Nodoka stalked through the streets of Furinkan on her way to the Tendo home. Thoughts blacker than the darkest night blasting through her head. That bastard! How dare he dangle Ranma in front of me like a £µ¢¤¡¶& doll! She thought bitterly as she remembered what had happened:
"I want you to bring me something, Mystique." Magneto said as he finished wrapping an unconscious Ranma up in a sheet of tin.
"Why me?" Nodoka replied. "Surely a little larceny isn't too difficult for the 'Mighty Mutant Master of Magnetism'?"
Magneto's reply was to tighten his fist, as well as the tin sheet around Ranma. Nodoka inhaled and her eyes widened before she grit her teeth in compliance. "Alright, Magneto. You've made your point. What's the damn job?"
"Language, Mystique." Magneto smirked in a way that reminded Nodoka too much of that middle Tendo girl, Nabiki, when she thought she had some dirt on someone. Nodoka hated that expression. "You should know better than to swear in front of such an impressionable youth, Principal Darkholme."
"What. Is. The. Job. Magneto?" Nodoka wished she knew her son's 'Soul of Ice' technique as she tried to regain control of her emotions.
Satisfied with Mystique's compliance, Magneto answered, pulling a wooden wedge. "This is part of a puzzle. There are four other pieces of this puzzle out there, all shaped like this, and one shaped like an inverse pentagram. Find them for me.
"Any idea where these 'other' pieces are, Magneto?" Nodoka asked.
"I know where one piece is:" Magneto's smirk turned vicious and Nodoka instantly knew where the other shoe would drop. "It's in Xavier's mansion."
Right on her head! "You want me to break into the X-Men's home?" Nodoka protested.
"Break, sneak, it makes no difference to me, so long as you obtain the companion piece to this," Magneto rotated the wedge so Mystique could get a good look at it. "and any additional information the X-Men might have concerning the puzzle. I don't want to put any undue pressure on you, Mystique, so I'll give you two days to obtain the other pieces."
"Two days!?!" Nodoka squawked."Yes. I think that's an appropriate amount of time. And during that time, Your... son shall be in my care." Turning to examine Ranma, Magneto commented, "He's a handsome boy. I wonder if Kurt would have turned out like him had I left him as he was?" As he examined Ranma's teeth, he then added, "Ah, well. He turned out better than Graydon at any rate. Wretched boy!"
Finished with his examination of Ranma, Magneto turned back to Mystique, who was now shivering with rage. "You're still here? You'd better get moving if you're to bring me the other five pieces of the puzzle. The clock is ticking, you know."
"Magneto." Nodoka said sa she tried to compose herself.
"Yes?"
"If you harm one hair on his head, I will kill you. With a dull spork."
"Forty-Seven hours, Fifty-Eight minutes." Was Magneto's reply. As Mystique turned to go, Magneto got in one last dig. "Oh, and Mystique?"
Nodoka stopped. "Yes." After it became clear that Magneto wouldn't continue until she turned around, she complied. "Yes?"
"It is good to have you working under me again."
And with that, he was gone.
Bastard! Nodoka thought as she reached the Tendo home. Forgetting decorum, she opened the door and walked inside. Kasumi saw her, and as she approached, Nodoka snapped out, "Where is my husband." It was not a question, but a demand.
Kasumi backed away as she realized Nodoka was in one of those moods., pointing in the direction of the family room. "He-He's playing Go with Father."
"Thank you." Nodoka said as she stalked through the hall. "Oh, and bring me a kettle of hot water."
"Uncle Genma's not in his panda form right now." Kasumi pointed out. Although he'll probably want to be when he sees you coming up like you are.
Nodoka agreed with Kasumi's unspoken sentiment "He'll want to be one when he sees me."
In the family room, Genma and Soun were doing the same thing they do every afternoon: Plot to get their stupid children to marry. "Alright, we'll lock the two of them in Akane's room. Make sure that the only thing for them to drink is twenty-year-old hooch flavored with 'Spanish Fly', and throw all the breakable items out the window." Genma clearly was in rare form today. "Tendo, do you think we should raid the master's collection for lingeree for your daughter?"
Soun chuckled. "I doubt the master has anything that would fit Akane." Then he saw Nodoka coming up behind Genma. And boy, she looked pissed. "Uh Oh. Nodoka Alert!"
Don't worry about No-chan, Tendo. The only thing she might have a problem with is that we don't include the other girls in our plan. I tell you Tendo, that woman's into tradition and honor. Really. She wouldn't have minded if I'd taken a mistress or two during that training trip. For instance, there was this one time I'd come home after..." Gemna trailed off after looking up into his friend's face. "...she's behind me right now, isn't she."
Soun nodded his head as he clapped three times and prayed for his best friend's soul.
Genma reached for his glass of ice-cold water that he kept on hand for such occasions, only to see Nodoka's hand snatch it away. "H-How?"
"I lived with you and your eating habits for nine years off-and-on," Nodoka replied. "and I had no desire to be like Twiggy." Then she grabbed him by his left ear. "Now come with me to the dojo." And they were off. Her dragging him by the ear.
In the Dojo, Genma started thinking up excuses. He didn't know what he was in trouble for just yet, but it was always good to have a few excuses ready. Then he noticed that Nodoka was examining the dojo. "No-chan, what..?"
"Shusssh!" Nodoka prompted. After a few minutes, she grabbed a box and stood on top of it with her tippytoes in order to examine the shrine of Soun's wife. After a moment, she reached inside the shrine and pulled out a small microphone, which she quickly destroyed by stepping on it. "Figures Nabiki would bug her own mother's shrine. She must be pirroeting in her grave at this very moment. Okay dear. Now it's safe to talk."
Genma immediately stammered out, "I-It's not my fault!" Only to get silenced by his wife.
"I know, dear. It's mine. But don't worry. We're going to get Ranma back."
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Tue, 24 Jun 2003 06:27)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.