Third Labor Chapter 3 - A Tale of Two Akanes? by Gregg Sharp ===== Disclaimer: i don't own the people/situations, and as this deals with multiversal jaunts and alternate universes, some of these have been altered pretty significantly. -------------- "Hey ojiisan, you ought to take it easy in this weather..." The young man put a mug of green tea in front of the old geezer, who gratefully breathed in the steam and warmed his hands around it. Ignoring the rattle in his lungs, Grey tried to focus his failing eyesight on the fellow in front of him. "Otaru Mamiya? Then, i'm in Japonesse on Terra Two?" Otaru waited for the old man to stop his coughing fit and the following gasp for air. "Ojiisan, you're from New Texas, ain't ya? What were ya in such a hurry for? Ya ain't exactly dressed for Japonesse in March, ya know." "i'm a mechanic, a fixer of sorts, and i'm looking to learn about the Otome Kairo," replied Grey. ~Especially if what i think happened, happened.~ "Hmmm. Doctor Lorelei's up at Castle Japonesse, but I think that they're not letting people in right now." Otaru blinked. "Hey old man, you're not looking so good. I mean, you're looking even worse." "Unnnn," Grey winced at the pain in his chest. "My name is Grey, Otaru. You wouldn't happen to have a quiet corner an old man could catch some sleep in?" Grey, nearly doubled over from the pain, and Otaru, concerned about the old guy maybe dying in their kissaten, missed Cherry's reaction to the name. Her hair sticking briefly up and eyes going as wide as system parameters allowed. "Bloodberry," whispered Cherry to the marionette who had been waiting tables. "Let Lime handle that, you need to take a message to Lorelei immediately." "Are you sure?" Bloodberry replied with a frown and a glance at the steady drizzle of rain outside. "You know how she gets the orders mixed up." "Yes. Tell Lorelei that 'Grey has returned' though it may not be the same Grey... If it *is* then it's very important!" Cherry continued to whisper, knowing Bloodberry's hearing sufficient to catch it. Bloodberry didn't bother whispering, subtlety not being her strong suit. "Gotcha. Be right back." --------- In a sense it was intelligent. In a sense it was powerless. In other meanings it was rather like a glorified computer program and extremely powerful. It had puzzled about there being three of the Host. There was a female-child version over there. There was a mechanical female version over here. And then there was... The variable one, whom the Widdershins curse had just pulled a nasty on. As it was now interfering directly with the Binding's directive, the Binding settled on it for the time being. The Widdershins curse was nasty and tricky, and been reinforced by an ancient goddess known as Eris, Greek goddess of discord, and who was capable of particularly nasty and powerful curses. The Binding slowly began ripping the Widdershins curse apart. -------- "Damn, he passed out," Otaru said of the old man breathing heavily in the corner. "Wai!" Lime said, beginning to doodle on the old man. "Lime, no..." Otaru groaned. Cherry groaned as well, and got out the bottle of spray cleaner. -------- "Vixxen, I choose you!" *SHOOM* Grey didn't want to open his eyes. He *hurt* and felt weak and sluggish. It was so difficult to move, to stir oneself, but there was Duty to consider. "Heeheehee, your Vixxen is no match for my Dominatrix." *SHHOOM! "Now we shall see who truly is the best PokeWoman Trainer, Ash!" "We'll see about THAT, Moroboshi! Vixxen, Fire Spin!" Hearing this, Grey was *very* reluctant to open his eyes. When he saw that it was just Lynx and Panther watching some anime on TV, he felt enormously grateful. Though why his face was so stiff, as if someone had coated it with wax or something... The dimension traveller couldn't help but groan as he got up. While sitting at the booth, he was aching and tired, actually moving increased the pain level and weariness. It also brought a coughing fit that left him dizzy and gasping. "Hey, old-timer, don't go dying in our cafe, it'd be bad for business." Panther hadn't apparently had any success learning tact. "Not on my 'List of Things To Do Today' strangely enough," agreed Grey. "i need to get to Castle Japonesse, i guess. Has it at least stopped raining?" "About an hour ago, though it'll be off-and-on all day." Cherry informed the decrepit fellow as she cleaned glasses and tried to ignore the perverted crap the other marionettes were watching. "...just great..." Grey took quiet stock of himself. Thin to the point of being almost a walking skeleton, this image further enhanced by the pale thin skin. He was singularly ill prepared to do any sort of rescue mission. "High incidence of plasma today too." Bloodberry offered as she found a seat in front of the television. "Who's winning?" "Vixxen, of course," Lynx answered Bloodberry. "She's *so* take-charge in a battle or with her Master!" "Hmmmm," said Cherry and Bloodberry thoughtfully. Otaru, hearing this, also heard an alarm bell going off. He glanced towards the TV to see some cartoon fox-woman dragging her "Master" off... "Uhm, what's she doing now?" "Dragging her Master off so that he can reward her..." Bloodberry's voice continued to be thoughtful. "Hmmm," hmmmed Cherry. "Hmmm," agreed Lynx and Panther, "somehow I don't think that would work with Faust-sama. But..." "WELL," Otaru said, almost teleporting from behind the bar to where Grey leaned against a wall. "Guess I'll help you get to Castle Japoness! I wanted to see how Lorelei was doing anyway! Yup! Yup! Yup!" Grey found himself being hustled out the door, almost dragged by Otaru. "Uhm, i ..." "You don't understand, look, those marionettes have Otome Kairo - maiden circuits, and they can make you feel really special or make your life a living Hell." Otaru walked briskly noting the old man couldn't keep up. "Last time something like that happened... it was bad. Really really BAD. They kept trying to do something weird and..." "Otaru. As a favor to you, let me explain something about *what* they were trying to do. There are male and female birds and such, right?" On seeing Otaru's puzzled nod, Grey continued. "Now this is based on the historical records of human behavior..." -------------- Lorelei heard the squeal of a radio and clicked the button on the side. "Yes, Cherry?" "How'd you know it was me?" Cherry wondered briefly (not for the first time) if human women had some special sense. "It was either you or one of the other national powers, and on this frequency it was unlikely to be one of them. Besides, I gave Bloodberry that radio to give to you. Just be sure not to use it when there's a plasma cloud." Lorelei shook her long hair to the side. "I take it he's coming?" "Yes. Otaru's with him. Is Otaru-sama in any danger?" "No, I think not. The first time he came here, it was involuntary. If Bloodberry's description of a 'pain-ridden old man who stumbled in out of the rain' is accurate, it seems likely that this time was involuntary as well." "He said something about being here to learn about Otome Kairo." "The technology is something I developed, but even I'm having trouble understanding how and why they work, or why so many fail," admitted Lorelei. "The only person who likely understands them better is Lubentz, and he's still in hiding somewhere." --------- Otaru's normally tan complexion was pale, and his eyes were wide. His hands twitched in synch with a facial tic. "You... you're kidding." "Nope," Grey watched Otaru carefully (as much as his degrading vision allowed him). If the concept of kissing, snuggling, and cuddling had this much of a reaction, what would actually telling him about sex produce? Well, it was about time *someone* told the boy, and he seemed to have been elected somehow. "That's not all..." --------- Lorelei checked a few displays and frowned. "What?! This can't be right." Gennai checked himself. "I don't think it's the scanners, Otaru is registering as normal and the readings on him are consistent." Lorelei tapped her foot rapidly, and continued to frown. "But here, look at the readings. It's as if he's..." Gennai pointed to indicators on the monitors. "Well, I'd say we don't have anything to worry about. Keep him waiting to see you for a couple of hours and he'll have died of old age." Lorelei stared at a video pickup. "Did he just cough up a tooth?!" "It's obvious that he hasn't aged as gracefully as myself," agreed Gennai, "but then I *am* exceptional for my age! Heheheh!" "Plus, you're only seventy, judging from these readings, he's one-hundred-five." Lorelei tapped a nail on a display. "If these readings remain consistent. Otherwise he's aging a year every half hour." ---------- Grey stared at where he'd just coughed up *another* tooth. "i've said it before, i'll say it again. Getting old *sucks!