Disclaimer; This fanfiction uses existing ideas, characters and or worlds, but is an independent work of art. I own nothing, hence the reason for publishing my writings here instead of in real books where I could make some money.
Once more, morning dawned on Atlanta and its suburbs.
The Diggers home was not a pretty sight, many early morning commuters decided, as they took in the charred holes in the building and the large craters in the ground and the mostly incinerated tree. No matter, they had recovered from such damage before, even worse than this much damage, actually … and they were no less disturbed when a black cat-man exited the house. He had already been there a few days, so they had gotten used to him quickly, due to their continuing exposure to that nice Diggers girl who had a similar condition … this one was either younger or just smaller, but they didn't really care as they waved friendlily at him as he passed.
Ranma Koki, though more uncomfortable in this form in public than when he was alone, waved back while realising that these people were about as desensitised to strangeness as the people of Nerima. Their acceptance of his hybrid form helped him accept himself for what he was, but even if he convinced himself that he didn't care, much like millions of others do every day, a tiny piece of him wanted acceptance. This tiny part was somewhat relieved at the acceptance of the people of the area. In Jade, there had been similar creatures to him wandering around without concealment, so he knew it would be okay to do the same … that, and he simply wasn't able to change until that solar eclipse …
Like the day before, Ranma was awed at the magnificence of the Diggers mansion.
At one side of the property, Ranma heard the telltale sounds of someone running through a kata. Looking at the wristwatch he had gotten the night before, he saw he still had a few minutes left before he had to be there, so he decided to see how good Mrs Diggers was.
As he got close enough to see, Ranma realised that Mrs Diggers was indeed one of the best … her warm-up kata was nearly on the master level kata, and if one warmed up at that level, one had better be good, or one could get seriously injured when moving on to the more straining stuff.
The woman went on to her proper kata, and Ranma could detect a strong base of Amazon Wu Shu in it. From how she moved he could tell she favoured a weapon, a light sword if his guess was right … not a good thing, but then, she seemed fairly skilled without a weapon as well … he could not wait until he had some free time so he could match his skill with hers … it was always good to test oneself against ones betters, and Ranma could, albeit begrudgingly, admit that this woman was his better. In a fair fight, he knew he would not have a chance of beating her without his techniques … however, with the techniques … he'd still probably get beat, but much less so.
A digital chirrup from the watch told him he had better hurry, or he'd be late. He didn't want to know what sort of disciplinary methods his sensei had for tardy or disobedient students.
Ryoga and Akane were running for their lives.
They had sought shelter in a cave when it looked like rain and made it inside just as it began to pour. It was a deep cave, and after getting a little inside to check for wild animals, the form of a cavern changed into a hallway of smooth slabs of stone, with torches lighting it up.
They had stepped on a couple of green lumps on the floor that squeaked, and suddenly started spouting a long string of colourful Irish language. The two lumps had screamed something, and suddenly a tank had rounded a corner and started firing explosive shells at them while a machine gun mounted by the hatch started pealing off stone from the ground and walls, missing them with barely a hair's width.
This was the biggest reason the two were running. The second reason was that from the rumbling reverberating between volleys of shells and bullets, more of those things were coming. If one of them was barely missing them, then how big a chance would they have in evading the onslaught of more?
"Ye be goin' no farther, boyos!" said a gruff voice ahead, causing Ryoga to slam on the brakes and causing Akane to slam into him.
"And girlos!" added an annoyed feminine voice.
Standing in front of the two was a bulky green metal man with a bowler hat and a shamrock sticking from it.
"Ye sure 'bout that?" asked another male voice inside the metal man. "She be very flat fer a girlo … an' her clothes be masculine too …"
"This is not the time to be arguin' 'bout a girlo bein' a tomboy!" argued the first voice gruffly.
"She not be a looker either," commented the second man.
"Focus, boyos!"
The metal man shifted with the whirring and clanking of machinery and got into an aggressive fighting stance. Ryoga wasn't about to fight a man made of metal, even if he was tough, so he performed a strategic retreat through a wall with a fuming Akane in tow. How dare they call her an uncute tomboy with a flat chest?
The metal man stood flummoxed for a moment before those controlling it realised what had happened.
