And this one was released on last winter. *SIGH*
I wish I could write faster...
=====
V V GGGG A PPPP
V V G A A P P Contact at:
V V G GGG AAAAA PPPP vg_ap@hotmail.com
V V G G A A P vg_ap@yahoo.com
V GGGG A A P
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Kick off your party with Yahoo! Invites.
http://invites.yahoo.com/
-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: mmmm2.txt
-- Desc: mmmm2.txt
RANMA 1/2 & SAILOR MOON
MOON MARTIAL MARITAL MELEE
BY VGAP
I know that a lot of you must be tired of usual disclaimers, but
nevertheless I somehow feel obliged to say it...... *DEEP BREATH* This
story was not meant for a profit. All the characters belong to
respective owners. This was written without anybody's permission, but
the author claims no responsibility nor copyright. This can be
distributed freely, but it is not to be used outside of nonprofittable
entertainment. There, you can all unplug your ears now.....
Comments would be appreciated. Criticism will be praised.
Ignorance awaits flames. Letter bombs will be returned. If you send me
cash, checks, or your credit card number, I will worship you! I can
be reached at <vg_ap@hotmail.com>. Or just visit my homepage at
<http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/thunder/181/index.html>.
Once apon a time, an aspiring author called Metroanime introduced
an innovative concept of writing various alternate universe fanfics.
Basically, a feline immortal sponsored a competition appropriately named
'The Bet'. The premise was simple; create a most dramatic change in a
timeline with least necessary interference. Gods, demons and other
powerful races were the competents. The winner would receive an enormous
power as well as a right to continue the timeline he/she/it/they
created.
Though most submissions were by Metroanime, several authors
found the concept to be profoundly entertaining, and either made a
submission of their own or offered to continue timelines that were
unfortunately not the victor. I am the former, and I made a last-minute
addition to 'The Bet'. It was simply intended to be a work of whim; a
whim which I had no intention to devote further effort. Alas, surprising
numbers of requests to continue it piled in my e-mail account, including
one from Metroanime himself. Encouraged by positive reactions, I have
decided to make it a series.
And now, without further procrastination, I humbly present
Moon Martial Marital Melee. Please enjoy!
Chapter 2:
"Do you smell what Dark Kingdom is cookin'?"
A cavern, existing before the call of time. Never touched by the
blessed fingers of sunlight, illuminated instead by glowing mosses that
grew on every wall. This was where he crouched, his right knee extended
to front and supporting his hands.
He was a man, a no ordinary man. Not for his regal blond hair or
strikingly sharp face, but rather for whom he was working for. The one
he had pledged eternal loyalty, and to fight till his last drop of blood
left his body.
"Report." The voice that spoke to him rang around the cavern,
reflected by whatever surface that was available. It was a suitable
effect for authority the speaker possessed.
He took a moment to wet his lips before speaking. "My queen, the
result of investigation has been nothing new. However, a miniscule
complication arose in my other assignment. For an unidentified reason,
my subject failed not only in her mission, but to return as well. With
your permission, I would investigate this matter while simultaneously
restarting the hunt for energy."
"Make it so." With that flat, emotionless answer, his mistress
erased her presence from his senses, marking the end of audition between
Jadiete and Queen Beryl.
########################################################################
Morning in Tsukino household is rather hectic. At 6:30 a.m. the
eldest son starts his daily exercises, ranging from jogging to katas.
An hour later, Kenji Tsukino leaves to his dreary work as a
non-extraordinary salaried-man. Another half-hour spent, and the
brothers would pass by as the younger left and the older went in to
awake their sister, which was no easy task. Ikuko would be serving the
breakfast to her children, who, in truth, resembled a pack of piranha as
they consumed ridiculous amount of food in an amazingly short period of
time before running to their respective education facilities.
However, today the said piranhas were walking at a leisurely pace,
having some time for a change. To make the situation even more unusual,
they were not arguing, as both of them had been known to do often in
presence of each other.
Given the events which occured the day before, Usagi felt they
deserved peace for a change.
"Big brother?"
"What?" Ranma didn't turn to her.
"Um... you know..."
"No, I don't."
"Well... What are you going to do about your, uh, real father?"
Usagi hoped that the old saying of curiousity killing a cat wasn't true.