*" "..." Otaru would have said one of the stock responses like "Yeah but it beats the alternative." He would have except that he was just staring off into space as what Grey had just told him penetrated. "Stomach cramps, i'd forgotten what it was like to have to deal with that, and allergies, and palsy, and..." Grey bit the gripe session back. He had a job to do, but he wasn't sure he could make it long enough. This body was falling apart faster than a politician's promises. "..." Otaru blinked, indicating he was getting better. Wheezing again, Grey leaned against a wall and otherwise ignored the stare of the locals. "...did you notice that you're bleeding from your ears..." Otaru broke his silence to point out what might have been an important observation. "Do tell," Grey winced and forced himself to start moving again. "i really think i need a quick lie down before i meet Doctor Lorelei, but i..." --------- Doctor Lorelei looked at the monitor briefly, then closed her eyes and turned away. "Oh, look at that, the aging factor is actually accelerating. Imagine that." Gennai watched the displays, not the video feed. "Though his life signs appear to have... oh dear." --------- "Great," said Grey, exulting in the lack of pain but rather put off in that he was looking at his rapidly decaying body from the outside. "i'm dead. Again. No Binding. No ties to anyone else holding me here. Also i'm not being dragged off to Hell, and i ain't in Heaven. So... NOW WHAT?!" Otaru ignored him, as Grey had expected. He'd watched the kind old man collapse, then his body sort of decomposed in fast action, collapsing in on itself, becoming a skeleton, then the bones browning and crumbling away while he watched. "What the?!" "Getting old sucks," Grey repeated, then added, "and dying ain't too great either." Other than Otaru freaking at the old man now bone dust blowing away on the breeze, there wasn't much answer. Grey sighed and looked at the little wisps of himself evaporating. "Oh great! Oblivion, huh? Well, i can't say this was completely unexp..." --------- The Binding finished off the last bit of the Widdershins curse and looked around. There was the Host, or one of them, but already dead and gone. Another had been blown up but had been rebuilt. Still there was a spark missing from the marionette Ginseng II. Ranko was a Host, but was also the native Ranko of that line, and so was unsuitable. The Binding wasn't intelligent in the manner of a human, more in the manner of some fairly sophisticated program. It evolved its own parameters in order to more effectively achieve its desired goal. In this case, the Binding had no clear directive. --------- Lorelei had fainted, Gennai had caught her but he wasn't feeling too well himself. Readings on the blowing bone dust faithfully tracked by the scanners carbon dated it as predating man's arrival on Terra Two by a significant margin. Watching the old man's body dissolve had been rather sickening. Ginseng, the second marionette to be created with a backup of Grey's memories, watched impassively. Most virgin circuits looked fine, but for some reason failed to work. This was the case with Ginseng II. Ginseng was about on a level with Tamasaburo or Baiko, cold and efficient but capable of some complex independent action, unlike the more simple automatons at the lower end of the marionette market. Ginseng monitored the changes and noted when the Doctor seemed to be recovering. "Doctor Lorelei. Observation: My prior incarnation was requesting to speak with you. Observation: facial and body language indicated hurry. Observation: prior incarnation is now deceased in such a way that neither further brain tapes nor chemical analysis will be possible. Historical data: prior incarnation had a number of enemies of great power. Historical data: subject Jared Saotome stated many powerful enemies could be drawn to this continuua for purposes of mass destruction. Conclusion: prior incarnation attempted to come here to warn you of powerful enemies that have been drawn ot this continuua for purposes of mass destruction." Lorelei fainted again. Ginseng considered this behavior and wondered if she ought to make an emulation subroutine. It did not seem to have a logical purpose. --------- Ami and Minako nodded at each other then leapt through the archway, ignoring Celeste yelling at them that they were being idiots. "He's dead. Gone." Celeste tried arguing with those remaining. "I'm running a trace routine, but all evidence is that he's been eliminated. Not in Heaven, not in Hell. That leaves Oblivion, Reincarnation, or being snagged and put in a Rune Weapon." "Not Oblivion, not a Rune Weapon, possibly captured and put into a prison by an enemy," Sailor Pluto noted. "Huh?" More than one of those present offered. "Akane's PokeBall vanished." The sometimes-Senshi pointed out. "So his identity may have dissolved, but his existence has not." "Oh dear. With so many dimensions, how are we going to find him?" The djinni named Kasumi was a bit put off by all this. "How many pyrolion Pokemon named Akane can there be? We can track her easier than him." --------- Ginseng waited for the Doctor to recover enough to be coherent. "Doctor Lorelei. Observation: Transdimensional aperatures opened during your period of unconsciousness. Number: Three. Action: Bringing up locations on map of Japonesse. Query: Further actions required?" "Hmmm" Otaru hmmmed, looking over the map. "That's the old abandoned house where those marionette otaku had all those stolen marionettes. Didn't someone recover them?" "Statement: the offworld unit Sakyo Kuonji is reported to have done so, excepting fourteen units whose previous owners could be located, and six units currently in storage at Gennai's workshop." Gennai shrugged. "When I can afford to, I'll replace the parts that were taken by the otaku to disable them. For now, I've been relying on Gemini-chan." "Ah," said Otaru, shooting a concerned glance towards Lorelei. Lorelei broke her silence. "That's the factory that Sakyo built there. And that..." "It looks to be the complex under the Japonesse Historical Museum where I found Lime," interrupted Otaru as he studied the map a little further. "Query: As this unit is more disposable than human units, would it be advisable for this unit to investigate?" "Yes, Ginseng," said Lorelei, still trying to get used to the odd voice and manner of speaking of the marionette. "I think that would be advisable." ----------- The Binding had worked to move Grey away from the source of trouble, and as its last certain interpretation of the Host had been in the Second Labor (Reluctant Bet) it used those parameters. This was not at all what the Host would have wished for, but then he rarely got what he wanted anyway. "Unnnggghhh," a little boy of five said, lying on the ground. A pudgy man looked from the impromptu grave of his son, to the living (though thin) child nearby. "Thank you kami, this is all the proof I needed that I walk the path of Martial Righteousness!" Genma gestured to the Heavens. He was hit by lightning immediately after, so perhaps that wasn't quite the right interpretation. ---------- Genma grumbled. His son didn't eat much at all. His son didn't want to practice martial arts. His son was fond of reading! Not very manly at all. Ranma was playing with a ball he'd found at his belt when he released... *SHOOM!* "A-ka? NE?!" The lionlike creature looked puzzled, then sniffed the startled child. "A ne." (What the heck? Where?!) (You're... a kid now?) Genma took one look at the mountain lion with the fiery tail and fled, only returning when he realized that his "son" hadn't been turned into catfood. "Giyyup!" The boy in question was sitting on the pyrolion's back and playing as if he were riding a bucking bronco. That the pyrolion was lying down and had a long-suffering expression on its face was not of any concern to the child. "It's tame?" Genma slowly approached the beast. Maybe he could sell it for large amounts of money? Akane watched the big fellow approach, then spat a stream of fire that came within inches of assuring that there would be no further Heirs of the Saotome School of Anything Goes. "A! Ka! Ne!" She warned him in a tone that brooked no argument. "I see..." Genma said after using a speed technique to climb up into a tree. "Wouldn't you like to be sold to a nice zoo? It would be so nice and..." *FWOOOM!* Akane minced no words in letting Genma know what she thought of that idea. Genma coughed a bit weakly as the Ember attack left him singed but otherwise okay. "Wowwww!" Little Ranma watched the flames go past. "Do it again!" "NO!" Genma protested, not wanting to have to steal a new gi. At least not yet. "All right, all right, I won't sell you!" ~for now.~ The little boy reached behind an ear and started scratching. "Oooooo," said Akane, leaning into it. ~Damn, that feels good!~ "You're pretty!" The little boy said, pleased with his new pet. "Aka!" The lion agreed, smiling, her eyes half closed as the boy's fingers delicately scratched along the folds of her right ear. ~Kids say the darndest things.