke next. "It's Ok Ranma. You did the best you could. I understand." She choked down a sob.
Ranma frowned but reluctantly turned and left the Dragon. Captain Gloval had ordered him to go to the Med Lab and he was technically disobeying orders just by coming to the Dragon to see Minmei. Not to mention that Lisa would be worried sick if she showed up at the Med Lab and he wasn't there. "Sorry Minmei. I gotta go down to the Med Lab before Lang and Lisa kill me."
Minmei actually laughed as she said, "See you Ranma."
HR.
Ranma flew through the skies over Japan in a VF-1R that he had borrowed from Roy, and hit his Radio. "Lead to flight 1. you two take the outlying areas and I'll get Tokyo."
Wild Horse, as well as what was left of the other squadrons, had been sent from the Macross to look for survivors of the bombardment. Lisa had objected rather Vocally to Ranma flying again so soon after the last battle, but he had managed to calm her down.
Ben and Max acknowledged Ranma's orders and flew off to the outlying regions of what had been a major city. Now, it was just a large mass of destroyed buildings and melted metal. The Tokyo tower had been knocked down by a shockwave, taking out several blocks around it and entire wards were now just jumbled messes of rock. As Ranma flew through the devastation, something hit on his Chi radar. A small, flickering Chi signal, coming from the Nerima ward.
Ranma spun his Veritech and slammed his thrusters forward. If someone was alive in Nerima, there was hope that it was one of his friends.
HR.
Kasumi Tendo sat in a small triangular gap made by a large cement pillar that had fallen over the "Martial artist proof" wall that she and her sister Nabiki had hidden behind. Nabiki, her lower body pinned under a large piece of wood, twitched slightly.
"Kasumi, do you think anyone's coming?" She asked, her throat dried and cracked from the lack of fresh clean air in the two sisters' prison.
"I don't know, Nabiki. Just please hang on alright?" Kasumi said, her usually calm and contented sounding voice now sounding tense and worried. When the youngest of the three Tendo sisters, Akane, had thrown the other two behind this barrier, only to be picked up and slammed into a nearby house by the shockwave, she had made a mistake when pushing Nabiki. As a result, the middle Tendo sister had landed half in and half out of the protected area created by the specially reinforced wall and had had a large piece of debris land on her lower body. Kasumi wasn't nearly as good at medicine as doctor Tofu but she knew that Nabiki did not have long to live.
The two sisters looked up as they heard a sound that they had only heard once before. It was the sound of a Veritech as it landed nearby. Then a voice rang out. "I'm an RDF officer. I'm here looking for survivors! I know someone's around here so if you can hear me, respond!"
Kasumi blinked. "Ranma-Kun?" She asked, astonished.
Nabiki chuckled softly before wincing in pain. "Saotome's back."
Kasumi began to yell "We're over here! Help!" and heard the sounds of Ranma's feet as he walked over to the large pile of Debris that they were trapped inside of. Kasumi and Nabiki heard a loud explosion, and a part of the mountain of Debris shattered, revealing daylight and the smiling face of Ranma Saotome.
"Kasumi!" He said, seeing the woman sitting on the ground. "Are you Ok?"
Kasumi nodded. "I'm fine Ranma, but Nabiki is hurt badly."
Ranma poked his head further into the small hole that Kasumi was sitting inside of, taking note of the other girl who was trapped under a large wooden beam. "Hmm. I don't think I should move that thing without a Med team here. It could hurt her worse."
Kasumi nodded and Ranma ran back to his Veritech to call the Medics.
HR.
Doctor Ono Tofu sat in the Helicopter, fidgeting with the straps of his seat. Having been recruited by RDF medical for treatment of survivors, he was now on his way to Nerima ward where someone had reported a severely injured woman. He just hoped that it wasn't Kasumi. As he looked down at the wreckage of Tokyo, he saw that the Nerima ward was almost completely obliterated. Furinkan High was just a massive crater and the restaurant district seemed to have been hit with a direct beam strike. The Neko-Hanton was completely destroyed and a small office building next to Ukchans had fallen on top of it, crushing it. His old Clinic was still standing, although it was on fire, and He began to feel dread in the pit of his stomach as he realized that the helicopter was headed in the direction of the Tendo Dojo.
As the helicopter landed, Tofu saw Kasumi. Fortunately, she looked only slightly dirty and was standing next to Ranma. Ranma was yelling something. "She's over there!" He pointed at a large pile of debris leaning against a wall. "I didn't wanna move her in case I hurt her."
Tofu nodded as he walked towards Ranma. "Thank you Ranma. We'll take it from here." Walking up to the pile of debris, Tofu saw Nabiki Tendo, laying with her lower body crushed beneath a large piece of wood. Gesturing Ranma over to help him, he got Nabiki out from under the beam and onto a stretcher. As the other medics loaded her onto the Helicopter, Tofu walked over to Ranma and Kasumi.
"Is she gunna be alright, Doc?" Ranma asked, looking worried.
Tofu nodded. "She'll live. It's a good thing you didn't move her before we got here however."
Kasumi smiled. "Thank you Doctor Tofu." She stepped forward and hugged him. Doctor Tofu's glasses fogged for just a second before clearing.
"Well," Ranma said, showing his knack for bad timing. "The medics are getting ready to go, n' I can't take you two back in my Veritech so you should probably get going."
Tofu nodded, taking Kasumi by the arm and leading her to the Helicopter.
HR.
Kasumi Tendo paced in front of the Macross's med Bay doors as Ranma and Lisa sat on the ground nearby. "Kasumi. Relax." Ranma said. "Commander Lang and the Doc know what they're doing."
Kasumi stopped pacing and started ringing her hands.
Lisa leaned over to Ranma. "So, why are we here?"
