Genma was angrily stomping back to the others. "Where is Rei?" he asked. Ranma pointed up. "Still up there."
Genma looked up. He could see a dark shape lying between the scattered bricks. "Rei," he shouted. "Rei, come down here!"
She muttered something unintelligible. The only thing they could understand was: "Go away."
"Rei, I said come down, or I'll use magic, I mean it!"
Rei mumbled something and stood up. 'If she's trying to fly away I can always use magic to catch her,' Genma thought.
But before Rei could do anything, the roof under her feet collapsed and with a shrill squawk she broke through.
"Oh my god," Nodoka shouted. "She didn't even have time to spread her wings."
They hurried inside. In the living room, there was a big pile of bricks, wooden planks and rubble. In between, some feathers and Rei's head stuck out.
"Is everything all right?" Genma asked. "Did something break?"
Rei laughed. "Yes, the new marble stairs."
"He meant if you're hurt, idiot," Happosai scolded her. She shook her head. "I dunno..." She tried to climb out of the rubble. "Ow, ouch!"
"Looks like we have to levitate these things out of the way first," Happosai mumbled. "Want to help me, student?"
"You know I never was good at these things," Genma sighed.
Ukyo came running. Now that Mr. Kuno and the other mages had left, she had abandoned the beard. "Don't worry, Ucchan's on the case. I'll help you, Master Happosai. Let's begin with these wooden planks, okay?"
Happosai and Ukyo worked together and slowly pulled apart the pile of rubble Rei was buried under. When they were finished, Ukyo asked: "You want us to stabilize the building while we're at it?"
Genma nodded. "Yes, that would be great."
"Okay, you heard the man, girl," Happosai said. While they were taking care of the house, Genma looked after Rei. "Well, it looks like you're okay. Not even your primary feathers were broken."
"I broke two claws," Rei grumbled.
"Be thankful that it wasn't your bones." He led her outside, where he removed the dirt from her fur and feathers with the hose. When Rei was dripping wet, he put it away. "Now, do you want to hear your scolding here or inside?"
"Inside," Rei groaned. "I must lay down, I don't feel so good."
They went to the second hut which was situated next to Ami's. As Rei and Ami were the biggest two griffins, Genma had built them these huts so they had rooms that were big enough for them.
Rei flopped down on the straw bag that was her bed. She was so tired, she didn't even shake the water out of her fur. "I'm ready," she moaned. "Start your lecture already..."
"No, not before you tell me what you were thinking. Why did you attack Mr. Kuno? And why didn't you and the others speak? It was all part of a plan, am I right?"
Rei mumbled something into her cushions. "What?" Genma asked.
Rei angrily looked at him. "I said that I planned to KILL him! Satisfied?"
Genma was baffled. "Why?"
"He thinks he's the owner of our world. He makes you do everything he wants. He called Ranko a slave girl. I wanted to kill him so this world would be freed from him."
"And why didn't you do it?" Genma asked.
"I looked into his eyes. And what I saw scared me. He totally thinks it's his right to act this way. He wouldn't understand why he had to die. So I let him go."
"I'm very glad that you didn't kill him," Genma sighed. "It's very hard to live while knowing that you're a killer. And by landing on the roof, you could have done more damage to your siblings who were still inside."
"Stop it," Rei cried in shame. "I'm sorry for doing this. It was a bad idea. But I thought if we act like mindless animals, Mr. Kuno wouldn't blame you. You know: 'The vicious beast escaped and got out of control.'"
Genma sighed. "Well, stay here for now and rest. I shall look if Ukyo and Happosai need any help..."
When he walked back to the house, Ranko met him halfway. "The kids are still inside," she said with a smirk. "And they didn't even NOTICE that the roof collapsed."
"What?"
She gestured towards the house. "Come and take a look!"
Inside the kitchen, Ranma, Hotaru, Minako and Ami were lying on the floor or, in Ranma's case, sitting at the table. Everyone of them had a little calculator in his/her hand/paw and was hammering on the buttons like it was the most important thing in the world.
"Happosai gave us more of them," Hotaru explained excitedly. "And he showed us that we can also use them for games. And we DID realize that the roof in the living room collapsed... the displays got all dusty. See? You're killing little men that are falling from the sky and are trying to kill you... Shoot, you broke my concentration and now I'm dead."
"I managed to reach Level four," Ranma said. "Can anyone do better?"
"Level Six," Ami answered.
"Level Seven," Ukyo said while entering the kitchen. "I think that's the highest level you can reach." She turned to Genma. "We stabilized the roof and repaired most of the broken furniture. Look at it that way: Now you have the ideal base to form your dark citadel."
"Yes, I believe it is a fine piece of work," Happosai agreed. "Now I think we should get going."
"Yes, we should go now," Ukyo nodded. But they stayed behind and seemed to wait for something.
Genma shook his head. "Forgive me! What can I offer you for your services?"
Ukyo grinned. "I thought you'd never ask. We both take a bag of coffee, thank you!"
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Shritistrang
(Posted Thu, 27 Jul 2006 22:57)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.