~ "What's your name?" Ranma chirped, redoubling his efforts as the cat pressed into his fingers. "Akane!" "Okay, Akane!" Ranma nodded happily. "i'm Ranma. Or that's what Daddy says anyway." "A! ka!" (Actually you smell like Grey, you look a bit like him, and you're way too scrawny to be the real Ranma. But damn you're good with your fingers.) "AH!" Noting that his pet had some bunched up muscles along the shoulders, Ranma had started rubbing those to loosen them up. The cat had seemed startled at first but was now *purring* hard enough to vibrate clear through to his shoulders. "Hang on, Akane, let me get this..." Genma approached warily. The evil cat-thing opened one eye to watch him but seemed mainly satisfied to let his son massage its shoulders. "Son, you can't possibly keep that. Look how big it is, we'd never be able to feed it!" Akane, feeling considerably looser and acting on feline instincts, rolled over so the boy could scratch her belly. "ooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrr." Ranma and Akane continued to ignore Genma as the boy and his pet got to know each other. ------- "RANMA! How dare you..." The little boy paused. "You're not Ranma." "That's what Pop calls me, who're you?" Ranma watched the boy approaching and frowned. Was this why his father had been reluctant to come here? Or was it just another plot to seperate him and Akane? "I am the child you and your father stole the life from!" The little boy brandished a spatula and prepared to smite the child in front of him. "Oh? Yeah, Pops is good at that sorta thing. Sorry, but he says i gots some head injury and that's why i can't 'member nothin from wakin' up in the mountains. Ya wanna be friends?" "How can I..." Ukyo stopped glaring. "What you mean you can't remember anything?" "Can't." Ranma looked momentarily depressed then offered a box of Pocky to the other boy. "So ya wanna be friends? Ya can get even with the old man when he gets back!" Ukyo blinked, still uncertain that this could be the right Ranma. "Okay." ~For now!~ "Great! Wanna see my pet lion?!" Ranma loved showing off his pet to people. He couldn't help it if a lot of people seemed to react with blind panic. Ukyo thoughtfully munched on a Pocky stick. "Pet lion? Yeah, right." *SHOOOM!* "Aaaaaaa!" "Wow, you jumped almost as high as Pop when she does that!" Akane sniffed. Ukyo. Not an efreet. Interesting. ---------- Some people panicked, some people stared, some people fainted. Two kids riding a fiery lion shape tried to ignore the reactions briefly. "It's a monster!" A man in Shinto robes began preparing a spirit dispelling ward. Ranma snorted. "What's a matter, you never saw a shikigami before?" The priest watched the ward fail to produce any more reaction on Akane than a sneeze. "Oh yes, a 'guardian spirit' - I see!" It was better than admitting his wards were powerless against a monster. "Your shikigami, is it?" "Unnn," happily nodded Ranma. "That's right!" Ukyo flipped off. "And as Akane is a holy fire spirit, we'll be selling sacred okonomiyaki later today! Prepared using sacred flames!" "Flames?" The priest sounded doubtful. "You mean that little flame from the tail?" *FOOOOOMMMMMMM!* The priest tried to look casual, difficult when your hair is sticking out in all directions. "Oh *that* sacred flame! I see." Akane smirked. This wasn't a bad way to earn a living. --------- Akane snarled from within the confines of the net. Two sets of screams echoed from within the confines of the pit. "It's for the best," said Genma with a nod towards the firelion, "I must make Ranma a man among men, and the best of his generation. Ukyo now, thanks to you, refuses to part from him. So they will be trained in this technique- one that will make them invincible!" Akane growled and snapped. "They're after my eyes!" "Ucchan! Get under me, i'll shield you!" "Your sacrifice will allow us travel to distant places where Ranma may learn secrets of the Art he could never learn in Japan," Genma said while counting money. "Try another drug dart," one of the zookeepers advised a handler. Akane roared and twisted as best she could, unsheathing her claws. "You should be happy that they would learn the Catfist! You're just a big cat, after all." Genma said, full of parental wisdom. "I would have done it when he was younger, but you've interfered for the last time." Akane had been transformed into a pokemon. Pokemon were egglaying creatures who could reproduce through parthenogenesis. Often they had an elemental affiliation such as Poison or Water. Oh, and a lot of them did something else- they evolved under special circumstances or under stress. Akane roared in outrage and betrayal. She was angry. She was stressed. She evolved. -------- "Geez, Pop is a real idiot, ain't he?" A seven year old griped to his only friends. "Ya think I'm gonna argue with THAT, sugar?" "Inferna!" Akane snarled at the thought of someone trying to SELL her! Again! And she'd evolved last year during THAT attempt. "Yup, an idiot," translated Ranma. "So," Ukyo ventured, "why are we still sticking with him?" All three came to a halt. "He's my Pop, i know dumping Ucchan was dumb and wrong, and that Catfist stuff was just plain stupid..." Ranma's voice trailed off. "But he's still..." "Where's your Mom?" Ukyo asked Ranma. "In! Fer! Na aka ne!" At times like this, Akane would have gladly traded the raw power for a better vocabulary, not to mention hands. "Juuban? Why Juuban?" Akane and Ukyo stared at Ranma. "What?" Ranma stepped back. "Inferna Akane!" "Hey, how come ya understood her?" Ukyo was jealous. Ranma looked embarassed and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, i just... if ya kind of listen without thinking of it, sometimes some of what she means comes through what she says." "NE?!" Akane would have facefaulted but that would probably hurt, so she just rolled her eyes. "Akane ne nene aka..." Ukyo squealed. "I understood that! She just called you..." "i know, Ucchan, i KNOW." ---------- Eyecatch #7 Setsuna Meiou in a framed picture, dressed nicely. With a click the picture flips to reveal Sailor Pluto. Click/flip: Setsuna dressed in a white gi-like outfit, holding a lightsaber. Click/flip: dressed as Ifurita and floating above an El Hazard city. Click/flip: chasing a laughing Happosai, wielding a broom like a club. Click/flip: a cute but not so little angel. Eyecatch #8 Makoto Kino in a framed picture, wearing her school uniform. With a click the picture flips to reveal Sailor Jupiter. Click/flip: a marionette in kimono. Click/flip: Devilhunter Lita. Click/flip: wearing braies and tunic, carrying a halberd. Click/flip: on a motorcycle, wearing a leather jacket and jeans. Click flip: cute little angel sitting on a cloud. --------- "AAAHHH!" The little girl was not so quietly freaking after turning a street corner and finding herself face to face with a massive red-and-orange furred lion. "What's a matter?" Ranma looked to see the little (she couldn't have been more than five whereas he was looking down from the lofty height of a seven year old)girl paralyzed from fright. "Aw, don't go doing that. Ya might hurt Akane's feelings." The little girl looked up to see a boy riding the lion. This changed the encounter (to a five year old at least) from "Ah! I'm gonna die!" to "Wow! Neat! Can I ride?" Makoto Kino would forever remember that day, when she met her sempai and rode a lion. ----------- The woman opened the door to behold a little boy in tattered and worn clothing. Behind him was another little boy, a rather large lioness that was tolerating being played with by a little girl... Nodoka's eyes widened a little bit at the tuft of flame burning on the end of the lion's tail. "Oh my." "My name is Ranma Saotome, and i'm..." The rest of the rehearsed speech vanished into the hug. "I'm his fiancee! Ukyo Kuonji. Pleased to meet ya!" The dirty little boy(?) curtseyed. "That's my sempai!" The little girl with a ponytail proudly proclaimed. "And this is Akane, ain't she NEAT!" Akane looked embarassed and grinned. Nodoka calmed herself. "That's a..." "Shikigami," supplied Makoto and Ukyo in unison. "Oh my," repeated Nodoka. --------- Nodoka refrained from continued staring at the lion-like creature sitting on the porch watching them. It wasn't polite to stare, after all. She listened carefully to the tales of all three. Ranma telling of waking up in the mountains without any previous memories near a grave that had *his* name on it (this gave Nodoka a nagging suspicion) and of travelling for a year with his Pop training in the martial arts. Ukyo related meeting her Ranchan again, though he looked very different (Nodoka's nagging suspicion grew a bit) and didn't act nearly the same. Ukyo had later put it off to the head injury. Ukyo had stuck like glue to Ranma's side, and the two had been training together in the Saotome School. Ukyo had further been cooking okonomiyaki so that they could eat better and Akane had helped with the business end of things. As Akane nodded and repeated her name, Nodoka asked if she could understand Japanese. When Akane nodded again and then put her forepaws over her mouth, Nodoka translated that as understood but couldn't speak. A shikigami being a supernatural beast, this wasn't too unexpected. Then came mention of the training with a pit of cats, Akane evolving to Inferna Akane, and another year of training. Then meeting this little cherub, who had apparently been