As it was, Ranma gave her an annoyed look. "What would YOU do if
you were in my shoes?"
"Uh... I don't know?"
"Exactly." He sighed. "How the hell am I supposed to deal with a
father whose, from the indications I got from dad and mom, wife ran away
from?"
"Well... I'm not a martial artist like you," Usagi admitted, "so
I don't really know if his attempt to take you onto training journey
to make you a great fighter and all that is considered to be good."
"To be perfectly honest? I WOULD be a much better fighter than I
am if I trained and did little else." Ranma said. "But is that worth
never settling down, not getting education, and not knowing my mother?"
"No way!" Usagi shuddered to think of a life without home,
friends, and family. Okay, so she could do without school, but you had
to take good with bad.
"I would probably say the same thing. But I have the feeling that
Mr. Saotome isn't going to just let me be."
Usagi noted that Ranma was still referring to her parents as his
own and his real father as a stranger. A good sign? "How so?"
"For starters...?" Ranma abruptly stopped speaking as the Juuban
Middle came into view. Usagi followed his line of vision, and saw two
girls in sailor-fuku (different from her own) standing before the gate.
One had a short brown hair cut in a uniform length to form a helmet-like
hairstyle, while the other had a longer blue hair tyed by a ribbon at
middle of her back.
Usagi blinked as one of them waved and started to approach them.
"Isn't that, whatshisnameohyeah Mr. Tendo's daughters? Your fiancees?"
"Usagi, I am NOT engaged, and I won't be, if I have anything to
say about it." Which I might not, he added to himself.
Nabiki smiled, turning on her full charm. "Good morning, Ranma!"
"Good morning." Ranma, long used to receiving adoring looks from
girls around his age, wasn't so easily smitten.
Akane spoke this time, in somewhat annoyed tone, "Where's the high
school you go to?"
"About 4 blocks southwest from here." Ranma answered, a bit taken
back with the sudden change in subject.
"Hey, how come you two are here anyway?" Usagi asked.
Akane answered grumpily, "Because dad and Mr. Saotome decided to
move here, so that they 'have better chance of fulfilling the family
pledge'."
"What... you have to be kidding!" Ranma at least HOPED that she
was kidding. If his father was so determined to get him back...
"Trust me, I wish I were." Akane grumbled.
Nabiki suddenly grabbed Ranma's right arm, startling everybody
else. "So that means that you can guide us to your school, Ranma.
Shouldn't we go before we're late?"
"You mean you are registered already?" Usagi stared.
"My dear little Usagi, why do you think we're wearing uniforms?"
Nabiki asked with obvious amusement. "It's easy enough, if you have the
right connections."
Usagi was about to speak again (to ask what kind of connections
she meant) when Akane growled, "Stop flirting already, you perverts!
I don't want to be late on my first day!"
Ranma frowned and thought of making a smart remark, but decided
against it, not in mood for an argument. He bid his sister goodbye and
started leading the Tendo sisters, Nabiki still hanging on his arm.
*This is going to be a long day.*
########################################################################
Usagi watched her brother go, flanked by one aggressive girl and
one irritated girl. A week ago, she would have thought nothing of it.
But this time, there was a good chance of one of them becoming her
sister-in-law. Usagi wasn't expert on the code of honor of martial arts,
but she did know that it valued stereotypical ideas, such as an
uttermost respect to your elders.
So what would Ranma do? This was the first time his honor had been
challenged in such a complicated way. Would he follow his real father's
wishes, and marry one of Tendo sisters? Or would he dare to defy family
honor of Saotomes? It sounded romantic and ridiculous to her at the
same time.
Despite his extraordinary popularity with opposite sex, Ranma
wasn't an expert of romance by any stretch of imagination. He did go
out on a few dates, just for curiousity's sake (or so he claimed), but
there never really existed any long-term relationships to speak of. Now
he was being forced into one, or maybe two or even three. It would have
been an entertaining spectacle, had she been an unrelated spectator.
Suddenly her brother's life had turned into what looked like a beginning
of a shounen manga.
And, she thought as she stepped into her homeroom, speaking of
mangas...
"And then I was about to be killed, when that sailorsuited heroine
appeared!" Naru exclaimed to her friends, who looked skeptical to say
the least. "I shouldn't have fainted then; I wanted to see her
identity!"
