Ranma’s and Mir’s eyes slowly opened. After regaining their bearings they carefully removed their dive equipment.
Ranma closed her eyes as a spike of pain from the integration of the new songs hit her. The songs quickly built up to completion, leaving her slightly dazed even after the pain left.
As Ranma was assimilating the new knowledge a certain purple haired prideful menace was sneaking up behind Ranma with a sword posed to remove Ranma’s head from her shoulders.
Mir’s eyes narrowed at this and was about to fire off a quick song, when a meaty thwack rang out, and Shampoo’s head was replaced by the head of a staff. Following the staff downwards a small wrinkled old woman was discovered holding the bottom end.
Mir abandoned her song, as it appeared that the danger had passed, and glared at the old woman. “So is this Amazon honor,” she spat out viciously.
Cologne sighed before responding in a resigned voice, “No, we do not accept attacking others in such a cowardly way. I will see to her punishment, which will be worse now that she attempted to break a treaty. I have spoken with Shurelia about your cursed nature, and the nature of her people, and that coupled with a treaty we made and my great granddaughters cowardly attack your kiss of death is void.”
Ranma looked at her to see if she could detect a lie before responding, “Thanks ghoul,” *whap!* “I mean elder.”
The old woman smiled her ghoulish smile, and said, “But I’m not leaving yet young lady.” Her smile widened at the wince Ranma performed at the lady comment before continuing, “Lyner has requested that I help train him and your male form in some fighting techniques in exchange for his fighting style. The boy is quite skilled with the sword, and some of his special techniques are effective. The treaty that I signed with Shurelia, states that in exchange for her asking for volunteers to join our tribe, and the knowledge to keep third generation reyvateils alive, all reyvateils, including the ones that join our tribe now are immune to our kiss and marriage laws. I would also like to examine you two so I can get the difference between the types of reyvateils and see whether the physical weakness can be overcome.”
“So, no killing reyvateils that manage to beat your warriors or forcing them to marry because they lost a fight?” Ranma asked.
“Correct, but before I examine you two I have to restrain shampoo,” cologne responded. She then pulled a decent length of rope out of her left sleeve, and started tying her up. In the middle of her efforts she got a nasty smirk and changed her tying style from a mere restraint to shibari, after she was finished she pulled an old ball gag out from her robes and put it in Shampoo’s mouth.
Outside the clinic, a young man with bullet proof glasses and dressed in a white robe was looking through the window into the room in which Ranma, Mir, Cologne, and the now explicitly tied up shampoo were. I shocked expression marred his face as he thought, Since when has my Shampoo been so dishonorable? I was sent here by my mother for eye surgery, she said she ‘hoped it would clear my eyes of your obsession.’ I agreed so I could challenge her for her hand without my glasses making me look like a dork but… A slight chuckle emanated from the nearly blind boy at Shampoo’s plight. Who knew the old ghoul was so into bondage?
Back in the clinic Cologne was finishing her examination of Ranma’s reyvateil form’s and Mir’s ki pathways. “Well Mir, your ki pathways are quite a bit different from Sierra’s, Shurelia’s, and Ranma’s what type of reyvateil are you?” Cologne asked.
“Beta, but I spent a long time in the binary field, so I’m probably considered part virus,” Mir hesitantly explained.
“Virus?” Ranma asked curiously.
“Long story and it’s something I’m not particularly proud of,” Mir replied nervously while hoping Ranma would drop the subject.
Ranma shrugged, and replied, “I understand, I just hope you trust me enough later to tell me.” Ranma ignored Mir’s wince at that slight accusation, but remained silent as Ranma turned toward Cologne. “And what about me?
Your pathways seem to be slightly different from Shurelia’s. this could be individual variation, due to your curse being a direct one rather than a second hand curse, there could be a slight bleed off from your normal form to your cursed form and vice versa, or a combination of the above. From what I’m seeing I’d bet on the bleeding of nature being at least partially responsible, but I would need to check your male form to be sure,” the old woman explained.
“I’ll get some hot water,” Mir said while thinking, if something is wrong with him/her I want to know.
A few minutes later she came back with a cup of hot tap water. She then poured the water on Ranma reverting her to his original form.
Ranma shook his head as a spike of pain shot through it, which indecently scattered water droplets all over the place. He felt the songs he recently learned convert to new martial arts techniques; while he still know the songs they were now something he could use with his ki rather than magic. Oddly the binary field which he normally couldn’t sense as a male was still faintly sensible.
Cologne looked at Ranma in concern as he put his hand to his head due to the pain, but put it out of her mind when it passed in less than a second. She then moved around him, and checked his ki pathways. She shook her head at what she found, and replied, “You definitely seem to have some bleed off between your cursed form and your regular one, oddly it looks like it started within the past few hours. Don’t worry while this condition is extremely rare, but not unknown. The bleed off will never be a full merger, but minor characteristics, both mental and physical, will show up in both forms, and no it won’t be something like adding breasts to your male form. It has almost always been minor things like hair color, texture, and/or length, some abilities from one form being added to another. The biggest physical change we have on record was a male that fell in the spring of drowned horse, and it ended up making his wife very happy.”
