Bear Left at Nerima
Rain poured down on the dark house as trees swayed in the strong wind. Inside, the inhabitants slept, and dreamed…
o0o
Ranma smiled sweetly at the man across the table. "Or you could toss aside your duties and run off with me."
Henri threw back his head and laughed. "And so you turn my words back against me!" He opened his mouth to say more, then paused as he cocked his head in thought for a long moment. "Very well, I accept your proposition, my dear."
After several minutes of Ranma sitting there unmoving, the smile frozen on her face, Henri shrugged and ordered another espresso.
0
Soun watched the workmen building the addition to his home, a stern frown marring his face. "Ranma," he said, addressing the boy standing to his left, "a word, please."
Ranma slowly nodded, a sickly expression on his face as he eyed Soun, Akane glowering at him from the other side of the man.
"While we would be happy to house you and your father, even if you weren't engaged to my daughter, inviting your boyfriend to live with you crosses the line. Especially considering you are engaged to my daughter!"
Ranma glanced at Henri in the distance directing the second truck containing his personal possessions onto the property and tried to come up with a response. Fortunately, Nabiki walking over to them gave him a reprieve. He knew she would make everything worse somehow, but at least he had a moment to breathe.
"The construction is really coming along quickly," Nabiki remarked, "even for Nerima! It must be costing Henri a fortune. Oh, here you go, Daddy," she added, handing her father a piece of paper.
"What's this?"
"That's how much Henri's offering to pay per month while he's staying here. In addition to paying for the renovation."
Soun looked down at the paper, his eyes widening briefly. He glanced over at Henri. His eyes returned to the paper. He glanced at Ranma. "Well. Reforming a martial artist who has strayed from the path of righteousness is a noble cause… We'll see how it works on a trial basis."
Soun stepped to the side as Akane gave a scream of rage and lunged at Ranma.
o0o
Akane put down her pen and rose to her feet as the bell to challenge the Avatar of Light rang. Straightening her clothes and adjusting her bearing to give a more professional impression, she walked to the back door and opened it to reveal the latest challenger. Her eyes narrowed and she scowled at the person before her.
"Akane Tendou, I come to challenge the Avatar of Light," Kunou declared, brandishing a bouquet of roses. "If she is victorious, she may date me!"
"You are aware this is a challenge to the death, right?"
"Tatewaki Kunou will not be deterred by such considerations!"
Akane gave Kunou a long look in silence. And then she slowly closed the door in his face.
o0o
"Mr. Tendou, you're the world's only hope! Please say you'll help us," the girl implored him. The other four girls behind her nodded in agreement.
Soun pensively stared into space for a long moment before sighing deeply and nodding. "With so much at stake, it seems I have no choice. For the sake of the world, I accept."
A black cat with a golden crescent moon leapt into the air, and as she executed a graceful flip, a short rod topped with a heart and a star flew toward him. Soun reached out for it, an expression of joyous wonder on his face…
o0o
A gentle breeze blew through the bamboo grove, making the leaves rustle musically. With a soft rumble of contentment, the large panda pulled a bamboo shoot from the ground and bit into it, savoring the taste. After eating the shoot, he lay on the ground and closed his eyes in peaceful slumber, paying no heed to the battle cries, explosions, and flashes of light coming from the city of Tokyo in the distance as it slowly crumbled and collapsed from the ravages of crazy martial artists and magical girls.
o0o
Pretty Special ducked under a slash of an arm ending in a bone hook, blasted the eldritch humanoid with a thread of fire, and leapt back several feet before its three fellows could swarm her. She would have loved to open up more space and blast the lot of them, but that would leave her exposed to the one hidden in the nearby junkyard that kept firing homing bolts of maroon energy at her.
"Eyes on the spellcaster," Buddy's voice sounded in her ear. "Taking the shot." A sharp crack rang out, and a creature that looked like a cross between a gorilla and a squid wearing a stylish and perfectly fitted business suit and tie staggered out from behind a pile of trash and collapsed.
"Huh, I'd like to meet his tailor…" Nabiki mused as she leapt backwards and high into the sky. "Special Delivery!" As she lightly landed, she watched with satisfaction as the twitching bodies of the creatures she'd been fighting dissolved into blue sparkles that dissipated in the breeze.
"No hostiles visible."
