Ranma 1/2 : Timelines
by Mark Latus
A fanfic in 5 parts
People who don't belong in the regular Ranmaverse and where they came from:
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Ryoga 1/2 Timeline
Ryoga Hibiki - aka Ryoga 1/2, Ryoga-chan. Has same curse as Ranma, uses the
name Yuriko in his cursed form. Engaged to the Nabiki of his
world and would rather be back there with her than stuck in
this universe. This is his third encounter with alternate
worlds and that's three too many. Currently claiming to be
Ryoga's cousin Yuriko Hibiki while in female form.
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Ryoga/Kodachi Timeline
Ryoga Hibiki - aka Ryoga-K. Has the standard P-chan curse and is engaged to
the Kodachi of his world. Lost a lot of his left arm in his
previous adventure on an alternate world and really doesn't
want to be here. Owns several prosthetics and is currently
using the alias of Ryo Hibiki, Ryoga's other cousin (Yuriko's
brother). Only known Ryoga with a sense of direction.
Yohko Mano - Best ninja assassin in the "Order of the Purple Striped Dragon"
which isn't saying much. Long ago the Mano clan was taken
seriously in the days when they were Devil Hunters. But her
ancestors sealed the demons' gateways permanently and their
skills deteriorated from lack of use. Yohko dreams of somehow
restoring the clan's glory days and carries their sacred Devil
Hunter ring.
Keiichi - Briefly a member of Yohko's ninjas before resigning having got
Morisato tired of constant pummelings from the group's former target,
Ryoga Hibiki. Currently attending Technical University which
is where he met his strange girlfriend Belldandy.
Belldandy - Member of the Norse Pantheon and Goddess of the Past. Due to
Keiichi's hasty wish when he met her the two of them are now
bound to be together by magic. Not that either of them mind.
Currently Keiichi is the only one aware of her divine status.
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Guyver-Ryoga timeline
Tatewaki Kuno - aka Guyver-Kuno, The Black Thunder. Has the incredible power
of the alien battlesuit known of the Guyver but remains an
idiot which limits its effectiveness. Has grudges against
both the Ranma Saotome and Ryoga Hibiki of his world. The
latter of these possess the only other Guyver suit. He is the
only one of the six unaware he has switched worlds. He is
also unaware that his Guyver symbiote is becoming intelligent.
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Part 4 - "Don't worry, we can handle this"
After Kodachi's departure Nabiki booted up her laptop. She added
an entry on cousins to Ryoga's file and considered what other changes to
make. There was a fairly major change regarding him and her sister but she
decided to wait on updating that part. It remained possible that Akane had
gone insane in which case the commitment she had to worry about wasn't the
romantic kind. She had considered the possibility that Shampoo had hit Akane
with one of Cologne's never-fail love potions and then sent Ryoga over to
see her. Except that Shampoo had shown up genuinely amazed to hear about
Ranma and Akane splitting up and eager to take advantage of that fact.
Shampoo was lousy at lying to her. If she'd been involved Nabiki was sure
she'd have picked up on it. Besides those love potions always backfired
somehow. The same logic applied to Kodachi. As for Ukyou that just wasn't
her style.
The next candidate was Ryoga. True this wasn't his style either but
neither was overcoming his shyness enough to talk with Akane. Except that
from her eavesdropping she'd had the feeling that Ryoga had shown up expecting
to be rejected. Perhaps he'd finally found a girlfriend of his own but wanted
to make sure everything was cleared up with Akane first. So when Akane threw
herself at him he'd been shocked.
Nabiki sighed and shut down the computer. Maybe this would make more
sense in the morning. Or at least there might be fewer players in the game
by dawn. Funny, all this worrying about other people's romances when she
didn't have a boyfriend. Maybe she should start worrying about acquiring one.
Let's see he'd have to be rich, good looking, easy to manipulate ...
