“Actually, I would suggest you run because the rest of the group should be reaching us in thirty seconds,” said Miyo as she started to float up into the air to get herself out of harm’s way. “All of whom feel that you should choose them to be on your team of eight.”
“Eh?” Asked Ranma curiously as he pulled free from Shampoo’s grasp, making the Cheetah of Chinese Amazon descent pout. “What do you mean they’re going to be here in...” he blinked his eyes as he felt a tremor. “Thirty... seconds?” He blinked his eyes once, twice and slowly turned his head, eyes widening at what he saw in the distance and closing.
Pokégirls. It had to be pokégirls. Dozens of them, rushing towards his location. Various sorts. Girls of various heights, builds and hair-colors, some of these human-like women with wings, others bearing all kinds of canine features (some appearing almost as if they were fox-squirrels), and a few that seemed insect-like in appearance...
However, the majority were feline. Striped, spotted, patch-work, solid-coated pelts of all kinds or at the very least, ears and tails that denoted the feline power and ancestry. And the eyes... all the eyes with slit-like pupils that seemed to flicker with reflection of the sunlight. And they were all rushing towards him!
Ranma thought himself a brave man, a man amongst men... but even he, thanks to the idiocy of his father had an ingrained fear within him. He was able to control his fear by telling himself that although these women may have looked like the most dreaded of felines, that they were still people!
That wasn’t so easy when they were gaining on you with speeds closing in at sixty miles per hour. Understandably, there was only one logical reaction to what went through Ranma’s head: survival. The old, tried-and-true reaction of fight or flight...
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
Obviously, flight was on the pigtailed martial artist’s internal itinerary.
Hearing the cries and shouts behind him, Ranma just pumped his arms and legs harder, moving faster than he thought possible for himself; adrenaline pushing him past his usual limits. Fear was an incredible motivator when applied to certain situations.
“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!” Ranma thought in horror; eyes squinting so he could still see through the sheer wind-factor that beat upon his body as he did his best to stay ahead of the mob of pokégirls. He made a mental note to kick Hiroshi and Daisuke’s asses when he met up with them again, but first things first! “There’s gotta be somewhere I can go to so I can lose these c-c-c-CATS!!”
Fortunately for Ranma, he did get some assistance despite his mental hysterics. A probable hiding place where you could lose these pokégirls, even with their heightened senses, would be to hide in a place where you scent is already apparent and you are known to frequent, yet they would never think to look for you there as one of their first impulses.
Still in a dead-sprint, the martial artist nodded his head, pigtail flapping behind him as he sucked wind. “Wuh-what does—” he was cut off suddenly, shrieking as he jumped over a shot of what looked like spider-web that had been aimed at his feet. Landing a few steps ahead, he picked up his speed once more. “What does that mean!?”
It means, the Great Will started to answer. Is that you need to go somewhere you are known to dislike but are known to visit. That way any scent that any pokégirls with an enhanced sense of smell will pick up will consider it to be an ‘old trail’ as they know you’d rather avoid the establishment if given the chance.
The pigtailed Asian youth winced. “You...” he panted as he continued pumping his arms and legs. He normally wouldn’t be so winded but it was taking every ounce of will within his being to stay more than a couple of blocks ahead of the mob of ornery and desperate pokégirls. “You mean like the Kuno estate?”
Precisely.
Ranma’s wince was more prominent this time. “Any... where... else?” He managed to ask between deep inhalations of breath. While he was desperate to evade these scary cat-women... he wasn’t so desperate as to end up anywhere near that nuthouse.
The closest possible hiding place that offers a high level of safety probability would be the Nekohanten Chinese Restaurant. But first, it would be suggested that for such a plan to hold up, you head there without being seen entering by any of your pursuers.
“Cat Café. Gotcha,” Ranma said in understanding. That was definitely more doable in his opinion. Taking a quick moment to try and actually recognize his surroundings rather than quickly accept them as visual obstacle and hurdle cues, the heir of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts saw his chance for escape! Taking his chances with hitting hard, the raven-haired youth turned to his right sharply, ducking between two buildings and bounding over trash-cans and scattered boxes of garbage and other odds and ends quickly in succession.
He gave a mental cheer as a tight space meant that with their numbers, if was a rush and mini-battle to see who would get through first; pokégirls being a naturally hierarchal bunch. But even those that managed to push through the narrow entry found themselves falling over and on top of one another as they stumbled over the garbage containers. It looked like he was going to get away safe and sound!
