Son Turned Daughter: Yggdrasil
An unusual disclaimer: Ranma1/2 is the trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ Communications, and its characters have been borrowed without permission. And Son Turned Daughter was originally written back in 2002 by fanfiction author Tangent, and his characters Megumi, Yasushi, and Ayane have, likewise, been borrowed without permission. Please see the first two chapters of this series under his pen name. This series has been written for noncommercial use only.
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I deeply regret to all 139 followers for having blundered into deleting the Son Turned Daughter story favored by 118. But since the number of chapters has gotten so many, as I work to upload the chapters, I have decided to break it into parts. This chapter is the continuation of every chapter before it, but is the beginning of an entirely new trajectory I am calling Yggdrasil.
I hope any new readers are not too put off by jumping into Yggdrasil cold. It will contain spoilers as I have always tried to refer to what has happened previously and make explicit reference in footnotes.
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Chapter 38
Coming off the fighting ring and onto the space made available for her, Ranma looked around for an opening through the discontent crowd. Even the muscle bound Taichi, president of the school's Alpha Male Club, didn't seem eager to use the threat of his bulk to open a path for her. That was what she got, she guessed for thinking about the easiest way to win rather than the best way to put on a show. Well, she wasn't here to please! She would force her way through the disappointed spectators.
After giving a painless but body-moving pressure point to one girl who glared at her (probably a tournament loser who resented that Ranma hadn't had to fight in the preliminaries), Ranma saw Ryonami.
The member of Nabiki's Vulcan Enterprises saw her. The girl with long bangs came at her! Ranma was ready to be more aggressive with one of those who helped form this crowd.
"Ranma! Just the girl I wanted to see!" Ryonami grinned.
"What?" Before Ranma could recover, the cute girl kissed her on the cheek. She could feel the betting book against her back as she was hugged by the other soft body.
"Thank you! More people are betting against you! Enough to change the odds!"
"Betting against ME!?" That was an insult.
"That's the spirit! Nabiki and us are counting on you to win it all!" And with that, she disappeared back into the crowd, she did it so swiftly and easily, Ranma had to wonder if Nabiki had a school of martial arts bookmaking.
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"What is the matter, Kasumi?" Nodoka asked the young but old in spirit woman.
"I, I don't really know, Auntie," Kasumi said. "I've been ill at ease for a while now. I thought it would pass. But it has been getting worse. I should go."
"Now wouldn't be a good time. The doctor is busy with the tournament and you'd be alone at your place. Go into the Ohara guest bedroom." Ranma's mother went to the kitchen and made a clean dishtowel damp with cold water for her. "I'll be the hostess in your stead. They might not ever notice you're missing."
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Ranma had finally made it to the table in front of the Gluten Free Traditional restaurant. There were breaks between the tournament rounds to give the spectators the chance to shop and eat.
"I'm next," Akane said, doing her best to pull herself together. She had just been spooking herself, she must be telling herself. This wasn't a horror movie. "If none of us can come up with Ukyo's weak point, I'm just going to rely on what I can find in my weapons-space and improv ability."
"Hey! I thought of something! Wear heatproof gloves or something!" Ranma smiled. Then the smile left her. "Only I don't have the money."
"Shampoo pay!" the Guzi girl said. And she took out a five-yen coin from her deep cleavage.
"You would!?" Akane smiled. Then it faded. "Why would you? Why would you want to help me?"
"Shampoo no yet battle Akane. Akane beat Pancake Girl, fight Shampoo in final!"
"Hey! I'm not gonna lose to you, Shampoo!" Ranma interjected.
Shampoo giggled. "Pancake Girl win, Shampoo wear heatproof what Shampoo own in final!"
"I'm not gonna lose!" Ranma protested again.
Akane gained courage from Ranma. "I'm not going to lose, either!"
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Kasumi laid on the futon with the damp towel over her eyes. She heard the conversations and the sounds of the event part going on outside the guest bedroom. Somebody started a record, casset or maybe a CD player. It was strange, beautiful in a way but atonal. She never would have guessed the Ohara family would have so unconventional taste.
After a few minutes of it, she realized she was right. It was coming from outside. That, too seemed odd. It was too different from the background music some shops and restaurants were using to accompany the tournament and draw in customers.
Then she realized she wasn't hearing any other music.
