Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma, though I'd figure that that's a given. I also don't own Sailor moon, though if you thought I did you have mental problems.
Current Cross Count: 3
Note: As you can see, I have added a counter to keep track of all the crossovers introduced in all previous chapters. Please note that the counter does not include new crosses introduced in the current chapter or Ranma. So currently the cross it at 3, meaning Sailor Moon and two others. Try to figure them all out.
The sun shone down on the courtyard through the massive trees that surrounded the castle walls. Patterns of leaf shadows danced across the grass as the wind blew through the branches, providing a somber and soothing noise that clashed so blatantly with the fierce grunts and shouts of a battle. Two men stood in the courtyard, each one eying the other as they exchanged blows and blood and sweat.
"Stand fast and face me!" One of the two men cried out, his leg lashing out in an attempt to strike the other in the head. He proved too nimble, as he was 10 meters away standing on the side of a tree trunk before the kick could be completed. The second man jumped from branch to branch, trunk to trunk, circling the courtyard via trees with incredible speed while his opponent was forced to simply stand and watch and await an attack.
"Have you not the courage to face me, Konaru! Let your feet find the ground so that my strikes can find you!" The nimbler man, now identified as Konaru, continued to run through the trees.
"Do you think me a fool, Ryouma?" Konaru asked, his voice deceptively feminine. His features also betrayed his gender, as only the most observant of men could identify this person for anything but female. The warrior was standing fast to the side of a mighty trunk, his feet somehow finding holds on the vertical surface. "I only know of one man that can fell you in direct combat, and that honor belongs to our Prince." Konaru leapt from the tree, passing through the shadow of a nearby trunk and vanishing in midair. Ryouma spun around, looking for his opponent.
"Damn your tricks, sprite. Where hides you? Show thyself!" Ryouma spun about again and saw nothing but shadows on the grass, a growl escaping his lips. A flash of movement caught the corner of his eye, but Ryouma did not turn. He knew Konaru was nimble, should he move too early the rogue would alter his attack to compensate.
"Dancing Shadow Slash!" Ryouma spun, hearing the feminine voice of the rogue hiss out the spell. Konaru was upon him, his dagger in-hand and producing a black aura wisp from its edge. Ryouma held out one hand in his direction, the blade stopping for seemingly no reason.
"What…" Konaru muttered, pressing on his blade in an attempt to move it forward without success. A smirk crossed Ryouma's face as he saw the effeminate man struggle.
"You should know better than to use such weapons against me." Ryouma gloated before pushing forward, throwing Konaru off his feet as the dagger was violently yanked from his hand and thrown over his shoulder.
"If you intend to strike my back, use your true Dagger!" Ryouma shouted, rushing towards the downed man with his fist drawn back, a glint of steel forming on his knuckles.
"I yield!" Ryouma's hand stopped a few scant centimeters from Konaru's face, sparing the rogue from a bruise that would surely mar his otherwise unblemished visage. With a smirk, Ryouma stepped away from the downed rogue, allowing him to stand and wipe the dirt from his clothes.
"One day I will crack the Armor of Emotoas." Konaru mumbled, almost under his breath. Ryouma laughed a roaring laugh, so amused by Konaru's claim that he was practically in tears.
"The day you crack the Armor will be the very same day the Dagger lies broken at my feet." Ryouma remarked, earning a glare from Konaru. A young guard rushed out into the courtyard just then, saluting each of the two men quickly before nervously trying to recall his mission.
"Sir Ryouma, Lady Konaru! The Prince wishes an audience with both of you. He awaits you and the others in his chambers!" The guard spoke quickly, clearly nervous to be speaking with these two. They both nodded and quickly headed into the castle.
"Lady? What deceptions have you been playing upon the guards, fire sprite?" Ryouma growled out, sending a glare at his companion as the two strode through the castle interior, on their way to the Prince's chambers. Banners showing the Emotoas crest in intricate embroidery lined the walls of the stone fortress and decorations were common all around.
"Having the appearance of a fair maiden is beneficial to my profession. Men that are better off dead die easier when they believe their assassin to be nothing more than a chambermaid. I must keep my practice up, my dear Ryouma. If I cannot convince a lowly guard that I am a woman, then I couldn't hope to fool a noble." Konaru remarked, turning a corner and walking up a set of red rugged steps.
"Tch! A true maiden garbs herself in dress and corset. Not even the lowliest of peasant girls would dare be seen in the rags and robes of a rogue. Only a fool would believe you fair." Ryouma responded.
"You wound me. Not all men share your strength of perception, oh mighty Armor." He said back. Ryouma could hear the sarcasm with which the rogue spoke his title.
"Be he soldier or lecher, any man could see through you, fire sprite. I need not the perceptions of the Armor to see your bosom is lacking." As the two warriors entered the prince's chambers, he was greeted with the sight of Konaru hitting Ryouma over the head with an end table. Ryouma hit the ground with a groan, briefly cursing himself for not paying enough attention to see the attack.
Bishonen Senshi Sailor Moon
Chapter 4
Nephrite's First Move
Ryoga groaned and sat up, shaking his head to clear it of the wooziness of recent sleep. That was the last time he listened to Ranma talk about his weird dreams. Now he was getting them. Dreaming about being some prince may be all well and good for Ranma, but talking like Kuno and fighting with someone who looked suspiciously like Konatsu was not his idea of a good dream.
"I should smack Ranma next time I see him for infecting me with his crazy dreams." Ryoga had intended to mumble to himself. However, this came out as a series of oinks. Ryoga had forgotten he had slept as a pig. The previous night's events returned to him as he let out the pig equivalent of a sigh. The fight they had the previous night was a disaster. So many people had been hurt; Ryoga couldn't even begin to assume just how many. He did know that the Tendo girl's were relatively unharmed. Akane had managed to protect them from the shrapnel and fires. Everyone else was another matter
Ryoga shook his head again, stretching out the kinks in his bones. Sleeping on the floor in a pile of clothing had its advantages, but comfort wasn't among them. The sound of hooves clicking against a wooden floor was the only thing Ryoga could hear as he ventured into the great unknown of the Tendo hallway. It was quiet that morning. Almost…too quiet. A shadow darted across the floor, just behind the small piglet.