"Good work. I hereby promote you to Adequate Assistant." Nabiki cocked her head and listened to the quiet sounds coming through her earpiece. "Are you crying?"
"N-no," Buddy quickly replied from where he was perched atop the crane in the middle of the junkyard and wiped away tears of joy, "I'm just … sniffing for hidden enemies."
Nabiki sighed, already reconsidering the promotion.
oOo
In a dark room, Kasumi sighed contentedly and snuggled in her lover's arms, the rain and howling wind outside held at bay by sturdy walls.
"Hey, Velgri, are you busy?" Ranma asked.
The lavender fox looked up from the magazine she'd been reading and took in her charge and the two youngest Tendou sisters standing before her in the sunlit living room. "Not at all. What can I do for you?"
"We were wondering exactly what happens if the Avatar loses a challenge," Ranma asked as he and the girls sat down. "You said something about darkness running free or such, but that's pretty vague. Not that I'm planning on losing or anything! But it'd be pretty stupid not to know."
"Certainly. If the Avatar is defeated or determined to have failed in her obligations, the influence of the Dark on the world becomes stronger. Agents of the Dark are freer to personally commit violence and destruction, base emotions are inflamed, and events that increase strife and suffering become more likely. War, violence, hatred, and oppression become stronger and more common. In the case the Avatar lost a challenge, the challenger typically goes on to eliminate those who were close to her. After a time, the Light is permitted to field a new Avatar. Assuming there's anything left to fight over at that point."
A long moment of silence fell before Ranma said, "Well that sucks."
"Especially for those of us who are close to the Avatar," added Nabiki.
"Indeed," remarked Velgri and took a sip of her tea.
"But there are other people who can fight against the Dark then, right?" Akane asked.
"Certainly, but it would be on a case by case basis. They may be able to stop specific actors and reduce tragedy, but only an active Avatar will cause them to fully retreat."
"Speaking of these other people," Nabiki interjected, "Who are they? Are there other magical girls out there?"
"Oh yes, there are quite a few, each with her own focus and goals. Some fight to defend humanity, protect a specific place, or champion a particular cause."
"Interesting," Nabiki said, then casually added, "can you name any specific magical girls?"
Velgri thought for a moment. "Let's see… Well, I don't recall her name in the native language, but in Hawaii, there is the guardian of the holy mountain. There's the Avatar of Darkness, who like the Avatar of Light, technically isn't an avatar, that was an attempt to create a Dark counterpart. Then there's—"
"Hold it!" cried Ranma, "What do you mean the Avatar of Light isn't actually an avatar?"
"The technical definition of an avatar is an earthly being that is a conduit to a power, able to channel their patron's strength, or in very rare cases their consciousness, as well. The Avatar of Light, despite her name, is actually a champion who represents the forces of Light as opposed to Light the power."
"Wait, what do you mean by 'a power'?" asked Akane.
Vegri hmmed in thought for a moment. "Powers are the embodiments of concepts, such as life, death, elements, or even types of animals, such as Wolf or Cat. Long ago, they roamed the world, their mere presence capable of warping reality, but before even the Accords were written, they agreed to retreat from the physical world to afford it the stability that lesser beings needed to thrive and took steps to prevent their kind from manifesting directly."
Ranma frowned. "It kind of sounds like the powers leaving was a lot like you guys coming up with the Accords, but for you instead of us."
"It is similar in some ways, yes," Velgri allowed.
"So, the Avatar of Light is actually the champion of the forces of light rather than the avatar of the power Light," mused Nabiki. "Does Light even know about this? It sounds kind of shady…"
"It is not shady! Any confusion is caused by the limitation of your crude human language! The meaning of the title is quite clear in proper languages. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do," the fox stiffly declared, bounding out into the yard, leaving her magazine and tea behind.
"Well, I've got things to do too," Ranma said and quickly left, as well.
oOo
Ursula stomped down the alley, growling and muttering to herself. "Stupid brothers. Stupid boss. Like they do anything useful. Should have killed them all…" She stopped and glared at the dumpster blocking the way before giving it a kick that sent it flying down the alleyway with a crash. "Oh, it's not like you actually do anything useful, Ursula." she mimicked in a mocking tone. "And it's not like you have the looks or personality to attract a mate. Really, you should be thrilled at the chance to die to the Avatar. It's quite the honor, especially for someone like you."