"Ye not be getting' our pots o' gold!" finished the first voice. "Blazing Shillelagh!"
In the outskirts of Tokyo Japan, in the maximum security ward of the prison, it was about time for the nightly rounds right after lights out.
It had been an exemplary couple of days. The inmates had behaved, there had been no complaints about anything, nor had they gotten any new prisoners. The newer employees of the prison thought this as a good thing … the older and more experienced ones knew that it was the silence before the storm and were skittish.
This was also what made the following event so sad, as it was not an experienced guard that was walking the rounds near the solitary cells.
There was only one cell in solitary that was occupied, so that made the man's job that much easier.
The guard opened the peep-hole of the thick door of the isolation cell and peered in.
There was nothing inside.
Rubbing his eyes, the guard tried again, but came to the same result. There was no prisoner where one very fat one should have been.
Opening up the feeding hatch, to get a better view, in case the prisoner had hidden along the door, he still found nothing.
Normal procedure would most likely require the guard to sound the alarm, calling for back-up to help examine the cell and move out through the locked down prison, alarms blaring and flood lights helping the outer guards to search for any clues about where and how the prisoner had escaped.
Unfortunately, this was the guard's first break-out, so he did not have the drill down despite the training courses required for the job.
Opening the door, the guard could not see any signs of the normally fat and blubbering fool.
-Smack!-
Suddenly, the guard was punched in the face by fat air, sending him reeling back into the wall opposite to the cell and spraying a small amount of blood on the clean tiles.
Still somewhat conscious, the guard could feel himself getting undressed of his uniform, money, Identification and weapons, then thrown into the dark by the scruff of his t-shirt, knocking him unconscious on the inner wall.
At the Diggers mansion, Ranma was in deep concentration, as he had been for nearly an entire hour. Across from him was Dr Diggers, with a curious look on his face.
Ranma was being taught a very useful spe – technique, called Clairvoyance, one that he was finding very difficult to master or even get right. Something about persuading the chi of the air to give him a view of his chosen area was not working entirely to plan, yet.
The main reason Ranma was having trouble with it, was that Dr Diggers had told him that while he was using it, he was completely unaware of his immediate surroundings, leaving him completely defenceless. This would not do in Ranma's battle-calculator mind. So when he tried to make himself aware of his surroundings as well as seeing something happening far away, he couldn't get results.
"Don't be so hard on yourself," said the doctor in a parental tone, showing some sympathy for his situation. "Most of those who learn this technique take months before mastering it … I'm sure no one will think badly of you for it."
"I don't like being left vulnerable," growled Ranma, losing his concentration. "There's got to be a way around it!"
"There isn't," stated Dr Diggers. "Unless there were two of you, that is … but that- what are you doing?"
Dr Diggers had unknowingly given Ranma the answer he was looking for. Ranma tipped over a glass of water onto the ground, grinning so wide, it looked like his face might split in two.
"This," answered Ranma proudly, and shocked the doctor by there suddenly being two of him there, and no puddle of water.
One Ranma sat in the corner, while the other concentrated, his eyes suddenly started glowing golden. This was a sign that he was doing the Clairvoyance right.
"Wow," commented the Ranma with the glowing eyes. "Your wife is really beating the stuffing out of that heavy bag …"
Quelling his desire to ask about how he had done what he did, Dr Diggers composed himself. It wouldn't do to look like he wasn't in control as Ranma came out of the trance.
"Perhaps you should try focusing on something a little farther away?" he suggested calmly.
"Okay," agreed the Ranma with the formerly glowing eyes. The other one was surveying the room carefully.
Ranma's eyes flared up again, leaving him completely unable to see or hear anything from his surroundings.
"Hey, there's Gina!" exclaimed Ranma. Suddenly, he turned scarlet and snapped out of the vision.
Worried that something was the matter, Dr Diggers was immediately upon him. "What's wrong, Ranma?" he demanded. "Is it Gina?" he asked. Ranma blushed even more and nodded. "Is she in danger?" Ranma shook his head. "Is she fine?" this question only got Ranma to blush even more. "Tell me something, boy!" Ah, the joys of parenthood …
"So much skin …" muttered the still blushing Ranma.
