The planet Yiziba, near Habitation One (local time: midday)…
"Ranma-kun, thank you for getting me out of that mirror. I really appreciate it."
Saotome Ranma blushed as Hayashi Kanami — who had been born as the "copy Ranma-chan" at Mirror Mansion a month ago — leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Ah, it's nothin' at all, Kanami-chan," he said as they stepped through the entrance to the Cave of the Future. "Even if you were really boy-crazy when you first got out of the mirror at the Mansion, I always liked you. 'Sides, you always stood up to Akane all the time."
A giggle. "Well, what did you expect? Your fiancées are rather too violent for my tastes. A handsome man like you deserves something better."
He blushed deeply. Unlike the Tendō sisters — who had all received their Gifts thanks to the influence of Moroboshi Ataru; such had happened in the immediate wake of the death of their mother Kimiko from breast cancer shortly after he had moved to Yiziba to live with his adopted sister Negako — Ranma had never been Gifted, much less had really desired a Gift when Ataru and Negako had intervened when they did after the Neko-ken training when Ranma himself was ten. While Ranma hadn't forgot about the Moroboshi siblings when the Tendō sisters were made to forget their powers before he came to live at their home full-time, he had pretty much stayed in Nerima and not gone to Tomobiki to seek Ataru out; with Lum's powers the way they were, he actually assumed that the Oni herself was truthfully Yizibajohei and that Ataru was leaning towards her as his future wife…much like Ranma himself had been leaning towards Tendô Akane as his future wife over the last year or so.
Until he learned the truth about her and her sisters.
If there was an empathic bond — unfortunately, Ranma hadn't trained much in the mind arts, but after hearing what happened to Ataru from Kasumi, he decided that learning to protect his mind from telepathic invasion was quite prudent — it might be with Negako herself. Then again, Negako-sama don't really emote like most folks do, the young heir of the Saotome-ryū of Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū (a sister-school of Saikō Jinseijutsu-ryū and a daughter-school of the Tensei-ryū, the school founded by Major Raeburn's late sensei and adopted father, Master Hosan Hirosuke) mused as he squeezed Kanami's hand, which made her smile. Thinking on the living engine of destruction that had been for eight hundred years a mere database of ninjutsu knowledge — before she finally "woke up" in 1808 (the Fifth Year of Bunka) — Ranma could only smirk as he contemplated on one other little problem he had been dealing with over the last year: Happōsai.
Lucky thing Negako-sama persuaded Oyaji to go to Watari-shima to get his mastery and properly establish the Saotome-ryū, he noted as his eyes picked up the pulsing light of the Great Crystal of Power nearby and his ki senses locked in on the Moon-sized nexus of life energy ahead of him. Doin' that would make sure Baka Jijii can't do anythin' to enforce his will on me. Doubt I'll lose my curse since Kasumi told me that the power of Jusenkyō is ebony meson-based…but then again, I've got so used to it by now, actually going back to being just only a man only would feel pretty damn weird! He then stared once more at the magically-created replica of his girl-self. Then again, keepin' the curse would annoy the hell out of both Ofukuro and Oyaji. I do care for them, but their stupid attitudes need to be deflated every once in a while…
"What?" she teased.
He leaned over to kiss her, which she caught on the lips. As they paused to enjoy that intimate contact, Ranma could only grin inwardly as his thoughts towards solving all the honour debts his family and he owed others replayed in his mind.
One: By getting a Gift, he would become Yizibajohei. Yizibajohei did not practice marriage in the formal Terran sense of the term, though people who did come together to parent children would normally remain together for the rest of their lives as a couple.
Result: He could actually "marry" Akane — and Kanami as well; ironically, their DNA was different enough that children born from them wouldn't suffer from inbreeding problems — and anyone else he might want to welcome into his life.
Two: Yizibajohei, due to the massive influence of meson in their bodies after the Gift was bestowed to each one, tended to avoid mating with other races unless the potential mate became a Yizibajohei themselves or were influenced by meson from other sources. Doing otherwise would result in children who might be deformed or mutated.
Result: He couldn't realistically enjoy any sort of relationship with Ukyō — whom he still saw as his buddy, girl or not — much less Shampoo or Kodachi; the former, he saw as a stupid annoyance who couldn't make herself realise her laws meant nothing outside her village in China…and the latter was a total loon. Thanks but no thanks!