"Feh!" spat Ursula, swatting the dumpster into the wall, severely flattening it, when she reached it again. She walked past it and paused. "And now the fucking Avatar is moving all over the place. No point chasing her down until she stops somewhere…" Walking out of the alley, she looked around for a moment before giving a soft "ah" and heading to one of the storefronts.
O
Yumi was wiping down the espresso machine when the bell rang. "Welcome to Dark Wat—" she cheerfully called as she turned around, breaking off at the sight of an enormous bear-woman crouching down and turning sideways to squeeze through the door; once she was inside, she straightened to full height and Yumi stared, wide-eyed.
The bear-woman stood at least eight feet tall and several feet wide and was covered in short, dark brown fur. Her face was a cross between human and bear features, with a very short muzzle, and her ears were rounded triangles atop her head. Her body itself was basically human shaped, though somewhat bulky. Her bust would probably be considered about average size, proportionally to her body, making them rather large in an absolute sense, and her muscles were well-defined and very impressive. Yumi felt her cheeks warm and her eyes quickly flicked over the bear-woman's large hands whose fingers were tipped with thick claws, and the fringed and beaded trousers and vest she wore. Her bear feet were bare.
"Aah, please excuse me," Yumi quickly said with a short bow, "welcome to Dark Waters. How may I help you?"
Ursula walked up to the counter and looked around, her nostrils flaring slightly as she took in the scents of the espresso bar. "Give me a long black in the biggest mug you have."
Yumi nervously looked between the coffee cups and then the bear-woman's enormous hands before suddenly brightening as she headed for the merchandise rack and picked up a novelty sixty four ounce mug with "Dark Waters Run Deep" printed on it. "It'll just be a few minutes," she said as she started the first shots of espresso brewing and washed the huge mug.
"Yeah, ok," Ursula said, pulling a coin out of a beaded pouch and tossing it onto the counter with a thunk. "This cover it?"
Yumi stared at the thick gold coin sitting on the counter. "Yes! Uh… um, I can't really make change for this."
The bear-woman waved her off. "Just run a tab against it."
"Yes, ma'am!" she exclaimed, taking the coin and slipping it into a pocket while starting a mental tally of what she'd need to pay the shop for whatever her new favorite customer wanted.
Ursula watched the woman for a moment as she worked, then headed for a table and gingerly sat down on a chair, thankful that the decor featured iron wrought furniture and marble surfaces rather than something more breakable. She carefully leaned back and lost herself in savoring the aroma of brewing coffee, for the moment setting aside thoughts of people back home and her current situation. After several minutes, the barista's voice caught her attention.
"Your drink is ready, ma'am, but I'm afraid I can't carry it to your table…" The woman apologetically indicated the huge mug that now contained a large amount of hot liquid.
"Yeah, I'll come get it." Ursula retrieved the mug, and as she sat back down, the barista came over with a tray and set down two small pitchers of milk, a container of a few different types of sugars, and a piece of honeycomb on a small plate.
"This is milk, and this one is cream," Yumi explained as she noted with satisfaction her wealthy customer's interest in the honeycomb and mentally congratulated herself on bringing it without it being ordered, and an extra large piece, at that. "Would you like anything with that? We have some wonderful pastries."
"Yeah, sure. Whatever's good." Ursula picked up the honeycomb between two talons and inspected it. It only contained honey, she noted with slight disappointment, but one couldn't have everything. She popped it into her mouth, savoring the taste of the sweet honey and the wax comb, washing it down with a gulp of her drink. After a minute, a tart covered with a cone made of some kind of noodle-like confection was set on her table and proclaimed to be a 'mont blanc'.
For the next half hour, Ursula sat there, idly drinking her long black and nibbling on the tiny confectionary mountain as she tracked the Avatar bouncing all over the place like a demented flea. This was very nice, she decided; a wonderful contrast to being constantly harassed and belittled by her horrible family and her petty, incompetent boss. It was a lovely way to spend her brief time on Earth before the inevitable humiliating defeat and death at the hands of the Avatar. Just as she was reaching the bottom of her mug, she frowned as she sensed the Avatar heading her way and quickly approaching. Time to get to work, she thought as she got up and headed for the door.
"Please come again!" Yumi called as her new favorite customer started to leave.