"You must have been dreaming or something..." Kuri offered, doubt
written all over her face.
"I tell you, it's true! It really happenned!"
Yes, her life was starting to resemble that of a shoujo manga too.
########################################################################
"YOU PERVERT!!"
POW!!
Ranma looked up from his lunchbox, startled to see one of his
classmates knocked out cold, leaning against a wall. His eyes then
wandered over to Akane's fist, which was sticking out at that direction.
The boys who had been flocking Akane's desk quickly took cover,
their earlier mission forgotten. She wordlessly stalked out of the
classroom, looking like a goddess of fury.
With a very impressive battle aura; this got Ranma's interest,
causing him to follow her out. He found her on the hallway, looking like
she wanted to punch the world away. "Akane?"
He took a step back when she whirled to his direction, a decidedly
unfriendly expression on her face. "WHAT!?"
Ranma may have been momentarily taken back by her behavior, but
nobody could call him a coward. He wasn't a saint, either, and was
starting to reach his limit as he snarled back, "What's with you? You
have been in bad mood since morning, and now you go around punching
my classmate and expect to get away with it?"
Akane wasn't intimidated in the least bit; instead, she seemed to
be even more inflamed with anger. "You're just a BOY! Why should I
listen to a pervert like you!?"
"Oh, I'm a pervert now, huh? Excuse me, Ms. Psycho!"
"I WILL MAKE YOU EAT THOSE WORDS!!"
Akane rushed in, faster than Ranma had been expecting. He blocked
the first punch, but was unable to do so for her following kick that hit
him cleanly in chest, falling on his back.
Ignoring the stinging on his torso, he stood up and glared anew at
Akane. "Okay, now you have done it! Come to Karate clubroom after
school, and we will settle this, Akane Tendo."
Akane smiled in a grim fashion, scaring the students who had been
watching the scuffle develop. "Right, I don't want a detention on my
first day. Prepare yourself a grave, SAOTOME."
Ranma flushed red, opening and closing his mouth repeatedly, no
sound coming out of it. Akane went back into class, the students opening
a path for her.
Ranma was still trying to calm down when he noticed Nabiki
approaching him with a smirk. "My little sister got you good, huh?"
Ranma tried to keep a hold on his temper. "Is she from an extreme
feminist group or something?"
"Not quite. She just believes that every men in the world want to
ravage her at the earliest opportunity." Nabiki snickered. "So, think
you can take her on, Ranma?"
Ranma rubbed his chest, trying to relieve the lingering soreness.
"She's got a mean kick, I will give her that. But I'm not a captain of
a club for nothing."
Nabiki just snickered some more and walked away, pleased with the
turn of events. Now all she needed to do was decide on odds.
########################################################################
The automatic door opened, and one Soun Tendo stepped inside.
He was greeted by a young woman over the counter, who smiled politely
at him. "Good afternoon, and welcome to DK Reality. Are you looking for
a house?"
"Yes, I heard you are currently doing a special on rents. May I
see a catalogue?" Soun answered.
When the clerk handed him something that resembled a phonebook
rather than a thin magazine, Soun started sweating. This was not what
he had been expecting. "Uh... How many items are on this?"
"Sorry, I never bothered to count." She shrugged, and gestured
toward the numerous sofas in the office. "Please take your time. I'm
sure you will find something you like."
*I'm going to be stuck here for a while.* Soun thought as he sat
around. He noticed that he was the only customer in the store, shrugged,
and started the monotonous task of flipping the pages.
Had he searched around the place, he might have discovered the
semi-unconscious people piled in the adjacent room. For that matter, if
he was more skilled in the usage of ki, he would have felt the mystical
catalogue slowly draining away his energy.
########################################################################
At 4:00, Juuban Middle ended per usual, releasing a horde of
teenagers ready to hit the town. Usagi was among the top of them, eager
to check out the latest issue of Shoujo Sunday. Naturally, she was quite
annoyed when a certain black cat beckoned her into a secluded alley.
"What now? Can't you see I'm busy?" Usagi said, with more than a
hint of annoyance.
"I don't see you doing anything at the moment." Luna countered.
"I mean that I want to go have some fun, you silly cat."
"Don't you think that safety of neighborhood and future of the
world are more important than your desire for leisure activities?"