a friend and tour guide to the little group. (Her parents were apparently away on business frequently.) Which brought them, three days before Ranma's eighth birthday, here. As they had snuck away from her husband to come here, Nodoka suspected that Genma was in the area if not watching the house right now. Nodoka looked at Ranma's fiancee, and the other little girl who was obviously very interested in her sempai. Manly. He had decided to be headstrong and independent and gotten away from his father to go stir up trouble elsewhere. Manly. He had come home to his Mother. Not manly. He had come with a fiancee, a girlfriend, and a guardian spirit-beast. Manly, manly, and... she wasn't quite sure what to make of this last but magical legendary heroes sometimes had these sort of things so... qualified manly. A creak on the roof brought Nodoka's attention upwards. Akane growled, bared teeth, and focussed her attention likewise. Ignoring her husband's return for the moment, Nodoka continued to work out the scenario. It *had* been over three years. She was reunited with her son, though she had her doubts about his actual lineage - was this actually a son that Genma had fathered elsewhere? Nodoka thought about it and nodded, thinking this likely. The child's eyes were hazel - green/brown that seemed to change color slightly depending on the light. Add the shikigami associating with him, and you came up with an illegitimate child that Genma was hoping to foist off as his son after the death of the original. Nodoka smiled and nodded at the three children. "Ranma, your room is down the hall and to the right. Please go there with your friends. I have some things to 'discuss' with your father. Oh, and Akane, could you help by cutting off escape routes?" "AKA!" Akane nodded and grinned. A few minutes later, Genma used a secret technique of the Saotome School upon his wife. Amazing how effective the "Crouch of the wild tiger" could be in certain circumstances. ----------- "Ruh Roh, Ranma!" Akane had been practicing and with some effort had learned to speak in the year since she'd started living at the Saotome home. Sort of. If she had ever seen an American series called "Scooby Doo" she would have been properly mortified. "Whatta ya mean, 'Uh oh', you heard Mom!" Ranma frowned at the cat. "We gotta find out if there's anything a shikigami needs that you ain't gettin'." Akane hung her head. She'd tried to explain that she wasn't a shikigami, but... "Oh WOW!" A little girl who was wearing a red and white Maiden's clothes exclaimed on seeing the cat. "Grandpa! There's..." Ranma looked up, to realize the girl was staring now at HIM. "...my husband..." The girl's voice was a bare whisper but it still carried. It carried to arriving Grandfather, who stared, it carried to the also-staring Ranma, and it carried to the shaking-her-head-at-it-all Inferna. Akane grimaced. "Rat's rut rI rean. Roh roy." "You said it, A-chan," agreed Ranma when he got over his initial shock. ----------- "Hey Akane!" "Good afternoon, Akane, waiting for Ranma?" Akane nodded to the little schoolgirl who'd asked the question. "Rat's right!" "Hi, Akane! Bye, Akane!" Akane nodded to each of the kids as they filed past. Some reaching over to give the school mascot, guardian spirit, or sacred lion a quick pat. She tolerated the attention good-naturedly, it was certainly better than the panic she'd gotten the first time she'd shown up. Finally she spotted Ranma, flanked as usual by Ukyo. As Ukyo was carefully *not* looking at Ranma, Akane assumed that Ranma had said something thoughtless again. Or (just as likely in Akane's opinion) Ukyo had misinterpreted something Ranma had said/done. "Hey, Akane, what's up?" "Raining rip," reminded Akane, still trying to speak with mouth parts that weren't really designed for Japanese. "Oh, right," Ranma agreed. "You might check with Rei-chan and Mako-chan, they're students of the Saotome School too, you know." Akane snorted with barely suppressed laughter. So *that* was it. Ukyo had learned that Ranma wanted to take the other two students of the School on a training trip that *she* had thought would just be the two of them with some parental supervision. She'd have to have a talk with Ukyo and the other two *without* Ranma, they were only ten years old (Makoto and Rei were eight) and still way too young for the sort of war she could see coming. Ranma and Ukyo watched Akane leap off and begin running down the street so quickly that her tail left a brief trail of flame in the air behind her. "You know, i sometimes get the feeling something's going on, and i'm the only one around here who doesn't get it." Ranma scratched the back of his head, looking puzzled. Ukyo glared as she smoothed the pleated skirt of her school uniform. "Well, whatta ya know. He *can* get a clue." "Huh?" Ukyo sighed. "Never mind, Ranchan." ------------ Heaven: "We've got a lock on. It's on one of the high rate timelines that split off in Nexus SM-RN 250." Setsuna frowned. "Looks like Akane's there. Trying to see if Grey is there." "So what's that timeline like? Silver Millenium and Ryu Mishima, so you've got the Senshi or at least the various girls and likely the Tendo and Saotome families, also Happosai or something close." Belle wasn't that familiar with some of the other sections, before she split off from the original Belldandy she'd been mainly been concerned with mainlines. Well, that and Keiichi. "The 200k sets are nonstandard for both mainlines, right?" "Not as far out as an X00k line or prone to darkness as a 400k but pretty odd usually." Celeste clicked over the scanners. "Yeah, it's one of the high temporal rate ones. Months have gone by there just since it was found." "Oh dear," Belle said. "Should we try to pull Akane out?" "Her aging rate in the pyrolion form is much less than a human's." Setsuna noted. "It's interesting, though, she's still a Pokemon. Amaterasu should have given her the option to transform back by now..." "Not," Amaterasu announced, teleporting in, "if I didn't know where she was... As it is I've contacted my counterpart there." ----------- Timeline SM-RN 204117 Akane sniffed the air and turned, growling a warning to her family. A stranger was walking up to the door, having mysteriously appeared in their backyard. The woman walked up, unconcerned by the fiery lioness, or the four children. Nor the woman who had drawn a sword, or the portly but skilled martial artist standing at her side. "Akane, you have learned much. I am here to remove the curse." "Reah right!" (Yeah, right.) "No, seriously." "Infer NA." (Try again, I'm not even sure why I'm in this form, other than it having something to do with a previous incarnation.) Akane grimaced as she realized she'd lapsed back into the nearly incomprehensible speaking. Japanese was so *hard* though. Amaterasu's smile dropped slightly. She raised a hand. It went from being a balmy afternoon in July to midday with a jump in temperature that left everyone but Akane gasping. "Aka nene aka a. Inferna aka." (Okay, okay! Turn it back before poor Mako-chan faints!) Amaterasu lowered her hand and the temperature returned to normal. "So, have you decided to be cured or would you prefer to remain a pokemon?" "Rust a rinnet." (Just a minute.) "Akane, if you're under a curse you should have it cured," advised Ranma. Akane looked around, her tail drooping. She was accepted, loved, appreciated here. She'd been there for the kids, she'd been useful around the place. Was it really time to move on? It was so *comfortable* to be an Inferna. Powerful, fast, but to be human again... Nodoka watched the lioness fretting, and guessed. "Akane-chan, no matter what the problem, know that you have a home here..." Tears welled up unbidden in Akane's eyes as she walked out into the yard to stand before the oddly dressed woman. "Rokay. Rooo rit!" Amaterasu raised her hands again and light surrounded the cat. Her form glowed as if she was evolving again and she floated up off the ground. When she settled down again... "WOW!" Ranma said, openly staring at Akane. Nodoka went to fetch the girl something that might fit. Akane stared down at herself, then fell down, not being used to moving on two legs anymore. "Goodbye, Akane. Keep the lessons you've learned close to heart." The woman faded away. Four kids instantly surrounded the slightly older one in their midst. "Wow! Akane, you're so..." Akane flinched. Had she come out scarred or had she only partially transformed? "Young lady, we will talk." Nodoka put the robe around Akane's shoulders and guided her towards the bath. "After you've had a chance to rest. And perhaps learned to walk..." Genma's eyes were still wide and staring towards where Akane had transformed. ------------ Akane whistled as she got ready for school. She was on top of the world, or close enough. She missed being the powerful lioness. She missed the superior senses and being able to throw flames about with hardly any effort. It had taken three days to relearn walking and moving about in human form. She was still clumsy and felt relatively weak. On the other hand, she had