And that’s when Ranma remembered that he REALLY needed to stop thinking like that. One of the pokégirls; one with a long neck and looked almost like a Western’s take on a dragon, opened her mouth wide. The pigtail on the back of Ranma’s neck stood up as he could feel the build-up of power behind him; a shiver going down his back as some of the other girls were yelling ‘No’ and ‘Not a Hyper Beam’. He turned his head to look over his shoulder for a split second, catching sight of a ball of light growing in front of the draconic girl’s open maw.
“Why me?” The pigtailed Pokégirl Trainer-to-be thought in annoyance just before his ears were deafened by the sudden sound of a blast not to dissimilar to that of a shotgun going off, yet with the reverberation of cannon fire. His internal danger sense going off, he jumped, yelping as he went tumbling. While it was a damned good thing the long, thin beam of white pulsating energy shot beneath him, the force of it was condensed within the narrow passage, sending force that pushed forward, back and up out of the alleyway as the two buildings held their ground. Force that added more than a little to the momentum of the pigtailed martial artist’s leap...
“Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT!” Ranma cried out as he went spinning into the air head-over-heels. It took quite a bit of effort on his part, but he would be damned if he didn’t try and make the best of this. Using skills honed from years on the road with only his old man and the Art, the raven-haired youth managed to hit the ground running as soon as both his feet firmly planted. True he stumbled more than a bit, but the pokégirls were still reeling from the dragon girl’s attack.
More than enough of a head-start to get away.
*Zip-Zoom-Zing*!
Ranma didn’t know if that sound-effect he was making was just his imagination or the effects of a concussion but he was more than pleased to know he was leaving this mob of would be pokégirl ‘team members’ in the dust. He just needed to make it to the Nekohanten and he’d be home-free! HOME-FREE!
Seeing the familiar building and glad that Ret-Con caused by Hiroshi and Daisuke hadn’t changed its outer-appearance, Ranma put all his remaining strength and speed into his legs to cross the distance; lungs burning painfully as he closed the distance between himself and the pair of green double-doors that made up the main entrance to the Chinese restaurant. Raising his arms in front of him, Ranma bum-rushed the entrance, making the doors swing inward as he came skidding to a halt across the floor.
Panting for breath, the pigtailed martial artist could hear the doors swing back and forth for a bit but paid it no mind. He’d made it. Now all he had to do was head into a dark corner or a booth and he could take a moment to settle things on his own... away from the numerous, anxious Cat-type pokégirls so he could finally think straight.
Closing his eyes and taking quick, deep breaths to calm his frazzled nerves, Ranma promised himself that when he met up with Hiroshi and Daisuke again and forced the two weasels to give him back his control over the Great Will of the Grand Universe that he was so going to kick their asses.
However, even with his heavy breathing, a familiar voice played upon the downed pigtailed martial artist’s ears. “Son-in-law? Son-in-law? Are you all right?”
Groaning, Ranma forced himself to open his eyes. “Dang it, old ghoul... can’t you tell I like it all cold... and... dark?” He trailed off as his eyes suddenly opened as wide as dinner plates with minimal effort. Instead of looking up at the little shriveled form of the elderly Amazon woman he was so used to seeing, he instead caught sight of a tall, blue-tressed Chinese woman in beautiful robes of green and crimson, with a pink flower along her blue locks. He recognized this as Cologne’s younger form from the time he’d taken a trip with the others due to the Nanban Mirror.
Such was the final straw that broke the camel’s back. He’d handled Kimiko Tendo back from the dead, he’d handled Kasumi the Tigress, Nabiki the Cheshire, Shampoo the Cheetah, Miyo actually having interest in him and even the fact Tendo-san had TWO women with that Tsuruko Aoyama! But this? A YOUNG Cologne? A possibility that he might have ANOTHER female Amazon after him.
Despite how unsafe he felt it was, it was just far too easy for the pigtailed youth to pass out. This day could not get worse.
“What do you mean he’s escaped?” A female form enveloped by shadows hissed angrily into her cell phone. “I told you to go after him and make certain that he accept you into his Team! How am I to keep an eye on him and keep President McKenzie updated on his progress if you’re not there with him? There’s only so many pokégirls the organization has allowed to work with them and if he doesn’t take a liking to you, there’s not much choice left!”