"Not if it means that I have to do something as dangerous as what
I did yesterday!" Usagi all but screeched, remembering the horrors she
went through. "I don't want to deal with any more monsters!"
"Okay, fine."
"I don't care if it's my duty, I... what?!" Usagi finally noticed
that Luna's answer was NOT what she expected.
The small, black cat turned away, projecting air of dejection.
"I mean, it's not like important things are at stake. At worst there are
going to be a few casualities every time those things attack. Eventually
they will become powerful enough to place the world in jeopardy." Luna
sniffled sadly. "I guess I shouldn't bother you for such trivial
matters."
This had the desired effect on Usagi. Flaws she may posess, but
she had a naturally big heart, and was prone to guilt attacks quite
easily. "Wait, wait! I take that back! If I'm the only one who can do
it, then I'll do it!"
Luna turned around with a big smile. "You will? Good."
Usagi stared at her feline partner. "That was just an act,
wasn't it?"
"Of course."
This time, it was Usagi's turn to sigh with annoyance. "Do you at
least know who I have to fight against?"
"I have my suspicions, but it's too early to pinpoint on one."
Luna half-lied. "At the moment, what we need to do is keep a lookout
for suspicious events and search for our allies, as well as the princess
whom we must protect at all cost."
"Allies? What kind of allies? Is Tuxedo Kamen my ally, too? What
about Sailor V?" Usagi asked rapidly.
"I'm not certain at the moment. I have no idea who Tuxedo Kamen
is, and I don't know about Sailor V, either."
The novice superheroine slumped in disappointment. "Then we have
no clue at all?"
"I'm afraid so. I will be doing my best to search for any piece of
information, but in the meantime, you must protect the people of this
town."
"Okay, now that that's done with, can I go and play now?"
"No. There is something I want to check out with you."
Usagi growled in frustration. She was starting to really hate this
job.
########################################################################
At roughly the same time, Juuban High Karate club was packed with
audience. They ranged from girls who wanted the school idol to beat up
the violent newcomer who was getting more than half of male students'
attention to jealous boys who wanted to see the same idol humiliated.
Neither of the contestants were happy about this. Nor were they
happy with the odds Nabiki had set; 1 to 1, to be exact.
Akane resolved to talk to Nabiki later, though she doubted it
would have any sort of constructive result. Right now, she was too busy
glaring death at the boy who had dared to challenge her. Ranma was doing
more or less of the same thing, although his intention was less
murderous.
"Ready to get a lesson in humility?" Ranma taunted, as was his
wont.
"That's MY line, you arrogant pervert." Akane hissed back.
Ranma grit his teeth. "I don't know why your view of a
heterosexual relationship is so screwed, and I don't really care to
know. I DO know, however, that I'm going to stop you from rampaging
around the school one way or another."
"Stop yakking and start fighting, you two!" Nabiki shouted from
the sidelines. "You have an audience to entertain!"
Akane glared at Nabiki one final time before charging at Ranma,
a fierce battle cry escaping her lips. Her dash punch was deftly parried
by Ranma, but she pressed on with a knee kick. He backstepped away,
putting a short distance between them.
Akane hopped forward, attacking with a descending axe kick. Ranma
blocked it with crossed arms, withdrawing slightly from the impact.
Akane persued with a quick side kick, which he managed to sidestep away
from.
Nabiki frowned. She had collected much data about Ranma's skill
from the rumor mill, and if they proved to be correct (which was likely,
according to her hunches), her little sister was playing right into
his hands.
Akane was a windmill of attacks as she sent punches and kicks,
frustrated at her lack of success. Ranma blocked, parried, and dodged
all of them, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly. This continued on for
a while, Akane doing her best to beat him into a bloody pulp to no
avail. She fell back for a moment, breathing heavily and snarling,
"What's the matter with you!? Scared to hit a girl?"
Ranma scowled, but instead of saying anything, just beckoned her
toward him with his hand. Akane, angered into insensibility, ran
forward and jumped high, nearly to the ceiling, and kicked downward with
all her might. Ranma rolled forward, Akane's foot missing him by inches,
stopped his momentum with his hands, and extended his foot up and
backwards. The kick connected solidly on the back of Akane's neck. She
slumped forward without so much as a whimper.