gained... "Akane-chan, your bento. And take it easy, you still don't quite have your balance." "Thanks... mom..." Akane was almost ready to break down again. She had a mom. Okay, not her birth parent mom, but she had a *mother* again. Mrs Saotome had said that after she had gotten used to the talking cat she'd begun thinking of her as more of a daughter than anything else... and now. Now she was really her daughter, legally at least. She felt all warm and fuzzy, in a different way then she'd been as a pokemon. Her little brother Ranma, her little sister-in-law-to-be Ukyo, their little friends Rei and Makoto. It was a family! Not at all what she had been born to. The family Akane remembered had been the Tendo household, where her father had had children from two other mothers before her own human mother. Kasumi had been born of a djinni, or genie of air. Nabiki had been born of a dao, or genie of earth. Akane had resented the two for years, before finally understanding that they really hadn't had anything to do with her natural mother dying. By that time the hostility, distrust, and lack of cooperation had become ingrained into their lives. Their mutual father hadn't defused any of the situations either, if anything his insistence that only Akane was his TRUE daughter had ensured the hostility would remain. Here, the father was an idiot, but worked hard (especially with his wife riding herd on him as much as she did) and certainly knew quite a bit of the martial arts. The mother also knew the martial arts, and was a dignified lady most of the time. She kept the wa of the house in balance, and might have had some weird ideas about Ranma bathing with the girls and such, but had a warm heart and caring manner. Her "little brother" Ranma was showing many of the kind and gentle qualities she had appreciated in Ranko - her first love. His fiancee, Ukyo, was the sort of girl who encompassed loyalty as a primary attribute. So did Makoto and Rei to some extent. Akane would have done a quick pirouette as soon as she got out the door, if such an activity wouldn't have had her eating dirt again. She'd watched the kids practicing and soon she'd be learning the martial arts again. She'd miss the raw power, but she thought she had gained more. And it wasn't being able to wear clothes again that she considered the important part. ------- Heaven: Several hours had passed before finally Celeste sat back and brushed her unruly bangs out of her eyes. "Got it! Grey is definitely reincarnated into a Ranma-substitute role. He still doesn't have his memories, and the experiences have altered his aura and astral patterns, but there's a 92% match on the akashic." "How nice," Belle said. "I've already confirmed that the Rei living at the Hikawa temple and training in the Saotome School of martial arts is actually the merged Rei that married him. *She* remembers, having come into contact with him, even if he does not." "What will happen if we recall him without his Awakening?" Setsuna stretched from where she'd been catching a quick nap. "Same thing if he tried leaving a timeline with physical wounds. He'd have 'em as part of his pattern until they healed." Celeste considered briefly. "We can try waiting for something to trigger the memories though with that time rate it might be tricky." "'Might be', she says," drily commented Setsuna. --------- an SMJ timeline "Lime, leave that alone..." Otaru shook his head at the antics of the child-seeming marionette. Lime poked her finger against the nose of the "sleeping" marionette. "Is she broken?" "She just hasn't found the right one to awaken her, Lime," said the Shogun. Everyone looked down to the little fellow, who'd been about a foot tall ever since the Pheonix Mage had reincarnated him... as a smurf. "We've *got* to find a way to fix this..." Otaru said, not for the first time. "Believe me," Shogun Smurf (formerly named Ieyasu) grumped, "it's not something I'm particularly fond of either." Ginseng walked in. "Declaration: Shogun-sama, all three marionettes check out. Declaration: Only these three out of the six special units bear energy signatures associated with extradimensional transport." "Could these be the three elite marionettes that Sakyo's records spoke of?" The Shogun tried to summon some degree of dignity. Difficult when Lime tended to view him as a playtoy. "Assessment: Less than 5% chance. Observation: Indications left behind were sufficient to indicate that the three were not part of a greater group." Ginseng shook her head. "Extrapolation: based on available data, the three units determined that their security had been compromised and relocated to a secondary location." "You do realize you're talking about when your previous self died." Otaru sounded uncertain. This was like talking to Baiko or Tamasaburo. Not quite the automaton of the common marionette, but not nearly the range of emotions or drive of Lime or the others with Maiden Circuits. "Affirmative," answered Ginseng, not understanding the other's point. --------- Timeline SM-RN 204117 The nineteen year old girl who threaded her hair back into a "scrunchie" would have been recognizable to a number of people, though sufficient differences were there to make those looks a double or triple take. "Big sister!" A fifteen year old boy came running up, holding a scrap of cloth in his hands. "You forgot your headband!" Akane smiled at her little brother and ruffled his hair as she took the proferred item. "Think Pops is right about this place, Ran-chan?" Ranma pouted at her. "Well, the odds say he's gonna get something right sooner or later." Akane laughed, not scornfully or hurtfully, but a gentle sound of amusement. "Bets? Yeah, well, something about this training ground bothers me. I don't think I could learn anything here anyway. Just a balance exercise." "True," Ranma agreed. "Ya do that gym stuff so well, after all. But ya gotta give yerself a break from the Art every so often, oneechan, or you're gonna get as lost as Oyaji outside'a that stuff." Akane ruffled the boy's hair again, bringing a squall of protest. "Who do you think told you that in the first place? Go on, don't keep Ukyo and the others alone too long or they'll just get in a fight again!" "You take that back!" *WHAACK!* *CLANG!* Ranma and Akane shared a glance. "Too late," they said in unison. Genma came moving quickly. "Ranma! Follow me! Your form has been unbearably sloppy lately!" Ranma grumped at his stupid old man. "i had to take the High School Entrance Exams! Those were tough, y'know! It wasn't like i was just goofing off like you!" "All the more reason to train harder and regain the edge you have lost!" Genma flipped up to the top of a bamboo pole. "All that book-learning has made you soft and weak, like a..." The word "girl" was bitten off as Genma was subjected to glares from Akane, and the newly arrived Nodoka, Ukyo, Rei, and Makoto. Mumbling how he had *wanted* this to be a private training trip with just Ranma and him, Genma tried to ignore those glares. Ranma heard the word anyway and flinched. He had his mother pressuring him to wait until Rei and Makoto reached the Japanese age of consent- 14. Then he was to "do" all three interested girls. Between the mixed messages he was getting from his mother, the three girls in question, his big sister's amused commentary, and the talk at school... he had doubts about his own sexuality, his role in any of this, and whether or not he was some sort of monster for liking three different girls. That each of the three could be so really incredibly nice that it felt like his heart would stop one minute, then call him an idiot and tell him to be a man the next... it was confusing! "Stupid old man, i'll show ya!" "Go get him, Ranchan!" Ukyo would show that she, the True Fiancee, could be kind and supporting! "You can do it, Ranma-sempai!" Makoto was no slouch in the cute supportive fiancee department either. "Kick his butt for me, my love!" Rei was sure she could win this battle. She knew full well that the other two were merely native copies. SHE was his wife. Even if he couldn't remember that. Glares were exchanged. Only the knowledge of how much Ranma disliked them fighting kept the war from being renewed right there. That and Nodoka's presence. As it was, little sparks seemed to form in midair between the three. Akane sighed. Ranma was going to have to make a choice soon or blood would likely be drawn. From Rei's comments over the past few years, she was the one who Akane remembered from their previous meetings. On the other hand, Ukyo had a clear claim. Makoto, on the other hand, clearly had some definite connection between the two. Ranma glared at his father. High School entry exams weren't easy. He didn't have too much trouble with them, except the extra kanji and algebra, and when the heck in Real Life were you ever gonna have to figure out the surface area of a cone? He knew darn well that 9/10th of what was required of him on those tests would turn out to have no practical day-to-day use, but it was required of the society at large that you learn them. "Ranma! I'm not holding