"oink?" Ryoga oinked, turning his head and looking down the hall. Nothing but an empty corridor. Yet for some reason, the hairs on the back of his head began to stand on end. Ryoga took a few more steps in the direction of the stairs, his danger sense going off again just as another shadow darted by behind him.
'Something's there.' Ryoga thought, turning around and gazing hard into the hall. Nothing was there. But why was he so on edge?
"BLITZKRIEG!" Ryoga leapt to the side on his little piggy legs, narrowly avoiding a first class cat pounce as Luna crashed to the ground where he had previously been standing.
'Eh? Not Ranma's cat again!' Ryoga thought, watching in extreme annoyance as Luna turned towards him and pounced again. Ryoga made another leap, jumping down the hall and landing near the edge of the stairs. The cat was just behind him though, in mid-flight with claws at the ready. Ryoga rolled to the side, narrowly dodging the feline as Luna suddenly realized she was over the stairway.
"Oh poo." She muttered, flying down the stairs. She cursed the little piglet all the way down, bouncing off a step about half way down and tumbling the rest of the way to the ground floor. She stood up and groaned, stretching to get the kinks out of her joints from the fall.
"You've won this battle, P-chan. But you haven't won the war!" Luna muttered, raising her nose in a huff and walking towards the kitchen. She's been trying to sink her claws into Akane's pet piglet for weeks now, but that little squirt was a bitch to get a hold of. It was way too smart for its own good. Luna was intent on catching it though. It was her predatory duty to dig her claws into that thing. She'd have to ask Ryoga to assist her next time. She had already tried asking Ranma, but he just laughed at the idea for some reason. With a sigh, Luna got her mind on other things. She was hungry, and knew she could get some food off of the eldest sister.
"Meow!" Kasumi turned to look at the small black cat at her feet.
"Oh, are you hungry, Luna?" Kasumi asked, earning an emphatic meow from the cat in response. With a smile, she headed to the fridge and got out a can of Tuna. Normally Kasumi preferred getting fresher food from the market, but ever seen Ranma had adopted the cat as a pet she had begun to stockpile some canned food for the feline. She was happy that Ranma was getting over his fear of cats, but he really needed to learn to care for her better. She had never seen him feed Luna, and there wasn't a litter box in the house that she could find. She was just glad that the cat seemed to be house trained, as she had also found no sign of feces anywhere.
'I just hope she's not burying it in the garden.' Kasumi thought, cracking open the can of tuna and preparing it for the cat. Luna was on the counter in an instant, her little head butting against Kasumi's hands to get her away from the food so that she could eat it.
"Alright Luna, you can have it now." Kasumi said, moving her hands away as Luna enthusiastically dug into the food. She really had to talk to Ranma about the care of his pet. She wouldn't stand for any animal neglect in her home.
"Oh dear, I almost forgot." Kasumi said with her hand suddenly over her mouth. She had forgotten to prepare a lunch for Ranma and Akane that morning. They had already left for school as well. That wouldn't do.
"Saotome-san!" Kasumi called. A furry head found it's way inside the door and looked at Kasumi inquisitively. A wooden sign suddenly joined the head in the doorway, showing a message that matched its facial expression.
"Could you pick up a lunch for Ranma and Akane? I forgot to give them something this morning."Genma thought about the request for a second before nodding his head. Genma quickly wrote down an affirmative on his sign before heading out the door. It's not like he had anything better to do anyway. The mornings were always especially boring for Genma Saotome. He had practically nothing to do, after all. Soun was at work, and he didn't have a job ever since Tofu fired him. (how was he supposed to prevent himself from shedding on patients? It wasn't his fault that old woman had such a violent reaction to Panda fur.) Training without Ranma around just didn't seem worth it either. He was well beyond his prime, and the only real methods of training he knew of or used couldn't be done in a backyard. (Well, they could, but Kasumi would be furious.) That basically only left lounging around the house and assisting Kasumi whenever she asked for it, which wasn't nearly often enough, in Genma's opinion.
'Well, at least I have something to do.' He thought to himself. The residents of Nerima paid no mind as a full grown Chinese giant panda sprinted down the street on all fours, heading towards the market at full tilt. There were very few members of the community that were not familiar with the Panda known as Genma Saotome. This wasn't the first time he had been sent on an errand, after all. While there were few people that knew the Panda was actually a man, no one seemed to raise an eyebrow or demand an explanation when a 260 pound animal well over 6 feet in height strolls into their store and purchases a carton of milk and three loaves of bread. Sometimes Genma had to marvel at the power of denial. People would believe you could teach an animal to do anything, it seems.
Genma arrived at his destination and slowed to a trot, ambling into the small building with a purpose in mind. The shop keeper took one look at him as he came in before turning back to his magazine, practically ignoring the panda bear that just waltzed in and started sniffing around at the display of box lunches.
"Are you looking for something specific, Panda-san?" That was a first, Genma thought. The shopkeeper was actually talking to him now. With a bit of a hop, Genma got up on his back legs and grabbed two box lunches in his paws. Now standing upright at nearly 7 foot tall, Genma walked over to the counter with practiced ease and put down the two lunches, pulling some yen out and dropping it on the counter as well. The shopkeeper just smiled like a man who had just witnessed an amazing magic trick before taking the money and putting it in the register.
"Alright, Panda-san. Take care." Genma nodded as the man put the bentos into a plastic bag for him. Grabbing the bag in his mouth, Genma dropped back to all fours and strolled out of the building before picking up speed. It was getting much harder to get around on two legs these days. Genma had all but given up on the attempt, in fact. Pandas just weren't designed to walk on two legs for extended periods of time. He was starting to fear that he would mess up his hips and spine. As both a panda and as a man, he was experiencing more pain in those areas as of late.
'I need to think up a new technique. A way to fight on all fours without limiting myself. It'll give me something to do, and I'm sure it'll surprise the hell out of Ranma.' Genma thought, still charging down the road in the direction of Furinkan. He needed to keep the boy on his toes, after all. Ever since the hell's cradle incident Ranma had been acting as if he was the better martial artist. He wouldn't stand for that though. It was his duty as Ranma's father and sensei to pound that boy into the dirt at every feasible opportunity.