Dr Diggers, being a man of the world, immediately understood what had gone on, or at least got the gist of it. As much as he'd like to utterly destroy the young man for peeping on his oldest daughter, he hadn't really been completely in control, and he certainly couldn't tell Gina he was watching to get her to keep her clothes on. Though taking a shower with ones clothes on was very cumbersome. Dr Diggers tried to reign in his anger which sprouted from his being an overprotective father and snapped out of the flaming skull he had gone into without meaning to.
"Try not to do that again," the man stated in a barely restrained growl. Ranma nodded quickly, his blush fading as he regained control of his emotions. "Now, try again, but don't peek on my daughters!"
Ranma quickly agreed to the terms and started concentrating again.
Before his eyes, a dark room manifested.
There was a little light streaming in past the curtains from the street, and a tiny strip of light from the hallway through the door.
The bed in the middle of the room was occupied by a slumbering female form … his mother, Nodoka.
She hadn't changed much in appearance over the time he had been away, but if the open wardrobe door was any indication, her style had changed quite a deal, from the conservative kimono to modern clothing.
Apart from that, the room was Spartan, only a bed and a bedside table, where an alarm clock, a lamp and a photograph were resting.
Turning his view somewhat, he could see the subject of the photograph … him. His mother had a picture of him facing her on the bedside table. It was one of the images of him going through a kata while wearing a singlet … one of Nabiki's numerous works.
It became too much and he snapped out of it.
"What did you see?" asked Dr Diggers, seeing the sad smile on Ranma's face.
"Mom," replied Ranma calmly. "She's asleep … she looked so peaceful, so normal … normally she looks so stern, so formal, but it all washed away in her sleep … like an innocent child …"
Dr Diggers paused for a moment to think of how his wife looked in her sleep.
"Even the most hardened warrior can look innocent in their sleep," he mused after a moment. "It is through sleep that we find peace … but sometimes the troubles of our lives haunt that last refuge …"
There was a moment of silence between the two, and the water clone in the corner.
"I think that is enough instruction for today," sighed Dr Diggers. "Why don't you just practice what you've learned, okay?"
"Yes, sensei," agreed Ranma.
It was starting to get late when Ranma finally returned to his current residence.
Outside the house, Ranma paused, and checked his watch.
He had one hour left until dinner … he could spare some time to run a few checks on his car's weapons systems. A menial task, yes, but it needed to be done now and again in order for the weapons to be fired safely without incident. Even if his weapons were resistant to water damage, any number of other things could go wrong … a disconnected wire … a block in the barrel … the bolts holding the cannons steady being locked or cracked from corrosion … it all had to be checked so they would not happen and would not prevent use of the cannons if he needed them.
It was while Ranma was leaning into his car that Ryan Tabbot arrived in his own car, which got less parking space because of the big car in the driveway … an unusual spot for Gina to park her cars, as she had an underground garage with the entrance hidden under the driveway. Thinking she must have her reasons … weapons tests or something like it taking place down there, he didn't really bother to think of it, as it was more than likely going to give him a headache.
When he came out of his cabriolet, he heard the sound of metal clinking against metal, a sure sign that someone was tinkering with something, and the only thing visible was the car in the driveway, which Ryan assumed was Gina's.
He was about to goose his girlfriend, whom he thought was the one tinkering, when he discovered the new guy, the mage, Ranma, leaning half his torso into the opened hood.
"Hey!" called Ryan and roughly pulled Ranma from the car by the scruff of his mage suit. "Don't mess with that! You'll end up breaking something you can't fix with your magic!"
"What are you babbling about?" asked an annoyed Ranma as he massaged the feeling back into his throat. He had been checking the connection between the right cannon and the battery when he had been forcibly ejected from his work. "Could you just step aside, I need to finish something …"
Ryan halted Ranma's attempted advance by holding his left shoulder. "You shouldn't mess with things you don't understand," he continued. "Now lay off before Gina sees you and gets angry!"
"Have you lost your mind?" asked Ranma. What little he had left of patience for the man was slowly eroding away. "Why would Gina get mad?"
"Because you're ruining her car, that's why!"
"Her car? This is my car!" argued Ranma. If that guy wasn't friends with Gina, he'd have laid him out for that stupid statement.