It soon became the only sound she heard outside of her own ones
She took the towel from her eyes. She felt there was something different, off, about her reality, but she couldn't identify it. By rights, she should be concerned, even frightened. But she wasn't.
Curious, she went to the room's only window. It overlooked a narrow alley where the tournament ring could not be seen. Opening the window, the strange atonal melody became more clearly heard. It was…invigorating…lifting her spirit.
Her angel's wings opened up, and she flew out the window.
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As Akane approached the ring, she saw Ukyo Kuonji pull out a propane tank from her weapons space. Sh, she wouldn't be using that, would she?! The girl in the boys uniform was still on the ground, attaching it to her ring-sized griddle. Ranma had better find something heatproof. And in time!
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Kasumi saw her little sister down there as she flew over the street. Was she flying to aid her with the preternatural power her guardian angel, Holy Bell, possessed? Is that where her wings were taking her? She was uncertain. She never really understood her. Ever since she met her when she had died, Holy Bell had remained a sacred mystery to her. Except for that first time, the time she had clearly spoken to her. She had said, "It is not your time yet. You are Destiny."
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After the last time, knowing how many rooftops had people on them and the one empty roof being too eerie, Ranma had decided to run back to the ring with her shopping bag.
But the problem remained of getting past the crowd between her and it. The Alpha Male Club had been using their intimidating, bulging muscles to open spaces. Few questioned their ability to fight. Ranma knew better. "Hey, Taichi! You got muscles, but how about strength?!"
"Of course I do!"
"Prove it! Throw me over the audience and onto the ring!"
"You're not supposed to be in the ring when it's not your turn. You could be disqualified!"
"I'll worry about that. Just show me you're not nothing but bulk!" And she leaped at him.
He caught her. After he held onto her for a little too long, she glared at him and brought a fist down in front of his eyes.
He threw her!
"Akane!" she cried out. Since the Saotome School specialized in mid-air maneuvering, she was able to come down exactly on top of one of the ring posts.
She stayed there only to drop what was in her shopping bad at Akane's feet. She then aimed for the awning of a shop. She could watch there above the people. It also was the building with the empty roof.
Wait! What was that flying above? It seemed to be a human, a woman with wings of aura energies.
Ayane was introducing Akane and Ukyo; the round was about to begin. That and her training's conditioning meant Ranma had to look at the fight. But what really kept her looking was who were fighting. Her friends.
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Kasumi was grateful that no one seemed to be noticing her. She was coming down toward the only empty roof that people could have stood on. The music that was attracting her like a moth to a flame was made fainter as the angel with a white and a black wing drew them back into her body of their human host. Kasumi recognized the little, old woman with her white hair tied in a loose bun.
She was Pearl-san. The ladle lady.
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"Plastic thongs?" Akane said again, this time looking down as she wore them. But doesn't plastic melt? Ranma had better be right! She had declared them as weapons just to be sure she would be permitted to wear them! Contestants could only fight with tools.
The blade of the giant spatula lay on the part of the griddle not protected by the large mat in its middle. In an instant it could be in Ukyo's hands. But it was the heat surrounding Akane that was beginning to make her sweat.
Ukyo thew a bag towards Akane. The "flour bomb" exploded!
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"I see that Holy Bell has indeed decided to join us," Pearl-san said as Kasumi alighted on the roof. But after summoning her, the woman went back to tossing water from her bamboo pail onto the deserted roof with her ladle. Kasumi assumed she was exorcising the evil residue she herself was sensing.
"I must help Akane!" Kasumi said, turning to the edge of the roof to see the battle below better.
"Your sister's destiny is sealed," Pearl-san said. "It cannot be changed."
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Akane couldn't see Ukyo through the cloud of flour. She could be attacked from any angle! She had to guard all sides, sweeping her vision, her wooden mallet in her, a metal headed hammer in her left. She had seconds to take the initiative, and she could if she had something to ignite the powder. She didn't.
Maybe if her metal headed hammer here hot enough? There wasn't enough time to heat it up like Ukyo was doing with her giant spatula. But it gave Akane the idea to heat her own weapon.
She could drop the hammer as it might bounce off the metal of the griddle. If it went out of the ring, she would be disqualified in using it. She quickly crouched to set it more gently down.
Small spatulas came out of the haze over Akane's head.
One embedded itself in the wooden mallet she had in front of her.