"Oi pop, what're you doing here?" Genma stopped in his tracks at the voice. Impossible! How did Ranma get the jump on him? He wasn't even at Furinkan yet.
[ "Why aren't you in school, boy?" ] Genma got up on two legs and turned towards his son, grunting a little from the effort to stay upright. He watched Ranma's eyes move back and forth across the sign for a moment, awaiting his response.
"I got into a fight with Akane and she kinda punched me into the next district." Ranma answered, scratching his neck at the base of his pigtail. It had been true, he did get into a fight with Akane. However he had purposely left out what the fight was about. Ranma had no intention of telling his father that he got into a fight with Akane over the Sailor Senshi. He also didn't intend to tell his father that Akane punched him into the next district for comparing her bust size to Sailor Mercury's. Ranma made a mental note to never mention that to Ryoga either.
[ "Kasumi asked me to give you this." ] Ranma read, taking the plastic bag from his father's mouth. Box lunches. That was perfect. He was beginning to get hungry. He heard the squeak of a marker being pressed to the wooden board moments before something struck him in the back of the head, bringing him to the ground with a grunt of surprise and pain. By the time he got back up his father was long gone, the sign he had hit him with lying on the ground.
" 'Get to school.' Gee pop, beat me over the head with it, why don't cha?" Ranma grumbled, picking up the bag he had dropped and setting back off in the direction he had been going in previously. It actually wasn't the direction of the school, since Ranma had no intention of going back there. There were too many people sporting bandages and wrappings. There was even one guy with his arm in a cast, and multiple people who hadn't shown up at all that day. He felt too guilty to go back there.
'Yesterday was a total disaster. I don't think it could have gone any worse than that. Who knows how many people got hurt in that fight.' Ranma walked down the street in thought, a somber look on his face as his eyes just stared out into space. It was bad enough that there were so many people caught in the crossfire, but now the Sailor Senshi were all over the news. They were practically on every channel. He hadn't bothered to see what was being said about them though. He couldn't imagine it was good though.
Ranma stopped in his tracks, a bit of dirt crunching under the heal of his shoe as he shifted his weight to his front leg. The hair on the back of his neck was beginning to stand on end and a chill ran down his spine. For some reason, his senses were screaming at him. He was in great danger.
'What's going on?' He thought to himself as his eyes scanned his surroundings. He stood as still as a statue, only moving his eyes as he looked about for the source of his distress. He didn't dare move, almost fearful that he would encourage an attack from whatever being was threatening him.
Suddenly a sound reached his ears, a sound of the air being split by an object moving at high speed. In an instant every muscle in Ranma's body exploded into action, his entire form blurring as his feet left the ground and he twisted around in mid air, narrowly avoiding a bicycle that had been moving at such high speeds he almost suspected it had been fired from a cannon.
"What the," Ranma began, feet on the ground again as the bike impacted the cement and practically exploded, being bent and broken beyond repair with multiple metal chunks being sent flying in various directions. Ranma never got a chance to finish his exclamation though. A foot found its way into his face and any further words were silenced. With a grunt Ranma skid across the asphalt of the street, rolling to his feet and adapting a stance as soon as he was able. However, as soon as he saw his attacker, he froze in surprise. That was all she needed to kick him in the head again.
"Sh...Shampoo! What're you doing?" Ranma managed to get out, ducking his head under a round house kick and blocking the subsequent punches thrown at his face and mid section. Shampoo gave him no response other than an angry look as she threw a side kick towards Ranma's abdomen, which he jumped back to avoid.
'What the hell is going on?' Ranma thought. He'd never seen Shampoo act this way before. Just to be sure, he glanced at her chest for any sign of the reversal jewel and noticed it wasn't there. However, he did notice something else. Under the neckline of her blouse he saw the faint white line of a bandage around her right shoulder. He had been wondering why she was only punching with her left arm. She was left handed, sure. But she usually wasn't so exclusive. Another left handed punch was thrown for his face and sidestepped, though this time Ranma caught her around the wrist.
'I knew it,' He thought, his eyes widening a bit in realization as he felt the bulge of another bandage under the silk fabric of her sleeve. Shampoo twisted her wrist out of Ranma's hold and sent a side kick towards his face, however Ranma quickly blocked it and rushed forward, striking Shampoo in the midsection with a palm strike. It was soft, not hard at all like a real blow, but more of a tap. Even so, Shampoo flinched and leapt out of Ranma's range. Ranma was certain he had felt another bandage.
"What happened to you, Shampoo?" Ranma asked. Shampoo dropped out of her fighting stance and turned her back on Ranma. With a huff, she crossed her arms, looking away from the pigtailed martial artist.
"It your fault." She responded, clearly annoyed. Her husband had really been getting on her nerves lately. It was starting to become infuriating. It was times like this that she really sympathized with the Tendo girl. Sometimes, Ranma just needed to be hit. And it felt good to hit him.
"My fault? How is it my fault?" He asked. Shampoo resisted the urge to scoff as she spun around and glared at him.
"You abandoned me when crazy man showed up! Girl senshi came to fight him and you fled like a coward! You run away and a ferris wheel fell on Shampoo!" Ranma opened his mouth to respond but immediately deflated. Shampoo continued to glare at him, seeing he had no response coming. How dare he just abandon her like that? And now he wasn't even trying to defend himself.
That wasn't totally true, however. Ranma was in deep thought at the moment, trying to think up an excuse. 'There's no way in hell I can tell her the truth,' He thought, 'but I have to say something.' Ranma turned to Shampoo in order to retort, but noticed she was walking away.
"Oi, Shampoo! Wait up!" Ranma shouted. He quickly ran after her, but it was obvious she was in no mood to deal with him. As soon as he was close enough she gave him a swift uppercut to the face and he was sailing across town.
Nephrite sighed slightly to himself as he continued to walk through the park at a sedate pace. All his life Nephrite had believed in the power of the stars. He had always been confident that through his astrological studies, he could predict almost anything. He had never failed to consult the stars and get an accurate reading in the past, but now they seemed to have failed him. He turned to the stars in search of humans at their peak, Humans that had reached a level of energy so high that he could harvest more life force than Jadeite could pull from a crowd of 20. However, when he searched the skies for the specific humans at their peak, he was not rewarded with a specific individual. The stars had unleashed upon him a backlash of men and women from across Japan. Literally hundreds of people had suddenly flooded his mind and he had nearly lost consciousness from the ordeal. He wasn't entirely sure what to make of it.