Three: Getting a Gift meant that his ki would alter in such a way that — when the Jusenkyō curse was triggered — Happōsai couldn't try to steal "her" ki, much less would he have to worry about Ninomiya Hinako trying to drain him at school.
Result: The grandmaster of Musabetsu Kakutō-ryū would lose yet ANOTHER source of female ki — as demonstrated by his wailing at the fact that he couldn't taken anything from the Tendō sisters some hours ago — and the ki-vamp teacher at Fūrinkan High School could finally be put into her place made to see what a monster she really was.
Four: He — as well as the Tendō sisters -- could finally ditch that useless dork named Tendō Sōun. Unlike Genma, who had WORKED to get his mastery at Watari-shima, Sōun had simply ASSUMED he was the master of the "Tendō-ryū" after he had helped Genma seal Happōsai in a cave just before Kimiko had passed away.
Result: Any influence Mr. Waterworks had on Ranma was negated…and Ranma could easily answer the Demon Head attack with a well-placed ki blast; he just hadn't done that before out of respect for the fact that Sōun was Akane's father and he was allowing the Saotomes to stay at the Tendō home.
Five: Yizibajohei were independent beings by basic nature, seen as the equivalent of being an adult the instant they received their Gift…which normally happened when one became the equivalent of about FIVE years old in Terran terms.
Result One: If his "You must be a man above men or commit seppuku" mother decided to be particularly obstinate about grandbabies or the fact that Ranma might want to spend time as a girl, he could threaten to make sure she grew old and die alone.
Result Two: If his father tried to lean on him to enjoy his "comfy retirement," Ranma could simply threaten to go to Watari-shima and get his OWN mastery, thus forming his OWN school of martial arts free of Genma's influence. Genma would have to EARN his comfy retirement then.
Six: Getting a Gift meant getting the experience, training and knowledge of many past lives, usually averaging about two dozen prior lifetimes.
Result: He could finally take control of the Neko-ken madness — that had been Negako-sama's argument to get a Gift after that experience with the pit of hissing scary creatures — and be truly the best martial artist of his generation.
IF the Crystal would play along with it.
"Scared?" Kanami asked.
A nod. "Yeah."
She smiled. "So am I."
He gazed at her…and then nodded. "Let's go."
"Greetings, Saotome Ranma, Hayashi Kanami."
Both then tensed, and then they turned to bow…
Minutes later…
Oh, gods! I hope I'm not late!
A woman in a red form-fitting jumpsuit with black highlights and boots came into the Cave of the Future after teleporting from Earth thanks to one of the Academician's handy Personal Administrative Aides, the Yizibajohei equivalent of one of the Mother Boxes used by the New Gods on New Genesis and Apokolips.
To believe that Ranma had actually met ATARU and NEGAKO once…
…and yet, he had NEVER got a Gift as a result of it!
For a man questing to be the best martial artist of all, to do that…
She could only grin at that.
Go figure!
No doubt, he actually thought Lum was a meta like Kasumi-nēchan, Nabiki-nēchan and I are, Cremisi mused to herself as she slowed down before she gazed on the object — or, at least, this small part of the object — that had forever changed her life. Standing nearby was the Guardian of the Cave of the Future, the Conservator, who had turned to gaze on her with eyes as black as pitch from under a black cloak.
"Tendō Akane," he intoned in a voice that echoed like God's did in The Ten Commandments. "Cremisi. Are you here to await Saotome Ranma's Gifting?"
A deep bow. "Hai," the Hammer of Passion answered, and then she moved to explain; she inwardly sensed that the Conservator — as he was the man or woman (again, depending on incarnation) who monitored all Giftings for the named lines — knew what was happening and why. "Ranma was intended to be my life-mate and the future father of my children. Even though there have been rough spots in our relationship since we first met, I love him and owe him my life from several incidents when my memories were suppressed."
A nod. "I see. A relationship like that will bear strong children. I did sense an odd taint of the Crystal already within him before he moved to take his Gift."