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Kasumi watched from above helplessly. That had been her life ever since she came back from the dead. The angel who lived inside her was capable of miracles, and there were times the spirit came out and sang them into being. But they were never for the ones she loved. She had put up a cheerful front and optimistically hoped that Akane and her father's martial arts and Nabiki's cunning would be enough to protect them.
"Why?"
"You don't know about the Tree of Life, yet, youngster?" Pearl-san said casually as she continued her walk around the roof, performing her harae ritual.
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Akane pulled the small but deadly spatula out of her mallet. The cloud was clearing; she was reminded of her opponent. If the rules allowed her to, she would have thrown the spatula back at her. She was reminded it wouldn't have done her any good when the small weapon disappeared from her hand. Just like the spatulas that would have otherwise struck some of the spectators.
Akane dropped her mallet and reached for another hammer. Out of her weapons space came a sledgehammer that forced her arm down! The hammer thonged against the mat! She would have to use both hands to wield this! Wouldn't it have made more sense to have one in each hand!?
She had no time to try for anything else – Ukyo was attacking her with her heat-glowing spatula! Adrenaline being pumped by her throbbing heart, Akane lifted the sledgehammer and rang it against the on-coming searing blade.
The force of it violently shook Ukyo up through her arms!
But she was able to bring her weapon back faster than Akane was with her own heavier one!
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" 'Tree of Life'? This seems more like a battle of life and death," Kasumi said, hurting at what she had to endure to see.
"That is what it is, youngster. Exactly what it is," the old woman said. "Life must continue to battle…" she stepped beside Kasumi and said, "...or universes will not be born,"
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Akane couldn't raise the hammer end, but she could the handle end! One side weighed down, she was still able to block the handle of Ukyo's deadly spatula! It became a matter of strength – Hers against Ukyo's – as the two handles moved nearer the opponent, first one then the other!
They were eye to eye. Ukyo's suddenly went from wicked to evil! Her power was suddenly far beyond Akane's!
Akane jumped back in fear!
The blade came down where she had just been! Akane was convinced that she could have been squashed like a bug!
Losing all reason, Akane brought the sledgehammer down against the spatula again and again! Denting it severely each time! Bending its handle!
The spatula disappeared. Only to be replaced by another battle spatula. It wasn't hot like the other, but it seemed sharper!
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"I'm not interested in philosophy. And this is an inappropriate time to bring it up," Kasumi told the old woman. But she now also knew she also played host to an angel. Though it was an angel of a strange kind.
"This isn't philosophy. This is theology. And it is the reason we stand here invisible to those untrained to tune into our auras. We are here to play our parts in Destiny. We both are Destiny."
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Akane's surge of adrenaline was withdrawing. The sledgehammer sank lower and lower, leaving her more and more vulnerable to the giant blade that was advancing on her. Ukyo seemed to be savoring her blossoming terror.
Akane had to back up. She backed up until she could no longer. She was stopped by one of the corner posts. It was only then she realized she was standing on the burning hot griddle surface unprotected by the mat.
The thick soled sandals were protecting her feet. They must not be made out of plastic but silicon. But how long could she….
She had declared the sandals as weapons!
She stopped wanting to retreat; she stood there more confident! She was Akane of the Tendō School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts! She could win doing what she was best at doing!
Ukyo brought the spatula back down at her. Akane raised her foot and stopped it!
As she brought her foot back down, she hooked her insole over the top of the handle and yanked it out of the surprised opponent's hands!
But another battle spatula was instantly in her hands!
But it wasn't yet in the attack position – This was Akane's only chance!
She punted Ukyo high and far out of the ring!
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"Akane won!" her relieved and elated elder sister cried.
"Look again," Pearl-san said. "See? The referee declares she has lost. She didn't use the soles of her sandals to deliver the blow. They were her weapons.
"Akane has to lose before we can change the destinies of those we are here for."
Before Kasumi could say anything else, they were interrupted. "Hosts!? They send mere human hosts to stop me, not goddesses!?" A blonde in a strange black-and-gold, military uniform cried in outrage. She was flapping just above them with her black wings.
"Mara," Pearl-san recognized her.
"Mara!" Kasumi blushed. She could not help but look to see if the woman was a futanari.
The blonde knew what she was thinking. She had had enough Japanese reacting similarly on hearing the name. "No, I don't have a penis! (Not unless I wish to.)" That was what Mara meant in the language. "And neither am I the Buddhist Demigod of Illusion!"