While Nabiki was listing the qualities of her ideal man things were
happening. To be more specific, outside and overhead. The high degree of
roof repairs in Nerima is blamed squarely on the number of martial artists in
residence who prefer using rooftops rather than the public sidewalks. All
attempts to pass civil ordinances against this behavior have been blocked by
both the construction industry and the Police Union. The former is heavily
reliant on repairing MAID (Martial Artist Induced Damage) to maximize its
profits. The latter isn't about to try serving papers on those lunatics
without heavy military backup and the Self Defense Forces don't want to get
involved. So residents just have to live with overhead impacts knocking
tiles off their roofs and paint and light fixtures from their ceilings. Plans
to make it legal to add spikes to rooftiles are currently before the building
code board though no decision has been made yet.
Which is why Ryoga-K and Yohko were heading for the Tendos' house via
this route. Right now he wasn't wearing his prosthetic as he didn't want to
be identified as Ryoga Hibiki just yet. Once they were close enough to see
Ranma wasn't around he'd slip it on and arrive with the arm wrapped around
Yohko. With her blocking the view hopefully no one would realize it wasn't
real. Akane's heart breaks, Ranma picks up the pieces and everything is back
to normal. Which should change the future and send them all home. If his
theory was correct. Still this afternoon's fiasco hadn't snapped them out
of this world despite making a major change. No, the more he thought about
it the more he was sure Xerxes had made them trigger the very sequence of
events they were brought here to prevent. An incompetent god! Just what he'd
needed to get mixed up with.
From the shadow of a chimney Xerxes watched the antics unfold. It was
always so much more fun when he made a few "errors" and convinced his pawns
he was a fool. The split between the Ryogas was fascinating. So alike and
yet so different.
Not far away Ranma had stopped moving and was trying to think of some
way to locate Ryoga. How do you find a guy who's only real skill is getting
lost? Was he even in Nerima anymore?
Turning briefly to Halifax, Nova Scotia:
"Where is the Tendo Dojo?"
"Somebody get that guy off the set! OK stand by for the first major SF
film made in the maritimes."
"I still think we could've chosen something better to remake."
"Look this retro '30s pulp stuff is the next wave."
"But didn't the Shadow die at the box office? And what kind of a name is
Bunnylips anyway?"
"Shut up! Paul you're on! Roll it!"
"Curse you Rod Booster!"
"CUT! It's Tod Booster you idiot!"
Ryoga had wandered away during all this and was heading towards the
airport. Leaving aside the question of just how he got to Canada so quickly
and what that movie bit referred to we return the story to Nerima.
Ranma had stopped to think when things suddenly became very familiar. He
dodged aside as four axes attached to chains hurled downwards. Following
behind the chains came a familiar figure. "Ranma, prepare to die."
"This is a real bad time to bother me Mousse!" Actually Ranma felt a
certain relief, since Ryoga was nowhere around he needed some way to vent some
anger. Mousse would do just fine. Below them the houseowners watched the
plaster raining down and decided to go take in a movie.
Above them Mousse was throwing everything he had at Ranma. He hadn't
fought so lethally since their early clashes. "Nothing personal but now your
engagement to Akane is broken I have to remove you to save my darling
Shampoo."
Ranma wasn't listening. He needed to do something to keep his mind off
how he felt. Beating the crap out of Mousse should do for a start. At least
until he found Ryoga.
Not far away Ryoga-K and Yohko had stopped to see the two shadowy
figures fighting each other. Ryoga squinted to make out the details then
muttered, "Good, Ranma's occupied. Which makes this a good time to visit the
dojo."
Mousse was getting worried. Ranma was smashing or dodging everything
thrown at him. Worse, he looked a lot grimmer than usual. It was beginning
to dawn on Mousse that this might not be the smartest thing he'd ever done.
Ranma must have been enraged by Akane's rejection and he was looking to take
his rage out on the first available target. Which Mousse had just provided.
In desperation Mousse tried the "Swan Fist" technique. This was a fairly
weird technique which consists of swiftly striking someone with a child's
training potty shaped like a swan that is held concealed in your sleeves. As
is the case with many of the more esoteric forms of martial arts who invented
it and why remain unknown. Perhaps there is a martial arts school somewhere
which you cannot graduate from without inventing a new technique. Although
if hitting someone with some previously unused object is truly unique is
questionable.