Nabiki groaned mentally. Most of the student body had bet on
Ranma, and her total loss was going to be quite an amount. It dented not
only her reserves but pride as well, as she hadn't lost money for quite
a while. *Next time, I'm going to do more research before setting the
odds.* She thought. *I have seriously underestimated Ranma.*
Her mood brightened considerably as she gazed at the winner
walking out of the clubroom. *Already on day one, you beat both my
sister and me. You're quite a prize, Ranma Tsukino. Looks like I'm going
to have much fun with you.* Feeling better about her mistake, she turned
to the ecstastic gamblers and started handing out money. Better this way
for future dealings, she rationalized.
########################################################################
For him, it felt like he was slipping in and out of a vague dream.
His soul was buried until now, being dug out painfully slowly. He still
felt half-buried, for he could hardly think. But he could feel. Feel his
desire for... Something that he could not think of.
Suddenly he felt HER, on the edge of his mind, drawing him like a
magnet, no, a black hole. He needed to go to her. For what purpose, he
didn't know, but there was a faint hope that she could sate this
massive need. Using every bit of common sense he could master, he
checked his surrounding, barely making sure that he was secluded before
taking to rooftops.
########################################################################
"So where's this place that you want to check out?" Usagi asked
her advisor. To say that she was not completely trusting of the black
cat's abilities would have been an understatement.
"Right here." Luna pointed with her paw toward an ordinary-looking
building.
Usagi stared at the signboard reading 'DK Reality' for exactly
three seconds before looking at Luna in a funny manner. "Don't tell me
you're interested in buying a house. Do you even have any money?"
Luna humphed. "Don't be ridiculous. This morning, I detected some
unidentifiable energy reading from somewhere around here."
"In a real estate office? Aren't you short of a few whiskers?"
"To quote Sherlock Holmes, 'the most bizarre can exist in the most
ordinary.'"
"How do you know all this anyway? How did you get that energy
reading thingie?"
Luna grinned and wiggled a paw. "That... is a secret."
Unfortunately for her, Usagi decided that she would make a much
better Gourry than Xellos because she wanted to play 'Lina chokes the
stupid swordman.' It was when Luna (the cat, not the sorceress) started
turning blue that a barely audible moan escaped from aforementioned
office. Putting aside their squabble for a moment, the dubious duo
proceeded into the place.
They were treated with a strange spectacle; a woman who appeared
to be a clerk was dragging a swooned middle-aged man in a brown gi. She
was so occupied with the task that she hadn't noticed the schoolgirl
and her pet who just came in.
Usagi blinked (making the obligatory "squeak" sound), trying to
remember where she had seen the man before and figure out what was going
on at the same time. Her brain wasn't running fast enough to solve both
mysteries at once, and so she just stood still.
Meanwhile, Luna had been trying to get her owner's attention to
no avail. She finally resorted to scratching Usagi's feet; her reward
was a scream, a short leap, and a skirted bottom on her back as Usagi
came crashing down.
The sales clerk dropped her carriage in surprise, finally noticing
the schoolgirl and cat in her office. "You! What are you doing here?"
Usagi stopped rubbing her bottom, and chuckled weakly. "Uh...
Well... You see..."
"She's it!" A slightly flatter-looking Luna pointed an accusative
paw to the clerk. "She's the source of unnatural energy reading I
found!"
Usagi would have replied in something along the lines of "Huh?",
except that the clerk suddenly looked very alarmed.
"So... You figured out my secret!" The woman growled, her voice
changing as her form blurred into something that looked like a zombie
out of a third-rate horror movie. "You shall not leave here alive!"
Her (if the feminine pronoun still applied) skin turned gray and rough,
facial features melting away into an inhumane shape with caved eyes and
squashed nose. Sharp-looking claws emerged from her hands as well as her
feet.
Usagi panicked momentarily before remembering that she WAS
supposed to be the champion of justice, and that it was her duty to
fight that thing. "Moon Prism Power! Make-up!"
Accompanied by a bright flash of light, a rainbow-colored
silhouette, a sparkling glow, and other obligatory special effects,
Usagi felt the indescribable sensation of her body being fused with
energy, reformed into the very best of its form and condition. Once
the seemingly-long transformation finished, Usagi posed in what she
thought as a dramatic manner. "Houses are sources of comfort and
security for everyone! They are not meant to be a bait for a harmful
purpose! In the name of moon, I will punish you!"