"Her name is hard for we Japanese to pronoun," Pearl-san explained. "Something like Marla, or Malla, of…"
"I am Marller! I'm the Demon Envoy of Nightmares! I am part of the Nordic Pantheon."
"Aren't you rather far from your home?" Kasumi asked.
"Because of the detestable hostile takeover, the Nordic Pantheon is now part of Kami-sama Corporation, Unlimited. We work wherever the Tree of Life sends us!" she sounded frustrated. "Why do I bother explaining to the likes of you! Bring out your oversouls! My oversoul will defeat both of them!"
"Don't!" ordered Pearl-san. "If she knows the identities of our greater-souls, she will have a better idea of how to attack them, and possibly win." To the hovering demon who had left Ukyo's body, she said, "The Tree of Life protects us. We are Destiny."
"I hate the multiverse-making omnipresent computer!" Marller snarled. "Or are you merely bluffing? If you will not let me see your true identities, let me hear your usernames!" she demanded.
"My 'user name'?" Kasumi was confused. She knew nothing about computers. Why should she? As far as she knew, only business used the large and complicated machines.
"Look within you, youngster," Pearl-san advised. "You are one of the many avatars your oversoul expresses herself through. Ask yourself, what she would like you to be known as to those who are not human."
"Bah! Amateur host in Destiny! Tell me your name, then, enfeebled one!"
"Only my body is old," Pearl-san told the demon. "You wish to know my username so you can verify that I am listed in Destiny? Try, 'Ruinmaster'."
"Ruinmaster!" Kasumi gasped! No! Akane had said Ruinmaster loved to make dangerous traps! Akane could have been killed because of hers!
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Ranma went to the Northeast, away from the tournament and its crowds. Her mind kept the trajectory of Ukyo had been kicked into. After she had cleared the empty rooftops a block away from the shopping street, she could see her body was headed for the park along the sides of leveed Shakujii River. Did Ukyo land in it? Even if she were a guy, she would have dived in to rescue her! Her once friend was more important than her secret!
She did have to dive into cold water, but it was the park's decorative fountain.
"Ukyo! Ukyo? Are you okay!?(!) Say something! I'll get you to the doc's aid station!"
"Ow! No! My ribs! They feel like some are broken!" Ukyo cried out in real pain. Ranma quickly set her down on the grass.
"You, you don't know healing techniques?"
"No! I'm a cook – A chef! I run my own business 'cause there's nobody else to take care of me but me! All I know is what a chef needs to know when they get hurt in the kitchen! I am the best at that kind of healing." Her pride came through her anger and pain, physical and emotional.
Ranma was a girl. Girls were allowed to cry. She cried for her friend. "I, I'm so, so sorry! I never wanted to hurt you! You were one of the best things to happen to me when I was a kid. My old man did a lot of bad things to me, but he never abandoned me. Your life was worse than mine."
The redhead's tears dropped onto Ukyo's cheek. The girl in boys uniform felt them. Girls were allowed to cry. For the first time in years, Ukyo cried. They cried together. An old sympatico was reignited. They petted each other's face and hair. Could they be friends again? Could they be something more?
Suddenly Ukyo broke the hug. And she rose.
Ranma rose to her feet. But she saw Ukyo continue to rise. She had black wings flapping out of her!
"She is mine!" Ukyo's voice told her. "When we meet in the tournament finale, she shall kill you! There are too many universes with you in it! I will never let you fulfill your destiny, Chaos Orchid!"
Ukyo flew off. But Ranma chased after her! All the while she was thinking of how she coul get high enough to grab his friend and bring her back to earth!
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""You're Ruinmaster?! WHY!?" Kasumi questioned the old woman who she had discovered she was not at all what she seemed to be.
"Are you your username? Do you always feel the direction of your oversoul?"
"N, no…" Kasumi said, thinking about it. "Holy Bell leaves me alone almost all of the time. I was surprised when I sprouted her wings and flew! It was the first time that has ever happened!"
"See? Though I am rather old to be a shrine maiden, I am, and a respected one as well. That is, when I am not called upon by my oversoul. The difference between you and me, youngster, is that I learned to live with it when it does happen. You will have to as well."
" 'Oversoul'?" Kasumi tried to understand so that she, perhaps, could learn.