At any rate it didn't work, at least not on Ranma. Ranma batted the
potty away with ease and it flew across the rooftops. Ryoga-K saw it coming
and dropped to the tiles. "DUCK!"
"It looks more like a swan, ACCKK!" Yohko added this last exclamation
when the potty bounced off her skull. She overbalanced and went over the
edge of the roof. Ryoga cursed and dove after her. He grabbed her in
midair draping her over his shoulder, somersaulted and hit the street feet
first easliy absorbing the impact of landing. A fairly impressive feat from
a man with only one complete arm and a heavy pack on his back. Unfortunately
there were no spectators.
"Yohko! Are you all right?" Even as he said it he knew it was a stupid
question. "How badly are you hurt?" would have been more appropriate. He'd
also just had a terrible feeling of deja vu to the way he met Kodachi.
Luckily Yohko just groaned semi-consciously in pain. He sighed, it was pretty
obvious the plan would have to be scrubbed for tonight. He'd better find
somewhere she could recover. Carrying Yohko slung over his pack he walked off
to find a hotel. From overhead came the sound of Mousse getting mercilessly
beaten.
Ranma was winding up for another punch when a hand caught his wrist. He
turned to see Shampoo standing behind him. "Ranma, you no hit Mousse
anymore!"
Hanging limply by his collar from Ranma's other hand Mousse actually
smiled. Despite the tremendous pain he was in his heart was lightened.
Shampoo had just defended him.
Ranma hesitated and Shampoo pried Mousse out of his grip. Tears ran down
Mousse's cheeks, "Shampoo ..." Then she flung him off the roof and glomped
onto Ranma. "Ranma no waste time on Mousse. Shampoo so happy Ranma dump
Akane!"
Below in an alleyway Mousse sprawled over a pile of refuse. He was sure
Shampoo had deliberately aimed him at a pile of soft garbage to cushion his
landing. Besides which she'd saved him from Ranma. As he passed out he was
feeling so very happy. Which is why happiness can be said to be a relative
state.
Overhead Ranma was shouting angrily, "I didn't dump Akane! She dumped me!
And for that loser Ryoga! Even Kuno would be better than that!"
Shampoo's eyes got very big. "Ranma no want anything to do with
Shampoo? Think Shampoo just nuisance?"
"Uh, not exactly. It's just ..."
Shampoo began to bawl and Ranma felt very awkward. He should try to
cheer her up except that Akane would misinterpret that and she'd ... Ranma
suddenly realized Akane was not going to show up and whack him with a mallet
if she saw him with another girl. She didn't care anymore. Not that he ever
cared what she thought it was just that ... He felt a sudden surge of jealous
anger. Akane didn't care what he did, Fine! Why shouldn't he take advantage
of all the girls who kept throwing themselves at him? Shampoo heard Ranma
step towards her and reminded herself not to stop crying too quickly. Then
she sensed incoming danger and leapt away fast.
A line of razor edged spatulas embedded themselves in the place she'd
been standing. Ranma turned the direction they'd come from and exclaimed,
"UKYOU?"
She ignored him for the moment as she glared at Shampoo. "Back off cat
girl. I'm the only real fiancee left."
Shampoo glared back, "Ranma is Shampoo's husband. By village law!"
"That crazy rule doesn't apply outside your village. It definitely
doesn't apply to anyone born outside that Chinese loony farm."
"What you call Shampoo's ancestral home?!"
"You heard me!"
The tension was momentarily broken by a high pitched laugh and a storm of
rosepetals as Kodachi arrived. "It seems I got here just in time. I'm here
Ranma-darling! Tell these other creatures to depart now while they remain
healthy."
"Crazy girl get away from Ranma!"
"Both of you back off, I'm the only one here actually engaged to him and
with Akane out of the running ..."
"Ranma-darling and I were engaged in a higher court when our two hearts
first met." For a brief moment as she recalled this Kodachi actually looked
cute. Then the familiar "Don't get in my way" look returned. "So unless you
want me to hurt you in the name of our love step aside!"