Ranma shrugged. "I'm the one who found them so I feel kinda responsible for seeing that they're Ok. Not to mention that Kasumi is a very nice person and even Nabiki is tolerable."
Lisa blinked. "Tolerable? I don't want to know, do I?"
Ranma nodded.
A few minutes later, Doctor Tofu walked out of the Med Bay doors, pushing Nabiki in a wheel chair. Kasumi ran up and hugged her younger sister and Ranma and Lisa just sat and smiled.
HR.
He walked through the halls of the SDF-1, lost as always. He was in cursed form, snuffling through the corridors and trying to pick up a familiar scent to guide him somewhere. 'I'm gunna shi shi hokodan that janitor next time I see him.' He thought, bumping into a large glass door. Looking up, he saw the sign of the "White Dragon" restaurant. He could get hot water there. Tapping the glass of the restaurant's window with his front trotter, he waited for a response.
HR.
Minmei sat, thinking about Rick. She had been doing that since she had seen his Veritech explode, almost twelve hours ago, and she was still doing it now. She was brought out of her closed loop of thought by a sound. It almost sounded like someone knocking on the restaurant's front door, but the place still had the open sign up so why would someone knock? Shrugging, she got up and walked towards the noise.
Seeing the little black piglet sitting out front, Minmei blinked. 'Mr. Hibiki?' She thought, opening the door. The piglet bweed happily as it ran into the front room of the restaurant. Minmei smiled. Even if he was really a human, Ryoga made a pretty cute looking piglet. Picking him up, she asked. "Do you want some hot water "P-Chan?""
Ryoga squealed indignantly and Minmei giggled. "I'm sorry Mr. Hibiki. Just a second." Setting him down, Minmei walked into the kitchen of the restaurant and came out with a glass of water. Averting her eyes, she pored it over the pig, turning him back into a man.
"You can look back now." Ryoga said, having changed back into his clothes in less than 3 seconds.
"how do you do that?" Minmei asked, curiously.
Ryoga just shrugged. "So, what's wrong with you?" He asked, having been lost in the bowels of the ship for the last day and a half and not seeing the battle.
Minmei blinked. "Wrong?"
Ryoga nodded. "You aren't projecting a visible aura but I can feel the depression Chi you're generating right now. It's actually pretty close to my usual levels."
Minmei sighed. "Rick died in an attack a little while ago the war is apparently over, or at least that's what Captain Gloval said over the P.A a little while ago but Rick was taken out in the last battle." She sniffed back a tear at saying that.
"Erm, I'm sorry to hear that." Ryoga said. "Well, I guess you and me're in the same boat now huh?"
Minmei looked at Ryoga, confused. "Huh?"
"Well, I lost Akane to Kuno…and you lost Rick to the Zentraedi. A bit different I know but..." He shrugged helplessly, not sure what he had been getting at.
The two of them sat in the Dragon for the next little while, talking back and forth and telling stories, until Ryoga decided he'd better get going to the Launch bay so that he could get there by tomorrow. Minmei laughed at this and said, "I hope to talk to you again soon, Ryoga."
HR.
The SDF-1 put down on earth the next day, somewhere near the remains of old Tokyo. Nabiki was eventually let out of the Med Bay, however she was permanently paralysed from the waist down. Doctor Tofu seemed to no longer have his nervous stuttering problem around Kasumi and they were becoming closer. The Zentraedi and Meltraedi who had survived the war were Micronized and helped the Humans begin rebuilding the earth's Civilization. Commander Lisa Hayes was promoted to Captain of the SDF-1 as Captain Gloval was now the highest ranking military official left in the UEG Military and was needed for administration. Ryoga and Minmei were seen together on a regular basis, the only problem with that was that Ryoga seemed to transfer his problem with directions to Minmei. Thankfully, Reko, Brun and Kunda were still there to keep the white dragon afloat during it's owner's unscheduled wanderings.
HR - THREE WEEKS LATER.
"Ranma, Come on." Lisa Hayes said as she pulled on her boyfriend's arm.
"Just a sec." Ranma muttered, straightening his rank badge.
"Look Ranma. Now I know you're just stalling." Lisa said, exasperated.
"I'm sorry Lisa. You know how I feel about these things. I'm just waitin for the crazed lost guy to bash down the wall." Ranma said, sighing.
"Look Ranma. Nothing's going to go wrong. This isn't Nerima." Lisa comforted, patting Ranma on the back.
Ranma sighed. "Alright Lisa. I'm ready. Let's go."
Grinning, Lisa Hayes grabbed Ranma Saotome's hand and dragged him out of the dressing room in the main hall. Going back to where she was SUPPOSED to stay while Ranma came out and walked up to the front, Lisa waited until Admiral Gloval grabbed her arm. "Are you ready, Lisa?" Gloval asked, smiling.
Lisa nodded and Admiral Gloval began walking her down the Isle to Ranma's position.
Ranma was fidgeting and looking around the room wildly but stayed calm… until a loud explosion reverberated from the wall next to the alter. "Where the hell are we now!" A female voice exclaimed, as Minmei glared at Ryoga.
"We're… erm… here." Ryoga said, pointing at the crowd of people looking at them.
Minmei blushed and walked through the hole, taking a seat next to Kasumi Tendo in the front row.
Ranma's thoughts were, 'What'd I tell her?'
Lisa's thoughts were, 'Well, he warned me.'
Shrugging, Lisa kept walking, making it to Ranma up at the front. The rest of the Ceremony went without incident.
TO BE CONTINUED.
(1.) Y'know, this scene change was a lot more dramatic when it wa the end of a chapter.
If you'd like, stay tuned for the 'Author's Afterword,' A commentary on this fic, its beginnings, and its possible future.