Sitting down by the broken statue of Gendo in the middle of the rain, Ranma kept her head down. She didn’t want to let the others know she was crying. Crying wasn’t manly...
...Then again, what did it matter? As far as the Tigress knew, she’d never be a man again anyway, so why not just cry?
“So... unfair...” Ranma whimpered as her shoulder wracked from sobbing. Hot water. She had been given hot water and nothing... NOTHING... she’d dumped the whole freaking kettle over herself and still... she’d remained a furry striped Tigress PokéGirl. Even with the explanation about a Jusenkyo curse and more hot water, there was only a striped redhead with soaking wet fur.
Ranma Saotome was gone, in his place was a pathetic little cat-like girl.
Raising her head to the sky, Ranma cried out, “IT’S NOT FAIR!” Her cry was accentuated by a crash of lightning at that moment.
Lowering her head again, the Tigress cried harder. “It’s not fairrr...” the last word ended in a frustrated growl as she started to sob again.
“No, it’s not...” came a female voice.
Standing straight up, Ranma quickly turned and saw that older woman standing there in rain-coat, thick rubber boots, and carrying a large patio umbrella, (how she had the strength to carry it, Ranma couldn’t guess). “What do you want?” She asked in a choked-up voice.
“I’m here to take you back to the PokéCenter...” the old woman said. “Now come on, everyone is worried about you. I had to put my foot down to get those two PokéGirls to understand that this old PokéWoman’s confident enough to bring back a confused Tigress.”
“Confused?” Ranma snorted. “Why, you think I’m crazy too?”
Shaking her head, the older NurseJoy responded, “Actually, no.”
“...What?” Ranma asked as she looked into the NurseJoy’s eyes.
“Of course,” the NurseJoy PokéWoman said. “Now c’mon and get under the umbrella with me, dearie. You’ll catch a cold standing out in the rain like this.”
Standing where she was for a moment, Ranma could only look at the NurseJoy in uncertainty. “Why?”
“Because I think you’re telling the truth,” the Nursing PokéWoman told the little Tigress. Seeing that the PokéGirl wasn’t moving, the NurseJoy started walking over to her, making sure she was underneath the umbrella enough as to keep her from getting drenched further from the rain.
Lifting her head up to look into the woman’s eyes, Ranma asked, “You do?”
Nodding her head slowly, the PokéWoman answered, “Of course.”
Considering that for a moment, Ranma couldn’t help herself. She had to ask the woman, “Why?” After all, all the women she’d met so far, (admittedly, merely three) only one, this woman, was saying she believed her.
“I’ve seen it before...” the NurseJoy said seriously. “Way, way back when. And the similarity in name, not to mention this set-up is bringing back too many memories from way back to not be authentic.”
“What?” Ranma asked, her own curiosity piqued.
“Oh yes,” the NurseJoy started, placing her hand gently on Ranma’s back between her shoulders. “The was 299, and everyone was partying like it was 300... I was sixteen years old at the time... Gods, only sixteen...”
Feeling the woman press on her back, Ranma started to walk, keeping right next to the older PokéWoman. While the significance of dates confused her, she wanted to hear more. “What happened?”
Smiling, her eyes glazed over as if she were remembering something while she slowly walked with the Tigress. “It was my third day working on staff for the Viridick PokéCenter and we were busy as could be. SEELE had done a raid of the Tendo Ranch, and there was QUITE a bit of confusion here and there.”
Ranma blinked her blue slitted eyes. “Tendo Ranch?”
Nodding her head, the older NurseJoy said, “Yes, the Tendo Ranch... it was owned by a PokéGirl Breeder Soun Tendo, I believe...”
Staring wide-eyed at the PokéWoman, Ranma couldn’t believe what she’d heard. There’d been a Soun Tendo? And he was a, “PokéGirl Breeder?”
“Yes,” the NurseJoy answered. “The Breeder’s job is just like that of the animal breeders of old; make sure PokéLines of certain types are strengthened, others reproduced in order to make them more common, and train them skills they need. Breeders were allowed to keep as many PokéGirls as they wanted, depending on what their housing conditions were and how good the Breeder was. Breeders were the most laxly monitored group, as they developed understandable if otherwise unacceptable bonds with their charges. Some relied entirely on Breeding Chambers, while others produce PokéKits in less distant fashion. Almost all the domesticated PokéGirls around today are descended from those who had come from a Breeder’s farm.”
