Ranma tried not to think of the purring demon girls walking beside Kasumi, or the three smaller ones she was trying to name. Ranma did find it odd that Kasumi was trying to name them after female trios from anime, but Ranma had something more important to think about.
“Good luck on not turning into this,” Neko-Ranma said with a smile.
It wasn’t much, but then much didn’t need to be said, did it? In that Ranma’s past, he had lost all three Tendo sisters he had arrived with, lost his humanity to the cure for the Nekoken, and lost his place in life by being shuffled from one world to another.
Her hands tightened into fists at the thought of how she’d feel to have that happen. He was right, Jusendo would never come close to the pain that possibility would create.
This wasn’t Nerima anymore; this wasn’t a civilized world, at least as she knew civilized as. And as much as she knew she wasn’t going to like it, she knew she would have to adapt, lest she find herself unable to protect those with her.
“Good luck on not turning into this,” Neko-Ranma said with a smile.
She shook her head as she relaxed her hands. The guy hadn’t given her much. True, he did hand them a very valuable corpse and give her a bit of advice on how to conquer the fear before it was used against her. Hell, he had even given Akane a major reality check.
Whether or not that took was a matter to be determined later, most likely after Ranma was forced to attempt the Nekoken cure.
Releasing a deep breath, she put those thoughts off for the moment, instead focusing back on her surroundings. They had made it out of the woods to the path Neko-Ranma had informed them of, and were probably a few minutes away from the shelter.
“What’s this shelter like?” asked Akane, undergoing her own mental questioning as well.
Cyan put her hand to her chin. “I’ve never been to one in these woods; but I think they’re all pretty much the same. They are fortified bunkers with independent power generation, stored MRE food, powdered and canned goods, and a water supply. They’re not much bigger than a medium-sized house, and get restocked fairly often thanks to the security systems. You can’t even get into them without a Dex.”
“Don’t forget that expose a year ago,” said Alice. “Apparently they had some maintenance issues a while back at the southern tip of the League, and then some important guy’s kid got killed because the bunker he was hiding in got ripped through like wet paper, thanks to the maker taking kickbacks and cutting corners.”
“I too have heard of that,” said Cassandra. “A feral colony of spider-type pokégirls had been found living in several other shelters in that area, despite the fact the local authorities had certified them as safe and secure a week prior.”
“Let’s hope these shelters are in better shape,” commented Nabiki, going over the PokeDex to see what more it could offer. Becoming a late-night snack was not something she wanted to deal with at the moment. With any luck, those three bastards who had attacked them earlier would not have quiet so much good luck, or at least anywhere near them … until she could drain the accounts on the Dexes.
“Keep those Dexes handy,” said Alice. “We can use them as an emergency beacon inside the shelter, as well as authorize the release of any supplies we need.”
“They put that in to prevent people from stealing the supplies for free,” said Cyan.
“They also have an emergency radio, a small shower facility, first aid supplies probably for bug-type ailments since they are the most common around here, a map of where we are, maybe a data-terminal for us to access more information and plan our routes if the local authorities can afford it. Anything we need will be charged to the accounts on the Dexes.”
Ranma smiled a bit at that. At least she had a good chance of getting hot water.
“We should still be careful though,” said Nabiki. “We can’t be certain if Neko-Ranma checked it out before he came to us.”
“How about Ayeka, Mihoshi, and Ryoko?” asked Kasumi, looking down at the pokékits to get their reaction to the suggested names. However if the pokékits heard her, they gave no reaction, just clinging close to their new mother figure. It didn’t matter to Kasumi however; she was just enjoying the moment.
“The sleeping area is not very big,” said Cassandra, “four to five cots at the most and no dividing barriers.”
“Oh, that’s cozy,” said Kasumi. “It’ll be just like a slumber party!”
The cat-types just smirked, bringing a ring of fear back to Ranma’s mind.
“So I doubt you will be able to follow the other Ranma’s suggestions tonight,” Cassandra mused, making Ranma let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding.
Akane’s eyes went wide at that. “Excuse me?”
“See,” said Cyan, “she was looking forward to it too,” she said, pointing at Akane.
“Now that isn’t very proper, Akane,” admonished Kasumi. “After all, we have little ones present. You’ll just have to hold off watching Ranma-kun work on his cure for his fear of kitties a bit later.”
“Who knew you had it in you, sis?” teased Nabiki with a smile.
Akane just stared at them, pausing in her stride and resembling a fish trying to get air.
Ranma just tried to ignore it. At least she was soon going to be male and put off … taming … the catgirls for a while longer. The fact that now Akane was being accused of being a pervert was not a gift she was going to risk ruining by opening her mouth.
“Welcome to Buggy Woods Shelter #21. Please enjoy your stay. Be sure to check in with the Gate Guards to ensure you are not listed as in jeopardy. Thank you.”
“Okay,” said Nabiki, as she placed the Dex back in her pocket, “that was odd.
“It does bring up the issue with how we’ll get out of here,” she mused as the group entered the doorway, making note of the thickness of the sides of the partially submerged bunker. They were all glad to be someplace safe from the bug-type pokégirls that were known to prowl at night.
“Well,” said Alice as she looked at a video screen, “at least there isn’t a warning of a Buzzbreast swarm. Not any mention of a Widow either,” she mused.
“They may not have known,” said Cassandra, as she looked around with the others. “It may have been a new arrival or simply laying low, killing either bug-types or simply odd and unlucky tamers that were later reported as missing and assumed eaten or changed. That is assuming the other Ranma acquired it here in this location.”
“I’ll still want to make sure we have a cover story,” said Nabiki. “I’d rather not make it this far and spend the rest of my life in prison for identity theft.”
“Not to mention the big check you’re holding,” said Ranma, pointing to the pocket Nabiki was keeping the Widow corpse pokéball in.
“That too!” she chirped with a smile. It may not have been much, but it would be enough to set them up on this porno-pokémon world.
Splash!
Ranma didn’t dare look behind him, even as he changed. He knew of only one reason they’d splash him now.
“If everyone could please turn around, close your eyes, and plug your ears,” said Cyan with a smile, even as Alice set the cup formerly filled with hot water on the nearby counter.
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by The Demented Redhead
(Posted Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:02)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.