"The 'March'?" asked Ranma.
"Martial arts are good for a number of things, young man," said Cologne. "Defenses against poisonous gases that eat away skin? Against missiles that carry bacteriological or chemical weapons? We fought as well as we could. We lost. Our way of life was destroyed, our laws lost, our heritage buried. We are allowed only a few things of our heritage, this contest being one. We fared better than some. Worse than others. Now, if you'll excuse me. The years have been less than kind and our little contest has been lost. We'll need to get back to work now. It isn't as if much of our land can grow crops any more and we have to make do."
Ranma looked around again, noting the smaller number of villagers, and how many were thinner than he remembered them too. "Uhm. Right."
A clanging noise caused many of those present to start scurrying. Cologne frowned as she looked up. "It seems that our local representitive from the Old Men is coming. I suggest you hide yourselves. Sometimes they actively court foreigners in the hopes you'll bring more money this way. Other times they view everyone foreign as spies and saboteurs. Best not to tempt fate."
"Excuse me?"
The old wizard hung his head briefly. "You've been wandering around my cave for the last half hour. There's only one exit. Why are you still here?"
"Well," said Ryoga, scratching his head. "Someone keeps moving your exit."
"Here," said the old wizard, handing the boy a small device. "Press the button."
"Why? What does this..." Ryoga started fading away the moment he touched the button.
The old wizard collected the device from the floor. "That was my trip to Jamaica but at least I've got some peace and quiet now."
The old wizard scratched his head and started looking around for his Calvin & Hobbes collection, muttering something about needing that downtime after this.
The best laid plans of mice and men, and even ancient wizards, were sometimes plagued with unforeseen variables.
Had he looked closer at the boy Ryoga Hibiki he might have realized his family suffered from a directional curse with several odd effects. Like a woman named Mihoshi, he could end up in odd places like behind locked doors, or he could end up in places far beyond where he had originally intended.
The Transport Link had meant to be a one-use one-charge teleportation device that would have taken the old wizard to where he could sun his bones on a tropical beach, sip margaritas and read his comic books. As opposed to what had happened when he'd empowered Billy Batson and he'd DIED being crushed beneath a huge weight. Dying had been a pain in the buttocks, as the wizard would certainly tell you. It had taken him time to be reborn, grow up, and prepare to do the whole thing over again and he'd had his little jaunt planned out long in advance. Then some fanged boy wanders in - being incredibly annoying, and screws it all up.
So what the wizard didn't realize is that Ryoga's family curse was altered and hypercharged by the Transport Link. Eventually it would fade, but the Wandering Boy was going to get lost in ways he'd only dreamed of prior to that.
"(WHERE THE HELL AM I NOW?!)"
"Hey, a Jap tourist. Let's get 'im, they always got good stuff!"
CRUNCH! SMASH! WHAM! THUNK!
Ryoga looked around at the youths which had just pulled knives out and attacked him, and were currently decorating the street. Shrugging, he walked through East Los Angeles in the hopes of finding a friendly face to ask directions from.
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(Posted Fri, 16 Dec 2005 08:48)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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