"Yeah, right," scoffed Ryan. This mage obviously thought too highly of his skills. "Like you could ever understand even a tenth of how the mechanics works in one of these things, much less how they work in real life … don't bite over more than you can chew, go back to travelling by foot, buggy or magic, this thing is too advanced for you."
Ranma stared at the man, who was among the more noted treasure hunters in the world, and a self-proclaimed master of fighting. How could someone with apparently so much brain be so stupid? Did he take lessons?
"Are you deaf as well as stupid," growled Ranma finally. "This is my car, I built it from scratch!" only the use of the Soul of Ice and the fact that he was Gina's friend kept Ranma from collapsing the man's skull in on itself along the form of his fist.
Fortunately, the budding fight was interrupted by Gina emerging from the house, having heard her name called loudly from the outside. Not being a scientist for her lack of curiosity, she had decided to find out what was going on.
When her eyes landed on Ryan, her eyes frosted over instantly.
Ranma had an idea of what could be the cause of this reaction, but was more concerned about Gina's mental and emotional wellbeing.
-Crack!-
Ranma returned to the present as Gina gave Ryan an unexplained slap, its sound reverberating down the streets, and stomped back inside, tears barely being repressed.
Ryan stared after the retreating woman for nearly a full minute even after she had entered the house, a glowing red mark on his face where the flat of her palm had struck, before snapping away back to reality.
Ranma watched the man think for a few seconds, no doubt trying to figure out what the cause was for her reaction.
Finally, Ryan snapped from his thoughts and glared at Ranma.
"This is all your fault!" declared an angry Ryan. Gina was no doubt upset about him letting Ranma ruin her car. It was the only logical reason he could think of.
"Huh?" asked Ranma, wondering how people even across the world from Nerima managed to leap to such ridiculous conclusions. Maybe it had something to do with his pheromones … rivals for women and all that, even if Ranma wasn't actively after any woman that he knew of.
-Whiff!-
Ranma barely offered a thought to leaning his head to the side of the incoming fist, making it such a close call. Why did all of these idiots somehow find him? Was he also some kind of magnet for buffoons in addition to his other troubles?
Casually, he leaned back to avoid the follow-up uppercut, and went even lower when the man went into a roundhouse kick.
The follow-up sweeping kick was calmly back-flipped over without the use of hands, and seemingly with great ease.
As Ranma dodged the man's attacks, he came to the conclusion that this man, talented though he may be in absorbing techniques, was untrained in the basics of the martial arts he copied, and was therefore not as well versed as he might like to think. Anyone who had truly worked to get to the level Ryan was trying to fight at would be able to read their opponent's moves by noting the flexing of muscles and shifting of weight and calculating eyes trying to figure out where to hit next. It was a simple matter for Ranma, as he had been trained in the art since he could walk, though until his fifth year of life, that training was relatively tame, much like with normal martial arts schools as they teach their students the basics. A bag of tricks wouldn't go as far as skill, and tricks seemed to be what Ryan relied on mostly.
The more Ranma had fought in his life, the easier his opponents had gotten to read, as his speed in reading and reacting to those signs increased according to need … more specifically, his need to survive. He needed to learn fast in order to stay alive, unlike Ryan who hadn't had the same constant motivation as Ranma.
Amateur, was Ranma's concluding opinion on the man currently getting sloppier in his attacks due to anger clouding his senses. Maybe if Ryan continued, studying only the basics, he'd reach his level in a couple of years, but he doubted the man had the dedication needed, so it would be longer … or he would injure himself doing something he wasn't supposed to and end up unable to perform the Art ever again … though if Gina had forgiven him by then, maybe he would recover with the help of her healing tank …
By this point, Ryan was coming to his own conclusion … the punk must be cheating with magic … well, two can play dirty.
Leaping out of Ranma's reach, Ryan gathered his hands at his waist, held as though there was a ball between them, and started channelling chi into them.
Ranma realised what was going to happen … he was going to use an attack, one that looked like it could do a great deal of damage if left unchecked, which it seemed to be at the moment.
Not wanting to have the neighbours' houses destroyed in an attack meant for him, Ranma bent down quickly and snapped off a couple of blades of grass before sending them flying at the man.
Normally, throwing grass at someone is very stupid, as blades of grass are much too light and uncontrollable, losing momentum after not even a second after release and is scattered on any breeze that happens to come by.