Just as she had finished her speech, about a dozen people emerged
from the backroom. They moved like marionettes, their faces blue and
eyes lacking pupils. The monster laughed hideously, gesturing with her
hands and shouting triumphantly, "Go, my faithful slaves! Get rid of
this annoying pest!"
Moon paused, not sure of what to do. Sure, she had her tiara
attack, but killing innocents who were being manipulated did not pass go
in her book. "Uh, Luna, is tactical retreat an option?"
"No! Don't even think about it!" Luna hissed back angrily.
Usagi stared at her advisor for a moment, then turned back to the
swarm of humans slowly closing in on her. "Then what am I supposed to
do?! formally clad hero gripped his pole like a nightstick,
and blocked the attacks as they were thrown one after another by the
brainwashed martial artist.
Luna cried, "Now is our chance!", causing Sailor Moon to remember
that she was not an audience but one of the participants in this event.
"Do it, Sailor Moon!"
Moon took off her tiara and wound up in a frisbee-throw, yelling
out "Moon Tiara Action!" just as her weapon left her hands.
The monster had been busy yelling orders and insults to her sole
remaining pawn, and did not notice her incoming doom until it devided
her in two. She did not even have time to scream before her body
disintegrated into dust. With nobody to direct him, Soun collapsed back
into his comatose state.
Sailor Moon saw Tuxedo Kamen leap back on to window, looking none
the worse for wear. "Tuxedo Kamen-sama! Please wait!"
Said masked figure spared a glance and a smirk at her. "I must
bid farewell for now. But this will not be our last encounter, Sailor
Moon." He didn't wait for her to respond, simply disappearing and
leaving a girl with starry gaze behind.
"Good job, Usagi, now let's get out of..." Luna stopped talking
when she realized the futility of the action; Moon's eyes were glazed
over as she mumbled to herself how she and the caped man were fated
together. The black cat instead chose to simply pull her partner out of
the place, trying to ignore Sailor Moon's incessant babbling about how
well-proportioned her savior was. *Someone give this girl a brain...
And take out her hormones.*
########################################################################
The crystal ball went blank, the image dying down at the same time
the monster, which had served as a camera in a sense. Jadeite frowned,
watching as the collected energy dispersed back into the humans,
presuambly restoring their health to normal. He had witnessed the
abilities of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen, and was confident that they
wouldn't be much to deal with. But he had to report another failure, as
well as loss of a subordinate, to his queen. He wasn't looking forward
to such an occasion, especially considering how his colleagues were
having success with their respective assignments.
He didn't know who Sailor Moon was, or what her objective was.
But he would make certain that she would regret crossing a general of
the Dark Kingdom.
########################################################################
Ikuko opened the door, somewhat surprised when she saw the younger
two of Tendo sisters. "Oh, uh, good morning. Can I help you?"
Nabiki smiled in a predatory, but oddly pleasant, manner. "Good
morning! I just wanted to walk with Ranma to the school."
Ikuko was no fool when it came to teenage romances, and she was
able to intention of the girl in front of her without any difficulty.
*I don't like her father and his friend, but I guess I shouldn't hold it
against her. Ranma really should be going out more, anyway.* "Okay, just
a moment."
A few minutes later, the varied quartet was on the road, the
youngest still nibbling on a piece of toast. Ranma looked a little
nervous of Nabiki happily holding onto his arm. Akane looked even more
grumpy than she did yesterday.
Recalling what she saw yesterday, Usagi casually asked "So did
your dad have any luck at finding a house?", already knowing the answer
to that question; she was able to mentally identify Soun after the
incident.
Nabiki's positive mood was noticably dampened. "Daddy had a faint
spell while browsing through a catalogue, if you can believe that. He
can be such a wimp sometimes. A lot of times, actually." She snorted.
"So for now, we're commuting via trains from Nerima to Juuban."
"Hold it a second." Ranma asked. "Doesn't... Mr. Saotome... have
a house of his own? When him and I used to live together?"
"Yeah, a nice little dojo in this district, quite close to here in
fact." Nabiki answered. "He doesn't stay there long though. It might be
that the house reminds him of Mrs. Saotome, but I doubt it."
"So why aren't you living there, at least temporarily?"