"All souls are connected to souls that have divided themselves into further and then more distant soles over time. The oversouls do this so they can have many and more varied experiences. And through the experiences they understand themselves and creation better. We two just happen to have souls who aren't far removed from the original. We are mortal humans but are closest to the goddess souls of our oversouls."
"Goddess souls? Kami?"
"The kami are closer to the disembodied souls. No, I'm talking about human-like in form goddesses. Yours and mine are also part of the Nordic Pantheon, We're sisters!" She cackled in delight. "I'm the older sister, of course."
"We are? I mean our goddesses are? May I know their names?"
"They wouldn't mean anything to you. You wouldn't even be able to pronounce their names properly. I can't, so why try. But the name of my angel translates into the silly name, 'World of Elegance'."
"I think it's a lovely…even elegant name."
"Well, know, Mara hates our goddesses above most others. It's better for her not to know who our goddesses are. When our angels sing, they will…." She stopped.
"What is it, uh, Ruinmaster?" Kasumi wasn't sure how much of Pearl-sans remained. She seemed to be listening quite intently to a silent voice.
"My part in Destiny is calling. Ruinmaster will sing in the next round."
"Ranma's?!" Kasumi became concerned. Would the angel with one black wing set a dangerous trap for her? Where was free will?
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"I won!" Akane insisted again to Shampoo.
"Referee Girl say Loud Girl Akane lose!" Shampoo smiled back irritatingly.
"On a technicality! I won!" And she was still alive and uninjured. That was really winning.
"I lost Ukyo," Ranma said, coming up to the restaurant table.
"Eat! Shampoo and Ranma battle next! Need energy!" Shampoo pushed a hearty bowl of Spring Mixed Rice towards her.
Ranma didn't need any further coaxing. She no doubt would be expending a lot of energy in her battle with Shampoo, but more importantly, she had to be fully ready to take on whatever was possessing Ukyo! But how could she without seriously injuring the abused girl!? If the non-human thing couldn't kill Ranma, would it kill his childhood friend instead!?
"Tell Shampoo I won, Ranma!" Akane demanded. "I saw you on the awning over the ceramics shop! ...Well!?"
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Using her techniques to easily get past the crowd, Cologne entered the ceramics shop. It was full of interesting shapes, colors and textures; a few showed a craftsman's pride and were almost worthy of being in an art gallery or museum. But it was for one of the cheap, mass-produced figures she was there for. There were several variations to choose from. One in particular caught her eye. She was amused. "This makeki-neko reminds me of Maomolin." If the giant ghost cat had a bib under its collar and bell and held a long medallion that read "Good Luck" in kanji.
"Are you interested in buying this good luck talisman?" the shopkeeper asked, nervously checking outside to see if the combatants had entered the ring so close to his shop door. He had a baseball bat in case too many people wanted to enter and possibly break his merchandise. Only his desire to cash in like all of the other shopkeepers kept the door from being locked.
"I'm interested in it as maneki-neko," Cologne told the man. "I have bought the Bathhouse Cafe."
"The Otsuka family have finally found a buyer? We shall all miss the venerable members of our community." His distaste for foreigners slipped out. But only for a moment. "The Beckoning Cat is a charm used by businesses and families throughout Japan! It's very powerful!"
"I know. It is also called the Chinese Cat. but no matter its origin, I need it to keep certain 'customers' away. Those who skip out without paying their bill!"
"I'm sure the other restaurants will like to know the secret. Here is my finest one!"
"I'll be glad to share the secret with my new neighbors. But it only works against eat-and-runners who know the Neko-ken," Like the founder of Anything-Goes, Happosai! "I'll pick it up after the tournament."
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The griddle was still hot when Ranma and Shampoo entered the ring. Ranma had only slippers, while Shampoo had on the silicon sandals Akane had worn but she herself had paid for. (Shampoo was taller. Akane must have big feet. At least that was the thought that amused the woman hero.)
"...Shampoo have chui!" she declared, holding out her familiar, colorful, solid metal maces. "Shampoo also have heatproof shoes!" She held one up to show everybody. Ranma knew she wouldn't be making the same mistake as Akane had done with them.
Now it was Ranma's turn. Ranma pulled on the Hana's Flowers apron. "I'm usin' this apron."
"And candy!?" shouted a few discontents from the crowd.