Ranma, however, knew this, and used the only weapon he ever really allowed himself to use, his ki. With his ki, he strengthened the blades, and made sure their paths were accurate and had enough momentum behind them to achieve his desired task.
Ryan watched in fascination as several tiny glowing pins came flying at him, and hardly registered when the things impacted with and impaled his hands. The chi attack sputtered out of existence from his sudden lack of focus.
It took a moment or two before the pain registered.
"What the f#&?" asked Ryan through gritted teeth. It felt like having dozens of large splinters stuck through his palms, which was in fact a very accurate description, with the exception of these being blades of grass, not wood, though the difference isn't all that big with the exception of overall size, colour and density.
"Your reckless attack was about to take out at least one house behind me," stated Ranma in cool anger. "I prevented it from taking place with minimal damage."
Ryan growled angrily, and would have started another attack, if not for-
-Fwooo-BOOM!-
-the crater that suddenly erupted between the two from what looked like chi attack.
Tracing the attack back to its source, both males saw Beebee, standing on the doorstep.
This in and of itself was not so surprising, she had a tendency to find Ranma when he needed her, whether he knew it or not. What was shocking was that resting on her shoulders were two big cannons, not unlike bigger versions of those installed on Ranma's car, and in her hand was a wicked-looking gun that had definitely been tampered with if the wires running in and out of it were any indication.
"Ryan Tabbot," stated Beebee seriously. "Your presence here is not wanted at this time, please vacate the premises before I am forced to use more than warning shots."
The grin that slowly spread across her face begged him for a reason to shoot first and ask questions later.
Having heard about the new body of the peebo named Beebee, through Penny Pincer who had heard it from Gina last night and informed him of the news this morning, and knowing Brianna well enough to know her creations would not bluff about something like this, Ryan grudgingly returned to his car, and with very gentle movements using only his fingers instead of palms, drove away. Maybe he should see a doctor to pull the blades out and make sure there was no infection …
After Ranma had made sure that the upstart had left, he turned to Beebee and raised a brow in question of her arsenal.
Beebee, accurately guessing what he was curious about stowed the canons away into a stuff space with no visible generator and toed the ground in front of her nervously.
"Ehm …" she stuttered. "I'm sorry I borrowed your weapon designs without permission …"
Ranma kept his stare, not changing his expression.
"It was very bad, but I did it because you may need my help some day, and after I changed body, I don't have any defence or attack mechanism … I had to have something to help you with …"
Ranma's expression softened a little, but it was enough to encourage Beebee to continue.
"I even made this gun based on your chi-tech designs, modifying it to fire small blasts of energy instead of bullets … the chamber is a chi battery that stores small amounts of chi to fire, but it will constantly recharge, so it won't run dry unless some of the wiring comes loose …"
Ranma nodded in understanding.
"So," he started sternly. "You were the one to abduct the missing chi-tech chip …"
Beebee nodded guiltily, bowing her head in shame.
"Am I right in guessing it now powers you instead of whatever Brianna normally uses?"
Again, Beebee nodded, and seemed to prepare herself for a proper scolding.
"Good," ended Ranma, surprising the former bit bomb. "I couldn't think of a better use for it than to power you, now you don't have to worry about recharging your batteries! However, I'm disappointed in you for not thinking I'd understand, and for taking it without permission."
"I'm sorry, Ranma," said a remorseful Beebee, though she was glad he approved of her assigned task for the chip. "It won't happen again, I promise!"
Ranma smiled and walked to her.
"I'm sure of it," he affirmed and patted her red hair.
With that done, he returned to his car and finished up before stowing it away again. Maybe it was time to stop playing the distraction game when he moved his car in or out of stuff space? Beebee had seen him do it while he was working on it in the labs, and she hadn't made a big deal out of it … but then, she had a way of knowing what not to tell others about him. The others may not have the same intuition …
Meanwhile in the holding cells of the Diggers home, two wererats were having an emergency council concerning their team leader.
"Like, she seems like she, y'know, likes it here," commented Moisha, not really sure of what to believe.
"She must have been brainwashed," argued Romeo. It was impossible for any wererat to enjoy the company of a werecat, especially that infernal werecheetah.
