Ranma could do nothing but stare, speechless.
Now, Ranma Saotome was not normally at a loss for words, unless it came to matters of the heart. Weird and strange were something he had long-since learn to cope with, but today threw him a curve he didn’t expect.
It wasn’t the fact that the ladle lady managed another successful hit that morning. The wet and now female martial artist was firmly convinced that the old lady was a grandmaster in some weird ladle-based martial art. Hey, this was Nerima.
It wasn’t the ambush. In fact, surprise ambushes were so common that it had initially taken Ranma several moments to realize that the attackers weren’t any of the usual crowd.
Even the realization that her attackers were actually a bunch of monkeys didn’t cause more than a raised eyebrow.
Well, at least until they started in with the guns.
It hadn’t taken but a moment to disarm those surrounding her, but the sniper fire was a bit of a problem.
That was when the car screeched to a stop in front of her and somebody yelled “Get in!” As they took off, Ranma turned to thank her rescuer.
And found herself speechless in shock.
Driving with a nonchalance any ordinary person would have lost at half their current speed was… a girl who bore a disturbing resemblance to Ranma’s female side.
“Sorry about this kid, but those jokers back there obviously thought you were me.”
Glancing at her passenger, the redhead added “Not that it’s not understandable.”
Ranma nodded.
Overcoming her shock, Ranma quickly realized that whoever this was, she wasn’t an exact twin. There were differences, but they were subtle and didn’t immediately jump to the eye. It would take someone with extreme familiarity to be able to tell them apart, and even then it wouldn’t be easy if only one was encountered without the other for comparison.
“Jusenkyo?”
Ranma nodded.
“Locked?”
Ranma shook her head. “No, I can change back to a guy.”
“Well, you’re one-up on me.”
A light came on in Ranma’s mind. “You fell in also?”
The girl scowled. “ 'Fell in' isn’t quite the way to put it.” Her hands clenched tightly on the steering wheel at the memory. “Perverted bastard” she growled.
Seeing Ranma’s confusion, she went on.
“There I was peacefully enjoying my retirement. Yeah, it was out in the middle of nowhere, but I was a bit too well-known in certain circles for it to be safe any closer to civilization.”
“Anyway, I was minding my own business, when suddenly this nutcase grabs me, hauls me over to the pools, and throws me in. Bastard.”
Ranma boggled. “What did you do?”
“Well, what do you think? I booted him into the pool and returned the favor.”
Ranma frowned. Something about this story sounded strangely familiar.
“Still… On the bright side, this form lets me get back into the game. I’m young again, and I’m now able to do missions in places where most of the agency’s operatives can’t.” She broke off suddenly and glanced in the rear view mirror.
“Uh oh. Looks like C.H.U.M.P. is still on our tail. Hang on!”
Ranma glanced out the back window. Somehow she wasn’t surprised to see two chimps in a helicopter gunship angling in on them.
It was just that sort of day.
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(Posted Sun, 12 Mar 2006 04:18)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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