"We'll see," Ursula replied with a casual wave as she squeezed through the door.
oOo
"Hey, Avatar!" Ursula called at the boy running along the top of a fence.
"Man, another one already?" Ranma sighed as he leapt from the fence and landed in front of the large bear-woman. "You just want to challenge me, right? Nothing … else?"
She peered down at him and cocked her head. "That was my plan. Why, what do you have in mind?"
"Nothing!" he declared, quickly waving his hands. "Just the challenge!"
Ursula sighed. Sure the whole boy-girl thing was odd, but no one had said anything about this Avatar being so weird. "Right. So, when you want to do this?"
He opened his mouth to answer but paused as several fire trucks and ambulances raced by, lights flashing and sirens blaring. "Hang on, I need to check this out."
"Avatar…" she started before sighing again and following after him. It wasn't like she really wanted to get killed by the Light champion, but now that she was at this point, she just wanted to get it over with. After a few minutes of running after the trucks, they came to a large crowd of people and vehicles with flashing lights around a very tall building engulfed in flames. Some of the people wearing uniforms were shooting water at the building, and a number of windows near the top had humans leaning out and screaming for help.
"Crap," Ranma said, eying the building and stepping back into an alley and transforming, shuddering slightly at the unpleasant sensation of doing it directly from his male form.
"Avatar," Ursula repeated as she walked up to her, "I thought you said you just wanted to do the challenge."
"Yeah, but I need to help out here first. Hey, if you help too, it'll go faster."
"Fine," she sighed, "What do I need to do?"
"Rescue people trapped in the building. Bring them to the people in uniforms near the ambulance," she said, pointing out some of the vehicles. "Go for people in the most danger first and people higher up. Got it?"
"Yeah, yeah." She watched the Avatar leap over the crowd and onto the side of the building to the sound of shouts and scattered flashes of light. As the champion quickly made her way higher up in quick bounds, Ursula jumped over the crowd, resulting in much shriller shouts, ran to the building, and made her way up in shorter leaps, digging in with her claws after each one before launching herself up further. Hearing a shrill scream nearby and smelling a whiff of scorched hair, she smashed through a window and part of a wall to find herself in an apartment.
Ursula easily followed the sound and scent to find a woman and two smaller humans, all rather damp, wedged into a tiny bathroom. She growled softly as the screaming child was immediately joined by the other two at her appearance. "Hold on!" she barked as she grabbed one child after the other and stuck them onto her shoulders before grabbing the woman and heading back to the hole in the wall. The screaming stopped as her passengers realized she was getting them out but quickly resumed as she jumped down to the ground.
Damn, humans scream a lot, she thought as screams came from the crowd too as her feet slammed into the ground, sending cracks through the concrete as she absorbed most of the impact with her magic and her powerful muscles. As she dropped off her passengers at one of the ambulances, the screams of the crowd changed to some sort of roar, and the woman she'd brought from the building babbled something and clutched at her arm. Ursula gently pried her off and returned to the building.
She was about halfway up the side again when her ear twitched at the sound of a weak cough, barely audible through the roaring of the fire. Moving to the nearest window, she smashed through, arriving in a room filled with flames that leapt with new vigor at the influx of fresh air. She paid no mind to the heat but kept a wary eye on the floor to make sure she wouldn't fall through. Two rooms in, she found a couple of humans lying motionless on the floor and scooped them up. A moment later, she frowned and transferred them to one arm and snatched a yowling cat from under a bed.
Ursula looked back the way she'd come and eyed the fiery and smoke filled hallway then glanced down at her fragile cargo. "Meh, rescue probably means alive…" With a sigh, she projected her inner strength around herself and her passengers, turned in the direction of the outer wall, coiled, and leapt forward, the floor splintering where she'd stood as she smashed through the interior wall, flew across the next room, fire, heat, and smoke repelled by her power, and smashed through the outer wall of the building into open air.
Again with the screaming? she mentally sighed to herself as she dropped back to the ground, her protective field preventing the pavement from even cracking this time. Ignoring the crowd as they decided to roar again, she delivered her cargo, barely giving a glance to the uniformed humans who immediately started working on the people she'd brought down or the cat running underneath a truck parked nearby.
Up and down the building she went, bringing out more humans as the crowd below made various noises and the Avatar hopped around like a demented flea again, zipping up the side of the building and coming down with humans each time. Eventually, the Avatar stopped her from going up again.