'It makes little sense. The stars should have shown me a single individual that was about to reach their peak energy level. But instead, I see hundreds, even thousands of people. What could it mean?' Nephrite suddenly stopped and turned his attention skyward. He had suddenly sensed something. It was an immense human energy, an energy so high he almost suspected it to belong to multiple people. But no, his senses were telling him a single person possessed this power. And they were approaching his position rapidly.
"Who goes there?" Nephrite asked, turning in the direction the power was coming from. He saw nothing, not even a hint of a human anywhere nearby. For a moment he was confused, but then he heard the air above him whistling.
"From above!" He cried, preparing to jump away as he suddenly saw a body descending on his position. He cursed himself for being so careless when the human impacted heavily against his body, throwing both of them back a few meters. Both hit the ground hard and rolled a bit, but his attacker returned to his feet first.
"Sorry about that, I didn't see you there." The young boy commented, standing over Nephrite and holding out his hand. The Dark General eyed the boy warily before accepting the offered hand and pulling himself to his feet. There was little doubt, this boy was giving off a surprising amount of energy. With Nephrite's trained senses, it was almost like staring directly into a bright light. It was almost painful to concentrate on this boy's aura.
'I'm not accustomed to feeling so much energy in a single human. Could this be what the stars were telling me? Are there really so many humans in this country with energy like this?' Nephrite thought to himself, then grinned.
"That was quite a blow, boy. If I didn't know any better I'd say you attacked me." Nephrite commented, a smirk on his face. 'I must have this boy's energy.' The boy was scratching the back of his neck nervously and muttering something or other, but Nephrite hadn't been paying attention. He saw a glint of something metallic on the floor and bent over to pick it up.
'My loyal youma,' Nephrite thought, his hand hovering over the circular ornament, 'possess this token. Bring this boy's energy to it's highest level and harvest it for our master!' An intricate rune suddenly appeared on the surface of the object and glowed a bright red for a moment before vanishing without a trace. His spell cast, Nephrite picked up the object and presented it to the boy, a smirk still on his face.
"I believe you dropped this?" He asked politely, showing the boy the pendant he was holding.
"Eh! I didn't even notice it fall off! Thanks, Luna would have killed me if I lost it." The boy muttered, grabbing the pendant from his hand. His body went rigid for a split second, almost as if he were electrocuted, and an angry look crossed his face. For an instant, Nephrite feared he had been found out, but then the boy's body relaxed and he sedately tied the pendant around his neck again. He could only grin wider when he saw the empty look in the boy's eyes.
"Until we meet again." Nephrite chuckled out, then quickly went on his way.
It was the beginning of a new day in the city of Nerima and the people slowly started to go about their lives. The sun rose, people woke, and the usuals of the day began. Bathing, eating, preparing for school and work respectively. Just as the sun shined its light into the window of the Ucchan's restaurant, one Ukyo Kuonji began to wake up.
"Ugh." Ukyo groaned. She turned over in bed and threw her covers over her head, wanting desperately to avoid the sunlight. Ukyo was still soar from getting hit by a bus a few days earlier, and when you add to that the injuries she received while attending the carnival, she really didn't feel like waking up.
Of course, not all things go the way one wishes. And once Ukyo began to think rationally, she realized that she couldn't really afford to sleep in. Economically, leaving the Ucchan's closed for a day really wasn't an option. Not to mention she probably should start showing up for school.
"Uhnn..." With a groan, Ukyo sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, flinching a little from having to move her arm. Her right shoulder and her side were heavily bandaged and she favored her right leg a little. She also had a bandage wrapped around her forehead, and was in the process of putting her stiff right arm into a sling.
"I'm not looking forward to today." Ukyo muttered to herself, standing up and putting all her weight on her left leg. Slowly, she limped her way towards the bathroom, hoping to enjoy an extra long soak to alleviate her soreness and ease her most recent injuries.
Of course, by the time she reached the bathroom, she was rather annoyed to find the door locked and the 'do not disturb' sign up. She could also hear the shower going, which was odd, cause Konatsu usually used the bath. Ukyo grumbled to herself, but decided to just go downstairs and eat some breakfast while Konatsu finished up. That is, until she heard a noise from the bathroom. She almost didn't catch it, and upon noticing it she did a double take. Surely she had heard that wrong. It was too early and her imagination was playing tricks on her. That is, until she heard it again.
"Konatsu? What the hell are you doing in there?" Ukyo asked, knocking on the door with her left hand. She heard Konatsu jump in surprise, followed by a bit of scrambling.
"U...Ukyo-sama?" He asked. Ukyo could have sworn his voice had gotten higher recently. She just figured he had been practicing more. He sounded a lot more feminine.
"Are you okay, Konatsu? I thought I heard you moaning." Ukyo asked. She could hear Konatsu muttering something under his breath, but she couldn't quite catch it.
"I'm fine! Just taking a quick shower!" He responded.
"Alright. Let me know when you're done, okay? I want to take a bath." Ukyo walked towards the stairs, briefly hearing Konatsu's acknowledgment but not really paying attention. She sighed to herself as she sat down behind the grill. She should have expected this kind of thing to happen eventually. At least he was doing it in the shower. Ukyo looked up upon hearing the front door open and was rather surprised to see Ryoga Hibiki walk into her restaurant.
"Eh? Ryoga? What are you doing here so early?" She asked, sounding genuinely surprised. Ryoga looked fairly surprised himself, like a man who found a penguin walking around in a supermarket. Not astounded, afraid or curious, just incredibly confused.
"Ukyo? What are you doing in Shinjuku?" Ryoga asked with a serious look on his face. Ukyo could only sigh and shake her head. He was hopeless.
"Sit down, Ryoga. I'll make you some breakfast." Ryoga nodded and sat down on a stool while Ukyo went about preparing the stove for cooking. She heard a loud thud from where Ryoga's pack struck the ground but ignored it. She just hoped it didn't crack her floorboards.
"Ukyo! What happened to your arm?" Ryoga suddenly asked, as if just now noticing her right arm was in a sling.