All three were glaring at each other and Ranma was standing in the exact
centre of them. This was ridiculous, he didn't have time for this nonsense.
He had to find Ryoga and give him the beating he was due. Time to defuse
this, "Girls ..."
"Yes, Ranma darling ...."
"Ranma not talking to you!"
"Back off Shampoo!"
"You want kiss of death spatula girl?"
"Any time you want to try amazon!"
"Fine, you two kiss each other and I'll kiss Ranma."
"Take one step forward and you're going down!"
"Don't threaten me!"
"Ranma is Shampoo's"
"No he isn't!"
The air seemed to glow with menace. They were watching each other so
hard that Ranma was able to slip out of the circle unnoticed. First defuse
this then find Hibiki. He cleared his throat.
Everyone took that as a signal to attack and the rooftops exploded into
chaos. Feeling rather like a bone a pack of starving dogs is fighting over
Ranma watched in dismay. What was he going to do now? If he couldn't get
Akane to change her mind he'd wind up choosing one of them. At which point
the other two would kill him. Maybe he should just find his mother, tell her
about his curse and save them the trouble.
He needed to think. Ranma slipped away quietly. None of the three
combatants noticed. In fact they were so intent on mangling each other that
Ranma could have departed playing the bagpipes and no one would have noticed.
The commotion attracted the attention of a threesome engaged in the
novel exercise of actually walking around at ground level. Ryoga-chan
recognised those yells and frowned. "Wait here, I'm going up to take a look."
Without waiting for a reply she swarmed up the building. Looking around she
saw the commotion to the east of her (or maybe it was to the west of her,
could also be north, maybe even south ...) Ryoga-chan gave up trying to
figure out the direction and just watched the commotion. Ukyou, Shampoo and
Kodachi were engaged in furious combat. Damn, he'd been hoping the others
wouldn't find out Ranma was single quite this quickly. Nabiki might have
sold the information but he somehow doubted it. At bottom Ranma was a friend
of hers and she wouldn't seek to profit on his obvious pain. Of course if the
news was already out she wouldn't see anything wrong with profiting by
confirming it. By her own code Nabiki was very ethical, you just had to
puzzle out what it actually was.
So it was common knowledge. Maybe Shampoo had dropped by the dojo, maybe
Sasuke had been over to spy and carried the news back to the Kuno siblings.
There were dozens of possibilities. So now what? If she tried to break Ukyou
free of the pack they'd figure she was a new would-be fiancee and everyone
would turn on her. Maybe she could use a couple of Shishi Houkoudans to
blast Shampoo and Kodachi from a distance then drop out of sight. No, you
needed a relatively stationary target for a chi burst to hit and they were
bouncing all over the place. What the heck was she going to do?
Ryoga-chan was so distracted she only picked up the attack at the last
minute! A few moments ago Tatewaki Kuno had been proceeding along his
rooftop route to the Tendo home. As always he was ignoring the crass peasants
who kept yelling at him to stop knocking their tiles off or at least stop
reciting bad poetry. Then he saw the shape ahead with its back to him. The
outfit was unmistakeably Hibiki's. Excellent! He would defeat Hibiki and
claim Akane Tendo. After which he would find and defeat Ranma and claim the
pig tailed girl. Ignoring his unbroken record of past defeats Kuno charged
forward.
Ryoga-chan turned as Kuno swung his bokken downwards. She sidestepped
enough to avoid being hit but the very edge caught her shirt. It was slashed
open and it became clear to Kuno that his opponent wasn't male. He froze and
a fairly major nosebleed developed. Despite which Kuno reached a hand forward
and began, "Ah my goddess ..." Coincidentally Belldandy was also having
hentai related trouble but we'll get back to that.
"PERVERT!" Ryoga-chan's punch arced Kuno very nicely into the air. He
crashed headfirst into the alley Mousse occupied waking the part-time duck up.
Kuno staggered upright and proclaimed, "Ah my unknown beauty truly you are a
tigeress. I WILL DATE WITH THEE!" Then his eye's rolled up and he collapsed.