"I've got some candy left. But I also decided to use these gardener's gloves!
"And my fightin' slippers!"
"Ranma cheat! Shoe of Shampoo no ordinary shoe Is also shield from fire! Shield also can be weapon!"
"A cover is not a weapon," Yasushi ruled. "...unless it is used as a weapon."
The redhead scratched her head. "I can use them.? As long as I don't use them to just cover my fists and kicks?"
"Maybe. I don't really understand it myself," Yasushi said in a monotone.
"Hear that, Shampoo! You use the sandals as shields and kick them off –Only!"
"Ay! Shampoo sorry Shampoo open mouth!"
The bell rang!
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Shampoo looked up at the awning over the ceramics shop. There, where Ranma been the round before, watching Akane and Ukyo, was her great-grandmother, watching her. With her was the large jar of water labeled [Zhòuquánxiāng / Jusenkyo].
That was her warning. She had already failed to kill the girl-type Ranma Saotome. She had bought time pointing out how valuable Ranma as a warrior would be to the Nyūchiezū. But if she failed to defeat Ranma Saotome this time, she would have to be punished. Great-grandmother would have no choice: Shampoo, too, would be cursed!
She turned away from the specter and charged towards her destiny!
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Ranma knew her great disadvantage. All she had were defensive weapons, but a part of her wanted it that way! It would force her to improv like mad! There was no feeling like merging the thrill of battle with her creativity!
She quickly untied the apron and emptied the candy from the pockets onto the mat.
Holding the apron in one hand and a glove in the other, Ranma charge towards her destiny!
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While this had been happening, Kasumi had asked Pearl-san, "When are you going to sing?"
"I'm listening for the time. The time when one universe can become two, and two destinies can be born. One where Ranma wins; one where Shampoo wins."
"Then there is no free choice," Kasumi sounded disappointed.
"There is always free choice. Some universes are never explored. Say,...a universe where neither win?"
Why did Kasumi get the feeling that Ruinmaster preferred that one?
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Ranma caught the heavy mace with her apron and wrapped it – Trapping it!
But there was still the other mace coming down at her head!
It slid off her balled-up gloves and was deflected! But it wouldn't be long before it came around at her from another angle of attack!
Shampoo was stronger than Ranma's small girl body and had the height advantage! But being on the receiving end of serious injury gave her added adrenaline strength. She fought mightily to contain the weapon captured inside the apron! Shampoo's distraction with it gave Ranma the opportunity she needed: She brought a glove around to the second mace's handle and enclosed it with her fingers tightly against the glove's. Success! She had trapped that chui, too!
Ranma wrenched that mace free of Shampoo's grip!
But while putting most of her strength in her left side, her right side was weakened. Ranma lost the battle to keep the first mace trapped and under control!
Ranma jumped back out of the way, taking the second mace with her. She knew she had seconds before the mace slipped from the glove she had it wrapped in. before it did, she snapped the glove loose, changing the downward momentum of the mace. It was now officially out of "play".
"Shampoo still defeat Ranma – With one chui!" And she tossed Ranma's apron towards the ropes behind her.
It grazed Yasushi and dropped to the griddle and mat like a sail hit with a sudden calm. The referee looked down and wondered if she should kick it out. She had interfered with it. He decision was, "You used your hand, Shampoo, not a weapon." But she left it where it laid.
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"Now!" Ruinmaster announced. The beautiful angel emerged from the little, old woman body, both her white and black wings spread. And she sang. As before it was exotic and atonal! It did not belong in heaven. It did not belong in hell. It was a song of purgatory.
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Shampoo was between her and the apron. The only weapons she had left were one glove and her slippers.
And the candy.
Yes, the candy! She had one chance and probably just one chance to win!
Out of a nearly cloudless sky, it began to rain.
Ranma crouched down and collected the nearest candies she could hold in one hand and waited. She kept low so her opponent would have to swing lower than she was comfortable with to deliver her blow. It was a 'game' of nerves. She had to wait until Shampoo was in the one position and one position only! If it didn't work, the mace would come crashing down on her head.
Her time was limited. The rain was beginning to make the candy sticky!
So intent was Ranma on concentrating on her one shot, she didn't notice the drop bouncing off of the ring's still hot griddle surface, the griddle she was too close to.