So that explained the abilities I gained when I changed back, Ranma thought. And I still have no clue how to pass them on.
“I need to get home before pops blows his top, I’ll meet you in front of here for our date,” after he said that he dashed out the door, and took top the rooftops in a beeline to the Tendo Dojo.
Outside the window the robed man looked at the developing closeness between the Jusenkyo cursed individual, and the young looking woman in the skimpy black outfit and sighed, due to the fact he had no one to be even as close as they are now. He then mumbled curses under his breath that the cute chick with the silver hair was a guy.
“Who are you and why are you spying through the window?” a hostile voice from behind him said.
The Robed man spun around quickly to see Sierra glaring at him while holding a reddish orange ball of energy above her head. He quickly replied, “My name is Mousse, and I was looking for Shampoo. I was shocked that she could try something like that to someone. I always thought she was a great and honorable warrior, but such a cowardly attack…” he finished by shaking his head.
Sierra dropped her hostile attitude and dispelled her energy ball song before responding, “That’s good considering what she did. I was afraid that I would have to remove you if you were going to try to do the same.”
“Considering the treaty that was recently formed between me and Shurelia, I’m proud that he was able to restrain himself, even with his obsession with my great granddaughter,” Cologne said as she pogoed in behind Sierra.
“That display killed much of my obsession with her I’m afraid. I had no Idea she was capable of being so cowardly and dishonorable,” he paused and looked at his watch. “CRAP! I’m nearly late! See you again Miss…”
“Sierra Lune.”
Mouse waved as he dashed down the street. His eye appointment was scheduled in five minutes. On the way he thought about the differences between his Shampoo, the black haired Sierra, and the silver haired Jusenkyo victim. Fortunately his bullet proof glasses were still on and he managed to avoid looking like an idiot by running into anything before he turned the corner. However shortly after he turned the corner a loud crash was heard and a trashcan lid rolled out from the alleyway he turned into by mistake.
Cologne chuckled at the boy’s antics before sighing and pulling out a rule book to discover what punishment Shampoo will receive for her crimes. The one she really needed to look up hadn’t been broken in her lifetime so she was rusty on the punishment. Upon arriving at the proper page she stiffened. The punishment that was listed was quite possibly the worse one that could possibly be made for a warrior, especially for one as prideful as her Great Granddaughter. Resigned to the loss of her heir she pogoed back into the clinic. Upon arriving inside she immediately saw Tofu talking to Sierra who had entered while she was checking her book. “Excuse me,” she interrupted. As the two stopped talking and turned toward her she continued, “Dr. Tofu do you have some paper, a pen, an envelope, and some stamps I could use? I need to write home to acquire some things for Shampoo’s punishment.
Tofu nodded with a confused expression on his face before he excused himself from Sierra and left the room. A minute later he returned with the requisite items. After handing them to Cologne he returned to his conversation about the pros and cons of diving.
With a resigned heart she started filling out a letter describing the recently formed treaty, the reasons for the terms, Shampoo’s crimes, and the request for the materials necessary for the punishment. After she finished the letter and sealed it in the envelope she moved to the nearest mailbox just as the mailman arrived. Handing the letter directly to the man she was about to retrieve her wayward ex-heir when she saw Shampoo heading in the same direction Ranma went off in. Obviously she managed to get out of her bonds, so Cologne used her staff like a javelin and knocked her out once again. Retying Shampoo in the same manner the old woman added her ki into the knots that will prevent anyone not having the same ki signature from undoing the knots. Taking a second gag out of her robes she regagged Shampoo. She then started walking while dragging her heir to the hotel she had arranged for them both earlier in the day.
Midway there she saw an odd site. It looked like a female Ranma with a bigger chest, catlike features, and red hair. The cat girl was walking past her like she wasn’t even there grumbling, “this is getting ridiculous, I hope Ryoga finds me soon so I can get home to Auntie Min…”
Cologne watched in shock until the catgirl popped out of existence a few seconds later.
The old woman shook her head, and mumbled, “Must be too much stress, I’m starting to hallucinate.” She then continued on her way to her hotel.
Back at the dojo, a fat man was waiting for his son/daughter to get back. He had thought about his declaration the night before and decided to talk with Ranma about it.
“I’m back!” Ranma's voice sounded from the front door.
Genma waited fairly patiently for Ranma to come into the main room. As soon as he did Genma said, “Sit down boy, I need to say something.” After Ranma sat at the table Genma took a deep breath as what he was about to say needed to be said, but it was painful to his pride. “Yesterday I said that if you were going to spend so much time as a girl that I was going to force you to go as one and dress the part. I changed my mind, because the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts would be disgraced if you were to be hit with hot water in a girls uniform. You will still go to school as a girl since you are registered as one, at least until your curse becomes public knowledge.
