Celes smiled at them. “Now, due to the particular journey you have chosen, we do have the option of including several others with you.”
“Others?” asked Ranma, a bit of fear leaking into his voice.
“Oh; don’t worry,” said Celes. “We have three currently chosen by the System that it feels would help ensure a grand experience; and only one of them is from this reality.”
“Um ... could you expand on this,” said Nabiki.
Celes nodded, before she held a pad to read from. “For the person from this reality, we have Hotaru Tomoe.”
“That’s the girl I ended up saving indirectly; right?”
“Yes, Mr. Saotome,” said Celes. “She’s also Sailor Saturn.”
“Who?”
“One of the Senshi?” asked Nabiki with surprise. When Celes nodded in confirmation, Nabiki continued. “Why would a Senshi be killed by some bullies?”
“Um ... what’s a Senshi?”
Nabiki blinked, before turning to Ranma. “Magic girls in Minato Ward, centered in Juuban, who take care of unusual demon attacks; usually youma.”
Ranma nodded. “Oh, them. I usually avoid the area.”
“Why?” asked Nabiki. “Don’t tell me demons worry you.”
“No; but since they have power and are pretty famous; what are the chances the old man engaged me to one of them.”
Nabiki stared for a moment, surprised at how much sense and how logical Ranma was behaving. “Man; I had you wrong on a lot of things, Saotome. You’re a better actor than Akane.”
Celes stayed quiet about exactly which of the Senshi Ranma was engaged to. “As to the reason; she has a very weak constitution. Add to that low self confidence and you have someone who won’t fight back for fear of what she might do.”
“Well; I can’t leave her like that,” said Ranma. “Just cause I stopped one bunch of idiots from hurting her doesn’t mean I can do it twice. I’ll just have to teach her to fight back.”
Celes nodded. “Just make certain it isn’t Anything Goes. We can’t have a Senshi paying off bad karmic debt.”
“You said there were two others.”
Celes nodded towards Nabiki. “The second comes from another reality; a Mr. Shinji Ikari. He’s like Ms. Tomoe in that he has low self-value. But his destiny will require a heavy toll from him, and it would be better if he gets this.”
“No offense,” interrupted Nabiki, “but if we are being expected to train these people, won’t it add more danger to our trip. I mean between Ranma’s skills and my brains, we might be able to do something. But you’ve given us two friends who won’t be of much use in a fight, unless we keep Hotaru as Saturn all the time.”
“That is where the third person comes in; a Mr. Naruto Uzumaki. He’s a highly skilled ninja with over a decade of training, who is just about to complete a three year training voyage with one of the most powerful ninjas on his world. Like the others and yourselves, he has had issues with parental figures.”
“Their old mans’ aren’t that good?” asked Ranma.
Celes shook her head. “Hotaru’s was possessed, but he has been getting better. The three guardians she lives with do care, but they aren’t the best of figures. Shinji’s mother died when he was four, and his father abandoned him for some sort of psychotic crusade. He plans to use his son for his own goals, with no care about the boy other than he have a use. And Naruto’s parents both died when he was born, due to the very demon fox he now has sealed up inside him.
“You should also know that during your travels to other worlds, you will run across alternative realities to them.”
Nabiki nodded. “So in some worlds, my mother might be alive?”
“Yes; but it is also just as possible that your families were killed off earlier, or could be complete monsters; so do understand if you shouldn’t trust them. They may not even have the same core values as yourself.
“But you may land in worlds that will offer you information that you would not know otherwise. This includes Naruto learning of his parents, Shinji learning of what is really happening on his world, and perhaps even Hotaru learning of her own happiness.”
“What about time?” asked Nabiki. “No offense, but how do you fit all of this into one simple trip.”
Celes nodded. “No matter how long you spend on your trip, only three-to-six months will pass here and on their own worlds. We guarantee that no one will die during your trip on your respective home worlds, so they don’t have to worry about their absence resulting in everyone dying. Major events will occur.”
“Well, I guess that’s good,” said Ranma. “How long will we be gone?”
“That all depends on the party. We offer a “age-slowing” addition in our packages, which ensure you don’t grow past say ‘25’, and we can reduce that age back to your rightful one upon your return with no shift in your power, skill, knowledge, or anything else.”
“Not a bad idea,” said Nabiki. “All the powerups of our trip, without the grey hairs and brittle bones of old age.”
“Well, it wouldn’t truly be a vacation if you didn’t live till the end,” said Celes.
The two looked at each other, before turning back to her. “Okay then, when do we leave and do we need to pack?”
Celes nodded, handing them the forms. “We can leave as soon as we gather your party. Let them know that they can only return to their home world from here, and we even offer a ‘friends across space’ plan to keep in contact with each other should you wish to after this adventure. We even offer traveling routes to conduct visits and such, for about what you would pay for railway passes.”
“Not bad,” said Nabiki. “Might be an option to leave town for a bit without redoing the vacation.”
“What if we meet people who want to come with us?” asked Ranma.
“They are free to. I myself came from a world where catgirls are pleasure slaves, and one such vacationer took me away from it after I killed my master. He slew my family for mere spite.”
“Can’t say he didn’t deserve it,” muttered Ranma.
“If they want, we can return them after the vacation, but they will have to pay for the one-way trip.”
Taking the signed forms, Celes stood. “Now if you’ll come with me, we can assemble your party, outfit you with the standard gear for this package, and send you to a world where you can start your adventure.”
As they walked, Nabiki leaned over to Ranma. “So Saotome, what are you going to call your new school?”
Ranma thought about that. “Maybe Infinity Martial Arts; including everything and anything.”
Nabiki smirked. “Only you would think of creating a new Anything Goes.”
“Yeah, but mine ain’t gonna be evil.”
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(Posted Thu, 13 Jul 2006 00:09)
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