"I think we've got just the perfect model for you," said Kumiko. "This way."
Ranma blinked as he was led in back, then to an intersection, then down a side corridor, past windows that showed worlds (?!) drifting by or Earths in a line like pearls on an invisible string, galaxies floating along majestically, and out into... a shopping mall?!
There weren't many of these in Japan, where a strip mall arrangement was common. Big enclosed Western-style shopping malls weren't anywhere Ranma had ever visited before.
Ranma gaped for a moment before he started sniffing. Fresh baked cinnamon rolls dripping with icing. Fresh grilled beef and veggies. Barbequed chicken.
Kumiko came back for the stalled martial artist. "This way, Mister Saotome."
"Where are we?" Ranma asked, almost hyperventilating from trying to inhale the various scents gracing the air.
"Oh, this is just a shopping mall in Olympus we use to adjust skills and trade information," explained Kumiko. "Ah, there we are!"
Ranma caught the "we" and glanced around. Almost everyone here was female and looked human or close to it. They also had those curious lines on the arms that meant they were marionettes.
Ranma glanced up. Four floors, covering maybe twenty acres. That was more shops than he'd ever seen at a single place before.
He hurried to catch up with Kumiko, who had made a beeline for some sort of cafe from which music and a young girl singing could be heard.
"we get it on most every night
When that moon is big and bright
It's a supernatural delight
Everybody's dancing in the moonlight
Everybody here is out of sight
They don't bark and they don't bite
They keep things loose they keep it tight
Everybody's dancing in the moonlight"
Ranma looked around as he entered, old instincts when entering a bar with his pop from the training journey. There were a few people without lines on their arms, who looked somehow... powerful.
Up on the stage was a group of nine girls in something like Sailor Suits. The one singing had this really ridiculous twin odango-ponytail hairstyle.
Then they came to the chorus and everybody on stage chimed in.
"Dancing in the moonlight
Every feelings warm and bright
It's such a fine and natural sight
Everybody's dancing in the moonlight!"
"It'll be just a minute, Mister Saotome," advised Kumiko.
Ranma nodded, wondering if he should go introduce himself. That one guy with the beard looked pretty strong.
"We like our fun and we never fight
You can't dance and stay uptight
It's a supernatural delight
Everybody's dancing in the moonlight"
Ranma took a seat with the salesgirl and looked around. He hadn't seen any modern nightclubs except on television, but that's what this looked like. Except that he knew a lot of the people here were these marionettes or something.
Finally the song number was up and Kumiko got up on stage.
"Now, some of you know me, I work at the retail branch. We just had a Mister Ranma Saotome from one of the Earths that was flagged with a 'Roadkill' sign."
"A what?" Ranma asked, understandably.
"It means that your world is doomed," said a tall skeleton in a hooded robe at the next table. "Sometime within the next year all, or at least most, life on your world ends unless there's an intervention. Which is what the nice young android is trying to arrange. The intervention part that is."
"...what?!" Ranma asked, also understandably.
"So, we've got Mister Saotome here ready to make a purchase. Okay, he's a little overconfident. A little thoughtless. Some people have been known to refer to him as a 'macho jerk'."
"Yeah, Akane calls me that all the time," mumbled Ranma, still dealing with the idea that his world had a year before complete annihilation.
"Due to his father's upbringing," continued Kumiko, "he's sure that if it doesn't have 'martial arts' in front of it - it's not something to be concerned about even if it might mean his own personal survival is at stake."
"You've been talking to Akane haven't you?" Ranma mumbled. "Though come to think of it, didn't Nabiki say the same thing?"
Kumiko indicated Ranma's table and a spotlight shone down. "But he's got a good heart and a world to defend! Anyone interested?"
"Huh?!" Ranma said.
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(Posted Sat, 18 Oct 2003 14:16)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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