“Thanks pops, but I’m surprised you thought of that,” Ranma said, while unknown to Ranma it was Soun that pointed the problem out.
“Anyway, since you are male at the moment,” Genma paused and grabbed Ranma by his shirt and threw him to the back yard via the open paper doors. “We can spar.”
With a midair flip Ranma landed in front of the koi pond. Amazingly he missed it by over two feet instead of landing in it. Ranma immediately noticed his ki reserves had grown by at least ten to twenty percent since the last time he fought. Considering that he wasn’t physically working out as much it was a surprise, but before he could think more on the issue his father was heading toward him with a jump kick.
Ranma dodged the fat man’s attack, and decided to retaliate with one of his new attacks. With a shout of “PRIMAL BLAST!” he sent a pure white ki blast at the fat father. Genma, who was shocked into stillness at his son performing a technique that he thought beyond his capabilities was hit dead on in the chest, and sent flying back into the perimeter wall creating a perfect imprint in it.
Ranma was breathing heavily from using the blast, due to his inexperience with its use. Ranma was looking at his hands from which the blast emerged, and missed his father slowly, due to a few cracked ribs, charging at him. By the time he realized it his father had grabbed him and dunked him, now her, into the koi pond effectively ending the fight. A female Ranma climbed out of the pond, and tried to change into the clothing she was in last night. But instead of that forming she formed the black and silver version she wore, unknown to her, in the cosmosphere. Ranma noticed that while the clothing felt like what she wore yesterday it definitely looked different. Rushing to the bathroom to get a look at herself she found she liked the look of the black better than the silvery white she wore the day before.
Genma watched his neo-daughter form the clothing simply sighed, and walked back into the living room. Remembering what happened yesterday when she changed back; it was possible that her normal clothes would reform if she changed back. The only thought that went through his head, unfortunately was spoken aloud, “I just hope the boy’s mother doesn’t see him like that.”
Akane, who was about to enact the plan that her sisters helped her with stopped when she heard that. She moved quietly back to the kitchen to inform her sisters of the new development. A few minutes later she reemerged to start the plan, and Nabiki left after her to go to her room to do some research on her computer.
“Mr. Saotome, Nabiki did some research on Jusenkyo and found a cure for the spring of drowned panda only,” she paused in her speech to pull out two sheets of paper before continuing, “one of these is a map, and the other is the instructions that must be followed exactly or else the cure won’t work. She simplified the instructions for you without losing the meaning of them.”
Genma read the instructions and grimaced at them.
The paper read as follows.
1. Only you and your best friend may travel for the cure.
2. The time limit for this cure is in three days, after that the next time conditions are right is twenty years from that day.
3. When you arrive at the site marked on the map wait until midnight.
4. At midnight strip you and your friend must strip and dig underneath the boulder with prayer strips in it.
5. You and your friend must douse yourselves with the water found there. Congratulations you are now cured.
Just as Genma finished the instructions Soun walked into the main room. Genma looked at his best friend as he entered, and quickly stood up. He moved to face him and said excitedly, “Soun old friend, I need your help. Your daughter found me a cure, but I need your help, and we need to leave immediately. Take a look!” he handed the papers to Soun.
Soun who was feeling railroaded into the decision replied, “But what about getting your son to marry one of my daughters?”
Genma scoffed, and said, “bah, who else would he marry? He knows no other girls.” In a clinic not far away a black haired young woman, or is it old? Sneezed. “I made sure of that during the training trip. I’m sure that him living with your three lovely daughters will make him fall for one of them, and they him. Not to mention we will be gone less than a week. If we delay too long we won’t get there in time for the cure, and I’ll have to wait twenty years to get cured.”
Soun sighed and knew that he had to help his friend, although the X on the map looked to be in a familiar location, but he couldn’t remember why. He sadly shook his head, and tried to get rid of the feeling of doom coursing through his mind. Going upstairs he quickly dug out his backpack from his closet and started packing.
Genma on the other hand simply went upstairs and picked up his still mostly packed backpack.
Ten minutes later the two morons fathers stood in front of the house. One was berating his neo-daughter to choose a fiancée while the blubbering nitwit other father was crying his eyes out at leaving his babies behind, although the smug expressions on Akane's and Nabiki's faces worried him slightly.
As the two dimwits fathers walked away the group moved inside. As soon as they were in the main room Nabiki and Akane gave each other a high five, Ranma went upstairs to do what he could to prepare for his date after thanking the sisters, and Kasumi went to start cooking dinner for her and her sisters.
After the high five Nabiki went to the phone, and started dialing a number that she had found online less than an hour before. Akane on the other hand grabbed a glass of hot water and headed upstairs to see if she could help Ranma get ready for his date. Her thought ran like this, Not gonna have to marry a pervert!
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(Posted Thu, 28 Jan 2010 02:58)
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