"But, like, she didn't seem like she was …"
"It must be the werecat …" mused Romeo. "He seems to be attracting more women than s#& does flies …" his eyes widened. "It must be this species' version of the Glare of Doom! The Stare of Lust! He's making her fall for him, and convinces her that she doesn't need us! The wererat clan will be in danger if he decides to have her tell him about it!"
"Like, oh my!" fussed Moisha. "Like, what do we do?"
"There's nothing we can do, yet," grumbled Romeo. "But, we will escape, and we will have to go to Gothwrain about it … he needs to know the power this werecat possesses over wererats of the opposite sex!"
In the dining room, the entirety of the current household members of was gathered. It was dinner, made by Brianna. Or rather, since she could not manage much besides tuna, and not everyone were as enthused about the fish as the werecats and her, she had ordered a few pizzas from the nearest pizza place. Three fifths of the pizzas had tuna topping on them in varying amounts, but no anchovies, never any anchovies, yuck!
Britanny was slightly disappointed that the meal had not been entirely composed of tuna, and even more so when those slices with tuna vanished very quickly, making her settle for bacon and pineapple … sigh … if she had been the one that ordered, she would have gotten more tuna … maybe even more pizza with tuna …
Stryyp knew of his wife's craving for tuna, and would have made it for her if it had been his turn to cook. He was instead keeping a slice or two from the others to give to her … at least she could have those.
Brianna was talking to Ranma about power sources and energy weaponry, and he only responded occasionally to input his ideas or opinion to her statements.
Madrid was trying to get the attention of Ranma by constantly drawing attention to her own breasts with semi-subtle hand gestures. The table was, fortunately or unfortunately, too wide for her to use her feet to attract attention, and Ranma was doing an admirable job of not looking at her.
Next to her, an unfortunate seating arrangement that came to be because the other seats were taken or ruined in the intrusion the previous night, sat Dao who was also ignoring her. After all, not many people remained on friendly terms with their former spouses, so why should he?
Genn was also avoiding looking at the well endowed Djinni, but for different reasons that she had yet to share with anyone.
Next to her, Seance was trying to figure out why Genn was acting so distant since they returned to Earth. He was genuinely concerned for her wellbeing, even if he was in love with Gina.
Beebee was sitting next to Ranma, enjoying being part of the proceedings. Not many people bothered to take note of what looked like an appliance sitting at the table, but in this new body, she was actually being included in the conversations taking place, when they took place. She wasn't eating, because even if she was waterproof, she didn't want to test how well her systems would react to getting food into them.
Ranma was eating at a restrained pace. It was impolite to eat at his normal pace, and there wasn't anyone here that tried to steal food off his plate to worry about … apart from Britanny who tried to sneak one or two of his tuna slices … He was also reviewing his lesson for the day, and trying to figure out what leaps of sense that got Ryan to think he was the reason Gina was angry.
Gina was glaring at her plate, but the sparkling eyes were a testament to the unshed tears she was holding back.
Nabiki was very silent, and barely touching her food. This was understandable, as within the last twenty-four hours she had entered a foreign country, seen the previous stupid jock manage to outwit her on her two biggest platforms for getting his money from him, seen destruction beyond a fight between Ranma, Happosai and Taro treated like it was a daily occurrence, seen a werecheetah, which she hadn't known existed before, been told and shown that Ranma was a werecat as well, and of a species that hadn't existed before (she had asked if his bite would infect her with it as well, but apparently, they didn't know), she had been told that Lydia was a wererat and Beebe a robot with not only an artificial intelligence but a serious crush on Ranma. She had seen Britanny Diggers 'Gia's husband, Stryyp, and been told that not only is there life outside this planet, but it is more than capable of destroying Earth if given the chance or motive, though they had yet to be given one. Then she had been introduced to the two resident Djinni, Dao and Madrid, who did not fulfil wishes, much to her disappointment, and a shape-shifter named Genn. Finally there had been the "Apprentice Mage", Seance … a muscular fellow with a similar strange suit to the one Ranma wore with his pants. Ranma had given her a red suit that looked like it, but she didn't think she'd ever get a chance to wear it … she thought it looked too revealing, not to mention it looked too big for her, so Ranma had insulted her in thinking her fat. Ranma's explanation that the suits would fit perfectly once worn was not bought … despite the information she had been given about events and residents of the house. The abacus was a good gag gift, something she would never have pegged Ranma for being capable of thinking of, but useful for those times when the power was out and she didn't have a calculator handy.