The jawbreaker shrunk in Ranma's hand as he became instantly larger! He had to awkwardly, urgently fumble to return the candy to where it had to be in his fingers for his plan to work!
Shampoo was startled by the sudden transformation, she had come to think of Ranma as normally a girl, as she had seldom seen him as male. The mace was still raised over her head.
Ranma shot! The hard candy hit a shiatsu pressure point on the woman hero's wrist.
Shampoo's wrist spasmed in reflex. And the mace fell on her head.
Shampoo fell with a smile. "Airen…."
And the rain stopped.
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"Shampoo wins!" Yasushi declared.
"Shampoo no win!" the lavender haired girl protested!
"Ranma can't win," the referee told her. "This tournament is only for girls. Ranma is now a boy,"
His secret was out. He no longer had to live a lie. But the lie had been so comforting. As much as he hated his female body, he loved the freedom it gave him to feel and do things he had never and probably could never do as a guy. But where was the honor of living a lie?
But if he did admit the truth, he would lose the respect of those that had thought of him as a girl. They would accuse him of dishonor, of even being a pervert.
"I,I…I am Ranma Saotome. I was born a guy. I was always a guy until a month ago. I was cursed to be a girl. But inside, who I really am, I know I am a guy."
"Airen!" Shampoo screamed with delight and leaped at him! She grabbed him around his neck and planted a long kiss on him.
" 'ham-moo!" Ranma tried to cry as he reached for the pressure points that would make her let go of him.
It was Shampoo who broke the kiss and hug. "Shampoo fight no more. When Shampoo lose, Shampoo win!" And with that she leaped out of the ring and went into hiding.
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Holy Bell's song was different from any Kasumi had heard her sing before. It wasn't directed down at the ring. It was sent outward, as if calling for somebody to come. To answer their destiny.
A tug on her heart told her they had heard. They were coming. And as they were felt to be coming closer, the song became sweeter.
Then it stopped! Kasumi knew whose destiny she was being called on to change! It was her choice. She did have free will.
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"I don't care if Ranma is a boy or a girl!" Ukyo screamed, dropping down onto the ring's mat. "I will still have my revenge!"
Ranma could see that his friend was gone, having been completely possessed by the evil with hidden black wings.
He barely got out of the way of the razor sharp edge of the battle spatula. Swing after swing followed him as he retreated in the ring.
Until a foot burned! He had stepped back onto part of the exposed griddle!
His good foot leaped under the blade and towards the silicon sandals Shampoo had left behind. He rolled and put one on his good foot, and use that to wham against the face of the spatula coming down at him!
He didn't have the chance to put on the other sandals: A small spatula embedded itself in it!
He had to roll to get out of the way of more spatulas! He just stopped himself in time from being burned again by the griddle. His side, this time!
Enough! He had to go on the offense! He charged!
He grabbed the handle of the battle spatula and tried to wrest control of it from the hands of Ukyo! She seemed to have demonic strength!
Or did she? If she did, she could easily have broken his arms by forcing them to turn the wrong way at the wrong time. Or she could have treated him as an insect.
Face to face, inches, centimeters, away from each other, Ranma could see into her eyes. There as something there besides the evil. There was Ukyo.
There was…Ranma kissed Ucchan.
"Love!" the evil cried as she let the girl drop to the mat unconscious. The black winged angel stood fully revealed!
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"BWEE! BWEE! BWEE!" Fang squealed!
"De pua'a can no win now! De Big Kahuna use de Banana Split! Every time little, black pua'a split, de Headmaster split, too!" He knew Sasuke's ninja cloning technique as well!
"Ryōga, come back here! I still have hot water!" Nabiki followed a half a block away, waving her thermos.
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Kasumi knew! For good or bad, she was going to change the destiny not just of Ryōga, but…her sister. Nabiki.
Kasumi sang.
Holy Bell's voice lifted! Clear and bittersweet, full of potential, it rang out!
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Fang saw the giant crowd of people– it was a very small animal–blocking its way! Before it there was a brick building. Veering to it, it scrambled up the mortar seams. Now where could it go?
Fang heard a crystalline bell ringing. It was from a large jar next to an old and very little woman backing away from it.
Wait! The jar said [Jusenkyo]!
"Me got de luau guest of honor now!" the Kuno father said triumphantly, having landed on the top of a shop's narrow overhang above its door.