back!" Genma went into a "ready" pose. "So who asked ya to?" Ranma went into his own ready pose. "Oy toh shou!" Genma launched an attack. Ranma flipped out of the way, bounced across two poles, and flipped up and around in attack that barely missed his father. Nodoka noted the sign on the door. On Trip To Nearby Village Of Nichieju. Please Do Not Fall In Spring Terrible Tragic Story If You Do. -Jusenkyo Guide Rei spoke up finally, having felt more and more uneasy as she got closer to the pools of water. "There's something sad about this place. Ancient sorrows, old pain, tragedy and horror." Ranma dodged another attack, spinning and legsweeping the larger man into a pool of water. "All right! Akane, you were right, that gymnastics stuff *does* come in handy." Backflip, spin, pose. There is, in Ranma universes, a certain tendency for things to follow patterns of the mainline. Some would say because of some karma, others because the spirits of the spring were drawn to make a statement of their victims, and others might say it was because it was easiest for the reader/viewer if some things remained the same. What it came down to was: if Genma fell into a pool at Jusenkyo, nine times out of ten it would be the Spring Of Drowned Panda. A panda leapt out of the pool and aimed a vicious attack at a very surprised Ranma. If this had been really Ranma: nine times out of ten he would land in Spring Of Drowned Girl. *SPLASH!* "ROAARRRRRRRR!" The Amazon Village was a good distance away. Another valley linked by trails to the Jusenkyo Valley. Traveling by foot took over two hours (unless you knew of a secret trail), though if one could fly the time could be cut to ten minutes. Bypassing chasms, the Inn Of The Dragon's Whisker, and other problems with navigation. The roar of an enraged dragon managed to echo through those chasms, pass the Inn, and resound in a certain village within scant moments. There, a gnarled old troll (thwack) err, a mature Amazon Elder listened briefly, then gathered her Great-Granddaughter and two other Amazons to investigate this. Meanwhile, back at Jusenkyo, a 54 foot long gleaming silver shape had picked up a panda and slammed it into a cliffside with sufficient force that the cliffside collapsed. Unnoticed in the avalanche was a young man with a yellow shirt and large backpack who was wondering "why me?" and had merely been standing at the wrong place at the wrong time. He was used to being lost, it was just that he was *very* lost today. "Ranma. That is enough." Nodoka strode up to her son and allowed her voice to rise ever so slightly. "Dig your father out of the rubble." Ranma quickly did, moving the stone until the panda was found. "Oh sirs, terrible tragic story!" The Guide worried about this. If they'd found out that he was off seeing an elderly Amazon lady of his acquaintance during business hours, it could be plenty bad trouble for him. He went on about how there were all these springs and each had a terrible tragic story, and how hot water cured the curse but only until cold water transformed them again. He was just getting to the point where he got to tell them about how the various villages locally used the waters when the Musk Dynasty proved that they didn't like people blowing up sections of their "sacred" springs. When the Amazons arrived, it was to find a number of people flattened and five warriors fighting a dragon. Then it became obvious that some of the people fighting were fighting *alongside* the dragon, not against it. Then Shampoo gave an involuntary gasp as the dragon became something else. "Which ones are the bad guys?" Sugar asked Spice. "They are all outsiders." "Watch, wait, observe. Act when we know," counseled Spice. "You don't want to just go out and kick butt?" Shampoo asked the two. A bonk on Shampoo's head indicated that her grandmother had arrived. --------- Ranma was tired. He wasn't used to this body at all, though it felt oddly familiar. Akane had already thrashed one of the attackers into unconsciousness. Makoto and Rei had held one's attention long enough for Ukyo to bash it. This last one though, was proving quite troublesome. Already his father and mother had been knocked aside, almost casually by this bishonen guy. The same bishonen fellow who pounded on him until Ranma fell half in and half out of a pool. The boy said something that the dazed Ranma put down as being in Chinese, then casually leaned to shove Ranma in with a foot. Makoto and Ukyo leapt from the sides, distracting him long enough for Rei to throw an "Akuryo Taisan" and Akane to recover from her own battles. Ranma recovered enough to get out of the pool even as Makoto went flying through two of the poles and impacted heavily into a cliffside. Ukyo, having practiced her own martial arts style as well as the Saotome Ryuu, lasted a little longer but she ended up following her own spatula into a segment of cliff alongside Makoto. Then Akane arrived as Rei scrambled backwards. Akane chained movements together rapidly, battering down the white-haired guy's defenses. Ranma ended the fight by blindsiding the bishonen, not realizing until after this last attacker had fallen that he'd actually struck with claws! And then the other changes caught up with him... "AAAAaaaaaaaaa!" ------------- Rei waved her hand in front of the girl's face. "Still out of it." Makoto blew an errant hair out of her face. "Poor Ranma..." "I think his mother going on about wanting him, er, her, I mean HIM to walk more like a lady is what pushed him over the edge," commented Ukyo. "Ya gotta admit the wings are pretty..." "Somehow I don't think 'pretty' would reassure him," said Makoto. "Where's Akane and the adults, anyway?" "Akane's got that 'blood sister' rite with the Amazons. You gonna go?" Ukyo stretched, Ranma was *no* fun at this stage, just locked into some private horror. "Might as well. That old woman explained it easy enough." Makoto shrugged. "If the Village is in trouble and we can, we help. If we're in trouble, and they can help, they do. Not a big deal, as long as they don't expect me to take a plane." Rei nodded. "Doesn't seem too bad. If some of 'em come out and want to work at the Temple while staying there, as long as it's not too many at the same time, it could work." Ukyo sighed. "And another place I can sell 'yaki. Can you believe they've never heard of it here?" Ranma continued staring at something only she could see. ---------- Akane listened with half an ear, the ceremony being largely in Chinese, and Akane's Chinese was restricted to a few dozen handy phrases like "where's the bathroom" and "if you don't remove that hand it will proceed you into the next life" or the ever so frequently used "this doesn't have dog or cat in it, does it?" The Heir to the Saotome School (Ranma just not having quite the same level of dedication)nodded and bared her palm at the appropriate time. The slice was quick and clean, the shared blood between the Champion of the Nichieju and the Heir of the Saotome School forging a bond. Now Akane could learn the Amazon techniques, the Amazons could learn the Saotome techniques that weren't "sealed" or completely ridiculous, and both could strengthen from it. She was a bit distracted by little brother's plight. She remembered over ten years previously, hearing about his misadventures and seeing the gleaming dragonform. Now it had briefly appeared, but his karma had apparently tangled with the original Ranma's and that form had been corrupted. Dragon-girl. She'd be amused if he hadn't been so devastated. That tail looked to be a real pain, not to mention the wings and horns and fangs and eyes. Akane caught the look from her bond-sister as the ceremony was completed. She'd impressed them, particularly the old woman, but tomorrow she'd have to prove to the rest of the tribe that she was strong. They respected strength here, and as a member of the tribe they'd give respect to another member based on that strength. So tomorrow she'd be fighting Shampoo, full power, nothing held back. On either side. It would at least be interesting. ------------ Akane leapt back, taking the measure of the Amazon Champion as those bonbori were quickly seperated from her. Then, as it wouldn't do any good to humiliate someone she'd rather have as an ally, proceeded to take a beating. She wanted to win, yes, but to go flat out against Shampoo would have caused resentment among many. Shampoo looked puzzled, then angry, as the expected block didn't occur. She went in for a grapple and hissed her comment just loud enough for Akane. "Elders watch. You not hold back!" Akane winced. True, the Elders probably would be experienced enough to realize that she was holding back a lot. "Okay..." Akane still held back, her opponent was good. Damn good. Better than most of the sensei and students she'd run into back in Japan. Akane, on the other hand, had become human and had dedicated herself to the Art with a vengeance in order to regain her motor skills and because she saw a need to be beyond good with the sort of things she'd heard about in that Asgard place. The fighting turned up a notch, then