As has been stated previously, the Zodiac Amulets were like most magical artifacts in that they were somewhat sentient and had a bit of say in their destinies. Naturally, the Leo Amulet was not pleased with its current possessor, but couldn’t exactly do much against her. The Amulets could only tweak fate on the scale of centuries. Arranging for something over which Eris could trip would take a few decades to execute.
In any case, it wasn’t going to get the chance. Eris cocked her cannon, and the barrel extended, revealing a row of twelve depressions, each marked with a different zodiacal glyph. The Senshi of Chaos inserted her new trinket into the sixth slot in and closed the barrel, smiling as she felt the new power course through the device. “One down.” She returned to her extradimensional hideout.
After acquainting herself with Apollo, Akane conceded that the search for Ranma could be briefly interrupted to allow her to get all of her mental ducks back in a row. It wouldn’t do either fiancé any good, reasoned her past life, if the girl spent more time talking to herself than looking for her prospective spouse. Thus, the youngest Tendo was on the Shinkansen, en route to Tokyo, when the magical feedback hit her.
Akane paled and doubled over as though struck. Pain and nausea washed over her as lights swam before her eyes. Between the disorienting surges of sensation, she managed to think ‘What is this!?’
I dunno, kid. I ain’t doin’ it, and I don’t like it.
‘Neither do I. Everything’s fading…’
Kid? Akane?
‘Ran…ma…’
AKANE!
“AKANE!” Ranma sat bolt upright. He then realized three things, in the following order: One, he was no longer in the Hinata Sou, but instead what appeared to be the middle of a forest. Two, he was presently male. Three, from what he could see, since it was still night, Ukyo and Shampoo were in the middle of a fight over him. ‘Were’ being the operative word, as both had paused and were looking at him.
“Well, this is awkward,” noted Ukyo.
“One a' you wanna tell me what’s goin’ on?”
Shampoo responded first. “Spatula Girl try to kidnap Airen while he asleep.”
“I was rescuing him from a horrible monster!”
The Chinese girl scoffed. “Only monster Shampoo see green-eyed one.”
Ranma rubbed his head. “Look, this ain’t tellin’ me anything. Why don’ we start from th’ beginnin’? Ucchan? Why’d ya take me outta the Hinata Sou?”
“Konatsu said there was some horrible monster woman there! If she could ruffle his feathers, imagine what she’d do to you!”
“Monster woman?” Ranma recalled the episode with Konatsu. “Oh, right. Kitsune-san.”
“See? A fox-spirit!”
The pigtailed boy shook his head. “’S jus’ a nickname. She was jus’ drunk, is all. I was safe, really.”
Shampoo nodded. “Is so. Strange girls tell Shampoo where to find Ranma, say people there polite.” She gave a sidelong glance to her rival. “Unlike some.”
“You want polite?” Ukyo brandished her baker’s peel menacingly. “Then please allow me the courtesy of kicking your little—”
“Ucchan!” Surprisingly, this stopped her. “We ain’t fightin’, okay? We’re gonna talk this out and figger out what actu’lly happened.” Both girls were briefly stunned by this novel proposition. Heck, Ranma was surprised himself. Regardless, he continued. “I dunno ‘bout you two, but I’m tired of getting’ the crap beaten outta me over misunderstandings. Now, Ucchan, you’d gotten me out of the Sou…somehow.”
“You know how deep you sleep, Ranchan. I just had to pick you up. Wasn’t easy with you dodging the whole time, but I managed it.”
“Ha! Airen not even want be with Spatula Girl even when asleep!”
Ranma gave an unsettling look in the Amazon’s direction. “Shampoo, care ta explain how you got involved in all this?”
“Shampoo look through Tokyo for Airen when she find ta…er, find cat who belong to nice girl. She and friends tell Shampoo where Airen.”
“Why would some girl know where I am? Who was she?”
“Name…ah…Shampoo bad with names. Have hair like Amazon.” She pointed at her own buns. “Only keep going to ground.”
Ranma nodded. “Ah. Usagi.” ‘So that’s where they teleported,’ he thought. ‘Gunna hafta see where in Tokyo.’ Then he noticed the venomous look developing on Ukyo’s face. “She’s just a friend,” explained the aquatranssexual. “Not a girlfriend, definitely not a fiancée.”
The chef seemed to accept this. “In any case, I was taking you to Ucchan’s to help you recuperate from whatever injuries you may have received fighting the monster.” She noticed Ranma’s incredulous look. “I didn’t know it was just some lush! Anyway, Shampoo and I basically ran into each other and kinda…well, started fighting over who’d get to take you home.”
“Kind of hope Airen no wake up until after combat,” Shampoo noted sheepishly.
The would-be prize sighed resignedly. “Look girls. Yer both cute, ya both can cook great, but I ain’t gonna pick either of ya if ya treat me like some trophy ta be won. I coulda been really hurt in the crossfire, and then neither of ya woulda gotten me. Either of ya think a’ that?” The expressions of both and the occasional damaged tree made it clear they had not. Ranma smiled softly. “Why don’ we all go home an’ call it a night?”
The two girls nodded and the trio were soon bound Nerima-ward. Ranma found that, rather than taking the Hibiki route, the rivals had simply met in a park. As they began to roof-hop, Ukyo sidled close to Ranma. “When did you get so smooth, Saotome? This is one of the first times I’ve seen you avoid tripping over your own tongue and making things worse. Instead, you played us both like violins.”
“Been wonderin’ that myself, Ucchan.” Somehow, what Ranma knew about the girls, how he could expect them to react, and more information he rarely considered outside of a battle had seemed to mesh and show him what needed to be said when.
“And what was with the shout?” Ukyo didn’t bother to hide her jealousy.
Ranma’s answer was completely, utterly honest. “Wish I knew…”
On the Shinkansen, a girl was passed out in her seat. Her breathing was shallow, her face pale. She shuddered, as though dreaming of something cataclysmic. Then, she awoke and looked around as though seeing everything for the first time. “What’ve ya gotten us into, kid?” she muttered to herself.
“Well?” Haruka was tapping her foot impatiently.
“Almost,” replied Motoko, for what felt like the thousandth time. While the Zodiac Crystal pointed directly to the Capricorn Amulet, a straight line was not feasible for anything material. The basement storage had taken on that unique form of orderly clutter formed only by dozens people who all subscribed to the policy of “If I know where it is, it’s organized.” As a result, the Senshi found themselves navigating a labyrinth of uncleaned antiquities, overstuffed filing cabinets, and shelves full of items that spanned all of known human history.
Haruka sighed. In order to keep appearances, one of the “guards” had to stay at the entrance to the basement.
“Oog…” Setsuna suddenly stopped and clutched her head.
“Setsuna-mama?” Hotaru looked at her adopted parent worriedly.
“Something’s wrong,” hissed out the Senshi of Time. “Very wrong.”
“An enemy?” Motoko unsheathed her blade a few inches.
“The timestream?” guessed Haruka.
Setsuna sat. “Both, perhaps. Or neither. I’ve never felt anything like this.”
“Ever?” The Senshi of the Wind grew nervous. Setsuna had been around since before the fall of the Silver Millenium. If there was something new to her…
Without warning, the ancient woman whipped her head back, her eyes glazed and her planet’s sigil flaring on her forehead. A dome of dunny greenish-purple energy spread out from her at a ridiculous clip, consuming the storage area before anyone could react.
Then…silence.
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(Posted Sun, 24 Feb 2008 23:50)
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