"I think that's everyone." She made a face. "Everyone we could get, at least, and it looks like the fire's under control."
"Good," Ursula said, having become thoroughly sick of the smell of smoke quite some time ago. "So what's with all the roaring?" she asked, waving a hand at the crowd around the building, which promptly roared louder in response.
"They're cheering for us," Ranma slowly said, looking confused that the bear-woman even had to ask.
"Why?"
"What do you mean, why? We just saved a bunch of people, including kids. What do you expect them to do?"
"Jeer, shout insults," Ursula said with a shrug, "you know, the usual."
The Avatar stared at her for a long moment. "It must really suck where you come from."
Before Ursula could agree with her, a man in a uniform came over to them. "Thank you for your help. We would have lost a lot of people without you two. Call or stop by a fire station when you can, I'd like to talk to you."
Ursula started to say she doubted she'd be available but groaned when yet another human jumped over the crowd and landed next to them. This one was a girl in her teens, dressed in a blue skirt, white blouse, and blue jacket, with a video camera on her shoulder.
"Ayame Kasahara, Nerima Action News. That was quite the heroic act! Can I get your names, please?"
"Ursula…" the bear-woman answered, wishing she could leave the scene already.
Ranma sighed. "I'm the Avatar of Light."
"Thank you. Are you a real magical girl or just a martial artist cosplaying as one," the reporter asked the Avatar. "And if you are a magical girl, is this your animal companion?"
"Her what?!" roared Ursula.
"I'll take that as a no!" the reporter cheerfully replied.
"Yes, I'm a magical girl, and no, Ursula is a … colleague."
"Wow, a real magical girl! Did you just get your powers? Should we expect to see a lot more of you around, fighting crime, beating up monsters, helping out at disasters, and running around patrolling the city?"
"No, it's my duty to protect the Earth from specific threats, but if I come across something like this, I'll help out."
"Can you tell us about these threats?"
"Not right now."
"Next time, then. Ursula, are you—" the reporter started to ask before noticing the bear-woman had wandered off and was talking to a team of firefighters who promptly turned their hose on her and held her under the powerful jet for several seconds. A moment later, the water exploded from Ursula's fur, and the now dry bear-woman gave the firefighters a wave before coming back.
"The stench of smoke was getting annoying. Come on, Avatar, let's get going. We have business to take care of."
Ayame kept her camera focused on the two as they leapt away and vanished down a side street. "And there go two of Nerima's newest heroes! Tune in to hear the latest news on them as we get it. This has been Ayame Kasahara reporting for Nerima Action News. Nerima Action News: What we do to get the story is what other programs report as the story!"
oOo
"I know helping those people probably didn't matter to you," Ranma said as they came to a stop in a loading area that was empty aside from a few dumpsters, at the end of an alley, "but thank you."
"Hnh. Don't hear that often. Yeah, no problem. Not like I can do this without you, so why not speed things along."
Ranma sighed and muttered, "I just know I'm going to feel bad about this one too…" Louder, she said, "All right, I can tell you want to get to the challenge quickly, so we can head to the place now. Come on, buddy."
Ranma started walking back to the street but stopped and turned around when she realized the bear-woman wasn't following. "Something wrong?"
Ursula stood motionless for a long moment before exhaling deeply. "Half a day," she growled. "Just half a day on Earth and I've been treated with more respect than I've ever gotten at home… That does it—I quit!"
"Uhhh… what? What do you mean, you quit?"
"I mean I quit!" roared Ursula. "The dark and everyone back home can go fuck themselves! They want to try to kill you, they can do it themselves! I'm not going to fight you, and I'm not going back."
Ranma stared at the bear-woman. "Uh, good for you. Ah, they're not going to hunt you down or anything are they?" she asked with a frown.
"No, no one will care. It's not like I have a contract or anything." She shrugged. "My family will be pissed, but if they come here and bug me, I'll tear them to shreds."
"Good." Ranma rubbed the back of her neck, bemused by the entire situation. "Hey, if you need any help with things, you can use this to contact me," she said, giving Ursula one of her cards. "I can't provide a place to stay, though!" she quickly added, her dream suddenly coming back to her.
"Nah, I'm good. I'll check with that fire guy later," Ursula said, examining the card before carefully putting it in her pouch. "See you around, Avatar."
