Greetings! ^_^
Thanks to everybody who has replied to me on this story, especially Gary
Kleppe. Late is ALWAYS better than never, Gary, but due to a server glitch
my reply to your C&C either didn't send or sent two million times. Either
way, sorry...
Anyway, C&C is as always appreciated and begged for.
Let's get on the story, heh? ^_-
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OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER : As if you didn't know, Ranma 1/2 is the
creation of Rumiko Takahashi. It is currently owned by Viz Video
and Viz Comics, as well as Kitty Video in Japan. All of the
characters here are copyrighted, trademarked, and completely
NOT MINE. I am protected only by the fact that Takahashi-sama is
FAR too nice a person to sue me. ^_^
THE PATH
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction
by Morgan Hudson (dataraven_659@excite.com)
"The path of a true martial artist is fraught with perils..."
-Soun Tendo
Chapter Two : 'D' Is For Demon, And That's Good Enough For Us...
Akane Tendo sighed as her teacher droned on about the vital
importance of finding the length of a hypotoneuse. She already knew
why it was important to find the length of a hypotoneuse : so she
could pass Trigonometry and never need to find the length of a
hypotoneuse again! Even RANMA had figured that much out!
Speaking of whom... pretending to busy herself in her notebook,
Akane snuck a glance at him out of the corner of her eye. As usual,
the dolt was just barely awake enough not to drool on his desk as he
sat with his head back and his mouth open, snoring lightly. Not that
she minded... she loved to watch Ranma sleep. It was one of the few
times he didn't manage to annoy her.
Akane set down her pencil before she could start playing with
it, and rested her head on one hand. She couldn't wait until they got
to go home and open that book again. Kasumi had planned for them to get
a chance to read a little more about Dad and Mr. Saotome when they
woke up in the morning, but then their alarm clocks hadn't gone off.
All three of them had awoken to a half-full kettle and a note that
read : 'You're all late. Bye! -Nabiki'. She hoped maybe Ranma would
ask her to read to him again. Maybe he'd even put his arm around her...
"And then, by applying the cosine rule... Miss Tendo, are
you listening to me, or are you too busy staring at Mr. Saotome?"
The entire class began to laugh, and Akane blushed as she
dug her fingernails into her palms and clenched her teeth. Ooh, that
stupid Ranma! Even when he was ASLEEP, he managed to make her life
miserable!
**********
The two walked home in silence. Akane kept her gaze straight
ahead, and clenched the handle of her bookbag until the leather
creaked. For his part, Ranma strolled easily along the top of the
chain link fence, whistling an aimless tune. After a while, he decided
to say something.
This was, of course, a mistake.
"Hey, Akane. I just thought I should tell ya... I don't mind."
"Don't mind?" Akane stopped and glared at him. "What are you
talking about?"
Ranma shrugged and kept walking. "You know... staring at me
in class like that. I mean, I guess I AM a pretty hot guy... if I
were a girl, I'd probably stare at me too..."
Akane growled. "That can be arranged, Ranma..."
Ranma stopped in mid-step and pointed at her. "Don't. Even.
THINK about it."
"Ranchan!" An athletic young woman dressed in a boy's school
uniform raced around the corner, her long brown ponytail streaming
behind her. "I've been looking all OVER for you! I was wondering if
maybe you felt like one of my special okonomiyaki?"
Ranma smiled and rubbed his stomach. "Well, I guess I am
pretty hungry, Ukyo..."
Ukyo Kuonji smirked. Betting on Ranma Saotome being hungry was
like betting the sun would rise tommorow : a sure thing, unless Nabiki
got involved. All she had to do was dangle her special in front of
him, and old Ranchan would follow her to the ends of the Earth!
"...but I can't."
"WHAT?" Ukyo managed to sputter, after a few tries.
Ranma shrugged, and glanced over at Akane. "Me and Akane got
some stuff we gotta do at home. Maybe later, huh?"
"WHAT?" Akane managed to sputter, after a few tries. Ukyo just
settled for looking as if someone had smacked her upside the head with
a two-by-four.