another, then another. Shampoo was now desperately on the defensive, unable to spare anything for an attack. Akane judged this to be the absolute limit she could use against Shampoo without taking the chance of seriously hurting the Amazon, and not just in the pride department. Finally exhaustion began to show and Shampoo missed a block. A kick slammed into her chin, flipping her off the Challenge Log and down to the sands below. Akane made a show of wiping sweat off her forehead as the crowd went silent. Had she misjudged this? Finally the Amazons cheered by thumping weapons against the ground, though a few turned away in disgust. Those couldn't have been helped unless Akane had deliberately lost, and with the Elders in attendence she didn't think that she could have gotten away with that. "Child," Cologne said, startling Akane who hadn't sensed the old woman's approach, "you've done well, though I suspect you took it easy on Shampoo because you didn't want to hurt her. Care to try me, instead?" Akane smiled. "Perhaps another time, now, what was this about a technique for shattering boulders with a touch?" -------- Heaven: "Got it." Celeste got up and stretched. "It's set, next time something happens that gives him a plausible 'out' - he'll be yanked out of that timeline and end up at Archway Two. Rei will continue on for a few days, but will get yanked herself when she's alone or when in a similar situation - whichever comes first. Akane seems comfortable in her new life, so we can leave her there. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get my backups done." Setsuna frowned at Celeste's retreating back. "Leaving personnel behind? No. I'll have to copy the 'pull' routine on Rei over to Akane. THIS one has done nothing wrong." "Matter of time, it is," mumbled Mambo Jack, being as pessimistic as ever. "Oh, look, on Ranma's sixteenth birthday, Genma remembers the arrangement with the Tendos." Belle brought it up, sensing that this would be different somehow. --------- Timeline SM-RN 204117 "Stupid Oyaji..." Ranma grumped as he slumped into the tub. "Some birthday *this* is." First it had been that he had to take Ranma someplace "special" and then his father had dropped this little bombshell. An engagement? Ukyo was going to be *ticked*! Makoto and Rei would be most unhappy. He'd snuck a quick phone call to his mother but was uncertain about her reaction, he'd pointed out that his idiot father was trying to have a priest show up *that night* and was trying to push this through without the approval of any of the three girls or him. Well, that last was no surprise. When had his stupid father ever been anything but disappointed in him? Always yelling, always putting him down. It wasn't *his* fault that he lagged behind Akane's skill level. Heck the Amazons had nicknamed her "Little Mountain" because when she wanted to - that's what her fist felt like. Like you'd just been hit with mountain. Makoto and Rei were also pretty good at Anything Goes, better at some things than he was, not as good in others. His mother had hung up on the call abruptly, maybe that meant this whole thing had her approval but Ranma had thought Ukyo had met her approval. (Though she also seemed to approve of Rei and Makoto in some odd way, which always confused each of those involved.) Of course, arriving he had gotten splashed, dragged in by the panda. He'd tried to explain but things had not gone well. Somehow or other, the youngest girl had gotten pushed forward by the other two as the candidate for the engagement. "He's half girl, after all." Things had rapidly gone downhill. Whatshername. Oh yeah, Akane, same as big sister. This Akane had yelled and insulted, and the two had exchanged a few unpleasantries. Ranma had gone off to work it out of his system, making the phone call to home, but then Akane had entered the dojo with apparently the same idea. Ranma had walked off, angry, and the oldest girl had suggested a nice soak in their furo to calm down. Bringing him here. Let's see, the oldest girl was on happy drugs. The middle girl kept asking questions about his finances, and seemed a bit shifty. The youngest was apparently a lesbian. An angry lesbian. An angry chip-on-her-shoulder, boys-should-be-eliminated-at-birth, lesbian. Or maybe they'd all just made lousy first impressions? Well, he hadn't done too well at that himself. A bit calmer, Ranma got up out of the furo. Time to face the music and see if he could just get the heck home. He already had a fiancee, thank you very much, and while he and Ukyo had their little spats, they at least knew each other, cared about each other, and could spend time enjoying each other's company. The door slid open, Akane stepped in, and stopped. Ranma stopped, surprised, and dropped his towel. "I *know* I put the 'occupied' sign up there..." Akane frowned, stepped closer and swung. *SLAP!* Ranma frowned and considered the slap to his cheek for just a moment. *SLAP!* Akane blinked, her own head spun to the side from the force of the slap. Surprise was quickly replaced by thoroughly ticked. *SLAP! SLAP!* Ranma glared at the girl who had just slapped him, then slapped him again as she retracted her striking hand. *SLAP! SLAP!* Akane growled at this jerk who DARED to strike her. *IN HER OWN BATHROOM!* "You...." *KICK!* Ranma winced and nearly folded as the girl's kick connected just enough to send a major spasm of pain. He viewed this as confirmation that this was one of those man hating lesbians. Therefore, treating her as a lady was out. ----------- "Yes, Saotome, a fine match." Genma laughed aloud. There was the sound of porcelain fixtures breaking from elsewhere in the House. Soun grinned. "Yes, Saotome! Now our plans to join the Schools will be fulfilled!" Sound of breaking glass followed by the sound of someone's head being forcefed into a toilet. "Ah, it sounds like the sparks are heating up! Our futures are assured!" Genma nodded at his old friend. Sound of fighting with what sounded like a number of bits of porcelain being smashed to smaller and smaller pieces. "I don't understand, Saotome, what were these complications you spoke of earlier?" Soun was puzzled about his friend's hesitance in bringing the boy over. Hadn't this been their l ifelong dream? There was the sound of a wall breaking apart, in fact, it sounded remarkably like someone had used someone else's face to batter a hole in said wall. "Nothing to worry about, Tendo." Genma sighed contentedly. "Hey, is that a shogi board?" There was a loud thump as one teenager pulled another teenager out the hole in the wall, then the second teenager managed to shift position enough that the first teenager hit first. "Why, yes. Brings back old times, doesn't it, Saotome?" Akane ran by, hefted a stone lantern, and lifted it over her head with a yell before throwing the massive object at her tormentor. "So true, Tendo. I wonder what's keeping that priest?" A dumbbell, followed by another dumbbell, followed by the barbell and a whole lot of free weights were dodged by Akane. "Well, they don't generally allow cars in the neighborhood. An ordinance passed some time ago." Soun waved it off. Akane leapt at Ranma, Ranma leapt at Akane. There was a loud splash as both fell into the koi pond. Ranma came out with dragon wings, a change of gender, tail, and temper. "So, your girl seems to know a bit of the Art." Screaming in incoherent rage, two teenagers continued to try to reduce each other to bloody pulp by ripping up the clothesline poles and using them as clubs. "So does your boy. Nice they're hitting it off that well." Ranma ran past the shogi board. Akane, holding a katana, ran past less than two seconds later. "Kind of reminds me of when I met Nodoka," said Genma approvingly. "HEY! NOT IN MY KITCHEN! AKANE! NO! DON'T!" There came from the kitchen the sound of a katana being wielded indiscriminately and various pieces of cookware being thrown at the katana wielder. "It must be love," agreed Soun. "NOW I'VE GOT YOU!" "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire! Ah-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-TA!" "Hah! You missed.... YOU PERVERT! HOW DARE YOU HIT ME THERE!" "...my kitchen..." "ICK! i think i could clean my fist for a week and it still wouldn't feel clean. This never happens to big sister." "Well if your hand offends me, I'll just CUT IT OFF! AND YOUR LITTLE DOG TOO!" "Ahhhh!" Sound of someone running up stairs. Genma nodded. "We are such wise parents to have made this match." "what?! HEY, THIS IS MY ROOM! GET OUT!" "You're trapped now, pervert!" "Breaking point!" *BOOOM!