Ranma shook her head as she watched her former challenger walk off. "This has been a really weird week..." She carefully looked around to see whether she had the privacy to detransform but frowned as she heard soft footsteps approaching and turned to face the alleyway.
A man with short brown hair moussed into spikes and wearing an unfastened single breasted leather trench coat, a white t-shirt bearing an image of a cute anime girl surrounded by hearts, dark blue jeans, and black engineer boots bearing a pair of straps with iron buckles stepped into view.
"Wow, a real live magical girl!" he exclaimed as he pulled a gray metal cylinder from his coat, "I've never killed one of those before!"
"Yeah? And just who are you?"
"Brandon Bullseye, twelfth best killer in Japan," he said with an eager grin as he flipped a switch on the cylinder and a three foot crackling beam of energy extended from its tip. "I figure offing a genuine magical girl could jump me directly to rank ten!"
"There's something seriously wrong with you," Ranma said, shaking her head. "I can understand the thrill of the fight, but killing?"
"Fighting's good, but the only way to bring out your best and feel the ultimate rush is to put everything on the line!" Brandon exclaimed as he raised his sword and gathered himself. "Knowing that you die if you lose means you put everything into the fight and hold nothing back, and that's the only way to live to our fullest!
"I can understand what you're saying, but when did I agree to this?"
"You don't have to join in. You can just die instead!" he cried, charging forward. He sidestepped a bolt of dull gold energy, but that slowed him down enough that he had to block the next few bolts with a flurry of swings of his blade, his weapon jolting back and emitting a spray of blue motes with each impact. "Ha! It looks like science trumps magic, Avatar," he shouted at the magical girl who stood there watching him impassively as she flicked a brighter bolt of gold that struck his blade of energy and caused it to explode into a shower of blue sparks and vanish.
"Shitshitshit!" Brandon cried as he threw himself into a roll to the side and dug into his pocket with his left hand, pulling it out a second later, sending change flying, and shoving a coin into a depression in the handle of his weapon. The crackling blade of energy reformed.
"You're attacking me with a coin operated lightsaber," Ranma said flatly.
"It's a plasma katana, not a lightsaber!" the killer shouted as he charged forward to thrust with his blade. "And it's not coin operated—it just needs a metal disk as a reactant!"
"I." Ranma twitched to the side, avoiding the thrust. "Don't." She slid forward, pushing the hilt safely to the side with her right hand. "Care!" she cried as she buried her left fist into his stomach, driving the breath from his lungs and throwing him into the air. An instant later, she leapt after him, knocking the weapon out of his hand with a crescent kick, sending it flying as a spinning pinwheel of blue energy until it extinguished itself a second after leaving its wielder's hand. Before her opponent could even start to recover, she grabbed the front of his coat and twisted her body, hurling him down into a dumpster with a resounding crash. A moment later, she landed lightly on her feet and walked over to the weakly groaning man.
Brandon briefly struggled to rise before slumping back down with a cough. "Guess you got me… At least I get to go the way I always wanted to. Finish it, Avatar."
"I'm not going to kill you, idiot."
"No! If it's not to the finish, it's meaningless!" he cried. "If you don't, I'll destroy everything you love! I swear it! I'll—"
Anything else Brandon had to say was cut off by Ranma slamming the dumpster lid shut and using her strength to bend the metal, sealed it closed. "Yeah, tell it to the cops. I'll make sure they know just where to find you." Shaking her head, Ranma walked off, making sure to give the plasma katana a good stomp on her way.
oOo
"I understand you had a busy day," Nabiki remarked as Ranma walked into the living room and flopped down onto her back.
"Ugh. You don't know the half of it. First I get challenged by a bear-woman but have to help with an apartment fire. I get the bear to help and we save a bunch of people, but there's a crowd and a reporter. I didn't want them coming up with a stupid name for me like you said, so I introduced myself, but that means now I'm going to be all over TV.
"The bear, whose name is Ursula, by the way, seemed all right, but she didn't even get why people would cheer when we saved people from the fire, which is kind of sad in a way, but I guess it makes sense if she's from the nether realms… Anyway, we get some privacy and I say we can go do the challenge now, since she was nice enough to help, and then she says she's been treated with more respect while she's been here than she ever was back home and quits the Dark side! That's great and all, but the nicest thing I said to her was something like 'let's go, buddy'—"
"Buddy means fierce warrior in bear."
