Ranma smiled. His preparations were complete and now all he had to do was to wait patiently for the coming divine reset. He would finally be the hero he had always wanted to be. In the unlikely event his trick didn't work, he wouldn't know better anyway.
"5... 4... 3... 2... 1..." Ranma sighed and closed his eyes. There was a flash of white then nothing...
*****
Ranma was now walking on a path in the mountains in the countryside near Tokyo. He was wearing his traditional chinese clothes and was carrying a full backpack. Anybody from Nerima seeing him like that would tell you that he was on yet another training trip. The fact he was alone was a little unusual but not that surprising.
The young martial artist smirked. His last stunt with the Great Will had worked! Right now, he was following the script he had 'written' beforehand to rendez-vous with his new destiny.
Mist began to rise from the foliage surrounding the trail Ranma was taking. Since it was the middle of the afternoon AND the Sun was shining in a cloudless sky, one could suppose something strange was happening.
As predicted, Ranma was pretty much lost in the woods shortly thereafter. After wandering inside the forest for what seemed hours, he stumbled on a small mountain lake. The mist was everywhere and gave a creepy atmosphere to the whole locale.
"Great! I must be as lost as Ryoga on a good day. I don't remember a lake being near that training ground Pops told me about...," said a disgruntled Ranma. He kneeled, close to the water, "I could use a drink though..."
The water was clear and refreshed him. Suddenly, in the corner of his vision, he saw something.
Ranma jumped back and shifted into a martial arts stance, ready for an attack. Once he got a good look, he relaxed somewhat.
Right in the middle of the lake stood a gaijin woman in a diaphanous white robe. She had long blonde hair, deep blue eyes and was certainly beautiful. A single circlet of gold adorned her brow and her whole posture exsuded tranquility and nobility.
Not a single word escaped her lips though. All she did was raise her right hand and point a finger at a spot near Ranma. The water there began bubbling angrily as something rose from the depths of the water.
Ranma's eyes widened at the spectacle of a huge rock surfacing from the lake. But the huge block of stone wasn't the most interesting thing : It was the sheated european sword stuck in it.
Ranma stared, speechless. He was about to try talking to the mysterious woman but she had disappeared. The mist was gone as well, leaving him alone with the sword in the stone.
His eyes wouldn't leave the weapon that had come from underwater. He couldn't help to wonder why the sheath was so big. It was also a work of art in itself, made of white metal and trimmed with various gold indentations. Surely the blade wasn't that large, was it?
Ranma blinked in surprise as the sword started glowing. He also could hear some sort of... song coming from it. For an unknown reason, he had an irrepressible need to go and take the weapon from where it was stuck. He nodded to himself then jumped across the water, landing on top of the rock.
The pig-tailed boy seized the sword's pommel and pulled. There was no resistance of any sort as he drew the weapon from the stone.
The song was now louder than before and a name was repeated over and over again by otherwordly voices :
"Arthur... Arthur... Arthur... Arthur...! ARTHUR! ARTHUR!! ARTHUR!!!"
Pure, white, light flared from the sword. Glorious music resounded from everywhere as the Legend was fullfilled. The King of Camelot had at last returned.
Memories of a past life filled with honor, glory, mighty deeds, love but also betrayal, death and sadness filled Ranma's mind. Now he knew who he was and he knew the sword's name. Overtaken by joy, he screamed to the heavens...
"EXCALIBUR!!!"
The jewel on the legendary sword's crossguard ignited with blue fire as Ranma's cry activated the slumbering power of his weapon. Excalibur's sheath opened like a flower and the metal strands jumped on Ranma, forming pieces of plate armor which molded themselves on his body.
When the light vanished and the sounds quieted, Ranma was still standing atop the giant rock, clad in a white and gold half-plate armor.
Ranma Saotome was no longer the pushover martail artist of a slapstick comedy setting. No, he was a shonen manga kickbutt warrior complete with mystical armor and weapon. He was the reincarnation of Arthur Pendragon who had returned on this plane to battle the Evil who had claimed his kingdom the first time around.
*****
The arthurian legend told us that the wounded king was taken to Avalon, a magic island beyond the ocean, to be healed and that he would return one day.
Japan is a set of islands so far from Britain the 'beyond the ocean' qualifier was well deserved. Ranma, with the help of the Great Will, had rewritten History to make the Knights of the Round Table the sort of super-powered fighters you would find in manga and anime like Yoroiden Samurai Troopers : Each reincarnated knight would have a unique weapon/set of armor and powers centered on a magical element.
Ranma/Arthur Pendragon was the Knight of Light, the beacon of hope the others followed. Soon, they would gather to him to fight against their old enemies. Merlin would surely make an appearance sooner or later as well.
Ubeknownst to the ancient king, the Enemy was already on the move.
*****
People ran screaming in panic from the grotesque looking humanoids who had suddenly and without warning come through a portal in the middle of one of the numerous shopping malls in Tokyo.
They were ugly, had green skin, pointed ears and nasty-looking teeth. They wore battered lether and metal armor and were armed with swords, axes and bows. All in all, the perfect picture of orcs and goblins.
The creatures had quickly secured the perimeter around the portal. The pitiful counterattack of the cops in the area was put down quickly and efficiently. It helped that modern technology would not work in the vicinity of the dimensional doorway.
The orcs were chattering in their alien and crude language. A team of them was struggling to set some kind of giant crystal into place on the middle of the mall.
The portal glowed brighter for a second and a HUGE armored silhouette walked through. The man (Was it really a man?) was tall, extremely tall... Well over three meters of height, in fact. His build was more fitting of an ogre or a giant rather than a strong human. His whole appearance was frightening with the rust red full plate armor he was wearing. His horned helmet let nothing of his face be seen, only two sickly green orbs were visible where the eyes should have been. Foul poisonous fumes escaped from his helmet's slits and armor's joints. The few green plants in the mall he passed nearby shriveled and died almost instantly.
The man was also carrying a big, wicked and dire looking double twin-bladed axe with ease, leaving no doubt about his physical strength.
He was the Morhault, the ancient king of Ireland from the legend of Tristan and Yseult. The medieval text had him using poisoned weapons. It was a gross underestimation since the real Morhault here WAS poison incarnate.
"HAVEN'T YOU FINISHED YET?" The Morhault's voice was as powerful as his stature dictated. The orcs and goblins cringed. Their leader stammered "We... We're... almost ready... my lord"
"GOOD! WE NEED TO BURY AND ACTIVATE THIS CRYSTAL NODE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE," replied the ogre of a man, "WHAT ABOUT THE HUMANS?"
Toothy smiles erupted on the monsters' faces "Already taken care of, my lord. Without their 'science', they're defenceless. They have grown soft quite a lot in the last centuries..."
"PITY... I WOULD HAVE RELISHED THE OPPORTUNITY FOR A GOOD FIGHT..." *That, and a rematch with Tristan...* the Morhault thought.
A cocky voice resonated throughout the Mall "That can be arranged, ugly..."
"HA! BRAVE WORDS... WE SHALL SEE IF YOU CAN BACK THEM UP!" replied the Morhault, unfazed by the provocation. The ogrish man turned from his minions to look at the fool who dared challenge him. Then he saw...
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(Posted Sun, 07 Aug 2005 19:11)
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