"I got hurt at the Carnival the other day. Where you there?" Ryoga seemed to go as white as a sheet when she mentioned the carnival, but he shook his head in the negative. Odd.
"Well things kinda hit the fan down there. Anyway, when that building exploded a bunch of shrapnel hit this one tree and it started to fall over. There was this kid who was in the way, so I pushed him out of the way and got nailed by it. I was partially crushed, dislocated my shoulder, got cut up a little and I'm really sore. But I'll be fine in a few days. Doctor said he was surprised I didn't break anything." Ukyo noticed that Ryoga seemed to get paler as she went on, and he looked to be pretty upset over it. It was a little surprising to see Ryoga getting so worked up over her. He normally never really gave her two looks. Ukyo averted her eyes from the lost boy and fixed her gaze on the okonomiyaki she was cooking. She really hoped she wasn't getting sick on top of everything, her face felt flushed.
"I'm so sorry, Ukyo." Ryoga suddenly said, bowing his head to her.
"Why? It's not like you knocked the tree over or anything." Ryoga seemed to freeze up at that, but he didn't really have the chance to say anything in response. Konatsu had just came down the stairs dressed in his usual kunoichi outfit. Something had been bothering her lately about Konatsu, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. He was looking a lot more feminine lately, that was for sure.
"Bath's ready, Ukyo-sama." Konatsu said as he came down the stairs. His gaze wandered a little and settled on Ryoga, who was shuffling through his pack for something.
"Oh, Ryoga-kun. What are you doing here?" Konatsu asked. Ukyo couldn't help but raise her eyebrow a little at the honorific. Since when had Konatsu been so friendly with Ryoga. For his part, Ryoga seemed to be ignoring him. He was just drinking out of a canteen he pulled from his pack.
"Konatsu, did you recently buy a larger set of fake breasts or something?" Ukyo asked. Konatsu chuckled nervously a bit at that. Ukyo could also hear Ryoga choking on his water and coughing violently, but she ignored him.
"...Something like that. Why do you ask, Ukyo-sama?" Konatsu responded, patting Ryoga on the back to try and get him breathing normally again.
"I thought so. I figured you were looking curvier lately." Ryoga's coughing fit intensified a bit and Konatsu's patting got much harder in turn. Ukyo, however, didn't really care. She wanted to take a bath. With that thought in mind, she headed upstairs to the bathroom and a much needed soak.
Amawa Hibiki was not having a good week. It was bad enough she had lost her job, alienated her students and essentially been kicked out of town a few days back, but she had just recently been forced to move into her nephew's house out of desperation. Not to mention she had mysteriously been turned into a woman just recently. And worst of all, Her clothing had been ruined at the carnival the other day, and she lost her bag in the confusion. She had been forced to sleep in nothing but her boxers last night. All in all, it amounted to a pretty terrible week.
"Saa. I knew I shouldn't have agreed to that crazy old woman's scheme. This is karma. The gods are punishing me for lying to children. I just know it." Amawa sat up in bed, groaning off sleep and stretching to remove the kinks from her body. Doing so reminded her of the new additions to her torso, causing another sigh of despair.
"Oh well. I suppose I might as well try and cope with my fate. The only way to deal with Karma is to accept your punishments like a man!" Amawa announced, getting to her feet suddenly and causing her breasts to bounce.
"Or, like a woman, anyway. Oh well. Ryoga did say something about hot water fixing this. I just need to have a positive attitude. Besides, I told Ryoga that today is the day I get another job as a gym kyoshi!" She said to herself. Nodding, Amawa got out of bed before crossing the room and opening the door. Sometimes, it was a bit of a blessing that her brother and his wife had such horrible senses of direction. For one thing, it meant that Amawa didn't have to explain her current predicament. For another, it made finding things in the home easy, as everything was clearly labeled.
"I wonder how often those two come home anyway. It's amazing the electricity and water haven't been cut off yet." Amawa thought aloud, walking down to the room labeled 'bathroom' and quickly walking in. Maybe the bills were paid automatically from their bank accounts or something? If that was the case, Amawa would have to thank Ciera later for having the foresight to do that. It made squatting in the home of your brother's wife a lot easier.
"I'll be sure to do something to repay her next time I see her. Ciera's a nice enough person. I've got enough Karmic punishment as it is without taking advantage of my sister in law." With this final thought, Amawa stripped out of her boxers and threw them into a nearby laundry bin. After her bath, she would just get dressed and head down to the local high school. Hopefully, she would be able to get an interview with the principal. She briefly hoped he wasn't as psycho as the last principal.
Meanwhile, At Furinkan, a man with a palm tree growing out of his head sneezed. He hoped he wasn't coming down with a cold. He hadn't even been able to torment Ranma Saotome yet today.
"Nah, that's pretty unlikely, "Amawa muttered to herself, "No one's as crazy as she was."
Once again, principal Kuno sneezed.
"Hmm, I tink I'll jus take sum cold medasin, jus in case, ya?" Principal Kuno said to himself, pulling a bottle out of his desk and chugging some of it.
Amawa sighed in relief as he stepped out of the bath. It really did feel better to change back into a man. He was still disturbed about walking around in a female body. It was just completely different from when he cross dressed. For one thing, he was much shorter. He didn't even realize it at first, but after standing up next to his nephew and seeing he was actually shorter than Ryoga, it had turned disorienting. It wasn't by much, but he was used to having to look down to see people's faces. Looking up or even straight just felt funny.
"Ah well. I hope I don't have to deal with it too much." Amawa shrugged his shoulders and walked back into the master bedroom and straight over to the closet.
"Hmm, These are Ciera's clothes." He shut the closet and moved over to the other one and opened it, happy to see men's clothing within.
About 2 minutes later, Amawa Hibiki realized something he found very annoying. He was a lot taller than his brother than he had realized. The pants he had just pulled on were a few sizes too short. They rose up above his ankles while standing, and Amawa had a feeling they'd reach mid shin if he sat down. The dress shirt sleeve also ended far sooner on his arm than it should have. If he showed up to a job interview like this, He'd look comical. His brother's T-shirt and shorts would probably fit fine, but he somehow doubted that he'd be taken very seriously if he looked like he just got home from a Hawaiian vacation.
Principal Kuno sneezed again and wiped his nose. He took another swig of cold medicine, just in case.