* "...my room..." "DIE!" "SHINNEI!" "Yes, Saotome, I quite agree," said Soun with a nod. "Oh, it's my move." "Breaking point combined with the Chestnut Fist! A-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-TA!" There came a sound of most of the second floor of the Tendo household exploding. Kasumi's plaintive voice came from what was left of the stairwell. "My kitchen...my room?!" Nabiki walked down the stairs, shock and horror mixed on her features. "...my room?! My stuff... my camera... all go boomy..." "COME BACK HERE YOU PERVERT!" Sound of unidentifiable items being thrown. "Like anyone would want to look at THAT face? Ug-ly!" "Still, shouldn't the priest be here soon? We can have the wedding on the instant!" Genma nodded at his own thought. After all, the sooner the boy was married, the sooner he could present Nodoka with a fait accompli. "Of course, Saotome." Soun pointed. "Isn't that him there?" When Genma looked, Soun started moving pieces. "No, that's just Nabiki. Odd hairstyle she's got." Genma frowned, not having remembered the board being in this bad a position. One wall of the dojo exploded as Ranma was forced through it. Akane, her towel long forgotten, snarled as she confronted the dragongirl. "DIE!" Genma and Soun stopped playing shoji as a less comprehensible sound entered their gameplay. Akane dropped the bloody sword, anger forgotten as she realized exactly what she had done. "Oh... I... but... he..." Genma looked out into the lawn and frowned. "Ranma? Boy, you disappoint your father, what do you think you're..." Soun dropped the shogi piece he had just palmed. --------- Heaven: "We got him, we got him, we... don't got him? What the heck?" Fleece checked her boards. This was going to screw her bets up royally. "Something interfered. Trying to trace." "How about Akane and Rei? Do we recall them now?" Mambo Jack was slightly more concerned about the girls. Grey, he figured Oblivion would almost be something desirable at this point. "Negative. They'll pop over in time. We need to isolate whatever grabbed him before they go." --------- Timeline SM-RN 204117 Nodoka was coming, quietly, dignified, slowly, stoic. Ukyo, Makoto, and Rei were also coming. Not quietly. Lacking dignity. Neither stoic nor slow. Two fourteen year old girls had managed to get, over the years, some degree of maternal approval of their choice of future boyfriend/husband. Ukyo was the tried and true fiancee, the one that had been with Ranma through thick and thin. All three had their moments where they argued with him, and/or wanted to shake some sense into that fool head. All three had their moments where they just wanted to cuddle up with Ranma for a few hours, or do any number of other things that might have been thoroughly improper but which might have been quite satisfying. One sixteen year old girl planned on making a panda okonomiyaki. Rei and Makoto, for once, were of one mind on this and thought Ukyo had a wonderful idea. Far, far ahead of them, however, was the Heir to the Saotome School. The adopted daughter of Nodoka and Genma. She was just hoping that Ranma hadn't lost his temper, something he'd been developing lately. Akane thought it likely that Genma's little experiment with an "improvement" on the Breaking Point training had produced some form of internal injury. Ranma had even been complaining of frequent headaches and light sensitivity since then. Now this. Akane leapt the compound wall and was struck with how familiar it all looked. There was the dojo and the house, there was a version of Kasumi and Nabiki. Except it looked as though a war had gone on. Sections of the second floor had been blown apart, there was smoke rising from the kitchen area, water was spraying from what was likely the bathroom, the dojo had a major hole in one side, and there was... herself. Younger, not as refined or tall or strong, a bloody sword at her feet, staring at what was just past the old man... Akane leapt again, to land and check the figure whose eyes stared sightlessly upward. With a deep sigh, she placed the head closer to the rest of the body. "Who wants to explain this?" Her younger version seemed to stir herself out of shock. "It's HIS fault, not my fault. Notmyfault, notmyfault, notmyfault." There was a cracking sound and a section of the Tendo house collapsed. Akane listened to babbled explanations, she watched, and she casually shut off the gas lines. Finally, as three young girls finally caught up, Akane thought she had the gist of it. "So, what you're saying is that *all* of you are at fault." There were denials from the ones who had been here, shrieks from the newly arrived, and the crash and tinkle of yet something else falling and shattering within the Tendo home. Kasumi brought her younger sister a gi, which the native Akane practically jumped into when she realized she still naked. Noting that Nodoka-okaasan was finally within earshot, Akane Saotome decided to summarize what she'd learned. "Okay, what happened was that Baka-oyaji got it into his head that the old verbal agreement between the Tendo and Saotome families took precedence over taking Ukyo's dowry and HER engagement to Ranma." "That's right, it's a matter of honor," agreed Soun Tendo, earning him a look of utter contempt from Ukyo among others. "Then," Akane continued, "discovering that their fiance was not especially wealthy and was young, the two other daughters decided to foist this problem off on their youngest sister despite the two getting into a yelling match almost from the beginning." "But... doesn't the fact that they immediately tried to hurt each other prove they love each other?" Three girls stared at Kasumi as if she'd just said something ridiculously stupid. Akane revised her opinion of this Kasumi down. Her OWN Kasumi had been a djinn, but had never been a ditz. Or a raving lunatic. "Then the two REALLY started blowing up at each other, and you two called a priest and started pressuring to have the wedding done tonight before anyone else could protest." "...not my fault... I'm a nice girl, everyone knows that. Why can't they all leave me alone?" Ignoring the native Akane, the one nicknamed "Little Mountain" by the Amazons continued. "Then, when Ranma got in from the dojo, Kasumi here sent him in to bathe and try to calm down. THEN you, Nabiki, sent Akane in to bathe. Living with me and Ukyo, I know Ranma would have put the occupied sign out. So, Akane goes in to bathe, Ranma's in the nude, and another fight goes down." "...hey. HEY! I'm the victim here!" Akane finally shook off her shock. "I'm..." Akane got her first good look at her older self's face. "EEEEEEPP!" Everyone else started getting out of their shock as they noticed the resemblence between the two Akanes. One was the long haired Akane Tendo, a girl of sixteen with traces of a chubby baby still showing in her face. The other was the lean twenty year old, her black hair lightened slightly by long exposure to sun and the elements. Akane Saotome had been a Pyrolion then had evolved into Inferna. Some of the evolution had carried over to her transformation back to human. She was taller, leaner, and had a taut figure that would have earned a plastic surgeon worldwide fame. Intensive consuming practice in the Anything Goes style had hardened her figure a bit, gotten that exposure to sun and rain, and given her a dangerous air. Akane Tendo was a cute little kitten, Akane Saotome the sensual and fully developed tigress. There was a similar look to the two in their faces and they shared a similar "feel" about them but that was about where the similarities ended. "So that's what he meant by saying little sister wasn't a tenth of what HIS Akane was like." Nabiki finally broke the silence. "Oh my." "You're... me?!" Akane Tendo blinked then shook her head. "No! You're like THAT monster. A demon! I'll..." Akane Saotome effortlessly lifted Akane Tendo up with one hand in the collar of her gi. "That's it. First you kill my little brother. Then you continue to insult his memory. I can't believe there is *any* of me in you, so... in full view of the Heads of both Clans, I call a bloodfeud." "LET GO OF ME! It's not my fault! Help, Father!" A spatula blocked the Tendo patriarch's progress. "Bloodfeud has been called," Nodoka said, stepping forward. "I decline to make this a feud of clans. You may declare a personal vendetta, but no more." "Please don't kill her. Akane's a very nice girl, she's just a violent maniac." Kasumi bit her lip. That hadn't come out quite as she intended. "So be it," Akane held her younger self out at arm's length and pressed the younger version's back against the wall. "Akane Tendo, I challenge you. If I win, I shall use a technique I learned from the Amazons to seal your knowledge of the Art. If you win, you shall never see nor hear from me again. Do you accept the challenge?" --------------- well, i wanted to do a different version of the "Ranma meets the Tendos" and avoid going over the same old stuff again. Did i succeed? A chance for the more typical Akane to go up against the version that the various Knights rave about (though in the Ranma Project i see little evidence of this) - Akane Saotome is the "best martial artist", "nicest, most well rounded girl", "honest", "straightforward", "intelligent", "conquering spirit", "most perfect girl" etc. Hmmm. A near-perfect Akane vs regular Akane. Who would win? ==================== "Don't forget that for the acorn to become the mighty oak, it starts with a little nut that decides to stand its ground." -Anonymous metroanime@mindspring.com http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com/