Wow, it's been awhile since I posted.
Just wanted to let people know I'm not
dead (surprising how many e-mails I got
about that) and that work is progressing on
the Private Bets.
Latest parts so far:
PB #10 20% complete
PB #13 15%
PB #2 15%
PB #8 5%
PB #7 10%
PB #12 (stone by Gregg Sharp) 15%
Now on with the show!
~~~~~~~
-PB #13, Part 2
He shivered again. Why did he feel like the
jaws of inescapable doom were closing in on him?
Admittedly, there were already problems like the Kunos,
the school's Horde-o-Morons, the occasional Dojo Destroyer,
and the fact that his parents were a couple of complete perverts.
But this was a whole new dimension of headaches.
"Fiancees. Why did it have to be fiancees?! The old man
just *had* to pull this rabbit out of his hat. Is a little
peace and quiet for once really too much to ask for?!"
Ranma sighed in frustration. All that he had ever wanted was
a normal life. But instead what he got was chaos, weirdness,
and a bunch of kooky eccentric relatives that threatened to
drive him completely crazy. And then there was this
"manliness" shtick his mother insisted on.
"What's the big deal with kissing and stuff anyway? Mom
keeps encouraging me to do that kind of thing, but it
just seems so strange and *messy*. It doesn't help any
that Mom and Dad make out like crazed weasels all the
time either. *Shudder* Parents aren't supposed to do
that kind of stuff in front of their kids! And they
*wonder* why I don't bring my friends over more often."
As he sank deeper into the bath and tried to forget
his worries for a few precious moments Ranma had
one comforting thought. It would turn out to be the
last one he'd have for a *very* long time
{Well, at least things can't get any worse.}
~~~~~~
Outside, as if the Universe had decided to answer
that blatent challenge, two battling figures
appeared in front of the stunned Nodoka and
the groaning Nabiki.
"I can't believe I'm related to them. The
doctors *must* have made a mistake, my
real family can't be anything like this!"
(...*Snip*)
~~~~~
"Whoa! That's gotta be the *ugliest* looking gorilla I've ever seen!"
*WHAM*
"ouch...*thump*"
Down Ranma went.
"Auuoogaa! Ooo! Oo!"
*MEGA-CRUSH*
"Aoou-*splat*"
Instant gorilla pancake.
Nodoka reluctantly put away her 100-ton iron mallet.
Her husband tended to cringe in abject fear whenever
she brought it out. While that was nice when she
wanted him to do the dishes, it was embarrassing when
they had company present. But NOBODY hurt her manly son
and got away with it!
Nabiki looked thoughtful for a moment,
but then just shrugged her slender shoulders.
"Well....she did have that one coming."
~~~~
*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*
-PB #10
~~~~~~~~
"This is Go Takarada of Action 5 news,
coming to you live from Juuban's
commercial district where the
Sailor Senshi have just blown
up an entire city block!!"
Upon seeing his chances for fame and fortune go
up with a bang, Takarada was naturally more then
a little upset. His dreams of an early retirement
had vanished when that Sailor Senshi had blasted
his story to kingdom come.
"Only moments ago a battle was being fought between
the Sailor Senshi and a mysterious armored figure
who had saved them earlier from a horde of evil
youma. But the reason behind their sudden attack
against their rescuer is a mystery, could it be
that they're afraid of a little competition?!"
{Goddamnit! So much for my "Knight Hawk" exclusive!!
Maybe I can play up the fact that the Senshi are
responsible for all of this destruction. That's sure
to make at least the six o'clock news.}
Nothing could have survived that blast.
And since he was a pragmatic sort...
"Or have these so called Defenders of Justice finally
turned to the Dark side? We will continue to
cover this alarming situation of "Magical Girls Gone Rogue"
with further updates to follow!"
Scruples and Takarada were like oil and water.
And his cliches *sucked*.
Meanwhile his assistant continued to keep the camera
rolling, not noticing that a stray bit of shrapnel had
killed the transmitter beaming the signal to the station.
Perhaps it was better that way.
~~~~
The Inners could only stare as the settling
cloud of dust and rubble started to reveal a scene
of total devastation. While ground zero was still
shrouded from view, what they could see wasn't very
encouraging. Pluto's attack had left nothing but
rubble in its wake, every structure in the blast
zone had been completely totaled.
Apparently the Senshi of Time had never
heard of a little thing called "overkill".
Shock set in.
It started as a pulling emptiness in the pit of the
stomach followed by a glazed over look in the eyes
of those who had seen their hopes raised and then
cruelly shattered. There were no tears, not yet at
any rate. It had all happened too fast, their minds
just couldn't accept what they had just seen.
