Mornings in the Furinkan district of Nerima were routine. And routinely, they were loud. The locals had learned to sleep through just about anything.
"Time for training, boy!"
"Huh? Aaaah!" Splash. Shriek. "OYAJI!!"
"Ha ha! Always keep your guard OOPH!"
"Take yer own advice first, pops!"
These were the sounds of Genma ejecting his son into the koi pond and his 'daughter' expressing her desire to wake up in a more pleasing fashion. The whole of the neighborhood grumbled, put in their earplugs, and rolled over.
Akane yawned and stretched in a catty fashion. She wandered over to her mirror and admired her new style. Well, I suppose it's a little more normal than blue hair? she tried. A dirty golden yellow with brown spots. Probably look better…longer.
Akane triple-checked that no one was looking and shifted to hybrid. As promised, her clothing shifted with her. She looked back in the mirror. …Whoa.
Then Ranma came flying in through her window. "Ugh," the ex-redhead muttered. "Pop's been holding back. Sorry 'bout…the window…Akane?"
Akane looked at Ranma's expression and blushed. "Not uncute?"
Ranma nodded dumbly. "Uh huh."
"Want help pounding the panda?"
Ranma grinned.
Back at the koi pond, Genma admired the curve he'd put on the boy. A perfect hook shot around the house and into his fiancée's room where they could have a romantic encounter and join the schools at last.
Someone tapped Genma on the shoulder and he turned around. He faced two werecheetahs, one about seven feet tall with a pigtail, the other seven and a half with short hair above her white furred face. The shorter one – Ranma's girl form, he realized – had a figure still proportionate to her human stature, which probably meant the Master would seek to lose himself in her chest if he was anywhere within three miles of the dojo. The taller one, which Genma had a sinking feeling was Akane, had a somewhat better figure, but it was more because her muscles were more lithe in proportion to her stature and fit better into traditional feminine body views. These aesthetic concerns were completely irrelevant, as Genma was more interested in angry expressions, towering figures, muscular arms, and speed he didn't stand a chance outrunning.
The next thing to cross Genma's mind was Akane's fist. "Genma no baka!"
Nabiki watched the two female werecheetahs play Martial Arts Volleyball with the part-time panda and smiled slightly. That was better than anything she had found online. Which was to say, nothing.
Honestly, it didn't surprise her in the slightest. Weretypes and Amazons are both secretive and largely unknown, so of course nothing had come up. Nabiki had found something on "the Last Werecheetah" in her research, and had a full stack of printouts on Dr. Gina Babette Diggers and her sister Brittany. Although a fair number of articles had it misspelled as "Brianna" the description read like someone trying to ignore the werecheetah. Nabiki suspected "Brianna" was the were's humanform's alias. Sneaky, but not sneaky enough! But that information would be useful "later." For now, hypothetical Amazon death squads and not so hypothetical wererat assassins took precedence. And that meant getting silver extinguisher put together.
Nabiki hit speeddial. "Sasuke? Nabiki. No, I don't want to talk to Kuno-chan…wait, he's back? When? … Right we'll discuss Kuno's latest departure from reality later. I need to talk to Kodachi. … Tell her Ranma needs a favor. … Hello Kodachi. We need your horticultural expertise. … Yes something happened to Ranma and he desperately needs his Black Rose to keep a level head so she can help him. … Good!" Nabiki was glad Kodachi wasn't as headstrong as her brother; Tatewaki would have been halfway to the dojo before remembering that his loves wanted plants as well as his glorious presence. "Look, here's the list. Ready?" Nabiki read the list off. "… Yeah I know these are rare. You have them, right? … Yes, it really is that important. But Ranma will need a hefty supply. Don't clip enough to kill the plant. … If that's all you can bring, do it. It's really important we get some now, today. Can you drop it off at Furinkan? … Yes, Ranma will be there." Nabiki held the phone away as unholy laughter erupted from it. "I'll take that as a yes. Remember to bring the cuttings." She hung up the phone and sighed. "Now I just have to make sure Ranma and Akane don't do anything too stupid, get the rest of the ingredients, have the chemistry geeks brew the stuff, and then we can risk going to the Amazons."
"Sounds like a plan."
Nabiki turned to her doorway. "Auntie Nodoka?"
The matriarch of the Saotome family stood there, a light smile on her face. "This latest adventure has changed many things. Ranma has embarked on a lifelong quest to restore a noble clan."
"And in the process, removed any chance of the Saotome name continuing?" Nabiki guessed.
Nodoka nodded. "My son isn't human anymore. It's an interesting thought to have."
"Are you going to disown him?"
Nodoka looked scandalized. "What? I…never!" she almost snarled before getting back into her proper housewife demeanor. "I nearly lost him. Twice. Never again." She smiled sadly. "Even if he must be a cat amongst men."
"Then are you going to join him?"
Nodoka looked at Nabiki, her expression completely blank. "I…I don't think so?" she wondered.
Nabiki sighed. "There's going to be a lot of that going around."
About an hour later, Nabiki, Ranma, and Akane were walking to school together. Ranma was a guy again, and both werecheetahs were at least nominally human.
"Again, from the top," Nabiki instructed.
Ranma rolled his eyes tiredly. "I found a weird magic thingy."
"It changed our hair," Akane continued.
"We're still learning more."
"If we have to shift, we act like we had no idea how to do it or try to not be recognized."
"And if I encounter a cat, I should pretend to still be afraid," Ranma finished.
"And anything else, you send them to me," Nabiki added.
"Except Ucchan," Ranma amended. "She deserves to know the truth."
"Send her to me anyway," Nabiki said. "I'll tell her to meet us after school. It'll look less suspicious."
"Isn't this a bit paranoid?" Akane asked.
"Bastet told me to listen ta Nabiki," Ranma said.
"Eh?"
"I had a dream last night," he confessed. "Kinda weird. I don't remember lot of it. But Bastet said Nabs was on the right track. She also suggested some people to try an' recruit."
"You mean bite?" Akane asked suspiciously. "Who?"
"Let's see. Doc Tofu, Sasuke, Konatsu, Ryu [Kumon], and most of our friends from Furinkan."
Nabiki thought up a list of people who wouldn't mind giving up silver for a chance to outrun whatever madness Ranma brought. It was a long list. "Doc Tofu?"
Ranma nodded. "Getting a doc in the clan's a good thing."
Nabiki couldn't argue with that. "Kasumi might have something to say about that."
"Eh?" asked Ranma.
"Clueless as ever, baka," Akane said, sticking out her tongue.
Ranma hung his head. "Why is it always me?"
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(Posted Tue, 06 Sep 2011 02:35)
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