"Yo, Ucchan? You down there? We're kinda hungry!"
"Oh shit..." Ukyo grumbled, recognizing Ranma's voice. "Um, Trevor... could you stay here for a moment? I have something to take care of..."
"But... what is going on? Is there a battle raging? Don't you need my assistance?"
Back where he came from, it was quite unusual for the maidens to do the fighting by herself... they mostly relied on the strong men, especially on warriors like Trevor. Well, Sypha was an exception, of course...
"There won't be any battles here," Ukyo assured him. "But I... I can't just show my friends that some guy in leather with a whip is down in my basement. That would kinda make it seems as if I were into kinky games and stuff, right?"
Trevor didn't quite get it. "So... if those are your friends, why don't you want me to meet them?"
"It's just that..."
"Yo, Ukyo? You coming or what?"
"In a minute!" she yelled back. Turning to Trevor, she gritted her teeth and said: "Listen, don't ask any questions, just stay here, okay? Can you do that?"
Trevor nodded, a bit uncertain of his position.
Ukyo nodded back. "Good. We can talk as much as you want when my friends are gone. I'll be back in a minute, just wait here!"
And she ran up the stairs.
Trevor picked up what she had left behind. "Um, you left your... onions..."
Up in the restaurant, Ukyo was greeted by the grinning face of her childhood friend and would-be fiance, Ranma Saotome. Ranma's hair was slightly damp... and red. Meaning, she was in his girl form right now. Next to her, Ukyo's sometimes-friend, sometimes-rival, Akane Tendo, was standing.
"Heya, Ucchan! What kept you, I'm starving!" Ranma spoke up. "Besides, I could use some hot water, if you don't mind... I just had an encounter with some annoying kids and their squirt guns."
"Sorry about that, Ranchan," Ukyo said as she tried making up a good excuse. "Umm, I just... had to take care of a few rats."
Akane raised an eyebrow. "You have problems with rats? That's a first, is it?" She suddenly grinned. "Hey, if you need some help with that problem, why not ask Shampoo for help? I bet our Chinese kitty will be glad to hunt a few rats." She laughed at her joke.
Ukyo fumbled around nervously with her fingers. Now how to make them leave without them getting suspicious or offended?
"Um, you... you two came here for some okonomiyaki?"
"Well, duh," Ranma grinned. "I managed to convince Akane to come here for lunch."
"Oh, really?" Ukyo asked, nervously looking back to the stairs leading down to the basement.
"Well, you are the best okonomiyaki chef I know," Akane admitted. "And I had no real breakfast, so I'm kinda getting hungry..."
Ukyo winced. How to put this...? "Well, I'm sorry to hear that, Akane... Listen, I'm kinda in the middle of something, and I just wanted to close the restaurant for the day... Would you two mind coming back la..."
Suddenly, a loud crash coming from downstairs made them jump in surprise.
"Hey, what's going on down there?" Akane wondered. "Is there someone down there?"
"Ummm... the rats?" Ukyo said weakly.
"Those have to be some enormous rats..." Ranma muttered as she ran to the door, opened it and went down the stairs.
"Hey, wait for me, Ranma!" Akane shouted as she followed him.
"No, wait..." Ukyo said. "Oh dear..." She groaned and followed them.
Down in the cellar, between storage boxes and food bags, Ranma and Akane were witnessing a strange scene...
A middle-aged man with black hair, who was clad in a leather armor, was wildly swinging around a whip, trying to hit what looked like an enormous, blue knight in massive armor, who was busy throwing axes at him.
Although, when they saw that one of the armor's arms was severed from it's main body, laying limply on the floor, they realized that there was no one inside the armor... she was empty, and moving by herself.
"What the heck is going on here?" Ranma demanded to know.
"Stay back, fair maiden!" the stranger said as he aimed for the armor's head with his whip. "I will take care of this monstrosity, don't you worry!"
Ukyo came storming down the stairs. "Trevor, what the heck is going... on here?" she muttered when she saw the moving armor. "What the heck?"
"It just appeared out of thin air, shortly after you left, Lady Ukyo!" Trevor explained while dodging one of the armor's thrown axes. It got embedded in the wall on the opposite side of the room. Ranma winced as he felt the air draft of the bypassing weapon, as it nearly cut off her pigtail.
She instantly narrowed his eyes. "All right, that does it! No one messes with my pigtail, got it?"
She jumped straightly at the Living Armor, winding her fist up for a powerful punch.
"Take... THIS!" she yelled as her fist hit the armor right in the middle, and the force of the blow broke the various pieces apart, making them fly around the room.
Akane ducked beneath a flying glove, while the monster's remaining axe dropped down right in front of Ukyo, nearly chopping off the chef's toes. Ukyo yelped in surprise and jumped back.
Ranma pulled back her fist and frowned. "Huh? That's it? What a weak opponent! I was hoping for a challenge..."
Trevor lowered his whip as he looked at the warrior in front of him with awe. This young girl had just beaten a Living Axe Armor, one of the Count's elite guards, with just a single hit... and she wasn't even armed!
"Most formidable, fair lady!" he spoke up. "You are quite the skilled warrior... and unbelievably strong, if I may add. My, the Living Armors have always troubled my ancestors, and you just defeated it with a single strike! Most impressive!"
Ranma looked at the medieval warrior curiously. "Um, sure, just wanted to help, that's all. Say, you know that thing?"
"Indeed I do," Trevor grumbled as a frown appeared on his face. "Count Dracula has always animated the empty armors within his castle to fight off any intruders. This creature must have somehow followed me through that shining light..."
Akane could only shake her head. In her opinion, that guy had more than one screw loose. Not only was he dressed in a strange way, his way of talking reminded her of Kuno.
She then realized something and frowned.
"Say, Ukyo?"
"Yeah, what is it?" Ukyo mumbled as she looked at her wrecked storage room. This day could just not get any worse.
"Is it just a coincidence that you have a nice-looking, muscular man down in your cellar, who dresses in leather and carries a whip?"
Ukyo whined as she slumped down on the floor. Yes, it could...
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(Posted Tue, 01 May 2007 12:23)
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