So for now, a blessed numbness settled over them.
~~~~
It was times like this that made Urd wish
she was allowed to curse. Even at her most
vindictive she had only wanted to teach that
impudent jerk a lesson, not kill him.
"Mara's going to pay for this."
What a waste. Come to think of it,
that guy hadn't been really that bad.
He probably hadn't meant to grab her like
that and he *had* been trying to protect her
(no matter how misguided that protection might have been).
"I think there's someone still alive in there!"
An excited cry from her left derailed the goddess's train of thought.
"Huh?!"
Urd stared at her younger sister and the strange device
that she'd produced out of (their) Father only knew where.
"Skuld..when did you-? How-? He's still-? What?!"
"It's pretty faint, but I'm definitely getting a
life force reading. There wasn't anyone else
there when it blew, so it's gotta be him!"
"Before you start celebrating sis, you might want
to think about *them*."
Urd gestured toward a exhausted looking Pluto and
the struggling Uranus and Neptune.
"Oh...right."
Her cheery expression dampened slightly upon being
reminded about the precariousness of the present situation.
"Relax, just leave everything to your big sister."
Skuld's complexion turned blue upon hearing that dreaded statement.
"Now I'm worried."
(...*shnippity snip*)
~~~~~~
Sailor Pluto slowly sank to her knees in exhaustion,
without the Time Staff as a support she would have collapsed
totally. Her reserves had been virtually depleted by the
enormous energy requirements of the "Chrono Trigger" technique.
She hadn't used this attack in almost a thousand years,
because it reminded her of...Ran. Even a millenia later
her memories of him remained dark and bitter. She hated him
more then anything in the Universe, there were simply no
adequate words capable of describing the sheer burning rage
she felt whenever she remembered the man who had gained her
trust, stolen her heart, and then cruelly betrayed her.
(*Snip*)
~~~~
*CRASH*
"What was that?!"
"It came from over there!"
The Inners snapped out of their
trance-like states as if awakening
from a bad dream, right now they
were willing to grasp at any straw
of hope no matter how slim it was.
"Can you see anything?!"
"No, there's too much dust!"
"If he's hurt *I* get to nurse him back to health!"
"In your dreams Venus! He'd be in
even worse shape afterwards!"
"You're one to talk, Jupiter! As I recall you
*flunked* First Aid training!"
"Um, guys we have to *find* him first. Besides,
I'm studying to be a doctor anyway..."
"Hey! I have dibs!!"
"No, I do!!"
~~~~~~
The Universe had an unwritten law concerning Ranma Saotome
that was similar in nature to the one it had concerning a
certain blonde Galaxy Police detective. Although the wording
of that law was quite long and tedious, what it boiled down to
was "The given odds for any event happening are no longer
applicable when said individual is involved".
Case in point. Having already sustained considerable damage
to his person from Sailor Pluto's attack, Ranma was now
practically helpless and it looked more and more likely that
he would wind up being fussed over by pretty girls yet *again*.
That had happened a lot back in the Three Galaxies and on
Rifts Earth...and Wormwood...and the Forgotten Realms...
and ...and...well, you get the idea.
(*Snip*)
~~~~~
Ranma's body jerked backwards in agony as
the razor sharp stem sunk deeply into his
already weakened flesh just past his
collar bone.
{SONAVABITCH!! I should have kicked his ass when I had the chance!!}
It felt like he'd just been hit by a Hyper Grav-Cannon round,
flashes of white briefly obscured the badly wounded Knight's
vision as his sorely taxed body fought a losing battle to
stay upright and conscious.
"Some...vacation...this is..."
Ranma teetered, then he slowly started to collapse.
(*Snip*)
~~~~~~~
-China, The Amazon Village
"<Elder, come quick! You have to see this!>"
Cologne blinked. After 300 years
there weren't much left capable of
surprising her.
This was one of those memorable moments.
The video feed was shaky and of poor
quality due to interference from the
surrounding mountains but the image
was unmistakable.
"<The Rising Dragon Ascension?!>"
HOW had this person gotten his hands on such
an advanced Amazon special technique?!
Only the village elders were supposed to know about
them, and even then the techniques were so difficult to
master that of the entire village only Cologne and a few
others were able to use them anymore.
This situation required further investigation.....
(More to come....)
*$*$*$*$*
-Shade
Holy Knight of Mihoshi
Ranger of the Crossover Fiancees
"Plan ahead for any situation. And when that doesn't work; Improvise!"
-Captain Ranma Saotome (Private Bet #10)
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