What more, the level of technology in this house alone could easily rival several science fiction series she had seen over the years. There was Beebee, who looked very lifelike, and then there were the hurtbots Gina had brought out to secure the two prisoners, and finally the Super Construction Votoms that had repaired the damage on and around the property during the day. Even on some of the more advanced science fiction shows there was no trace of robots that could do the things these could do … this would have been a regular gold mine if Ranma hadn't noticed her expression and forbid her, on pain of poverty, injury and blackballing, to mention the things that existed or went on in this house or the houses of the friends and family of the Diggers.
To top it off, this morning when she had awoken from a nightmare, involving herself being sold as a slave to Kuno by her father to make ends meet, and was headed for the kitchen she saw Beebee "sleeping" outside Ranma's room, curled up like a kitten or puppy, just to the side of the door so she wouldn't prevent it from opening, nor get hit by it, but close enough to notice if it opened.
She had used to think she had seen it all where Ranma was concerned, but this was well beyond anything she could think up. Nabiki started considering whether to risk handling Ranma's money or not, if this was the kind of messes he ended up in now. He did mention that he had other candidates for the job, one of which was a walking calculator in the sense of being a robot, and would never forget anything. But the money had too tight a hold on her, and she was not about to let it all go away.
Then there was his new sensei … she had not met the man, but from what she understood, he wasn't very physical in his fighting style, relying more on energy attacks and manipulation than his body. Nabiki wondered if that was the definition of a wizard or something, but didn't really want to think of it. Ranma hadn't gone into detail about his lesson with the man, but she was very much reminded about two fictional characters from two different backgrounds. One was a powerful telepath, running a school for children with special gifts. The other was part of an Order dedicated to keeping the peace in an entire galaxy. She had jokingly suggested Ranma start making a sword that looked like a slim flashlight when turned off, but made a four foot long solid beam of light that could cut through metal like butter … Ranma actually seemed to consider it, and hinted to Gina having made something similar with stunning purposes instead of lethal.
This social gathering was interrupted by the phone ringing.
Beebee, being the only one not eating anything, got up and went to answer it.
What conversation was going on quietened down some, as everyone were curious about who would call at this hour, and what about.
After a moment, Beebe entered, with a serious look on her face.
"Ranma," she started. "It's for you … your mother said it was very important."
Ranma wiped his hands and mouth on a napkin and got up quickly. He silently hoped his mother wasn't at the airport as well. He had enough woman troubles on his own without her coming over and adding to them by pushing him to have kids so she could become a grandmother.
As he was about to pick up the receiver, he got an idea for training the new technique he had learned, and after creating his version of a Shadow Clone, initiated the Clairvoyance technique, and was surprised to the normally composed Nodoka with such a frantic expression.
"Mom, what's wrong?" he asked immediately. Better to cut right to the chase.
" It's your father, " she admitted, surprised that he could tell something was wrong when all she had said to that nice woman, Beebee, was that it was important.
"What's the old fool done now?" sighed Ranma. That man could cause trouble no matter what he did.
" He's escaped from the prison! " cried Nodoka, losing her composure more than she already had.
"Really?" asked Ranma in yet another sigh. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he thought of the possible escape routes Genma would take from prison, and the possible places he would hide. "When?"
" Sometime during the night, " said Nodoka. " They were going their rounds when the new guy discovered he was gone, he opened the door and was attacked by air and flung half naked into the solitary cell where his fellow guards found him this morning … the man fell into a coma from blunt trauma to the head only an hour after being found. "
"So he was missing for hours before it was discovered by the rest … great, just great …" the sarcasm was thick in his last comment, and even Nodoka could hear it. "Have they gotten any clues about where he's gone?"
" The guard's security cards were used for him to leave, and half an hour later, a nearby shopping centre was robbed of several items, " explained Nodoka.
"Let me guess … A big backpack, a few jugs of sake, a tent, food enough to feed a herd of elephants for a week, a set of martial arts gi, and finally, money … am I right?"