Ranma started running. "C'mon, you slowpoke! Kasumi's gonna
start without us!"
Ukyo watched as the two raced off into the distance. After a
few minutes, she blinked. "What the Hell? I don't get it..."
A nearby mailbox began hopping up and down enthusiastically.
"Fear not, my darling Ukyo! I shall NEVER abandon you so cruelly!"
Ukyo groaned. "I really wish you would..." After a second,
though, she developed a strange gleam in her eye. "On second
thought... how'd you like to do a little favour for me, hmmm,
Tsubasa-chan?"
**********
"Kasumi! We're home!" Akane sang out as she and Ranma rushed
in the front door of the sprawling Tendo home. She still couldn't
believe that Ranma had actually chosen her over ANY of his other
fiancees : the book might be just what she needed...
Kasumi glided into the room like a gentle breeze, somehow
managing to collect jackets, rearrange shoes, and set the table at the
same time. "Welcome home, Akane! Ranma, please get some potatoes from
the pantry, would you?" Ranma wandered off muttering to himself.
"Where's Nabiki?" Akane asked, as she noticed that only three
plates had been set for dinner.
"Oh!" Kasumi smiled cheerfully. "Nabiki said she was having
dinner with that charming Kuno boy. Something about 'discussing their
mutual interest in photography'..."
Akane gulped. "I see." She was never sure what offended her
more : her sister's habit of selling revealing photographs to Kuno, or
the idea of those two actually spending time together. "So... do you
want to read some more of father's journal?" Ranma walked back in with
a handful of potatoes and nodded vigourously.
"Well... I suppose there's enough time while we wait for the
meat to cook." Kasumi smiled gently as she pulled a battered leather
book out of the pocket of her apron and opened it. "Where were we? Oh,
yes... Father and Mr. Saotome had just met Mr. Kumogen..."
**********
January 22, 1967
Soun Tendo opened his eyes slowly and clutched the top of his
head. "Oooh, I feel unwell... I have a pain right here..."
"I apologise." The young man in the ninja uniform bowed
stiffly. "My haste caused me to err in judgement, Soun Tendo. Your
associate Genma Saotome has since informed me as to the nature of your
quest."
Soun put on his glasses and glanced at Genma, who mouthed the
words "Just play along". Nodding, he tossed back his long rat tail of
black hair and rose to his feet, returning the ninja's bow. "I
apologise as well," he said formally, "for in sooth, the err was as
much mine as thine own." Actually, he corrected silently, his mistake
was in ever agreeing to come to this stupid shrine. This was the last
time he was EVER going to listen to Genma Saotome.
"That's right!" Genma smiled a little too much, laughing with
fake cheer. "I told Tomeo here all about how we're gonna go beat the
tar out of that demon living in the shrine. Remember the demon living
in the shrine, Soun old buddy?"
"Oh, yes..." The one Genma had sworn didn't exist. Soun forced
a smile and turned to the ninja. "By your leave, good sir, we needs
must be on our way, so fare thee well."
"Oh, no! I, Tomeo Kurenai of the clan Kumogen, shall be coming
with you on your quest to destroy the evil of the Nameless One!"
"Great." Soun rolled his eyes and looked over at Genma, who
sheepishly ran one hand through his hair and whistled aimlessly. "Just
great."
**********
"So," asked Genma as the three teens worked their way through
the underbrush, "what exactly does this demon do, anyway?"
"He is the foulest of the foul, a vile fiend that has sullied
the shrine and the surrounding area for nearly fifty years!" Tomeo
responded, slipping through the bushes with ease.
"Yeah, but what has he DONE?" Genma ducked under a tree branch
and made a face as the leaves got caught in his thick mop of black
hair. "I mean, other than move into the shrine. Has he killed men?
Raped women? Stolen livestock?"
"Well... no. Mostly he just sleeps." Tomeo blushed a little,
and readjusted his katana's position in its scabbard. "But what he
has or hasn't done doesn't matter! I have been chosen to destroy him!
