The pigtailed demoness, she didn't even notice the change, was crouching on top of the bullet train.
Mara growled and was flying higher above the city, trying to get a good view of it to locate her prey. It was frustrating since he hid his presence so well it was impossible to trace him that way. "Where could that pain in the ass be?" Mara whined as she reached the train station. Damn it. It had been almost eight hours already, he blew through 1/3 of her time!
The redhead smirked. With her current speed she'd be out of sight before Mara knew it. The best part being she wasn't spending energy at all, so that made it impossible to track her.
"Nice try, little shit!" Came the voice of Mara as she landed on top of the bullet, train, facing Ranma...
...Too bad she didn't notice the incoming tunnel they were heading into.
Ranma turned to regard Mara, only to find she wasn't there. "..."
Now a nice fleshy smear atop the entrance to a tunnel through a mountain, Mara groaned. "I'm... Not through... Yet..."
She then slid down a bit, before coming detached and falling onto the train tracks. Landing with an audible, 'plop.'
Ranma shrugged her shoulders and leaned back, enjoying the way the air refreshed her.
"16:02:33"
---
Growling, Mara was flying at high speeds, a bottle of sake in each hand. She needed to keep up her strength after all.
She screamed in frustration when she caught sight of the train again, sans the redhead.
---
Ranma jumped off the train and ran into the woods, knowing there the chance of Mara finding her was even less than before. She'd spent a lot of time in the wilderness. She was pretty sure Mara hadn't.
Flying over the forest, Mara frowned. She could feel HIS energy down there. She knew she could. But she couldn't see where he could be.
The pigtailed demoness hid in the forest shadows, careful to keep her eyes open in case Mara appeared. It had happened before many times today, just when she thought she'd lost the demoness.
"Excuse me, are you lost?" Came a definite male voice from behind Ranma.
"Huh?" The redhead turned to see who it was that managed to sneak up on her.
It was a man, a senior citizen, although in still very fine health. The wrinkles on his face showed experience not age, and the glasses made him look more sophisticated than anything else. "Are you lost, young lady?" The man asked again.
Ranma blinked her eyes a couple of times. "Uh... not really. Just hiding from some oversexed tomboy."
The man gave her a knowing smirk. "It's not often a demoness visits a holy shrine."
The redheaded demoness was taken aback by the man's words. "You can tell?"
Poking one of the two markings on Ranma's head, the older man smiled. "Hard not to. I've seen these before, and other similar markings."
Ranma's eyes crossed cutely, trying to look at his finger, and she frowned. "Then why aren't you running?" She was pretty sure most people would try to run from a demon.
Smiling a little at Ranma, the man removed his hand from her forehead. "Simple really. The name is Katsuhito Masaki. I am the Shinto Priest of the Masaki Shrine." He pointed off to the side with a bokken that Ranma now just noticed in the man's possession. "The actual building itself is a ways up that mountain, but you'll find the Holy tree Funaho near here."
"... You lost me." Ranma said dryly.
The man chuckled good-naturedly. "What I'm trying to tell you is that you're out of your element around here, kid. Even if you did try to attack me, your powers would be less than one-fifth their true strength." He continued to smile. "So, I suggest you try to leave here, before some biblical and religious 'nut job' finds you around here and tries to make you easy pickings."
Of course, there were no nut jobs around the Masaki Shrine... At least one of biblical proportions anyway. Katsuhito just wanted the girl away before Washu caught wind of her and decided to capture her for 'study' purposes.
Ranma smirked confidently and clenched a fist. "I'd like to see someone try. I killed a demi-god while being human. Don't need no stupid demon powers to beat someone up."
Just then Ranma-chan was caught under a torrent of warm water.
Blinking his eyes once, twice, thrice, Katsuhito raised his glasses. "Hmm... My prescription must be failing me. I would swear you look like a man."
Ranma looked around, very annoyed, trying to figure out where in heaven that water came from. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"AH HA!" Came the voice of Mara as she levitated downwards, an empty bowl in her arms. "No use in running now, Ranma!" She cackled madly. "You're going to be lucky if I don't hog-tie you for making me chase you this long!"
Ranma smirked and cracked his knuckles, a scary look on his face. "This old man told me something interesting, tomboy."
Mara frowned. This wasn't the reaction she was expecting. Ranma running for the hills again would've made more sense. "And what's that?"
Ranma's evil smirk would've made Hild proud. "Demon powers are weak here." He was SO looking forward to giving Mara a sound thrashing for all she'd gotten him through today.
Seeing Ranma start to round on her Mara chuckled nervously, belatedly realizing Ranma was right. "What are you doing?"
Ranma jumped the demoness with a loud battle-cry. He started giving her the beating of a lifetime.
At the sight of the battle, Katsuhito winced. "And I thought Ryoko could be bad."
"15:21:45"
---
It was a Ranma in a MUCH better mood that walked down the dirt path towards the nearest city. He didn't know where he was, but he didn't care right now. The smile on his face was evidence of this.
"BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF ME, WILL YOU!?!!" The voice of an infuriated Mara cried as she chased Ranma while tossing lances of ice...
...And effectively freezing Ranma's feet to the ground.
Ranma stopped walking, not that he had a choice really, and turned to regard Mara with a bored expression on his face. "What do you want now, tomboy?"
Mara was looking quite disheveled about now. "Okay, I want to know one thing. Why the FUCK don't you want to get laid!?"
"Why would I?" Ranma asked with a shrug. "Only thing it does is complicate things."
"No it doesn't!" Mara shouted and then managed to smile. "If anything, it's a good stress reliever."
"Why the heaven are you so interested in it, anyway?" Ranma shot back, wanting to know why she was making his life hell.
Mara looked at Ranma. Oh no, she wasn't going to tell him the truth just yet. He might try even harder not to get laid, and she'd lose her job, big-time. But a half-truth wouldn't hurt. "Because I want you."
"Why?"
Sighing, Mara looked into his eyes. "Look, just accept that it's very important to me, all right?" She was getting tired and just wanted to give him a good fucking to get this over with.
Ranma thought it over for a minute and smiled at Mara. "No." With the simple answer Ranma raised a hand and threw a ball of hellfire at the demoness. The heat generated by it had the added bonus of melting the ice covering his, now her, legs.
If anything this chase was being a very good learning experience. She was learning all there was to Mara's usual attacks.
Mara's eye twitched considerably as she stood there. The redhead's attacks and techs were still much weaker than her own... But that didn't mean they didn't hurt. "COME BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE SHIT!!!"
"HAHAHAHAHA!!!" Ranma's laughter was lost in the distance.
"15:07:12"
---
Yes, Hild's hand was cramping, but the paperwork was almost done. And when she thought about it, it really would be worth it. That new guy was creating such delightful chaos.
The icing on the cake was that he was turning Mara into an accomplished chaos generator as well. Maybe next she should ask Mara to have sex with Ranma's female side. That would definitely cause more chaos than this!
She was taken out of her thoughts when there was a tapping at the door.
"What is it now?" She asked tiredly. Those plans would have to wait till she recovered from this mess, though.
"Uh, Ms. Lord-and-boss-lady-ma'am-sir?" Came a voice form the other side of her office door. "There's more paperwork to be done."
Hild's head hit the desk. "Oh yes... I'm holding back on that order till x-mas." She took a deep breath and did her best to hide just how tired she was. "Come in."
The doors burst wide-open as demons upon demons filed in the room one after another, each dragging a sack in each hand across the ground. Said sacks were filled to the brim with papers. One might think of it as a demented version of "The Miracle on 34th Street."
Hild's eyebrow twitched.
"Let's see." The Demon with the check-board mumbled. "Citations for unsanctioned and unauthorized uses of Nifelheim's power... Check. Lawsuits from Asgard concerning child deaths and injuries. Check... Lawsuits from Asgard concerning wanton destruction. Check... Lawsuits from Asgard wanting to launch full-scale investigation to see if we got our hands on the Ultimate Destruction Program. Check..."
The List went on and on, as did the number of demons with paper-work waiting to enter Hild's office.
The demoness couldn't decide whether this was a good or a bad thing. While she was doing her job remarkably well it was going to cost her. A LOT!
---
"Now, Sailor Moon!" Luna cried. "Use the Royal Moon Scepter Heartache!"
Nodding her head, Sailor Moon was doing a vast array of spins and turns, while looking incredibly... Aw hell, who are we kidding? She looked damn stupid.
"Moon..." Sailor Moon started.
"...Scepter..." She continued, waving the small staff about like a baton.
"...Heart..."
"STAND STILL AND GET LAID!!!" Came Mara's shout as she shot an arc of electricity at Ranma.
The pigtailed demon twisted impossibly out of the way. "Missed me, ugly hag!" It did miss Ranma, but it didn't miss the Youma the Senshi were fighting against.
When it hit the Youma was reduced to so much ash.
Ranma turned to see the damage and stopped dodging around. "Now you've done it, tomboy! You killed these goofy-looking chicks' pet."
"P-pet!?" Sailor Moon asked, too shocked to register the way Ranma referred to them.
Ranma shrugged. "Wasn't yours? Sorry. Just figured something weak enough to die by a pathetic attack like that one had to be a pet."
Mara blinked and looked at the girls. "Wait a minute... Multi-colored skirts... Stupid outfits from a middle-school boy's wet-dream..." Her eyes widened. "Ranma, you idiot! It's those... What'cha call them! Sailor Senshi!"
"Sailor what?" Ranma asked in confusion.
"They're enemies of all that's evil!" Mara shouted. "Like us!"
Ranma turned to look at the Senshi and turned back to Mara. "Uh... Are you sure? They do look kinda stupid but... are they a threat?" He couldn't really feel all that much power coming from the silly-looking girls.
And then Ranma found that all of a sudden he couldn't move as the blonde with the two pigtails began to do her movements again.
"Moon..."
