Genma was not a bright man.
But to be honest, that was saying that a black hole is heavy.
They are both understatements of galactic proportions.
But he knew a few things at the moment, which of course passed through his own mental filters.
Ranma had wasted two wishes on himself, and thus Genma might not be able to be cured by the Third and final wish. Ungrateful boy!
Then of course you had Kuno’s actions; which showed not only one deity not from Japan, but two more; one called Thor, which he remembered from some American book.
So he had some foreign Goddess or two, plus that American God.
It was an invasion.
Now, he had a few choices.
Run. But that meant work for him, hiding from foreign Gods. And what if someone found him and dragged him back to fight them?
Surrender and treat them as his new masters? Yes; perhaps they would even defeat the dreaded Master. He could promise them his son, and be set for life. Especially if that honorless boy married the cat goddess; then he’d be set and could run a temple for them.
And temples were great places to receive food and money and—
His thoughts were cut off as a bow staff struck his head.
“Enough of that,” said one woman, wearing a t-shirt, faded jeans, with black hair with red tips, as she made the staff disappear. “Really; what kind of fool is this idiot?”
Ranma merely shrugged. “That’s Pops for you.”
The woman nodded, looking down on the unconscious part-time panda.
“Um, who are you?” asked Nodoka.
“I am Amaterasu,” said the woman, making Nodoka immediately fall to a bow. “Please stop that; I hate such attention.”
“Sorry, Amaterasu-sama, please forgive this—”
“Stop that as well,” said Amaterasu. She then turned to Belldandy. “Now you know one of the reasons I hang out in the West so much.”
Bastet walked over, joining them, as the doors to her land shut. The image was wasted anyway by the fool’s attack. If only those guys would have stayed in character. “I would have bet on people like these two fools on the floor.”
“True,” said Amaterasu. “I really must get Kami-sama’s permission to do something about them. You wouldn’t believe how many of my fellow Gods are upset with this Kuno-baka claiming our names while he fights.”
Blinking a bit, she noticed Nodoka looking at her with down-turned eyes. “Would you stop trying to avoid looking at me. I swear, this is very annoying.”
“But I must show proper respect,” said Nodoka.
Amaterasu let out a loud sigh. “Listen dear; this is a big secret. The old ways are gone. Hell; I was an active member of the feminist movement. The times do change, and those that don’t fade away.”
Nodoka gasped. “But our traditions...”
“They had to start somewhere. And besides, traditions come and go. Do not forsake the future merely to dwell upon the past.”
Kasumi paled as did Nodoka, hearing the woman whom many Japanese saw as the perfect example of how a female should act ... tell them to get a life.
Nabiki gulped, wondering what they might do to her if they decided to punish her for her own transgressions.
Soun cried, not feeling brave enough to try and “save Japan” from the obvious imposter and the invading gaijin Goddesses.
Akane could only stare. She still didn’t feel like doing anything due to Belldandy’s aura. But she could only lick her lips, looking around, and noticing that Ranma was still facing the same wall that had once held the bronze doors.
Happosai sat very still, hoping that these deities didn’t squash him flat. He still remembered the pain the last time he had tried to steal a Goddess’s panties. That tan girl with platinum blond hair had fried him so bad; he lost several feet in height.
“So,” said Bastet, pulling Ranma down beside her, “this is the guy?”
“Yes,” said Belldandy.
Bastet nodded, before turning towards Amaterasu. “Ama, why are you here?”
“Well, you are in my territory,” said Amaterasu. “Besides, I’ve had my eye on this boy. He never seemed to exceed my expectations. But then given this fat fool’s teachings, he’s done pretty well for himself. I just want to make sure things work out for the best.”
“WAH! Ranma is Amaterasu’s chosen. Now the schools can be joined!”
Amaterasu turned towards the man, before shaking her head. “To believe I once deferred to idiots like you. I’m amazed Japan made it as far as it did with males in charge.”
“Father means well,” said Kasumi, wanting to have Amaterasu view her father in a better light. “But ever since mother passed...”
“That is no excuse,” said the Japanese Goddess. “Do you really think Kimiko Tendo would be proud of his actions? If this keeps up, I may have to send that woman to become a Valkyrie, just so she can come down here and beat some sense into his head.”
“WAH! Kimiko hates me!”
WHAM!!!
Amaterasu put her pole away. “Really, the man needs either to get laid or get beaten; one of the two.”
On her way to the Tendo Dojo to see her precious Soun-chan, Hinako received a very good feeling. Soun-chan must be thinking of me!
Oh, candy!
Bastet studied Ranma, acting more like a physician than a proper Goddess.
“Now turn your head and cough.”
Hey, she’s still a lonely woman at times. And it was a testament to Belldandy’s spell and Ranma’s naivety that the scene continued.
As Ranma pulled his apron/loin cloth back on; much to the sadness of Amaterasu and the females around the table—minus one very happy mother—Bastet sat back down. “Well, he does show promise, I’ll give him that.”
“He’d better,” said Amaterasu. “If I didn’t think so, he’d still be crazy from the Nekoken.”
All eyes focused on her. “Hey; we have a very strong non-interference policy in Asgard. The only reason we are here now is because it was Bell that submitted the request for Bastet’s Blessing and not the normal genie.”
“You helped Ranma-kun change into that nice kitty that likes to sleep on Akane’s lap?” asked Kasumi.
“Nekoken?” asked Nodoka.
Bastet smiled before leaning over and telling the woman of the dreaded means to train one in the technique.
Soon afterwards, Nodoka whipped out her sword and glared at Genma.
“Yes,” said Amaterasu. “It was the best I could do. Truthfully, it requires a blessing from a God or Goddess to recover from the technique. If he was born a were-cat, he wouldn’t need it. But he’d probably be suicidal. It has its roots in a torture technique made just for them.”
Those humans awake at the table paled.
Ranma was too busy trying to retie the apron to notice or hear.
Smiling, Bastet patted the seat, as Ranma returned to sitting beside her. “Okay, my decision is...”
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(Posted Wed, 26 Jul 2006 03:28)
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