A dog barked from a nearby house.
Crickets chirped.
A motorcycle and its rider 'brrrrrmmm'ed past them.
"You... never thought of it?" Usagi asked at length.
Nabiki slapped her forehead and moaned. "I can't believe I missed
that..." *Guess this engagement stuff is dulling my edge.*
Akane just grumbled.
"I could have saved time and money from that... Argh!" Nabiki's
good mood was completely ruined now. But as a businesswoman, she knew
when to cut her losses and stop worrying about it. "Speaking of Mr.
Saotome, Ranma..."
Ranma decided that he didn't like her tone of voice. It sounded
like some sort of a bad news.
Author's notes: Well, well, well... Last time, it took me 7 months just
to rewrite chapter 1. Now, it took me 5 months to write chapter 2 from
scratch. Am I improving, at least a little? I'm sorry to keep everyone
(who wanted to read this, that is) waiting, but I'm a gamer foremost,
and anime is my second priority. All I can do is try to better myself,
and how many times have you seen THAT line before ^_^;?
Some of my pre-readers expressed various doubts about this Ranma's
ability, saying that even without that fateful training trip, he should
still be able to stomp Akane flat easily. I agree completely, but Ranma
always struck me as a defensive fighter, at least more so than other
characters. This version of Ranma, having had a fulfilling life than in
original, is even less agressive in his style, and thus places heavy
emphasis on defense and counter. Also note that since his primary style
is karate (which, admittedly, I know next to nothing about), he can't
be as unpredictable as in canon and so is not as good in offense. That's
why the fight between him and Akane lasted longer than expected, even
though his victory was assured. Of course, all of this can change in
future chapters...
If you don't agree with me, well, here's how I view R1/2
characters' relative strength in RPG-level:
|50 Cologne, Rouge (Ashura)
| Herb
| Happosai
|
|
|40 monster-Taro
|
| Ryu (no, not of SF...)
|
|
|30 human-Taro
|
| Genma
|
|
|20 Ranma at beginning, Mousse
|
| Ryoga at beginning, Soun
|
|
|10 Shampoo
| Ukyo
| Kodachi
| Akane, Kuno
|
|0 Put in any non-fighter character here
________________________________________________________________________
I think it's safe to say that Ranma (no other character, not even
Ryoga, improves as fast as he does) gain a level per volume, yes? The
reason why I rate Ranma so high is because he rarely goes all-out; he
doesn't use Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken or Hiryu Shoutenha when Taro shows
up, Ryoga learns Shi Shi Hokodan, or Ryu shows up with Yamasenken... But
when he DOES use these techniques, he is able to beat powerful opponents
such as Happosai, Herb, and, of course, Saffron.
If I still can't convince you, well, that's your problem. I THINK
I'm being fair and most people would agree with it, so I'm going to
write it this way. So suck on that, heh ^_^;.
Okay, the purpose of this ranting was to place Ranma of MMMM in
this scale, and I think he would be just slightly above Shampoo. Again,
that probably will change in future chapters. And don't start up on
"Ranma doesn't hit girls" issue; he DOES hit girls when it's necesseary,
he just doesn't like doing it. And that's speaking of canon Ranma, and
this one isn't so reluctant.
Speaking of future chapters, well, I don't have a foggiest idea
other than what I planned for a confrontation between Ranma and Genma.
Kuno, Ryoga, and Ami are characters I WANT to introduce in near future,
but how and in what order, I haven't decided yet. Expect chapter 3 none
too soon.
Off the subject a bit, I recently played "Ranma 1/2:
Akanekodantekihihou (Scarlet Cat Gang's Sacred Treasure)", and I can
safely say that it's the worst RPG I have ever played. Even Tecmo Secret
of Stars was better... *SIGH* Why do half of anime games suck badly?
I would like to thank Kenneth Lam, Mark Christopher Boileu, Tom
Sticka, Gary Wong, Kevin Cox, Slyke, and Jeremy Harper for pre-reading
this, Metroanime for starting 'The Bet', and YOU for reading this... and
putting up with my way-too-long author's notes ^_^;;;.
Off to the next fanfic I have been delaying for so long...
Tell me what you think:
VGAP <vg_ap@hotmail.com>
VGAP's weird page at:
<http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/thunder/181/index.html>