"Ah man, this is a disaster!" Amawa shouted, "All my clothes are ruined and Dan's clothes don't fit. Damn him for being shorter than me!" Amawa glanced around the room again, hoping to find something he could wear. If only he wasn't so tall!
Amawa froze at that thought, a cold sweat running down his spine as he stood up straight and turned around. It seemed he hadn't shut the door to Ciera's closet all the way. He could see some of the clothes that were in there.
"No. I can't." Amawa muttered, shutting the door. He stripped out of the ill fitting clothing and pulled on a T-shirt and a pair of jean shorts that were in Dan's closet before examining himself in the mirror. He looked like a tourist. No self respecting Principal would give him a second thought.
Amawa heard a door groaning and looked towards it. Damn that closet! The bolt was faulty or something! With it hanging open again, Amawa could clearly see several respectable looking outfits. Ciera even had a skirt suit hanging neatly in the closet, looking freshly ironed.
"I'll just buy new clothes on the way to the school. No problem." It was then that Amawa remembered he had no money, especially not enough to afford a nice set of clothing. And he wasn't about to search the house for cash. Besides, He knew from personal experience that Dan kept all his money in the bank or on his body, and he doubted Ciera would stash funds in a house she frequented once a month, tops. In order to get money, he'd need to get a job. But to get a job...
"I hate Karma." Amawa complained, tears running from his eyes.
Nabiki's week thus far had been, simply to say, dull. She hadn't gotten any decent yen in from picture sales and it was getting harder to scam Ranma out of money recently. She needed some new material, something that would case the cash to roll in en masse. And Nabiki was fairly certain she knew just how to do it.
She smirked as she kept her pace to school, a large bag hanging on her arm, containing her weapon of choice. She had spent almost all her remaining funds on it, but it had been worth it. The camcorder she was now carrying around would be her ticket to a whole new world of money. If Kuno had been happy with simple photos of his beloved redhead, just wait until he got her complete with motion and sound. Sure the tapes were a lot more expensive than film was, but she could always sell them at an inflated price. Oh yes, she had big plans for this.
"Let's see, I could start by taping some of Ranma's fights. The girls will buy it for the beefcake and the guys will want to see the action. Maybe I could even sell some copies to a few of his enemy to study his style with. There's sure to be some cash in that." Nabiki was thinking out loud, a nasty habit she really needed to kick. Especially since she had just run into the topic of her musings. And judging from the way he was looking at her, he wasn't too happy with her attitude.
"If I didn't know better I'd say you were plotting against me, Nabiki. But you'd never do that, would you?" The sarcasm was clear in Ranma's voice, as well as the threat that was implied. Nabiki rose an eyebrow but kept her cool. Ranma was playing tough guy with her. She had to admit, he was really good at being intimidating, but she knew better than to be afraid of him.
"Now Ranma, what ever gave you that idea? I'm just trying to make a little money on the side, you know." Nabiki said in an innocent tone. She pulled out her camera and turned it on, pointing it at the pigtailed boy in the process.
"You could always pay me to leave you alone, Ranma." Nabiki was watching Ranma through the viewfinder, however it seemed the camera speed was a bit too slow to catch his next moment. Before she had really realized it Ranma had snatched the Camera out of her hands and was now holding it in his palm, looking ready to crush it between his fingers.
All humor in Nabiki's voice was gone in an instant. She glared at Ranma with the coldest look she could manage. A lesser man would have flinched under the assault, but Ranma stood his ground.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Saotome?" Nabiki demanded. She left no room for question or delay. It was a tone that required a straight answer.
"I don't really care what you do to make money, Nabiki. You could sell your body to Kuno and I wouldn't bat an eye. However, you're going to leave me out of it. Understand?" Ranma wasn't about to take any crap from her either. He took her icy glare and returned it a thousand fold. It took all of Nabiki's will power not to waver under his look. Ranma had a glare that could outdo a demon, and the fact he had the chi capability to make his body glow menacingly didn't do anything to detract from it.
Nabiki wasn't stupid. She knew a threat when she saw one. However, just who was making this threat caused her to hesitate in using her better judgment. This was Ranma. He'd sooner break his own arm than raise his hand against someone who couldn't defend themselves. But he left little room to second guess his meaning. He was threatening her with bodily harm, openly. Something was up, and Nabiki wanted to know what.
"All I understand, Saotome, is that you are holding a 50,000 yen piece of equipment in your hand. And if you do anything to cause harm to it, I'll make you regret it until the day you die." Nabiki said. Then she blinked. By the time she had opened her eyes again, it was already over. Her head was throbbing and her back ached from her jarring impact with the brick wall. She was able to ignore both of these rather easily in favor of the iron grip Ranma had on her neck.
"Don't you mean until the day you die, Nabiki? The way I see it, that one's gonna happen a hell of a lot sooner." Ranma punctuated this sentence by tightening his grip on Nabiki's neck ever so slightly. Nabiki was far too surprised by this turn of events to offer any kind of resistance. She could only stare with wide eyes as Ranma choked the life out of her with the greatest of ease.
And then suddenly, she was on her knees and coughing to regain her breath. He had let go. She didn't know why, but he had. She heard a plastic click as Ranma set the camera down on the ground nearby before kneeling in front of her to see her eye to eye.
"You've got spunk, Nabiki. I like that in a woman. However, there's a fine line between spunky and annoying. You very nearly crossed that line today, Nabiki, and you nearly died because of it. I suggest you keep that in mind the next time you decide to cross me." As he finished talking, Ranma merely smirked at her. He didn't even stand back up. He just continued to sit on his knees and smirk in her face. Nabiki was coherent enough to glare at him, but that just made him smirk even more.
And then, he kissed her. It came out of no where. One second he was just sitting there and smirking at her and the next he leaned in and slipped her the tongue. Before she could even form a coherent response to this, he was on his feet and off in the direction of the school.
"See you at school, Nabiki." Ranma said over his shoulder, leaving Nabiki alone on the sidewalk red in the face. She couldn't tell whether she wanted to scream or cry or both. That bastard! How dare he do that to her! She had never wanted to break something this much in all her life. It was at that point that Nabiki remembered the camera and found it lying on the sidewalk nearby, pointing right at her. She scooped it up quickly and examined it for damage, happy to find it had come out unscathed. However, upon closer inspection, Nabiki realized it was recording. She quickly switched the camcorder from 'record' to 'play' and rewound the tape, going just far enough to witness Ranma leaning in to kiss her. In fact, just before he made his move, she saw him glance right at the camera.