This is my divine quest!"
"Forsooth, how wast thou chosen?" Soun was using his spear as
a walking stick, gently nudging tree roots and loose stones out of his
way as he walked. "An ancient prophecy? A family destiny? A wandering
monk, sent by the gods?"
"Well actually... I kind of..." Tomeo mumbled something into
his glove.
"Huh?" Genma twisted his face in an effort to make out the
ninja's words. "Speak up, man!"
"I DREW IT OUT OF A HAT, OKAY? Every ninja of the Kumogen clan
has to prove himself in battle with a great evil, and this was the one
I got! I didn't want it, but I got it! And if I don't do a deed of
great heroism, I won't get my Hero badge, and they'll never let me
graduate!" Tomeo growled, and pushed past Soun. "Now can we please
just go save humanity from a great and powerful evil, already?"
Soun looked at Genma and blinked. Genma shrugged, and kept
walking. "Hey, Tomeo," he said, "don't feel so down. With two great
martial artists like Soun and me, you got no problem! I mean, we're
the greatest! We laugh at danger! We're ready for anything!"
A tree suddenly jumped forward and waved its branches. "Hello,
cousin Tomeo!"
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUGH!" Soun and Genma wailed, and began
running away as fast as their legs could carry them. Fortunately, Genma
fell over a tree root and managed to grab Soun's rat tail, dragging
the flailing boy down with him. Tomeo smacked himself in the forehead.
"Soun, Genma. It's just my bratty little cousin! I thought I
had managed to lose her in the forest..."
"Nope!" The redhaired girl chirped, beaming widely. "I'm a
WAY better tracker than that, cousin Tomeo! And a master of disguise,
to boot!" She began to hop up and down, slowly shedding her tree
costume. Beneath, she wore a ninja uniform similar to Tomeo's, only
purple. "Besides, Daddy told you to take me with you on your mission,
and since he's the daimo, you got to do what he says, so there!" She
stuck out her tongue.
Tomeo growled. "You are such a brat." Sighing and throwing his
hands up in the air, the young ninja turned to his friends, who were
trying not to look foolish and failing miserably. "Genma Saotome,
Soun Tendo, meet my cousin..."
"Don't you dare!" The girl stomped on his foot, and Tomeo
began hopping in place and cursing under his breath. "You know I hate
my name! It's ugly and stupid, and I wanna be called by my code name!"
"Code name?" Genma asked in an equal mixture of confusion and
disgust. "Hope it's not the Crimson Lightning of Furinkan High, 'cause
the nut with the spear already called that one..."
"Nope! I am the greatest warrior of my clan! As beautiful and
deadly as the glimmering purple gem from which I draw my name :
TOPAZ!" She posed dramatically, or as dramatically as one can with a
clump of leaves sticking out of one's mask.
"Aren't topazes yellow?" Soun asked Tomeo.
"Tell HER that," Tomeo replied.
**********
"Oh, man," Ranma groaned as he propped his feet up on the
table, which grunted, "this is just getting worse and worse. Mr. Tendo,
my old man, this Kumogen guy, and now a total ditz are going to fight
a demon? I can't believe they lived long enough to have us!"
"Hmmm..." Akane stroked her chin and closed her eyes as she
thought. "Happosai said that whatever our fathers are involved in has
something to do with Tomeo Kumogen... could it involve this demon they
tried to fight back then?"
"Beats me," admitted the table.
"I suppose there's only one way to find out," Kasumi mused,
turning the page. "But... oh, dear! The pots are boiling over! Here,
Ranma, you read while I look after things in the kitchen..."
"Uh, sure," Ranma said without enthusiasm as he took the book
from Kasumi and began to read.
**********
"You go in." Genma pushed Soun in the direction of the shrine.
The boy put up a brave defense, digging the leather soles of his
shoes deep into the ground and planting his spear firmly in front of
him.
"No! If you like it so much, YOU go in!" Soun gritted his
teeth and pushed back so hard that Genma fell over, and both boys
wound up sprawled in the dirt yet again.
