Ranma had a fairly certain idea of what he'd like to be if he changed. It was a fairly daunting process as pretty much all the options he liked were based on various human male characters of stories or games. There were few however that he would actually commit to a form as there were two distinct problems.
Most lead characters had a power-up that was directly opposing to the enemy they faced. Being infected with an alien techno-virus for instance and gaining the ability to copy alien powers and use their technology was really neat, but only when used against those aliens. That was a tad too limited for his tastes.
The rest of those types he was dissatisfied with were because he didn't want to be those guys, or he'd rather get stronger on his own.
So, Brood Prince, Avatar of the Dragons was still the most appealing because it was like being himself, just with more potential and some neat optional transformations that he'd have control over.
The issue however was if that strange toy of the dragon girls could actually do it. All he really knew so far was that it turned them into real dragons, and it couldn't simply cure his Jusenkyou curse.
Of course for all of that he would need the Enigma, and it had been hidden in a secure and safe location that the dragons could watch over.
So Ranma proceeded to pull strange gizmo out since he was actually the one carrying it. Jane said she had no more use for it and just wanted it hidden, but simply putting it back into Jusenkyou wasn't actually hiding it. So Ranma was carrying the strange thing until the dragons decided on a way to hide it away safely. Briefly Ranma entertained the idea of giving it to Jane as if that might make her leave, but he remembered that little pledging ceremony of theirs that made them married, so the device wasn't why they were sticking around. That left a simpler concern for the young martial artist to deal with. "Alright, so how do I use it?"
Jane seemed only mildly amused at the idea of Ranma playing with a powerful artifact. "It's activated by thoughts and will. Are you sure you want to handle it?"
Looking thoughtfully at the device, Ranma was a tad unsure himself, but it wasn't like he hadn't operated magical devices before. All things considered though, he trusted himself to do this and go slowly doing it. "Give me a minute."
It took the young man only a moment of curious thinking to open a telepathic interface with the device, one which to his mind seemed to act like one of those talking computers in sci-fi shows.
From the perspective of the dragons however, the young man just seemed to stare at the device until suddenly it clicked and whirred to life. The enigma floated free of Ranma's grasp with the young man floating behind it under the device's power.
Then the light show began as the pair were engulfed in an expanding globe of darkness that pulsed out waves of light. The gravity of the area fluctuated, cracking the cliff face into boulders that threatened to rain down, only to have the boulders float up instead. Despite the pulsing and rather intensive energies at the center of the storm, the effective radius ended well before the two dragon that were backing up despite their confidence in their own power. They didn't back up far though as, neither were about to flee despite the personal risk. For Jane it was more out of pride and being unwilling to back down, but for Six it was concern for someone she was developing a lot of feelings about.
Even if they wanted to stop the apparent malfunction of the device, neither knew just what to do to restore things to normal. Before Six could get worried enough to do something like jumping into it, the light show faded and came to an end. As boulders settled to the ground, the silhouette of a still human Ranma was revealed floating in mid-air.
Much to Six's relief, her lord floated to the ground, the enigma floating alongside until the boy grasped it and tucked it away again.
For Jane however, the sight was bothersome as after all that fuss and bother, the boy was still just a boy. She had a good view of this because the boy in question was in fact quite naked, which made Jane realize his ability to hide stuff like the Enigma was supernatural. With the device gone however, that allowed Jane to realize the aura of lingering power was actually coming from the boy.
Giving him her full attention, it didn't take long for her to realize his aura was more like Herb's than a human's. It seemed somehow complete compared to Herb's tiny thread of draconic bloodline, and the type of dragon was elusive. It didn't seem to be the aura of an actual dragon, plus if that was so he should have been in dragon form if that was the case. On the other hand, she didn't think the Enigma was capable of creating a mixed bloodline like Herb's. Such a change seemed too specific for the device.
Still, the end result was standing before her, and as if the aura scan wasn't enough evidence, Ranma was suddenly clothed by the same magic the two dragons used in human form. At least it showed he had some taste in clothing as his Chinese styled garb now seemed to be made of fine black silk with gold accents. There were a number of other cosmetic differences, such as his skin being a touch darker, his eyes a brilliant blue, and his hair being loose instead of in a braid.
More interesting was the effects of his new aura on his presence. There was magical potential within the boy now, power that seemed to be largely untapped despite the clothing display. Of more interest was the sense of power now emanating from the boy, though it was subdued like a massive iceberg where only the tip broke the surface.
It was enough to make him somewhat respectable as husband material, but nowhere near what he would have been as a platinum dragon. "What's the matter? Got stuck half-way to dragon?"
Staring at his own right hand as if it were something strange, the young man went through a few simple kata motions as if testing his new body. Then tensing his hand, he created a small globule of magical light before setting it adrift like a firefly. "Yeah, that's kinda what I was aiming for. Didn't want too much of a power-up, just sorta something to give me some new stuff to train for."
As a being that had spent her entire life trying to attain more powerful forms, the concept of trying not to get more powerful was alien to the dragon. "You... purposely limited how much stronger your new form was?"
Ranma as usual proved to be completely oblivious to what Jane found completely insane about the idea, instead casually playing with another mote of magic light. "Yeah, pretty much." With that absent thought the young man turned to the other dragon completely unaware of Jane's mood. "Hey Six, you think you can teach me a few spells? This magic stuff might be fun."
Feeling wanted and useful in a warm way, Six prepared a cheery response only to be interrupted by the growl of a hungry predatory beast...
Giving his tummy a glance, the young man seemed to come to a decision. "Heh, guess it's supper time."
See other episodes by Valor Phoenix
(Posted Thu, 01 May 2008 13:11)
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