Fang looked back at the jar. Anything was better than being a delicious pig!
"Head's up, Coconut-head!" Nabiki yelled, as she threw the thermos.
It struck him and he fell off the overhang to the street below.
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Fang rode the jar down to the ring. It broke under it. Most of it seemed to splash against the woman with the wings.
When she turned to see what had happened behind her, she saw a black cat.
And Ranma saw the cat. He did not fight his phobia. "Nyarrr! Pfft! Snarl!" He unhesitantly slashed and tore into the evil! Shredding its fancy uniform! Cutting its flesh that did not bleed! Biting off hair!
Then she shoved him away! She aimed him directly for the hellish griddle!
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Akane…Akane…
"Kasumi?" Akane asked, but did not dare to take her eyes of the critical battle before her.
Good luck…Good luck…
"Not now! Ranma is in a neko-ken fit! Bit will even that ultimate technique win against , against – Whoever she is!"
Demon…Good luck…
Suddenly Akane thought she understood! She desperately pushed, shoved and tossed her through the crowd to the ceramics shop!
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The evil roared as she flung far away the cat that had also added its small scratches and bites!
Rid of the vile creature, it turned to her real target. "I was toying with you before! But not now! Now you suffer!"
The boy behaving like a cat on a fence post, motioned for it to come and get it.
"Stop that! I order you to stop that! Do you know what that looks like!"
"It looks like this!" Akane cried out. "Ranma!" And she tossed a maneki-neko at him.
Instinctively, he swatted it away.
The evil scream in pain and fright before it shattered at her feet!
"Ranma, here's another!"
Ranma didn't swat this one away. He caught it between his 'paws' and looked at it. He saw something in it only he saw.
"Stop that! I will make you suffer more than I would have if you don't!" the evil screamed at him.
He jumped onto the mat. Sitting it down, he pushed ahead of him. All the while he copied the porcelain cat's gesture, giving the evil a beckoning motion. Come and get him.
As he came closer, it stepped back in terror.
Ranma leaped over the statue. He no longer needed it. He was the living embodiment of the good luck talisman! Even in his cat state, he had improvised a new technique.
The evil screamed and vanished in a cloud of rotten eggs brimstone!
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Ranma! Ranma! Come to me," Akane coaxed as she came up into the ring. "Come to Akane."
Ranma-neko hesitated. Sniffed. And, slowly, came toward her.
Suddenly he gave a happy, "Nyaa!" and leaped for her.
Startled, Akane stumbled backwards onto her rear.
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Holy Bell sang a new song! It was a song of morning, a song of dawn.
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Akane expected Ranma to come and lay on her lap and stay there until he had calmed down.
He didn't. He dropped to his knees beside her.
And he lifted her up in his arms. He brought her to him and kissed her.
"Ranma! All these people!"
"I don't care if they see,"
What!? He could speak?! So soon!?
"It's you I'm interest in, Akane." Ranma's sexuality had awakened.
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Kasumi and her angel are first explicitly mentioned in Son Turned Daughter Chapter 20: Saved from Fine Dining.
Ruinmaster is the one who has booby-trapped the entire Kuno estate for them, mentioned in Chapter 29: Death's Door.
And if Pearl-san's bamboo ladle and pail isn't enough of a clue, I will confirm: Yes, in the canon universe, she is the same old woman who has a habit of splashing water on male Ranma, turning him into a girl. See the S1E2.
The Tree of Life, Yggdrasil, is found in the animanga Oh My Goddess! And it is as Marllier said, the computer at the center of creation that connects and runs the various multiverses. It is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent except when it has glitches that results in "bugs" running wild.
Holy Bell is a disembodied soul, it reincarnates into new bodies to move inside the universes created by the Yggdrasil. Think of virtual reality avatars. Belldandy is the goddess body she uses; Kasumi is one of her human bodies. There are others she shares her soul in smaller and smaller proportions.
Pearl-san is the avatar of Belldandy's elder sister, Urd. (The goddess, too, are born, age and "die". Pearl-san comes from before Urd was reborn into her present form.) The World of Elegance and Marllier, with the same mother, do not act exactly like they do in OMG. This is an alternative universe where their oversouls have a chance to explore themselves a little more by acting differently.
Like all the goddesses, gods, demonesses and demons, Marllier/Marla/Mara has a weakness or two. One of hers is good luck charms.