Topaz sighed. "Men! If you're all such cowards, I'LL go in!"
"Coward?" Soun popped to his feet like a jack-in-the-box. "You
dare call Soun Tendo coward? Stand aside!" Imperiously sweeping the
younger girl out of his way with his arm, Soun lifted his spear and
marched into the dark portal of the shrine of Karamori.
"Don't mind him," Genma explained as he used the crimson
handkerchief around his neck to wipe his hands, "he's just an idiot."
There was a rumbling from deep within the shrine, and Soun
Tendo hurtled out the door, flying backwards through the air and
landing upside-down in the branches of a nearby tree. His school
uniform was torn and charred, and a wisp of smoke rose from his hair.
"See?" Genma pointed, and the two ninja nodded in agreement.
"I think I found it," Soun moaned, and flopped onto the ground
below him.
"Excellent! I'll get my Hero badge for sure!" Tomeo crouched
close to the ground, drawing his katana and holding it behind him in a
low guard. "Come, foul monster!" He cried at the gleaming pair of eyes
glaring at him from the darkness. "Come and get what's coming to you!"
"Uh... this guy ain't speakin' for me!" Genma quickly shouted
to the demon.
The glowing eyes narrowed. "Please," a deep and gravelly voice
boomed throughout the clearing, "I'm a little bit hung over, and I'm
trying to sleep it off. Come back in a few centuries, or better yet,
just go away."
**********
"Here," Akane said, leaning over the table. "Let me read for a
while, Ranma. You take too long."
"Hey, I thought you LIKED staring at me all day long!" Ranma
held the book out of Akane's reach and pulled down his eyelid with
his free hand.
"For the last time, I was NOT staring at you in class, you
pervert! Your snoring was so loud I couldn't concentrate!"
"Okay, first of all I don't snore. My old man snores, and I
DON'T. You got that?" Ranma hopped up on top of the table, and Akane
joined him, straining to reach the book. "Second of all, I'm reading
this as fast or as slow as I wanna, and you can't do nothin' about
it!"
"Well, SOMEBODY read it!" The table shrieked, startling the
quarelling pair. "You two are freaking HEAVY!"
"Tsubasa?" Akane immediately hopped down and looked under the
table, where a thin young man with long brown hair was concealed.
"Hi, Akane. Long time no see, ne?" Grinning sheepishly, Tsubasa
Kurenai unstrapped his table disguise and scuttled over to the corner,
where he quickly turned into a chair. "Just keep reading. Pretend I'm
not here."
Akane shrugged, and grabbed the book from a dazed Ranma.
**********
"Foul monster!" Tomeo yelled, brandishing his sword. "I shall
destroy you and earn my prize!"
"Huh?" The owner of the glowing eyes strode out into the
sunlight. It was a rather nasty looking creature, oozing slime and
covered with needle-like spines. A thick crown of horns adorned its
head, and its eyes geamed above a mouth filled with several rows of
sparkling white teeth. Tomeo gulped, Topaz whistled, and Genma ducked
behind a rock. "You want the treasure? Why would anybody in their
right minds want the treasure?"
"Treasure?" Tomeo scoffed and waggled his sword dramatically.
"We don't want your treasure!"
"Yes we do!" Genma shouted, leaping out from behind his rock.
"Fork it over, or... or HE'LL hurt you!" He pointed at Soun, who was
sitting on the ground and counting the stars circling his head.
The demon started to laugh. "Oh, L-sama, you have got to be
kidding me! That puny twerp?"
"Puny? Twerp?" Soun bounced back onto his feet, clutching his
spear. "I'll show YOU a puny twerp! CHARGE!"
The demon grabbed Soun's spear and flipped him to the ground
with enough force to knock the leaves off of the trees. Tomeo turned
to Topaz and gently pushed her out of his way.
"Stay back, cousin! I will crush this demon!" Rushing forward,
he hurled a fistful of shuriken. The demon ate them. Closing in, he
swung his katana at its head. The demon caught his sword in one
massive claw and ate it, too. Tomeo turned white as a ghost, and soon
the trees were quivering again as he hit the ground like a sack of wet
rice. Genma began to whimper slightly as the creature turned its
bloodshot gaze on him.
