"So Ranma basically stood there and let you get your face smashed in by this other Moroboshi?"
"Yes," Akane replied with a hiss that didn't mask what pain still eminated from the bruise on her face.
Kasumi and Nabiki stared at their sister, then exchanged a pointed look. Sitting nearby, Ukyou, who certainly felt as dizzy as Akane did concerning Ranma's sudden switch of behaviour, took a deep breath. "Tell them about you threatening his sister, Akane."
Akane jolted. "What?!" she yelped, spinning on the chef.
"What are you talking about?" Nabiki neutrally inquired.
Ukyou sighed. "This other version of Moroboshi has twelve sisters. One of them's a very proficient martial artist in her own right. Expert in the naginata and the gunsen, plus some other things I think. She was with her brother and Ran-chan when we met up with him." She gazed knowingly at Akane. "And Akane here threatened Haruka -- that's her name, by the way -- because she believed that..."
"That's not true!!" Akane tried to cut her off.
"You best not lie anymore," Shampoo warned from the other side of her rival. "Much less twist the truth. Airen clearly isn't going to put up to that from you anymore, Kitchen-Destroyer."
Akane trembled, her battle aura flaring as the Chinese warrior-mainden's words hit home. Staring at her sibling, Nabiki tried not to breathe out too much. Though she loved her sister dearly, Nabiki couldn't deny that there came times when Akane's pride forcefully got in the way of a lot of things, especially when it concerned Saotome Ranma. "Shampoo, did Akane threaten Moroboshi's sister?"
"She did."
That wasn't Shampoo, by the way. Eyes snapped around to see a black-haired woman with oval-framed reading glasses over very dark grey eyes, she now dressed in a cardigan sweater, button blouse and plaid skirt. Beside her was a very beautiful golden retriever, he now sniffing the very unfamiliar ground at his mistress' feet. "Who are you?" Nabiki wondered.
"You're Marie, aren't you?" Kasumi asked.
The other women from Kasumi's universe stared at the elder Tendou daughter. "How do you know her, Onee-chan?" Nabiki asked.
"I've seen both Sister Princess television series," Kasumi replied with a light smile.
"No doubt because of her being forced to remain at home all the time because her father's too lazy to help around the house, I suspect," Marie added, her comment about Souun making everyone stare at her.
"So what are you doing here?" Ukyou asked.
"Oh, we came down from our ship to look in on you people, those of you who haven't had a chance to be sent up to the other ships in orbit to await your chance to return home," Marie explained as the dog -- Michael, Kasumi remembered his name -- relaxed by her feet. "And seeing that Ranma-san is now aboard our ship talking to his mother, I felt it wise to look in on you people first, seeing how much trouble some of you love to stir up every time something happens that might threaten your standing with him."
Her eyes raked over Akane, Ukyou and Shampoo, that gaze making the fiancees wince. "May we see Ranma-kun please?" Kasumi asked.
Marie did not spare her a glance. "No."
"Why not?" Nabiki demanded.
Marie gave the middle Tendou daughter a knowing look. "Do you really think we're that stupid, Nabiki-san?" she countered, indicating the three fiancees with a disparaging wave of her hand. "Bringing those three troublemakers aboard our ship, where the first thing they'll do is try to track Ranma-san down and cause a ruckus...?" She shook her head. "And from what Haruka-chan told me, Ranma-san isn't in any mood to tolerate such tomfoolery anymore. So you'll stay down here where you can stay out of trouble..."
That was more than enough for the fiancees in question. "Look here, sister...!!" Ukyou snarled as they bolted to their feet.
ZZZAP!!!
Kasumi and Nabiki spun around just as their sister and her rivals dropped to the ground, hit in the back by stun shots fired by a small group of 33-S's under Namiko's command, all equipped with blasters they obtained from the Cylons. "Oh, my!!" Kasumi gasped.
"Are you alright, Marie-sama?" Namiko asked as the others came up to roughly drag Akane, Ukyou and Shampoo to their feet.
"Thanks to you, Namiko-san," Marie replied with a nod, then turned to head off. "Have those three put somewhere where they won't cause a ruckus," she instructed, then indicated Nabiki with a finger. "And if you're wise, you'll put this one somewhere safe, too. We've no need or time to put up to any of her shenanigans, too. And NONE of the people from Ranma-san's universe save for those HE designates as being 'safe' are to be allowed aboard the Windrider. Do you understand me?"
"It will be done, Marie-sama," Namiko acknowledged that with a nod. "Maybe we should put these girls on ice until the time comes that they're to be sent back home." She paused for a second, then hummed before nodding. "Fine. That's what we'll do."
"Right away, Namiko," one of the 33-S's holding Akane acknowledged with a nod.
With that, the fiancees are dragged off. "Wait!" Kasumi cried, rising to her feet to stop them. "You don't have to..."
Namiko spun on her, her eyes glowing brightly. "SIT DOWN!!!!"