" Yes, for the most part, he also stole the phonebook from one of the telephone booths, " added Nodoka.
"That must mean he's looking for someone in the area," stated Ranma, very well aware of having stated the obvious. "Very likely you, to get you to take the fall for his crimes or persuade the law that he's innocent by waving your sword around … he'll probably flee the country if that doesn't work … the man's leaps of logic never cease to amaze me … if he had known I was still alive, he'd have sought me out to lay blame on me … he never could take the consequences of his actions …" Ranma sighed and thought of the situation for a moment. He was probably one of the few able to find the man, and Genma needed to be brought back to justice. "Give me your address, and I'll get to you as soon as I can… just try and keep Kasumi out so she doesn't get hurt …"
Ranma could see relief and worry etched on his mother's face as he made his statement. The address was given rather quickly, and Ranma made a note of it.
"Don't worry, I'll be there soon," he added. "Good bye, mom … 'love you."
This last part was added because it felt like the right situation for it, and he couldn't remember the last time he had told her this.
" I love you too, son, " replied Nodoka in a slightly soothed voice. " Be safe. "
"I will, 'bye!"
Hanging up the phone, Ranma snapped out of the Clairvoyance technique, and dispelled the clone before returning to the dining room. Everyone in it pretended they had been talking and stopped to hear what he had to say.
"Something has happened back home," he started bluntly. "And I need to go back and fix it as quickly as possible. Nabiki, it looks like your vacation just got cut short."
There was a moment of silence as this information was absorbed. Nabiki didn't really want to return so quickly, but she didn't really know these people, and the thought of staying with them while Ranma was away for an undetermined period did not sit right with her.
"I'm coming with you!" firmly stated Beebee, making it clear that she was not about to be argued with.
"Me too!" chirped Lydia. Though she felt she should remain and watch over her former team mates, this was an opportunity she was not about to miss out on.
Brianna was kicking herself for already having promised Britanny that she'd come on the fishing trip. She'd have loved to come, but Britanny had a certain way of making her do as she promised … and there would be fish! Besides, it's not as if Beebee had much of a chance of winning Ranma, not with a chest like that, and the robot would make sure Lydia didn't get too far in her advances … maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all …
Gina was also slightly disappointed. Her expedition started the day after next, and she couldn't postpone it … it would cost too much, and it was mostly Penny who was paying. Postponing the expedition to go off on a long weekend with some guy was not a good enough reason to even her, so there was no way she could make Penny believe it was.
Madrid looked like she would also chirp in her participation in this expedition, but a cold glare from Ranma made her shut up.
"Gina, Britanny, Stryyp, Brianna, I thank you for your hospitality," stated Ranma formally with a small bow. " Nabiki, Lydia, Beebee, please hurry in packing what you wish to bring, because I don't know how long we'll be gone and time is of the essence. I need to call Sensei and discuss how our lessons will continue."
Author's Notes; Yet another chapter reread and corrected … as I'm sure you, he readers, are getting tired of hearing, the changes were mostly cosmetic … filling in missing letters or correcting wrong ones.
I'd like to again ask my readers to please review me about specific plot holes, spelling errors, grammar errors etc, so that I can fix it for when I eventually replace every chapter later on. I will address the problems as soon as I get them in, so that it will be easier to correct them in my text file which I will then use to replace the chapters when the story is complete. And if you do review me about errors of any kind, please give me some reference words around the problem so that I can trace it down quicker.
Credits; Ryoga and Akane ending up in the Castle of Shoes and getting chased around by leprechauns while they ridiculed Akane's form and femininity was the brainchild of TerraBull. The scene where Ranma tinkers with his car and Ryan comes along, thinking it was one of Gina's was based on the idea of Shakeval. I had originally planned on having Ranma quote the common expression "Flower Power" after having speared Ryan's hands with the blades of grass, but decided it was too corny for the situation, even if most Ranma situations can seem corny on their own. The grass being thrown through Ryan's hands was inspired by the sparring match between Arms-Master Julia and Ranma in "Smoke & Wind" by Philip Weigel. The "Lightsaber" idea was also based on a suggestion by Shakeval. The expression "fat air" was borrowed from a Simpson episode, used by one of the "lovely" sisters of Marge in reference to Homer.