"Oh dear god. He caught the whole thing. He did that intentionally." Nabiki muttered in horror, thinking this over as the tape kept playing. She thought she might be able to blackmail him with it, but shot that idea down real fast. She knew of no less than 3 woman who would kill her in their sleep if they saw this tape, no questions asked. She wasn't going to show this to a soul.
"Oh jeez, I'm blushing like a lovesick school girl." Nabiki muttered in disgust, watching her sit on the sidewalk like a dead fish with a severe blush on her face. She shut the camera off and stowed it back into it's carrying case. She was going to take a small detour on her way to school today. She needed time to think up a fitting vengeance.
"You know, I was kinda hoping you'd stay behind and run the restaurant while I was at school today..." Ukyo complained, looking over her shoulder at Konatsu. The kunoichi had decided to follow her to school today, for reasons she couldn't understand.
"You're in no condition to be traveling, Ukyo-sama. I'm coming along to make sure you can arrive safely." Konatsu explained, for what had to be the 5th time. Ukyo complained too much about the simplest things.
"Then why is Ryoga coming?" Ukyo asked, pointing to the lost boy in question.
"I didn't want to get locked in the Ucchan's. I had to follow you." Ryoga shrugged. If it wasn't for the fact he had accidentally left the Mercury Computer on his nightstand that morning, he'd be playing tetris at the moment. So much time wasted...
"Eh? What'd going on here?" Ukyo stopped at the gates to Furinkan High, staring in shock as she watched Ranma beating the crap out of two younger students. From the looks of it, he was stealing their lunch money. It was such an un-Ranma thing to do. Ukyo couldn't even formulate a coherent response to seeing it.
"Ranma! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Akane came storming from across the field towards the pigtailed boy's position, looking quite angry by his current actions.
"Back off, bitch. I'm busy." Ranma growled, still holding one of the boys up by his collar. Everyone within hearing range seemed to freeze when Ranma said that. Akane was glowing a bright red as she pulled out her mallet, looking far angrier than she ever had.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" The mallet swung with the force of a wrecking ball straight for Ranma's head, having all of Akane's impressive aura behind it. However, Ranma wasn't about to stand for it. He released the collar of the boy he had been holding and brought up his hand, catching the mallet and cracking the head of it in the process.
"I said..." Ranma muttered, making a fist with his free hand. Akane was too shocked to noticed. "I'm busy!"
WHAM!
"You are going to regret that." Ryoga growled, squeezing Ranma's fist a little. Ryoga had caught the punch and stopped it dead; Much to Akane's surprise, as his hand was only a few inches from her face. With a yell the Hibiki boy buried his fist into Ranma's abdomen, releasing his hand and letting the pigtailed boy sail backwards from the punch.
"Are you okay, Akane-san?" Ryoga asked with concern. The girl seemed to be a bit out of it, but she looked okay.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Akane replied. Ryoga simply nodded and looked back in Ranma's direction. Good, he was already standing up. That meant Ryoga could knock him down again.
"Ranma, how dare you try to hurt Akane!" He shouted, rushing the pigtailed boy and lashing out with a fierce punch. Ranma swayed to the side and flared his aura before letting loose an attack of his own. Ryoga grunted in pain as his abdomen seemed to explode. When the hell did Ranma get that kind of raw power?
"It was a mistake to attack me, Ryoga!" Ranma growled, kicking him in the chest and hurling the lost boy back. Ryoga struggled back to his feet, watching as Ranma flared his aura again.
'What's going on? His aura is way off. It almost seems polluted.' Ryoga thought, watching as Ranma's energy level got higher and higher. This was bad, it looked like he was preparing the mother of all Mouku Takabishas. Ryoga returned to his feet with a grunt and began to flare his own aura, bringing his energy to bare.
-elsewhere-
Nephrite's eyes snapped open as he felt the intense spike in energy.
"The energy level has peaked! Go, Lunos!"
Ranma's smirk died on his face as a bizarre character began to glow from under his shirt. A shadow seemed to erupt from the pendant he was wearing as Ranma's body was cast in a dark light. All of his chi was being drained at a rapid rate as the Youma began to take shape.
'Ranma was possessed by a Youma?' Ryoga thought, forcing his aura between his palms as a single tear fell from his eye.
"SHISHI HOKODAN!" He cried out, hoping to catch the youma with the brilliant blue/green beam of energy. Just as the youma fully formed it leapt out of the path of the beam, leaving Ranma's body behind to take the full force of it. He hadn't even been able to fully drop his arms after the attack before the Youma had gotten in his face. Much to his surprise, she bore a striking resemblance to Sailor moon. The only things that set her apart were a change in color, black and red instead of white and blue, and a slightly paler complexion. Plus her hair was blonde, not red.
"What the..." Ryoga wasn't allowed to finish his sentence as she punched him in the face with all she had. Of course, the pseudo moon was gravely disappointed when he only stumbled a little, rather than getting hurled back.
"Tch. You were better off staying in Ranma. He was a lot stronger!" Ryoga struck the youma in the abdomen with all his power, much to her chagrin. She shot back like a bullet and nearly tore the tree she hit out of the ground with her impact. Judging from the way she was moving, that punch had hurt. Which meant this Youma was different from all the other ones. Ryoga could actually hurt her with his fists. He didn't have a reason to transform!
"Dark Moon Beam!" Ryoga's world was filled with pain. The clone had touched the tiara on her head and fired an intense beam of energy from the black jewel on it, striking Ryoga dead in the chest and dragging him back from it. His was burning with an intense agony as the beam drilled into him. It had punctured his shirt and was working its way through his sternum by the time he tore through the PE equipment shed and finally stopped moving.
'W...What the hell was that?' Ryoga thought, struggling to get back to his feet and failing miserably. That blast had hurt more than anything Ryoga had ever experienced. He honestly felt like crying after getting hit by that. Maybe fighting her was a bad idea. Her punches didn't hurt much, but he really didn't want to get hit by another one of those beams.
