"OHOHOHOHOHOHOH!"
Kodachi Kuno, the Black Rose, bounded over the rooftops as usual, clad only in her skin-tight leotard, laughing maniacally and leaving a trail of black rose petals behind.
When she landed next to the gate of St. Hebereke's school for girls, the students that were just coming through gave her respectful bows. They might not all like the demented Kuno... but they were not crazy enough to show it to her.
Kodachi ignored the lowly subjects around her and looked at her wristwatch. "4:47," she muttered to herself. "3 seconds better than my last record... not bad! But, I will never be too slow to catch up with my darling Ranma!" She grinned dreamily.
In a dark corner nearby, she changed into her school uniform... meaning, she simply slipped it over her leotard. She ALWAYS wore her leotard underneath. You never know when you had to enter a battle.
Just when the bell was ringing, she went to enter the front gate... and stood still when someone addressed her: "Excuse me, miss, but can you show me the quickest way to Nerima?"
Kodachi turned around in annoyance. "This IS Nerima, peasant!" she grumbled. "Or do you not recognize the glory that is St. Hebereke, the school that I am attending, Kodachi Kuno, the Black Rose?"
"Kodachi?" Ryoga said in surprise. He thought she looked familiar. He looked around. "Well, this COULD be Nerima..."
"Of course it is!" Kodachi huffed. "And now do not waste any more of my precious time!"
"Um, could you maybe point me to the direction of the Tendo Dojo?" Ryoga asked.
Kodachi groaned. If she wasn't so late, she would teach that ignorant brute some manners. Although, the teachers probably wouldn't dare reproving her for being late..."
"Listen, Hibiki!" she snapped and turned around. "Why should I be interested in whatever you or the low-life Tendos are going to..." She stopped in mid-sentence when she looked at his face... and his bandana.
Ryoga blinked. "Do I have something on my face?"
Kodachi shook her head in confusion. She knew that she had already seen Ryoga Hibiki before, but somehow... she had the feeling that today was the actual day she was really seeing him for the first time. Somehow, something about him seemed... familiar. Like something she had almost forgotten from a time long, long ago...
"Kodachi?" Ryoga asked. "Are you okay?"
Kodachi shook her head. "What a stupid question!" she said. "I was just wondering, um... Is that the same bandana you are always wearing?"
It was a dumb excuse to change the subject, but as long as he didn't notice how foolishly she had stared at him...
"Oh, that?" Ryoga asked and touched his bandana. "Yeah, that's the same one! I never take it off, you know? It's a present from my parents... it helps me to find my way back home. Well, at least every two months..."
For some reason, Kodachi felt compassion with the eternally lost boy. She could not explain it, she had never held any feeling other than contempt towards the vulgar, common crowd. But now...
"I... have something similar back home," she finally said in a quiet voice. "It is a black rose... the first specimen I used to grow my special black roses. I think I got it from my mother, before she died. I think... it might be as special to me as your bandana is."
"Really?" Ryoga asked in awe. "Wow, I never thought there was someone else who felt this way. Does it help you in some way too?"
"Every time I... I have trouble with my life, I took a smell of that rose... and I have the feeling as if all my troubles are being swept away..."
They looked at each other for a while, then Ryoga scratched the back of his head bashfully. "Um, okay... it was good to see that I'm not the only one with something like that, but, uh... I'm still kinda looking for the Tendo Dojo. Can you show me the way?"
Inexplicably, Kodachi felt angry again when she heard the last name of the hated girl her brother was so obsessed with.
She huffed. "You think Akane Tendo is more interesting than my tales? Fine, peasant! See if I care again about your silly little stories! And if you would excuse me, I have a class to attend."
And she turned around and let Ryoga stand alone in front of the gate.
He grimaced. "Stuck-up girl..." he grumbled. "I don't know why I was telling her all of this... I better go and find Akane's house."
But he had to admit, he had felt something familiar when he looked into her eyes. As if he had seen a similar pair before in his life.
He shook his head. "What's wrong with me?" he muttered. Then he looked around. "And where the heck am I now? DAMN!"
Meanwhile, in the middle of the bridge leading over Nerima channel...
In a secluded place by the shore, a huge purple pipe suddenly came out of the ground, emitting a strange sound. And then, five figures came popping out of the pipe and landed softly on the green grass that surrounded it.
When the pipe once again vanished in the ground, the blonde girl looked down with worry. "Are you sure we will find this place again?"
"Don't worry about-a this, princess!" a stout man with a bushy, black mustache said. "See this small pipe image in the sand? I'll just have-a to do a nice butt stomp here, and it will appear again."
"Well, that's good to know," the diminutive boy with the oversized cap mumbled. "I don't want to be stuck in this strange world."
