Mikado replied in kind, his fan club up in the Royal Box sighing and melting at his cool demeanor. He bowed formally back, looking dignified and hunky, at least until Azusa spotted a boom mike nearby and skipped over to it, cooing “Gwendoline!” After a brief struggle, she got it away from the luckless cameraman. Mikado sweatdropped.
Ignoring Azusa, Soun inquired politely “You have come to challenge for your previous loss?”
“Hai.”
“Are you confident?”
“Hai.” Only, his eye flickered over to where his partner was beating a man over the head with a piece of camera equipment – “That’s Azusa’s Gwendoline! You can’t have her! No! Let go!” – His confidence withered just slightly.
The Chairman, oblivious to Mikado’s inner monologue and Azusa’s outer one, nodded his head in satisfaction. “Very well then. Let us bring out the Iron Ranmas.”
Chairman Soun turned towards the podium and the currently dark portion of the stadium. Enthusiastically he pointed and called out “Yomigaeru Aiyan Sheffu!”
Music swelled, lights went on, shining right on the giant pictures of Ranma-kun and Ranma-chan, and a platform was rising between the two. On said platform, an annoyed-looking Ranma-kun was standing, legs braced, his arms folded across his chest, looking as formidable as possible.
Ranma gritted his teeth and muttered back “Shut up, old man. If I’m lucky, there won’t be a next time.” He thought back to breakfast that morning and Nabiki waving some very embarrassing photos in his face, along with tossing around the name Kuno. He had agreed to do the stupid thing to get back the photos. What a mercenary that girl could be!
With a light *clunk,* the platform reached the top. Genma secured it, then ran off. Ranma dismissed his father immediately, more interested in his view. From where he was, he could see the entire room and the fighting arena, which took up most of the stadium. Not bad, he thought. Against the wall was where the Anything-Goes part must come in, with lockers and containers of all description. Looking up, he saw handholds, ropes and nets and a couple of small platforms. Quickly gathering a plan, Ranma was making his aerial ascent in his mind and was unaware of his father’s literal pulling of strings behind the background, so when he was interrupted by a large dose of cold water, it was a complete surprise.
Chairman Tendo turned back to face the Golden Pair and smiled at them. “So, have you made a decision?
Mikado nodded. “Of course. Azusa?” He looked at the girl, but she has been drawn over to the panda and was now hitting him with his own sign. “Josephine! Josephine! You ate Josephine! How could you!”
The skater rolled his eyes and sighed. He pointed his finger dramatically and said “Ranma-kun!”
The Chairman headed to the podium and began his long-winded speech. Eventually, he got to the point and said what everyone has been waiting for. “…so what could the best theme item be for these challengers? I thought and thought, and then it came to me.” He smiled, holding up a finger. “You will like it, no doubt. Ok, here it is!” Dramatically, he lifted the red cloth covering the theme item for the match. Triumphantly he proclaimed, “Kyoo no tema wa kore desu…”
It was:
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(Posted Thu, 15 May 2003 17:18)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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