Ranma blinked her eyes. PokéGirls were bred like cattle!? What the hell was this world like before the disaster!?
“However,” the PokéWoman spoke up, derailing the Tigress’ thoughts on what PokéGirl Breeders were doing. “We’re getting off topic. And as I was telling you, what makes me believe happened on my third day of work at the Viridick PokéCenter.”
“Yeah...” Ranma said slowly, shivering lightly as the cold from the water in her fir really started to get to her. “What happened?”
“I had met a Tamer like you. A Ranma Saotome,” she raised her hand at the look on the girl’s face. “Don’t interrupt, please.” When the Tigress shut her mouth, the NurseJoy continued. “He had come into the PokéCenter after having quite a bit or problems getting his Taming Journey started. I remember him clearly because he was a very unique individual. He had two rare PokéGirls sharing the Alpha spot, a Cheshire named Nabiki and a Griffon named Kasumi.”
Ranma’s eye twitched. A Cheshire named Nabiki and a Griffon named Kasumi. It HAD to be more than coincidence.
“But not only did he have two powerful PokéGirls,” the NuseJoy continued. “But he had numerous PokéGirls as well, and it had only been HIS third day as a Tamer... but most importantly, I saw his infliction in action...”
Blinking her eyes, Ranma asked, “What infliction?”
“A Jusenkyo Curse... one which changed him from male to female with a splash of cold or hot water.” The NurseJoy looked at Ranma seriously. “Something you were trying to do earlier.”
Her eyes wide, Ranma looked up at the NurseJoy PokéWoman. “There was another me?”
“Yes,” NurseJoy answered. “One from another dimension, while this one had its own...”
Ranma stared at NurseJoyin shock. “Two others? Are they still around!?”
Shaking her head, the PokéWoman told the Tigress, “No dear. I said before this was a hundred and thirty years ago...” she sighed. “The Ranma of our world had gotten himself ‘cursed’ at the Jusenkyo Spell Dump and ended up getting turned into a Tigress, much like you are now...”
Ranma gulped lightly. “This world’s Ranma ended up like me?
With a firm nod of her head, the NurseJoy told Ranma, “She’d been brought in that same day by her Tamer. A boy named Ukyo Kuonji. I’d say you were a spitting image of what our world’s Ranma had turned into...”
Ranma twitched lightly. A version of her ended up as a PokéGirl owned by Ukyo, a MALE Ukyo? “What about the one that came here... the one the had the same curse.”
“I read up on his file, which, thankfully, a wonderful PokéGirl Researcher at the time was willing to share with me,” NurseJoy told Ranma. “Professor Stroaks was looking after the cursed Ranma, who had been brought to this world through an experiment concerning teleportation technology that was thrown off-kilter because of the meddling of a duo named Trixie and Hans, calling themselves ‘Team Trauma’.”
Listening to that, Ranma said, understanding why the woman was believing what she told her. “So I’m in another dimension?”
“It’s possible...” the NurseJoy admitted. “I couldn’t tell you WHY you’re a PokéGirl and not a human... but I do believe you because I’ve seen and experienced it before...” giving the younger PokéGirl a lop-sided grin, she told her, “Tonight was truly a feeling of déjŕ vu for me.”
“Good for you...” Ranma said, although not so enthusiastically... she remained silent for a bit as she continued to walk in the rain with the NurseJoy before finally asked, “NurseJoy?”
“Hmm?” The NurseJoy asked as she looked over to the shorter Tigress. “What is it, Ranma?”
“What happened to the other me?” She asked. “The one that had come to this world...”
“Oh, he stayed around for a good deal of time,” NurseJoy said. “Eventually, with the help of some of his associates, Professor Stroaks was able to use the notes from the original Teleportation Lab to try and mimic what happened. He was able to send the Ranma from another world back home.”
Ranma considered that for a moment, but shook her head to stifle asking that question. She didn’t want to know if she could go home or not... she wouldn’t be able to face anyone back home as she was.
Not wanting to continue along that line of thought, Ranma looked up at the older PokéWoman. “Joy?”
“Yes, Ranma?” The NurseJoy asked as she continued walking, her hand gently caressing Ranma between her shoulders to comfort the poor confused PokéGirl.
“Can I ask a question?”
“Sure, Ranma,” NurseJoy responded.
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(Posted Mon, 11 Sep 2006 19:01)
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