"You pathetic mortals. You woke me up in the middle of the
century for THIS? I think I'm going to squish your head like a grape."
Its claws flexed in anticipation.
"Uhm, er..." Genma thought fast. "Hey look! Somebody dropped
fifty yen!"
"Huh?" The demon looked down, and Genma hoofed it in the
groin. The creature whooshed like a deflating balloon and dropped to
the ground, tears brimming in the corners of its eyes as it bit its
lip. Soun staggered to his feet and thwomped it on the head with the
shaft of his spear.
"OW! That hurt, you little psychopaths! What in the hells is
wrong with you two?" The demon squinted and clutched its horns. "Oh,
L-sama..." He glared at Soun. "I hope you're happy, you little turd.
Now I'm getting sober." He shook himself like a wet dog. "Oooh, I
can't believe I made out with that Golem in '02... what was I
thinking? I wish I was dead..."
"Methinks thou may yet get that wish, foul one." Soun lifted
his spear again, as the demon looked at him in bewilderment.
"Methinks? Thou? Oh, that does it. I don't care WHAT I promised
the wife, if I have to deal with freaks like you I'm going back on the
sauce." The demon groaned in agony. "You want the treasure? Take the
blasted thing. I'm only hanging onto it because it ticked off my
sister..." He shook himself again, as he faded from view. "A GOLEM?
What the hell was I on?"
**********
Genma blinked. "Sweet kamis. We just fought a demon. We nearly
got killed."
Soun blinked. "Sweet kamis! We just beat a demon!" He grabbed
Genma in a bonecrushing hug. "Saotome, my friend! We're HEROES!"
"Hey, yeah!" The two boys began an impromptu victory dance in
the middle of the clearing, as Topaz began examining the large chest
that had been left behind. It was made of iron, and in addition to
being padlocked, had been wrapped in several chains. Judging from the
moist earth covering it, it had also been buried until recently.
"Hey guys! Check this out!" Topaz pulled free a sheet of
yellowed and brittle paper. "It's a note about the treasure!"
"A note? Let me see!" Genma snatched the paper and examined
it. "A warning," he read, "to those who wouldst open this chest. That
which has been released cannot be caged again. Ye knowest not what
lays within, but this ye must be told : 'tis a curse to no man, and
eight treasures which I hold. Decide if thou will, and may the
consequences be yours."
"I don't like the way that sounds," Tomeo said cautiously.
"Maybe we should just leave it here and walk away."
"Are you nuts?" Genma crumpled the note and tossed it over his
shoulder. "It said there were eight whole treasures in here! That's
two treasures each! We'll be rich!"
"What do you think, Soun?" Topaz asked the boy as he polished
his glasses.
"Well... the note said it was a curse to no man, so I don't
see how it could harm us to take a peek." Soun shrugged. "Besides,
the family dojo has kind of been in disrepair lately. It would be nice
not to have to worry about paying the bills for once..."
"Okay, Soun's on board." Genma grinned. "What do you say,
Tomeo?"
"I don't know. I can't get my Hero badge without proof I beat
the demon, and with him gone, I can't take his head. Maybe a portion
of his treasure could convince the elders that I had done my duty."
Tomeo tilted his head from one side to the other. "Yeah, let's do it!"
"Hey!" Topaz shouted as the three men began chipping at the
trunk with rocks, snapping free the chains that had bound it. "Don't
I get a say in this? I mean, you asked everybody else : what am I?"
"Annoying!" The boys chorused, and broke off the padlock.
"Okay, gently now..." Genma groaned as the trio began to
creak open the rusty and heavy iron lid. "Don't break anything..."
"Can you see inside, Soun?"
"I think something's in there... Yeah, I definitely saw
movement..."
"Topaz, can you get a better look? And hurry : this thing is
heavy!"
The girl leaned forward and peered into the crack. "There
better not be any mice..."
