Ryoga dreamt, twitching slightly in his cage as the shop started its transition to another universe.
He was prowling through a desolate waste of frozen trees, his breath puffing mist that froze in midair, falling slowly to the ground as if the cold had sucked the very life out of it. Paying no heed, he snorted, scents pooling into his nose. Prey had been here awhile back, but they had left, and their trail was hidden by the blowing snow. He knew this place though, and he knew where the prey would go sooner or later- The one spring that was warm, which never froze even in the coldest weather.
Prowling quietly through the dunes of powdered ice, he found trace of the prey quickly enough. A broken branch with hair caught between splinters here, a trace of spoor there. Moving more quickly now, he caught a glimpse of movement between trees with tendrils of ice tracing their trunks much as moss would in a more temperate climate. Moving quickly, he prowled just out of the prey's sight. The prey was a healthy looking young female, her speckled brown skin showing that she was not yet an adult. As he prowled, he considered idly wether he should take this prey or let it lead him back to the rest of the prey.
And then, the wind changed.
The prey tensed quickly, her sensitive nose smelling his musk. Looking around desperately for a hint of where he was hiding, she bolted. Unfortunately for the prey, she was not fast enough to escape him.
The ground and the trees passed around him in a blur, all his attention focused on the prey before him. It jumped over a bush- He tore through it. It dodged around trees, and he twisted and twined through them after her. Finally, the prey came to a halt, caught in a narrow, boxed in canyon. Turning around, she tried to back into the wall, away from him. Her eyes stared up at him, a liquid brown pair of mirrors.
The chase had only whetted his hunger. Where once it was a dull pang, now it was a razor edged blade in his gut, demanding his attention. There was no question any more- This prey was his. Crouching, he leapt...
Ryoga woke, sweating and hungry. The room he was in was dark, and it's shadows stretched across his vision. Before him were iron bars, a sturdy padlock holding them shut. Growling, he jabbed his finger viciously into it.
"Bankusai Tenketsu!"
The padlock trembled for a moment before falling still again, and a pit formed in the depths of Ryoga's stomach. Looking at his hand in betrayal, he noticed that it was different then he remembered. Where once it had been an average sized hand with decent calluses, now his hand was almost half again as large as it had been, with massive calluses on his palm. Flexing it slightly, he found to his astonishment that, if anything, it was more flexible and dexterous then before. Looking again, he now noted that his hands were also quite a bit more hairy then they had been, and it appeared his fingernails had been replaced by some sharp pearlescent material. WHat had happened to him? Ryoga thought back desperately, trying to think of anything that would have caused him to change like this. What was the last thing he did before he went to sleep?
He had been wandering around Hokkaido when he thought he saw Akane walk into a pet store. Feeling mildly jealous for a reason he could not explain, he followed her inside, only to watch her walk into the back room. He had tried to follow her there too, only to be stopped by an employee. After getting the situation explained to him, Ryoga was furious. Ranma had tricked Akane into becoming his perverse, anthromorphic pet! Vowing vengeance, he smashed his way into the back room to save Akane... And then everything went black.
The evil employee had obviously cast some kind of spell on him, he mused. Looking at his hands again, he winced. It seemed he too had been transformed into some anthromorphic perversion. He had to escape, to save Akane from these people! Trying again, he smashed his finger into the padlock, growling when his technique did not work.
"What the heck are you doing?"
Ryoga looked up, seeing his captor for the first time. The owner was a scrawny looking middle aged man, wearing a black bathrobe, sweat pants, and a pair of glasses. He didn't look at all like Ryoga had thought an evil wizard would.
"Trying to escape, what does it look like?" Ryoga questioned sarcastically. "I suppose the lock is enchanted not to break
"Not exactly," The owner said. "It'd be more accurate to say that you were enchanted instead. I suppose you were trying to use a technique from you martial arts style? Well, when you were changed my idiot apprentice decided that he should go with a specific theme. He exchanged your bodies skill and conditioning in the Hibiki Family traditional Karate for a roughly equal amount of skill in Iron Tiger Kung Fu, as well as changing that umbrella of yours into a Tiger Lance. Once we let you free or sell you, the block placed on your knowledge of the forms and techniques will be dropped."
Ryoga glared. "What, too much of a coward to face me like a man?"
"Perhaps. I'm not going to pretend that I could face you in an even fight. However, it's really more for your own protection then anything else. My shop has certain protections on it, and it would be most unwise for you to test them again.
"Now, unfortunately, I know your universe. You aren't going to listen to a word I say. As such, I have no choice but to put you through a training cycle, an idea I got after running through the group of universes that inspired this particular section of the shop... But I'm sure you're not interested in all those details. Suffice to say, once you've gone through the cycle, you will not be in the mood to pick any fights for a while."
As Ryoga growled the Owner walked to the wall next to his cage. Flipping a lever, a mist quickly covered the cell with a layer of water. As the misting halted, the Owner flipped another lever and electrified the bars of the cell for a few moments. Once the lightning died down, he opened the cell door and retrieved Ryoga.
The Training Cycle, inspired by the Taming Cycles used in most variations of the Pokegirl multiverse, differed from it's predecessor in a few crucial ways. While the taming cycle destroyed the subject's mind by a simulation of endless rape and punishment, the Training cycle worked with concepts used by animal trainers- Namely, positive and negative reinforcement. In the training simulation, the subject was given a task, and if the subject disobeyed they were flooded with pain. However, if the subject obeyed they were flooded with pleasure. As such, the affects were somewhat different. The taming cycle damaged and removed a person's personality, leaving them a blank slate. The training cycle left the mind and personality intact, but slowly taught the person to be obedient, loyal servants. The Owner was quite proud of his creation, and for just reason- Mindless drones with animal instincts were not exactly good pets and friends, and that was what he dealt in.
Leaving Ryoga plugged into the Training Machine, the Owner decided it was time to check out the atmosphere of the new world.
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(Posted Mon, 02 Aug 2010 18:13)
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