Mousse shook his head, muttered, "And people say I'm hopeless?", then faded
back into unconsciousness. Ryoga-chan tucked her shirt together as best as
she could. Well she might as well head back down before she lost the others.
It was time to switch to plan B. Just as soon as she figured out what that
was.
Turning the clock back a few minutes we find Belldany and Keiichi
watching Ryoga-chan's ascent. Unaware of the lurking terror that observes
them from the shadow. It studies them and its' gaze fixes on Belldandy. Yes,
that girl will make a suitable victim. A sudden rush and it is upon her!
A blur shot by Keiichi and clamped onto Belldandy's chest. "Pretty
lady!" Belldandy was rather astonished to find a wrinkled old midget
attaching himself to her cleavage. That sort of thing just doesn't happen to
goddesses! While she stood frozen in amazement Keiichi snapped into action.
He grabbed the perverted elder and peeled Happosai loose. Holding him up to
eyelevel he began, "Listen grandpa! ..."
Happosai seemed to just tap Keiichi with his pipe. Keiichi dropped like
a stone and Happosai muttered, "Kids have no respect for their elders these
days!" Belldandy was still staring at the fallen Keiichi when he glomped onto
her chest again. This time she was ready. There was a flash of light and
Happosai was gone. Belldandy rushed to Keiichi's side and helped him up. As
she did so she said, "You're all right Keiichi." It wasn't a hope it was an
order. Keiichi suddenly felt the wooziness disappear.
"Belldandy are you ... ?"
"I'm fine, I was just a little ... astonished."
Keiichi looked downcast. "I failed to protect you. I'm sorry
Belldandy."
"Keiichi it's ok. Despite appearances that man was a fearsome opponent.
Besides it isn't your job to protect me."
Ryoga-chan landed beside them. "What man? Did I miss something?"
"Some short old guy tried to molest Belldandy. I've never seen a
senior citizen move that fast."
"Uh was he saying 'Panties' or 'Pretty lady' or something along those
lines?"
"Why yes."
"Great, Happosai on top of Kuno. That's all I need." Ryoga-chan
glanced around the darkened street. "Where is he?"
Belldandy said simply, "I got rid of him."
To elaborate on that a little we go to the summit of Mount Everest. Not
surprisingly Happosai was rather surprised by the change in his surroundings.
As he began to shiver Happosai decided the girl must have been some sort of
supernatural entity. Still reflecting on the moment it had been worth it.
And at least he hadn't left emptyhanded.
Back in Nerima Ryoga-chan was studying Belldandy admiringly. She must be
a lot more formidable than she'd thought if she'd managed to get rid of the
old pervert. However Belldandy was looking uncomfortable. She excused
herself and turned her back on both Keiichi and Ryoga-chan. She seemed to be
fiddling with her top so they both turned around for decorum's sake. They
heard an outraged scream then the street was filled with a blinding light. It
faded and the darkness returned. Ryoga-chan turned around and saw Belldandy
who once again appeared completely composed. She looked at Keiichi.
"If I was to ask what just happened would the answer make me feel better
or worse?"
"Probably worse."
"Okay never mind then. Tonight seems to have turned into a disaster.
Let's head back to the van, plan our next move and get some rest."
Keiichi and Belldandy agreed. So with Keiichi leading the way the trio
headed back to the van Belldandy had appropriated earlier.
Meanwhile back on Mount Everest Happosai's enjoyment of Belldandy's bra
was interrupted by the arrival of a dozen very large, very hungry Yeti.
On the rooftops of Nerima the threeway struggle continued though they
were definitely slowing down.
In a nearby hotel Ryoga-K was sitting on his bed aimlessly flipping
channels. It was hard to concentrate on anything except the fact that he was
stuck in the wrong universe and his only ally was comatose on the room's other
bed. Yohko groaned again, twitched a little then became silent again.
