It was a nice evening. Kasumi hummed to herself as she walked down from the tower in which her own chamber was situated.
In the inner ward, she met with Ukyo. "Hey, Kasumi," the chef greeted her. "Nice evening, huh?"
"Yes, indeed," Kasumi smiled back. "Just right for us to go down to town... But wait a minute. Nabiki isn't here yet."
"Well, we should look for her, then," Ukyo suggested. "Or we'll be late."
But when they entered Nabiki's little shack, they found her sitting at her desk, the floor strewn with rumpled balls of paper and small pencil stumps.
"Go without me," she said absent-minded. "I really don't have the time... Man, Kasumi, you know what you put me up with? Storm Machine... now that's a hard nut to crack."
"But you can do it, right?" Kasumi asked.
"Oh, I'm working on it, all right... But there are still some parts left that I still have no idea how they will work..."
She produced a piece of paper. "Look, that's what I came up with... Creating a storm out of thin air would be nearly impossible... But capturing one, that will work. Inside the metal container, the lightning will be stored. There's a strong iron lure inside... they won't be able to resist. And the inside of the hull is being isolated with rubber. But to get in, they have to go through the trumpet first..."
"The trumpet..." Ukyo nodded. "Ah, I see... very interesting..."
"Yes, but the biggest problem is the fuel... I don't know how I can make it make fly with the things I have."
Kasumi looked at the clock. "Oh, Ukyo... we're gonna be late. Nabiki, you have to tell us some other time. And please, lend us your bike, okay? Or we won't be able to make it in time..."
"No problem, I fixed the screw," Nabiki nodded. "And I also oiled it... works perfectly fine now!"
Kasumi and Ukyo left the shack, and Kasumi pushed the special bike Nabiki had tinkered for Ranma.
"A trumpet..." Ukyo shook her head. "She wants to catch a storm using a trumpet... I'll eat my spatula if that works out..."
"Nabiki will do fine," Kasumi smiled. "In the end, we will have the most beautiful bad weather you can imagine."
They reached the gate. Kasumi looked up to the window of the guardroom. "Father? Mr. Saotome? Would you please open the gate?"
Her father looked out of the window and nodded. Shortly after, the gate came down.
After stepping out of the castle, the coiffeur and the chef sat down on the bike. Ukyo would steer it, and Kasumi was sitting on the carrier...
Ukyo began pedaling, and then they were rolling down the road that was leading directly to the big plaza in Saotokyo.
Kasumi sighed as she felt the wind in her face. "Isn't that a nice breeze?" she asked.
"Sure is," Ukyo shouted back. "And I can steer this thing nicely."
"See? Everything Nabiki builds is flawless..."
"Well, I'm not too sure about this..." Ukyo suddenly said.
"What did you say?" Kasumi shouted back. She really had to shout now, as they were going very fast.
Ukyo opened her mouth and yelled: "I DON'T SEE ANY BRAKES ON THIS THING!"
Kasumi gasped. Ukyo was right... there were no brakes on the handle bar. Ukyo tried pedaling backwards... it didn't work.
By now, they were speeding down the mountain trail with breakneck speed. The trees and bushes were zooming past them so quickly, Kasumi couldn't see them clearly.
Then they reached the town. Luckily, the main street started at the foot of the hill, and was leading straight ahead until it reached the main plaza... But when they were reaching it...
"The fountain!" Kasumi shouted. "Look out! The fountain!"
Ukyo tried dodging it, but it was too late. The bike smacked against the stone wall of the fountain that was standing in the middle of the plaza, and the two girls suddenly found themselves flying through the air, and landing within the fountain's basin with a big, wet 'SPLASH'.
Behind the well, the doors of the bakery flew open and various people came running out.
"An accident," a woman shouted.
"Call for an ambulance," a man shouted.
Ukyo and Kasumi climbed out of the basin. "No, that's not necessary," Ukyo shouted. "We're not hurt! But you could bring us some towels..."
A short time later, they were standing next to the fountain, wrapped in a pair of towels.
Ukyo was fuming. "Damn that Nabiki! I tell you, when I meet her the next time, I put her on her damn bike and then she can take the same route down that hill, I swear it!"
Kasumi took a look at the bike. "See that, Ukyo? The bike didn't even get a scratch. While her work may have some flaws sometimes, all of her inventions are made for eternity."
A tall, red-headed woman was coming through the crowd. It was Nodoka Saotome, adoptive mother of Ranma and the owner of the bakery. When she saw the two wet girls, she gasped. "Ukyo-chan! Kasumi-chan! You're not hurt, are you?"
Kasumi smiled. "Not at all, Auntie! Just a little bit wet. But if we could warm up in the bakery, please?"
"Oh, of course... please, come in!"
Everyone went back inside, and Nodoka led Ukyo and Kasumi to a big table at which they all sat down. A woman was putting two big jars of hot cocoa in front of the wet girls.
After everyone settled down, Kasumi stood up and cleared her throat.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming! In a few days, we will celebrate the birthday of our much valued monarch, King Ranma the 1st!"
Everyone applauded.
"Now, as I have learned, His Majesty has four special wishes for his birthday. I have called for this meeting so we could make those wishes come true.
I also welcome the delegation from the embassy of Juuban, together with the ambassador, Her Excellency, Setsuna Meioh!"
A beautiful woman with green hair nodded in return.
Kasumi continued: "His Majesty is wishing for four things: A special cake, a magician, a thunderstorm and a pony!
The thunderstorm and the magician will be taken care of by the castle staff, so we won't have to think about those at this meeting."
"Yeah..." Ukyo murmured and groaned. "Trumpet..."
"We will be talking about the pony and the cake. Let's talk about the pony first. Your excellency..." She addressed the ambassador of Juuban. "We have invited you because your country is known for its grand ranches. Can you help us out?"
Setsuna Meioh stood up.
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(Posted Thu, 12 Oct 2006 14:10)
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