Try as he might, tugging, Ranma was seemingly frozen into place. "What the?!"
And it was embarrassing! They weren't really doing anything and he couldn't move.
"Scepter..." Sailor Moon continued.
Ranma's eyes narrowed when he felt the buildup of energy.
Scratching her chin, Mara wondered if she should help him or not.
He was definitely not going to be beaten by a cheerleader! Ranma closed his eyes and started gathering his own energy.
"...Heeeeaaart..." Sailor Moon continued, the gem in the center of the scepter started to glow.
"Eh, SHUT UP ALREADY!" Mara shouted and kicked odango-head in the ass, effectively breaking her attack.
The Sailor Senshi gawked. They couldn't believe someone just kicked their leader in the ass!
Ranma suddenly could move again and turned to Mara, an annoyed frown on his face. "What the heaven did you do that for, tomboy?!"
Mara frowned back at him. "I was just saving your Lucifer-blessed ass, you idiot!"
"I was about to break free! That stupid attack was nothing!"
Smirking as Ranma was off-guard with ranting, Mara floated over to him. "Besides, you should be THANKING me..." She said as she kissed his cheek.
Ranma rolled his eyes and pushed Mara off. Thankfully for him he was still more concerned on the fight than anything else to try and run. "Can we take care of them first?" He asked pointing towards the Senshi. "I don't like it when people attack me for no reason."
Mara blinked her eyes. Turning her head to the girls with an evil smile. "Sure. Why not?"
"14:15:33"
---
"That was therapeutic." Ranma said with a relaxed smile on his face.
"Tell me about it. It was easy." Mara said as she cracked her knuckles. "I can't believe these little shmucks beat so many Youma."
Ranma shrugged. "Is this stuff all there is to being a demon? Kicking ass and having fun?" He could definitely get used to this kind of life. Fighting was one of the corner stones of who the pigtailed martial artist was.
Nodding her head, Mara answered. "It's a good part of it..." She floated over to him once more, her hand slinking down his pants. "Now let's have a victory celebration. We'll get rid of that pesky virginity of yours yet."
Ranma glared at Mara and pushed her off. "There's no virginity to be had, you idiot!" After he snapped at Mara the demon realized what he said and blushed.
Mara smirked a little. "Ah! So you HAVE had sex before?" She asked curiously.
Ranma nodded his head, looking very embarrassed.
Mara smiled a bit and pat his shoulder. "Honey, nothing to be embarrassed about."
Ranma tentatively smiled back. "I know... It's just that..." He groaned, remembering what that brought on. "It was bad after it happened."
Mara frowned and floated back. This was interesting, and maybe it would bring out to the light just why Ranma was so averse to having sex with a sexy demoness like her. "What happened?"
Ranma's expression turned to a very dark one. "I was killed. My decision was taken and I was about to do something about the mess I was in when it happened."
Mara frowned. "Ukyo. You fucked the chef, huh?"
Ranma turned to look at Mara strangely. "What the heaven gave you THAT idea?! It would be like screwing one of the guys."
Mara blinked her eyes. "Well you were talking about being killed right after. So I assumed it was the chef bitch."
Ranma shook his head. "I died two days after it happened. I..." Ranma stopped walking, a look of horrified realization on his face.
"What?" Mara asked
"Fuck!" Ranma shouted and punched a wall. It caved in and collapsed half of the building. He couldn't believe it! He'd been so absorbed in his revenge and annoying Mara as much as he could that he forgot all about her. Her...
Mara frowned more. This was taking a whole new turn that she didn’t like. If Ranma had a girlfriend out there and he didn't remember about her... Then his running away from her till now was tame to how he would resist now! "Ranma, what in the heaven are you talking about?"
Ranma turned to Mara, his expression clearly pained. "I was so absorbed in my own anger and hate that I forgot about the one I'd chosen."
Mara winced visibly. "You have a girlfriend?" This was something both unexpected and unwanted for the demoness.
The pigtailed demon sighed. "Had. Not sure now, what with me being dead for two years and all."
Mara could easily see the pained expression on his face. "Hey, you want to head to a bar and talk about it? My treat."
Ranma instantly became suspicious. "You're trying to get me drunk, aren't you?"
"No, just want to hear this." Mara admitted. "You know, since I first met you, I thought you were just an asshole..." She stared him in the eyes. "And you still are, but it seems there's a good reason for it. I want to hear."
Ranma took a moment to process through what Mara said. Finding it wasn't entirely an insult he nodded. "Okay."
"14:00:03"
---
Once comfortably seated, with Mara chugging directly from a bottle and Ranma taking long drags from a cigarette, the demoness leaned forward to ask a question. The fact that Mara was giving her victim a clear look of a lot of cleavage was purely 'coincidental.' Really! It was! "So, who was the lucky girl who beat me to the punch?"
Ranma sweated nervously at the sight but he managed not to bolt, or jump the demoness right there. Mara's close exposure to him in her revealing clothing had been wearing down at his resistance. "Well... it was..."
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(Posted Fri, 25 Jun 2004 03:36)
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