Kasumi dropped to the ground without another word. "This is your only warning," the silver-haired 33-S declared. "Heed it. Or we will make damn sure that you'll never see Ranma-sama again." She glared at her sister Sexaroids. "Put them on ice!"
"Hai!!" the other cyberdroids replied.
The fiancees were dragged off. Kasumi and Nabiki watched them go, both shaking openly as the threat Namiko just declared sank in. After the 33-S's had vanished from their sight, the older Tendou sisters turned to see that Marie and Michael had also left. Silence fell over the scene as they considered what just happened, then Nabiki flashed Kasumi a wary look. "Onee-chan?"
"Yes?"
"We're in big trouble."
Kasumi acknowledged that grim observation with a faint nod...
"No, Mom, I can't say that I'm happy with the way things are right now."
Nodoka stared at Ranma. Both were relaxing in Haruka's private quarters aboard the Windrider, they enjoying some tea Ataru's sister had made for them before going back to Rinrin's laboratory to keep an eye on Hakubi Washuu as the alien scientist continued her investigation of the D-hopper. "I suppose I can't blame you for feeling that way, my son," she admitted. "I must confess that for a while now, I believed it was simply out of indecisiveness on your part that this whole matter has been prolonged for so long..."
"Regardless of what Meg and the others found out about my brain, I wasn't going to commit myself to any action that would've brought dishonour on either myself or any of the others," Ranma quietly cut in, the determination in his voice making Nodoka pause for a moment before she gave him an understanding nod. "My own personal honour is all that I have left, Mom. Our family honour is in tatters, Oyaji utterly refuses to try to do something to help fix up the damned mess, Mr. Tendou simply refuses to recognize the danger he's putting his family in by simply ignoring everyone else's claims on me..." His voice trailed off for a moment, then he shook his head. "You know, I felt that what I had to do to Saffron would've made everything clear to everyone. But..."
"They refused to listen," Nodoka finished for him.
"Hai. They refused to listen." Ranma shrugged. "And I don't know what to do now, Mom."
The older woman considered that for a moment, then she asked, "What would you want to do?"
Ranma considered that for a moment, then he breathed out. "I don't know, Mom." A pause. "But what I do know is that I have to go out and find out what I can do with my life now. I can't stay in Nerima to do that. Maybe if it was at the beginning, before everything went totally crazy, I could consider that. But now, it's too late. Too much has happened. All of us..." Another pause, then he took a deep breath. "Hell, even me, too. We all staked out our positions and we refused to budge from them whatsoever. Where's it going to lead to?"
Nodoka blinked. "Ranma, you're not thinking of..."
A wry smirk crossed his face. "Oh, no, no, no! I'm not thinking of that, I assure you." He paused again, then the smile slipped from his face. "Though I have to confess that with the way things were going, it was starting to lean in that direction."
"I'm sorry..."
"Don't be." Ranma shook his head, making a dismissive wave of his hand. "We're all at fault here, Mom, not just you. And at the same time, we're all victims here. Of each other's desires and our own inability to see past them."
Nodoka gazed on her child for a moment, then she smiled. "I'm glad this happened to you, my son."
"So am I," he admitted, then he gave her a wary look. "You're not thinking of...!"
She laughed. "Oh, no, Ranma, no!" she quickly reassured him with a wave of her hand, then she quickly sobered. "Though..."
"Though?"
"I must admit that Megan-chan is very interested in you, Ranma. She told me herself."
Ranma took that in, then he sat back in his chair. "She is?"
"Yes. She confessed to me that on seeing you for the first time, all her internal programming that allows her to be as..." Here, Nodoka paused as she sought a tactful way of saying this. "Well, as intimate as possible with someone else..."
Ranma tensed. "What happened?"
"Well, it all came on line right on the spot," Nodoka answered, then she lightly smiled. "If that doesn't prove your manliness, I..."
"Mom!" Ranma snapped, causing Nodoka to jolt. Noting her reacting, he calmed down, breathing out before continuing, "I really don't like hearing about that subject. I haven't liked it since the day Oyaji mentioned the contract he tricked me into signing."
"But Ranma..."
"No, Mother," Ranma sternly cut her off, his eyes narrowing. "The subject is closed. My 'manliness' is a matter for me to worry about. Not you, not anyone else. The subject is closed."
Nodoka shuddered as a flash of anger arced through her at Ranma's stamping down on something she personally considered very vital, then she paused as her conversation with Megan came back to her. Yes, Ranma certainly had earned the right to decide for himself which way his life would progress. At the same time, she didn't want to lose contact with him so soon after reuniting with him after ten years of separation. "As you wish, my son," she acknowledged his words with a nod. "Still, Megan-chan's interest is real."
"I will consider it in due time," he promised, then paused as something came to him. "Still..."
"Ranma?"
"You know, there is a way to allow everyone else to come out of this mess winners."
"How so?"
"For me to disappear. And to make damn sure they can't follow me."
Nodoka considered that for a moment, then her eyebrow arched. "The D-hopper?"
