"OHMYGOD!" Genma was shrieking in panic, as he cradled the bent and bleeding body of his child to chest. Ranma had fallen badly as he had hit the water of the pool under the bamboo pole, fracturing most of the bones in his lower body. In his mind, he finally began to realize that maybe some of his training ideas might be a little dangerous. But not as dangerous as what would happen to him if his son died.
"Might I be of some assistance?" came a hard, nasal voice from behind him. He turned and beheld a tall man covered in a thick wollen cloak, which disguised his features with the exception of the weirdly-shaped glasses that he wore. The man bent his head slightly, to look at the child he had cradled to his chest. "Hmmm," The mysterious man mused. "If I work quickly enough, madame, I think I could save her."
Genma blinked in suprise. "I am a man, sir..." He trailed off, as he noticed that his normal baritone had mysteriously become a sweet messo-soprano. He lowered his head, and finally noted that his son was cradled to a slender chest that had two distinctive features. He froze, as the man assumed that he had finished speaking.
"My name is Destiny Nova," the man introduced himself, drawing back his hood to allow his silver-blonde hair to rustle in the slight breeze. "I have a small facility nearby, if you would follow me?"
Genma jerkily passed off Ranma into Nova's arms and fainted. The man from the future raised an eyebrow in surprise and noted, "Women of this era are so excitable..."
Ranma blinked open her eyes, looking up into a strange face. She attempted to speak, but was only able to make strange, unnatural sounds.
The unknown man gave her a small, slightly manic smile. "You're awake!" he stated with a slight chuckle. "Don't be afraid, child. I was able to help you, in my own small way. Had I not done so, you might have..." He hesitated, realizing that the being he was gazing upon was quite a bit less experienced in the ways of his time than most of the people he had 'gifted' before. "...been crippled," he finished in a more hesitant voice.
She concentrated hard. "'m i...bet...ter?" she managed to mumble out.
The doctor-person beamed at her. "Not quite," he stated in a happy voice again. "But if you get use to your new body, young lady, as quickly as you have learning how to talk again, then you will be before you know it." He continued in a dark mutter. "I try to help out Gally, does she appreciate it? No, she shoves me into a black hole and tries to kill me! Maybe this little girl will like her new body, and I get to test out my theories on those upgrades to that supposed 'berzerker' frame..." In a flash, he was all smiles again.
"Can you tell me your name?" He asked her with a rougish smile. "I'm Destiny Nova."
"m...y name....s Ran...ma," she managed, jerkily managing to create a small smile in response. "th...nk you."
"You are welcome, little filly," he chortled, touching her nose with his index finger.
She had spent a month in Nova-sensei's fortress, learning about her new body, and coincidentally the 'Gally' person that irritated him. It seemed that this young woman had persued Sensei relentlessly in an attempt to find out about her past. He was able to continually tease her with some bits of information he had gathered between previous encounters, until she had snapped at their last meeting and somehow sent him back into this time. She knew, from the information that Sensei had implanted in her core memory banks, that he would be returning to that time shortly and wished him the best of luck. She knew that he had plans for creating another frame like the one he had placed her into.
It was almost like a live body. True, she didn't sweat, but that wasnt so bad. In trade, she was able to focus her waste heat into an attack she called her 'Solar Torch' manouver. It would burn through most things, but tended to wear her out quite quickly. She was also suprised when she realized that this 'frame' grew bigger, like the other girls her age. Nova-sensei assured her that he had programmed it to mimic what she would have been like by using her flesh-and-blood body's genes as a template. Once she reached her mid-twenties, it would stop growing and she would remain that way for a long while.
She shook her head. "Enough woolgathering," she told herself. "Sensei said he'd let me know when he left." She dressed in her selected clothes and left the room to go to breakfast.
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(Posted Sun, 04 Jul 2004 11:42)
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