"SWEETO!" A blur shot out of the trunk, latching itself onto
the girl's chest. Immediately, she began racing around in circles,
shrieking at the top of her lungs.
"EEWW! Get it off, get it off, get it off, get it off, get it-"
Tomeo sighed in disgust as the lid finally flipped open. "Oh,
great. No treasure. The stupid trunk's empty now! So much for my Hero
badge."
"-off, get it off, get it off, get it off, get-"
Genma sat down next to the dejected young man and clapped him
on the shoulder. "Hey, cheer up, Tomeo! All you have to do is find some
other force of evil, right? I mean, if you fight some other monster
and take that back to your clan, wouldn't that be just as good?"
"-off, get it off, get it off, get it-"
"Even better!" Soun added, sitting on Tomeo's other side.
"After all, everybody else only fought one monster! If you beat TWO,
they might even give you some kind of a bonus, or something!"
"-it off, get it off, get it off, get it OFF!" Topaz finally
collapsed and tried to catch her breath, her chest heaving as she
gasped for air. Perhaps not enjoying the ride, her assailant bounced
off of its perch between her bosoms and weaved away dizzily. Now that
it was moving slow enough for them to see, the three men saw that the
creature was actually a very short little bald man with a goofy grin.
He was dressed in a gi, and carried a pipe in his wizened little hand.
"Howdy!" He cackled. "Are you the guys that let me loose?"
"Uh-huh," the boys chorused.
"Sweet! I... am Happosai!"
After a moment of silence, Tomeo raised his hand. "Uhm... is
that supposed to mean something to us?"
"Happosai! HAPPOSAI! The greatest master of the most
ultimate fighting style the world has ever known! The creator of the
Anything-Goes School of Martial Arts!" The little man was hopping
up and down, twirling his pipe in circles as he shouted. "Isn't this
ringing ANY bells?"
The boys shook their heads.
"Well, just to show you I'm grateful for you beating that
demon and freeing me, and because you look like good kids, I'm going
to take you four on as apprentices!" Happosai looked Topaz over
clinically. "After all, slim pickings is better than none, I always
say!"
**********
Ranma sighed. "So THAT'S how they met the old perv. Goes to
figure, I suppose."
Akane shuddered. "I can kind of sympathize with Topaz, whoever
she really was. Do you remember the first time YOU got glomped by
Happosai?"
Ranma shivered. "Yeah, that's pretty gruesome."
Kasumi breezed back into the room, carrying a tray with the
filled cups and bowls on it. "Dinner!" She sang merrily, and smiled.
"I set an extra place for your friend in the corner."
"Really?" The chair stood up and walked over. "That's awful
nice of you, Kasumi!"
"Hey, Tsubasa!" Ranma asked as he grabbed his bowl and
chopsticks. "How come you're over here, anyways? You get lost looking
for Ucchan's?"
"Er... I can't remember anymore." Tsubasa shucked off the chair
disguise and grabbed a pair of chopsticks himself. He had a bit of a
dilemna : his darling Ukyo had asked him to spy on Ranma and Akane, and
make sure they weren't up to something. He COULD tell her it was
perfectly innocent, and go back to being part of the scenery...
A strange light gleamed in his eyes. OR... he could make something up,
and maybe he could catch her on the rebound! But that might cause
trouble, and when everybody found out -because they almost definitely
WOULD- he'd probably get hurt.
He'd just say he couldn't get close enough to hear what was
going on, he decided. Then Ukyo would have to keep being nice to him
so he would spy for her. And eventually, she was sure to see that he
was SO much better than Ranma, and they'd run off together...
"Well," Akane said after sipping at her soup, "we're almost
done Dad's journal and we still don't have any clues about where they
went. Do you think maybe there's more of these books?"
"Oh yes," Kasumi said pleasantly. "Father had a great many of
these journals... although I'm not certain where they might be."
"They gotta around here somewhere," Ranma said, "and once
we finish eatin' I say we turn this house upside down until we find
'em!"
TO BE CONTINUED...