Ranma nodded. "Washuu-chan says the D-hopper can be replicated here on this ship. And if I go back to Nerima temporarily to destroy the Nanban mirror, I deny everyone else the chance to come after me. After all, Happousai wouldn't be in any real position to stop me."
"And without him, Genma and Souun would be equally helpless. Not to mention Shampoo's great-grandmother."
Another nod. "Cologne wouldn't know which dimension I'd travel to."
"Yes, that is true." Nodoka paused for a moment, then she quietly added, "And you could still visit whenever you could."
"I know," Ranma agreed, then he smiled. "Then again, you could come with me if you want? After all, Oyaji had me to himself for ten whole years. Why not you come with me for the next ten years?"
Nodoka's eyes widened as that suggestion sank in, then she asked, "Would you mind?"
Ranma moved to reply, then paused as he considered what to say before finally responding, "Well, I would like to know my mother. After all, even though you are my mother, you're ultimately a stranger to me. I don't really know you, Mom. And I don't like that at all."
She blinked as his words sank in, then grinned as she leaned over to embrace him...
"Does everyone have blankets and futons?"
"It's been a while since I last slept on a futon, but I personally appreciate the effort you've made for us, Karen-chan," Kagami Mira admitted as she shook out her head of purple-dyed hair.
"We were more than happy to help you, Kagami-san," Karen replied with a blush. Presently, a considerable number of the Tokimeki Memorial, Sentimental Graffiti, To Heart and Azumanga Daioh girls were quartered in the Windrider's main recreation lounge; there were nowhere close to enough bedrooms on the solar-sail yacht to allow everyone their own space to sleep, even if they doubled up with some of the sisters or the multi-bed quarters for the ship's android crew. "I just wish the accomodations were better, but I don't think the people who built this ship for Onii-chan figured on having so many guests come visit us."
"Where is your brother anyway, Karen-chan?" Kamigishi Akari asked.
Three particular sets of ears perked up on hearing Akari's question, three sets of eyes turning to Karen to hear her answer. "Right now, soaking in the tub before going to his cabin, putting on some Gregorian chant and getting some sleep."
Eyes widened. "Ataru-kun listens to Gregorian chant?" Fujisaki Shiori wondered.
"Hai," Karen replied. "He says it helps him fall asleep better. And Crusher-sensei did tell him to get some rest."
"Can't refuse a doctor's orders, especially that doctor," Tanizaki Yukari mused with a chuckle.
"Agreed," Kurokawa Minamo added.
"Where is your brother's room anyway?" Nagaoka Shiho asked.
Nearby, both Nanase Yuu and Tatebayashi Miharu relaxed, glad that someone had asked that question. "Where it normally is on a ship like this," Karen pointed aft. "The far room at the end of the hallway on this level. Anyhow, I'm going to bed myself."
"Does Shirayuki-chan need help with breakfast tomorrow?" Nijino Saki asked.
"Most likely."
"Alright, then," Minamo spoke up, taking automatic charge of all the high schoolers in the room since she and Yukari were the only adults aboard this ship. "Multi-san, Serio-san, you have internal clocks, don't you?"
"Hai, Sensei," both home maid androids replied in unison.
"Alright, then. What time will Shirayuki-chan be up, Karen-chan?"
"About five o'clock," Karen replied.
"Okay, then. That'll be the wake-up time for the crew who worked in the galley today."
A chorus of "Hai!"s came from those who'd done galley duty earlier in the day. "I could seriously use a drink," Yukari admitted.
"Yukari!" Minamo spun on her friend, her annoyance at her co-worker's many authorative slips in front of students coming to the fore.
"Hey, Karen-chan, does your brother drink still?" Takino Tomo wondered.
A tired sigh escaped Karen. "Hai, he does, but not in front of Hinako-chan, Aria-chan or Kaho-chan," she admitted. "When he worked with the Noukiites, he had to acknowledge a lot of their cultural traditions, which include a lot of drinking. Gods, I swear that the Noukiites are worse than either the Russians or the Koreans when it comes to drinking!"
"Really?" came from several voices.
"Hai, really," Karen acknowledged with a wink as she stepped through the doorway, then pause to wink at Yukari. "Though I should warn you, Tanizaki-sensei. Onii-chan's favourite drink is Noukiite sweet potato vodka -- spiced with red pepper."
Yukari jolted to a halt. "Red pepper...?"
Laughter echoed through the room...
Mumbling something unintelligable under his breath, Ataru walked into his private cabin. It was about the same size as the rooms his sisters used when they were aboard the Windrider; at least he was able to impress on the Noukiite shiprights that he didn't want to be seen as being better than they in that regard. Unfortunately, the commander's cabin on any Noukiite starship always had to be at the starboard aft corner of the habitation deck; the ship's master was sited on the port aft corner. Ataru didn't have a master assigned to the Windrider, so that cabin was now empty and unfurnished. Turning the lights on low, he moved to undress...
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(Posted Sat, 13 Mar 2004 10:11)
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