There was a murmuring voice from the phone, the tone very fearful and repentant; a string of apologies coming one after the other. The buxom female form reclined back into her leather chair and scoffed. “Say whatever you want, but the fact is that we need results. We need to keep tabs on Sukebe’s heir; his is the fate that shall suffer the punishment his grandfather evaded! We cannot allow him to gain any power without our knowledge or any upper-hand to use against us in any way! If you cannot help the organization, then believe me when I say there are others who will!” She practically spat.
There was more frantic apologies coming from the cell phone, the figure in the chair obviously losing her patience. “No more excuses! You find Ranma Saotome and see to it that he accepts you as one of his pokégirls or else you will be sorry!” She threatened dangerously. Her eyes flashed with a glint of barely contained rage as she snarled, “I will not allow my brother to outdo me again!”
She then snapped her cell-phone shut, cutting the connection. Growling as she slipped it into the purse on her desk, her hand then slid over to the side, pressing a button on the intercom system built into the mahogany woodwork. The action opened the curtains of her office, illuminating her with natural light and giving the redhead an excellent view of the Tokyo Skyline.
It also allowed a view of the woman. She was one that did not exist before the ret-conning of reality by Ranma’s friends, but with them wanting entertainment value in the fact that their friend needed rivals and other excitement in his life, the Great Will created Ranko Saotome, twin sister of Ranma Saotome, pure woman and someone who felt she should inherit the company over her brother.
In Ranko’s case, her desire for her grandfather’s holdings was understandable to a degree. She was one who was left behind in a confined home while her brother went off with their father to see the world and learn the family arts. It was she that was left behind to harshest and best of private tutors money could buy while her brother learned from their father. It was she whose life was decided for her to work in a company and make the best of pokégirls through business while it was expected of her brother to do his best with pokégirls through mindless combat. Her brother was given freedom while she had to crawl her way from the bottom and make her way to the top.
And she HAD made it to the top. She was the CAO (Chief Administrative Officer) of Sukebe Incorporated and was responsible for the administrative management of private, public and governmental interactions with the corporation. As the CAO, Ranko was one of the highest ranking members of Sukebe Inc., managing day-to-day operations and only reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer himself, her grandfather Jim. Such a position left her privy to much of what her grandfather knew... when he’d left for his vacation two weeks ago with his latest project the boys in the lab helped him create, it only served to give her the chance she needed to search through his things and find out more as to what her grandfather planned for the future: both hers and the company’s.
Ranko did not like what she found while snooping through her grandfather’s encrypted files.
As far as her future was concerned, all that she had fought to accomplish... this was it. Her grandfather was pleased with her competence and her hard work and saw no reason for her to go further with the company. No, instead he sought to have Ranma fill her shoes.
Her brother, some back-water country bumpkin who’s only skills included fighting, eating, sleeping and maybe, if they were lucky, how to wipe his ass. He’d grown up in the wilderness for crying out loud, with minimal formal education! It was beyond her how their grandfather expected Ranma to just take over eventually until she made a realization, one which chilled her to the bone.
He was male.
President Sukotto always favored men, Ranko was no idiot. She had progressed as far as she had both to her status as a Pure Human Woman and the fact that she was the CEO’s granddaughter, a fact that she was able to use time and again to her advantage when she wanted to pressure certain people into doing what she wanted. But the idea that her gender had anything to do with why her grandfather would choose her brother over her was something she found both asinine and sexist!
It was enough to push her to want to sabotage her brother’s standings in her grandfather’s eyes. The notes she found had stated him as being his primary choice for an heir but that there was... doubt. Grandfather Jim was no idiot in how lax Genma had been in Ranma’s upbringing and the idea of Ranma becoming a Pokégirl Trainer was but a test in the old man’s eyes. He wanted to see if Ranma had the heart, intelligence and skills to bring together women under his banner and not only make them a cohesive team but a successful one as well. If he could, Jim would be poised to see to it that with the help of his pokégirls, Ranko’s brother would have the aide needed to adapt to the position of CEO and continue the old man’s legacy.
But if he couldn’t... Jim wasn’t going to await another generation to see to it that his company would be left in capable hands. He’d already passed over his own daughter Nodoka once she’d become a pokégirl, hoping she’d have a son so he’d have a male heir to pass his works onto.
Ranko was going to make sure her grandfather saw the light, that her brother was unfit of having anything to do with Sukebe Inc.
Even if she had to personally ruin him herself...
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Red Priest of the 17th Order
(Posted Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:06)
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.