In any normal Ranma 1/2 setting, Genma makes it to the Tendo home without difficulty, thus precipitating a major mess. In most crossover settings, a lengthy duration at the Tendos' culminating in Ranma's leaving, or the trip was never begun due to other complications. Rarely did someone interrupt DURING the trip.
As Genma currently had two novice Sailor Senshi on his literal tail, this qualified as a difference. However, given Genma's skill and speed at running and hiding (and the difficulties in finding a private place to transform before pursuit could be underway), it was likely that the Master of Panda-monium would escape before any serious impediments could be underfoot.
But never underestimate the power of Paradox.
In most timelines, the Senshi work alone. There's Endymion/Tuxedo Kamen, but few male allies. Upon closer examination, however, one discovers that one of Endymion's titles is the Knight of Hope, able to inspire such in his allies, allowing them to draw on new reserves of energy and surpass their limitations to reach new heights of power. In a very few timelines, there ARE other Knights, though their positions and Senshi charges vary.
In THIS timeline, one of those had been Hephaistos, Knight of Faith. Assigned to one Senshi of Venus as partner and guardian (hey, Artemis was one of SERENITY'S advisors, originally). Had Venus deigned to notice the Knight in anything but a professional manner, she would have found a loyal companion indeed. But the unhandsome warrior never caught her fancy.
Hephaistos was long dead, having been slain too soon to be reincarnated. Worse, the years of death had weakened him, to the point where there was little even a Silver Millennium spirit could accomplish. And the Queen he was sworn to serve had not marked this one, limiting the ways in which he could interfere. Nonetheless, Ranma was an innocent, such as he was sworn to protect. Princess Venus was his companion, whom he'd sworn to serve at any cost. Loyalty demanded that he try to intercede. Faith was his bailiwick, and with it, he could do things the other Knights would deem impossible.
Genma sped through alleyways and back streets, taking a roundabout route to Tendo's place to prevent followers, but at speeds quick enough to keep Ranma from waking before they got there. Were he more used to his bulky panda form, he MIGHT have gone roof-hopping. As it was, he was just running---
---straight into white-hot flame!
His survival instincts kicking in, the panda stopped on a ten-yen coin...then bent over to pick it up. Thus he missed seeing the figure emerge from the flames, but upon rising, saw it perfectly. A hardened warrior garbed in full battle armour, wielding an enormous warhammer one-handed. All things that had those aforementioned survival instincts screaming DANGER! DANGER! DAAANNGGEEERR!!
But it was the warrior's eyes that really terrified the panda. For in them he saw an unyielding conviction that all Genma's skill, all his experience, was as nothing. If they engaged in battle, the master of the Saotome school WOULD fall. It was as inevitable as death.
Then the apparition faded, leaving Genma to stand and blink in confusion.
For his part, Hephaistos lacked the strength to materialize any longer. He only hoped his distraction would hold Genma long enough for the Princess and her guardian Senshi to reach him. It was all the broken Knight could do, for he was now too weak to even exist in the ethereal state he'd previously held. If the Princess summoned him directly, he would come, but until then, Hephaistos could do nothing but surrender to oblivion...
[A.N: I just KNOW someone's going to nail me over this, since I did pretty much the same thing in my first posting, for the "Kingdom Hearts 1/2" thread---and judging by the flurry of continuations on THAT thread, you can tell how well it went over. In my defence (Canadian spelling), I LIKE the idea of the Knights, and since Ranma is NOT a Knight, I wanted to make sure that the option was still a possibility in this world. So, a fallen Knight, leaving in his very existence a tradition to carry on. Maybe Ranma can earn the position, not having been born with it. Or maybe one of the OTHER male cast members is already a sleeping Knight (picturing the self-centred Taro as a champion of justice is amusing...)
As for the spectral manifestation bit, Queen Serenity does it at least twice in the anime, and the four Generals of the manga have been known to manifest when summoned---of their own will---when Endymion's health is threatened. They just aren't able to do much more than stand there and speak. So, a last-ditch effort on behalf of an unlikely and doomed hero to do nothing more than nudge the odds in favour of the good guys...naaah, couldn't happen in an anime. :) End note.]
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See other episodes by Galen Salvatore
(Posted Sun, 15 Jun 2003 14:50)
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