"That's Jusenkyō; a place of cursed ponds in a valley in a land west of my homeland. Its power arose from a small deposit of ebony meson that was buried there by parties unknown thousands of seasons ago." The woman born Tendō Akane had used the local term for "year" instead of her own term. "My elder sister, the Hearth Witch, sensed it when she regained control of her memories and powers. It's a metamorphing curse that's triggered by exposure to water at certain temperatures. He transforms into a very beautiful girl when exposed to cold water and reverts to normal with hot water."
"Ah! And his female form would be rather well-endowed and possesses red hair?"
She blinked. "Did he come in as a girl?"
"No, but there was a girl born of the Chaos with him. She calls herself Hayashi Kanami. She also would seek young Ranma as a future mate and father of her children."
The Hammer of Passion blinked, and then her eyes widened as it hit her. Oh! Ranma's mirror-clone! she mused to herself. Yeah, he did hate it when we put her back into that compact to take her — and that double of his boy-self — back to Mirror Mansion. She then blinked as something came to her. "Wait! Was there a man who…?"
"Would resemble Saotome Ranma's twin brother?" the Conservator asked before shaking his head. "No. The Chaos source that allowed Hayashi Kanami to emerge from this enchanted mirror you are thinking of allowed the spirit of your intended mate's male replica to merge back with her before she was allowed to emerge once more from the mirror when Saotome Ranma went to fetch her before bringing her here to the Cave."
She nodded…
…as the Crystal suddenly glowed, allowing a muscular man to emerge.
"Behold!" the Conservator automatically declared. "Mustang!"
Cremisi blinked several times, and then she grinned. "Hi, Ranma."
The man in the blue-and-red skin-tight jumpsuit with the buccaneer boots and the rampaging horse motif on his chest blinked before he stared at his fiancée, and then he chuckled. "Yo, Akane!" he then said. "Hope you don't mind the changes."
A smirk. "It looks good on you…"
Again, the Crystal glowed, this time allowing a cloaked woman to emerge.
"Behold!" the Conservator called out again. "The Dragoness!"
Cremisi and Mustang turned to look at the transformed Kanami, who was now the current incarnation of the Grand Sorceress of the Borderlands, a magical of equal power to both the Warlock and the monarch of the Shadow Realm — these days, living as a girl from Tōkyō Ataru's age named Hirosaki Chikage, someone who always seemed very attracted to him for some odd reason…but didn't desire him as a future life-mate as Jessica Wakefield, Tara Markova or Pansy Parkinson did — that saw herself as the mystical guardian of the Great Crystal of Power. It had been the Dragoness' first-self that had so badly cursed the mutant white Skrulls — today known as the Dire Wraiths — when they had tried to steal the very CORE of the Great Crystal in hopes of having the power necessary to conquer the Andromeda Galaxy and avenge themselves on their green-skinned "normal" brethren. Such a curse had wound up addicting the Wraiths to dark magic and the fragment of the Shadow Sun that had been taken away from Yiziba, and then the Dragoness had planted said fragment in a remote red dwarf sun to turn it totally black, thus creating what would later be called the "Dark Nebula."
Of course, said curse could ultimately be removed with a powerful application of meson-based ki, as Ataru had done earlier with the Wraith girl he had found at the H.I.V.E. base. Said girl — an Earth-born Wraith known by the Terran named "Rachel Sweet" who worked today as a senior researcher at Project: Safeguard in Washington — had, after expressing gratitude to Ataru for what he had done, vowed her magic to the final liberation of her people from the stupidity of their ancestors' actions, then headed back to the capital city of the United States to begin preparations towards unleashing a "revolution from within" to finally liberate Wraith-kind from the Dragoness' curse and their addiction to the power of the Shadow Sun fragment buried in their dark star.
With the Dragoness returned…
"Hey," Cremisi said as she waved.
The Dragoness gazed on the Hammer of Passion with a look that made the latter cringe slightly…before she smirked. "You'll behave yourself around Ranma from now on?"
"Kanami," Mustang warned.
"I'm protecting the man who got me out of that mirror finally," the Dragoness warned as she gazed in amusement at him, and then she bowed to the Conservator. "My thanks, good sir. Come, Ranma-kun. A wonderful day of pillow scenes awaits us!"
"HEY!" Cremisi yelped as Mustang blushed…
And as the three left the Cave of the Future, we now…
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(Posted Tue, 10 Apr 2012 03:31)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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