There had been a little trouble getting a room. On arrival in the lobby
he'd dumped Yohko on a couch and asked the desk clerk for a room. The clerk
had looked down at him and sneered, "This is a respectable establishment and I
would say your girlfriend's too drunk to know where she is or what you're
going to do to her. Besides aren't you two a bit young?"
To understand what followed a little background on the Shishi Houkoudan
technique is necessary. Like many of the more advanced martial arts
techniques it is based on channelling your chi energy. Unlike many methods
the focus is achieved by using negative emotions. Ryoga-K was no stranger
to those. While he had lost his all consuming depression after giving up on
Akane Tendo he had gained a bitterness against the world following his
injury. Add to that a fury over being unable to avenge himself on the one
responsible to his already unstable temper and you have a man who can focus
negative energy with extreme speed. Ryoga-K was the wrong person to cross.
Which is why it was almost involuntary that a chi sphere formed in his right
hand and blasted a circular hole in the wall just above the clerk's head.
He took a deep breath to calm himself and said, "One room, separate beds,
now please."
The clerk remembered the appropriate passage in the "Nerima Municipal
Business Council Handbook on avoiding M.A.I.D. Namely, "If their demands are
reasonable for God's sake cooperate. Remember calling in the police could
well result in a battle that will destroy your establishment and everything
within at least a block." So Ryoga got his room without further complication.
He'd dropped Yohko on one bed, checked the bruise on her forehead and
decided to wait. Hopefully she'd wake with nothing worse than a headache.
He'd considered loosening her clothing but preferred not to do anything
Kodachi might misinterpret at a later date. So he'd just removed her sandals
and settled down.
About an hour later Yohko awoke. By that time the fight had broken up
and Shampoo, Ukyou and Kodachi had limped home. Yohko had opened her eyes,
spotted Ryoga and registered the fact this was a hotel room. She gasped and
tried to bolt upright. She didn't get far before the headache hit her.
Sitting with her head cradled in her arms she heard Ryoga say, "If I were you
I'd take it easy for the next little while."
Yohko realized she was still fully dressed and relaxed a little. "What
happened?"
"You got knocked out, never mind by what. I decided we'd better find
somewhere to hole up until morning. Hopefully by then you'll be able to try
again."
"Oh yeah, I remember now. Got any asprin?"
"Here. There's a glass of water by the bedside. You'll forgive me if I
keep my distance. I tend to get paranoid about cold water."
"Thanks. You're not such a bad guy really."
"Which was why you were trying to kill me a few months back?"
"That was just business. Besides we never really got close did we?" For
some reason Yohko felt moved to say, "Sorry about how I acted when I woke up
but I was afraid you'd invalidated me."
Ryoga looked puzzled. "You mean violated and I'm not that sort of guy."
"No, I mean invalidated. I've still got a chance as long as I'm ...
you know ... pure."
"Sorry?"
"Untouched ... inviolate ... oh hell, a virgin."
"Huh? This something to do with your wedding plans?"
"No it's got to do with getting the "Order of the Purple Striped Dragon
to mean something again."
Ryoga turned the TV off. "I have to admit you've managed to make me
curious. Why is your clan heading a group known as the 'Purple Striped
Dragons' anyway?"
"It's a long story ... but I guess I've got nothing better to do.
Besides I've wanted to tell somebody."
"Go right ahead."
"Okay, where to begin? Well long ago the Mano clan weren't ninjas. We
were still fighters but we were something more. We were Devil Hunters." She
paused and looked at Ryoga. "Go ahead, laugh."
He shook his head. "I turn into a pig every time I get wet. It's very
hard for me to laugh at the supernatural."
"Right. Sorry it's just hard to get taken seriously with a story like
this. Anyway we did this for generations, the family line passed through the
women of the clan. There was only one Devil Hunter at a time because there
was only one Soulsword. It's our sacred demon killing weapon and needs
certain ... factors to activate it the first time. Well three hundred years
ago Natsumi Mano sort of made a mistake. She killed the Demon Lord who had
opened the gates between Hell and Earth. The gates closed permenantly. She
also destroyed the dimensional weak point that had allowed the Demon Lord to
slip through and create the original gates. Earth was saved from the threat
of demonic invasion and she was celebrated as a great heroine. It was her
daughter Miyuki Mano who found she had a problem. While she faithfully
practised all the training rituals there was nothing to fight. Besides
summoning the Soulsword for the first time requires three things. First
possessing the sacred ring, second there must be demonic activity and finally
you have to be a virgin.