"What? Really? Huh. Well, I guess things make a little more sense, then…" She frowned for a moment. "How do you know that?"
"Unlike you, I pay attention in class."
"Yeah, yeah… Anyway, she goes off to do whatever, maybe get a job with the fire department or something. I gave her a card so she doesn't have to come barging in here if she needs anything, by the way. So, I'm about to go home myself when some nut job comes up and says he's the fifth best killer in Japan or something and he's never killed a magical girl before. He pulls out a coin operated lightsaber of all things and comes at me. I kick his ass, of course—he wouldn't have been a challenge even in my normal form— and then the lunatic insists I kill him." She shook her head. "Of course, I'm not going to do that, so I lock him in a dumpster, leave, and call the cops on the way home."
"I'm sure they rushed right over to arrest a man with a coin operated lightsaber on the word of a magical girl."
"Yeah, they didn't seem to take me that seriously until I mentioned his name, then they were real interested."
"Did they get him?"
"I suppose. It's not like I left my number so they could call me back, you know."
"And it's not likely a serial killer with a lightsaber would have something on him that could get him out of a locked dumpster," Nabiki said as she stretched.
"I didn't put it in there with him! But, yeah, he could have had something else…" she groaned. "This day just keeps getting better."
"Well, if you're going to tempt fate like that, I'm going to go visit a friend," Nabiki said, standing up and walking out of the room.
Ranma sighed and stared at the ceiling. A few moments later, her brow furrowed in confusion and she called, "Hey! Since when do they teach bear in Furinkan?!"
oOo
When Yumi heard the bell over the door ring, she quickly turned off the little TV concealed behind the counter and stood up to greet the customer. "You're back!" she exclaimed as the large bear-woman carefully squeezed through the door.
"Yeah, the thing I had planned fell through. Give me a coffee and a couple of those little sandwiches over there."
Yumi blinked in confusion for a moment before realizing Ursula was talking about the full sized double decker sandwiches in the display case. "Right away! And they're on me—you didn't say you were a hero when you were here before!" She gave a little laugh as she started to get things ready. "But I guess you wouldn't have. What I saw on the news was really amazing."
"Oh, uh thanks," Ursula said as she carefully sat down.
"Are you staying in the area or just passing through? If you don't mind me asking, I mean!"
"Nah, it's fine. I'm staying. Just need to find a place to actually stay now."
"Oh. I'd invite you to stay with me until you found someplace," Yumi said as she brought over the sandwiches, "but, well, my place really isn't big enough. I mean, I'd literally have to sleep on top of you," she added, then immediately turned red and rushed back to the counter with a cry of, "Let me get your coffee!"
"It's ok. I'll find someplace and talk to the fire guy tomorrow."
"Fire guy? And do you have any local money? A little help with the mug, please."
"Yeah, he said to stop by the fire station," she said as she brought the mug over to the table and sat back down. "And no. Why, is my money not good enough or something?"
"It's too good, honestly, and people won't know exactly how much change to give you even if they have a lot of money on hand. Hey, I get off soon, so why don't I help you get some yen and a place to stay for tonight, okay?"
"Yeah, okay. Thanks.
O
"Okay, this should last you for a while," Yumi said as she took the stack of bills from the ATM. As the bear-woman reached into her pouch, she shook her head. "No, it's fine; just take it."
Ursula suspiciously eyed the bills in the other woman's hand for a moment. "Just how much was that coin worth?"
"A lot," Yumi said, flushing slightly as she turned over the money. "Once you're set up, I can give you back whatever's left of it." When her offer was waved off, she ducked her head slightly and said, "You're very generous. Come on, the hotel's right around the corner here."
Ursula looked around as they walked into the lobby of the hotel and took in the room. It seemed pretty nice without looking too fancy, which suited her just fine. It also looked pretty spacious, which was even better; hopefully the rooms would follow suit. Her idiot uncle probably would have said "follow suite". Dark, she hated her uncle…
"No pets," the woman at the front desk said, only looking up briefly before looking back down at whatever she was working on.
"Nah, she's just a friend so far," Ursula drawled. Huh, she never knew humans changed color so much. As she walked up to rent a room, she wondered if her new friend did any colors besides red.