"Don't worry, Toad!" his princess said with a smile. "We'll just help find Kimmy and Kenny find their children." She frowned. "I still can't believe Toadsworth never mentioned this to me before. Even if the castle was in danger at that time, he didn't have to force you to give your babies away..."
"It's all right, Princess Peach," a gentle voice behind her spoke up. "We learned to forgive him... and at least we'll be seeing our kids again!"
The princess (who was dressed in a simple, pink sundress without any adornments, even sans her crown) looked at the two parents. "Are you feeling fine? Are there any side-effects of Merlon's magic?"
"I'm fine..." Kimmy Koopa muttered while she tried to regain her balance. "But being so tall is so weird... did he have to turn us into humans?"
"Well, not-a too many humans are used to see talking turtles that are walking on-a two legs... no offense!"
"None taken!" Kenny grinned. "But I think we should get used to call ourselves by the human names Merlon gave us. "For everyone else, we just look like these 'Japanese' people that are living here. So we should have Japanese names as well... Right, 'Kimiko'?"
He looked at his wife. Gone was the black Koopa shell with the retractable spikes, instead she was wearing an elegant kimono. Her new, raven-black hair was falling down her backside. "Sure, 'Kensuke', but are you really sure that the people around here are wearing something like this?"
"I informed myself," Peach spoke up. "This so-called kimono is a traditional garment of the Japanese people."
Kenny aka 'Kensuke' looked down at his own pants and shirt. "Well, at least my clothes look pretty normal..." He raised a hand to touch his blonde hair. "But it's kinda strange that my head is all fuzzy..."
"We had-a no choice about it," the plumber hero of the Mushroom Kingdom shrugged. "The humans would-a freak out if they saw they in your true form... it's-a the same reason why we had to put Yoshi in an eggshell... sorry 'bout that, old buddy!"
A damped "Yoshi!" came out of the backpack on the plumber's back as a response.
"Why did we have to bring the dinosaur after all?" Toad frowned. "Kimmy... I mean, Kimiko and Kensuke might be humans now, and I can at least hide my mushroom cap with this big cap, but aren't you taking a risk by taking Yoshi's egg with you?"
"He said he always wanted to see the world I have been living in for at-a least once," Mario explained. "When he looks at-a you with those teary eyes... you can't-a say no!"
"But... but what about the palace?" Toad stuttered, trying to find yet another excuse to get back home. "Isn't it risky to leave like this? What if Bowser attacks while we're away?"
"Oh, I'm pretty sure Luigi and Toadsworth will have everything under control," the princess smiled.
"Luigi! Look out behind you!"
"WHAAAAAAAH!" the green-clothed plumber shouted as he waved the front end of the Poltergust 3000 around. "Mamma mia, where IS that stupid ghost?"
"Tee hee hee!" the Boo snickered as he appeared out of nowhere. "We're not stupid, silly plumber... we are just SNEAKY!"
"I've got you now!" Luigi shouted as he started sucking the spherical ghost into his vacuum cleaner.
"EEEEEEK!" the Boo screamed. "Lemme go, lemme go! I just followed my orders, I swear!"
Toadsworth was cowering in a corner of the room and whimpered. "Why, oh why did the Boos choose this day to haunt the castle, why?"
While Luigi and Toadsworth were busy with the Boos on the upper floor, a slightly bigger Boo came floating through the thick walls of the basement. His face was slightly scarier than that of an average Boo, and he also was wearing a crown on his head.
"Nyyeeheeheeheeheeh!" King Boo snickered. "Now let's see if I can find this Warp Pipe Kamek told me about... he promised to pay us Boos handsomely for finding it."
Which meant he was paying King Boo, and his ghostly subjects would get nothing, but that was beside the point.
King Boo cackled gleefully when he finally found the Pipe Room. "Excellent!" he grinned. "I should probably report to Kamek right away... buuut I'm just too tempted. Who knows where this pipe leads to? I just have to find out!"
And with mad laughter, the royal ghost vanished inside the purple pipe.
Meanwhile, Peach, Mario and Toad were walking around town, together with the ex-turtle parents. Toad's giant cap was getting a few irritated glances, but all in all, they didn't attract too much attention.
Toad looked at the map and scratched his head. "Well, according to this map that Merlon gave us, the house that my uncle Russ T. brought your daughter to is in that direction... and the new home of your son is in the other direction."
"I suggest we split up, so we don't scare them with too many people at once," Kensuke said.
Kimiko smiled. "Good idea, dear! I'll go introduce myself to our daughter, while you can pay our son a visit."
"I'll go with you, Kimiko!" Peach said. "Toad, please come with us. Mario, you should go with Kensuke. If trouble arises, you always have Yoshi to help you out."
"Okeydokey, Peachy!" Mario grinned and gave her the thumbs-up.
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See other episodes by Shritistrang
(Posted Wed, 18 Jul 2007 12:02)
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