"Fire Soul!"
"Dark Moon Beam!" Ryoga flinched in sympathy when he heard Konatsu enter, and quickly leave, the fight. This was followed by Konatsu entering the PE shed in a big hurry, hitting Ryoga head on and dragging the both of them out of the back of the shed and through the barrier wall on the other side of it.
"Come on, Ryoga. Get up. I need some help with this girl." Ryoga glanced up at sailor mars, astounded by the fact she could still stand after getting nailed head on by the attack. In fact, her stupid fuku wasn't even scratched.
Oh god. It couldn't be. The stupid outfit was resistant to magic attacks?
"Hurry up and transform already!" Mars said harshly before running back through the PE shed and getting back into the fight.
Ryoga sighed. "I should have expected something like this," He muttered, just as his pen slipped out of his sleeve and into his hand, "Mercury Power, Make up."
Konatsu was not having an easy time with this Youma. For one thing, it was a hell of a lot stronger than she was. For another, those beams really freaking hurt when they hit. Not to mention she was fighting remarkably similar to Ranma, which sure as hell didn't help anything.
'what I would give for some Toushintan right now...' Konatsu thought, catching a punch aimed at her face and hurling the Youma towards the school building in a single movement.
"FIRE SOUL!" She cried out, hurling the blast of flames at her target.
"Dark Moon Beam!" Once again, she fired her beam attack in response, piercing straight through the fire and causing it to dissipate in the process. The beam kept going strong though, and bore a hole straight through a tree as Konatsu leapt out of the way.
'Damn it, Ryoga. Where the hell are you?' she thought, leaping towards the Youma in a spinning kick that was blocked with a forearm.
"Bubble Spray!" Konatsu sighed in relief when the mist sprung into existence, happy to see mercury flying out of the fog and nailing the Youma in the head with a hook kick, sending it flying off into the mist.
"Have you hit it with your fire yet?" Mercury asked, spotting the Youma wandering aimlessly through the mist. Mars shook her head in the negative, also locking eyes with the youma.
"Alright. Ranma's out of it and my magic sucks, so you're gonna have to kill this thing. I'll keep it distracted and you torch it." Ryoga didn't wait for Konatsu's response before rushing the Youma. She was still angry about getting blasted earlier, and she had every intention of taking her frustrations out on the Youma's skull.
"Where did you go?" The youma growled out, looking back and forth through the mist.
"Right here!" Ryoga descended like a vengeful beast, slamming both her fists into the Youma's head with a mighty hammer blow. The Youma hit the ground so hard the cement cracked, but Ryoga wasn't done yet. She brought the heel of her boot down into the lower back of the youma, tearing her fuku and earning a cry of pain from the monster girl. Before Ryoga could hit her again she rolled over and took aim.
"Dark Moon Beam!" Ryoga cried out as the beam nailed her right below the breast line, just missing the bow tied there. However, this placed the blast right in her Solar Plexus. Ryoga was sent flying back with the wind knocked out of her lungs, landing hard a few feet away and gasping for breath. She noticed two things at that point. 1: That had hurt a lot less than the first time. 2: She was really fucking pissed off, now. As she rose to her feet, Ryoga concentrated as hard as she could on all the depressing thoughts she had. Her current gender was pretty high on that list. Not to mention the way this fuku hugged her body like a second skin, or the incredible embarrassment of walking around in such a short skirt, or the fact that she felt dirty simply walking around in public like this.
"DIE!" The youma screamed, appearing behind Ryoga with her fist cocked back. It noticed too late the mistake it had made. As soon as it saw the intense blue/green glow coming from Ryoga's eyes, the youma could sense its end was near.
"Sai Dai Kyu..." Ryoga whispered, a few tears falling from her glowing eyes, "...Shishi Hokodan." the eruption of power was unseen through the mist, however its return to earth eradicated the fog. All the spectators that had been trying to peer through the fog were hurled to the ground by an unseen explosive force as the mist was blown away. When the blast ended, they could clearly see Mercury standing in the center of a crater, staring down at the unmoving form of the Youma within.
"It's all yours." Mercury said simply, climbing out of the crater as mars charged up her attack.
"Fire Soul!"
"Ranma was possessed by a demon, eh?" Nabiki asked, staring incredulously across the table at the pigtailed boy. That would explain his odd behavior, but if he thought he was going to get away with kissing her because of that he was dead wrong. Oh yes, Nabiki was going to make his life a living hell for the next few weeks.
"I was not! I think I'd remember something like that." Ranma complained, digging into his dinner angrily. He couldn't understand why everyone had been telling him that all day.
"Come on, Ranma! You still think it's yesterday! You were possessed, admit it!" Akane shouted.
"There ain't no way, you uncute tomboy! I'm not stupid enough to get possessed." Ranma shot back.
"Oh really? Then I guess you said this of your own free will." Nabiki pulled out her camcorder and hit play. Instantly, the sound of Ranma assaulting some students for their lunch money came out of the recorder.
Ranma: Cough up your cash or die.
Boy: I...I don't have any m...money!
Akane: Ranma! What the hell do you think you're doing?
Ranma: Back off, bitch. I'm busy.
Ranma choked on his food. Both Genma and Soun immediately stopped eating and glared at Ranma while Kasumi gasped in shock.
"I never said that, it's someone else!" Ranma shouted, pointing at the offending video camera.
"It's a camcorder, Ranma. I have you on video." Nabiki said, rolling her eyes. She flipped out the small viewing screen for all to see as she rewound the video.
Ranma: Back off, bitch. I'm busy.
(rewind)
Ranma: Back off, bitch. I'm busy.
(rewind)
Ranma: Back off, bitch. I'm busy.
Ranma went as white as a sheet as he saw himself addressing Akane on the screen. There was no denying this hard evidence.
"RANMA! HOW DARE YOU ADDRESS YOUR FIANCEE LIKE THAT!" Both father's bellowed in unison, nearly knocking the table over as they got up and pounced at the pigtailed martial artist.
"No! Wait! Stop! I was possessed, I swear!" Nabiki could only chuckle as she put her camera away to the sounds of their fathers trying to catch Ranma. Oh yes, she was going to enjoy tormenting him.
To be Continued.
Ryo-Wolf