Her mother warned her to keep herself pure. While the gates were closed
there might still be demons lurking in this world. In which case Miyuki
would be the one to confront them. So she must be able to summon the sword.
So despite being attracted to a lot of the men in her village Miyuki stayed
celibate.
Time passed. All her old friends got married and raised children.
Remember back then you got married really young. But folks around there knew
the Devil Hunters had their own rules and didn't push it. Finally just after
her thirtieth birthday Miyuki screamed, "I can't take it anymore." She
outfitted herself with the conventional weapons she used for practice, rounded
up all the good looking men in the village and made them fill the central
hall with supplies. Nobody argued with her. They'd all seen what she could
do with those weapons over the years they'd watch her practice. Then she
herded them inside, sealed the doors and embarked on a three week long orgy.
After she emerged she convinced the richest man in town to marry her and
join the Mano clan. I think she convinced him that if he didn't she'd be
marrying the second richest man who would be the wealthiest living man in
town. Anyway that preserved the ancestral line and for the next few
generations the daughters of the Mano clan were Devil Hunters who had never
met a demon. After Miyuki died no one was left who'd even seen a demon.
People began to forget and stopped respecting the clan. Besides without the
Soulsword it was hard to impress people.
Then something happened. A real live demon was spotted ..."
Ryoga broke in, "When was this?"
"About two hundred years ago. Anyway this creature took the form of a
dragon. A green dragon with purple stripes."
"Ok I think I see where the name came from. So this dragon ... what did
it look like? A huge fierce creature so there was an epic battle?"
"Actually it was only about six feet long and had a severe case of
asthma. Pretty wimpy monster really. Anyway Kaori Mano was still a virgin
so she got given the ring and sent to confront the creature. Everything went
perfectly, she confronted the creature and summoned the Sword. It panicked
and begged for mercy. She was about to cut it in half when something occurred
to her. This might be the last demon in the world. If she killed it how was
the next generation of the clan going to summon the sword? So she chained it
and dragged it home. They kept it hidden in a crypt below the Mano Mansion.
Years later Miyu, one of Kaori's daughter went to confront it. While she
successfully summoned the sword it was nowhere near as powerful as Kaori's
had been. Her sister accused her of having fooled around and there was a big
fight.
After some thought they figured it out. The demon had been sitting down
there unharmed for years. Without demonic rage to react to a full summoning
was impossible. So Ami, Kaori's other daughter was sent in. Following her
mother's instructions she took a club with her and whaled the crap out of the
purple striped dragon. It cowered rather than attempting to attack but
demonic fear seemed to do the job. Ami's sword still wasn't as powerful as
the original but it was far more powerful than the one her sister summoned.
So a new tradition began. When it was time for the eldest daughter to
become wielder of the Soulsword (namely before she got too far with her
boyfriend) she'd head down to the crypt and beat the demon to within an inch
of its' life"
"Good thing the SPCA never heard about you people."
"I don't know if they cover demons. Anyway during this time the clan had
changed tactics. Without demons to fight there wasn't much point in being
known as Devil Hunters. But we had to keep things going in case the demons
returned someday. So we became known as the head of a ninja group which we
named ..."
"The Order of the Purple Striped Dragon ..."
"... after our founder. Only problem was over the years our skills
deteriorated. With no actual demons, except the loser in the basement, to
fight it all became abstract. We brought in outsiders to fill the ranks
which diluted things further. If we hadn't had a magic sword no one would
have taken us seriously.
Then disaster struck in the 1930's. I guess Grandma really had the hots
for Granddad because she gave the dragon one hell of a beating. Matter of
fact she overdid it. The dragon died and that was that. So grandma delayed
having children and hung on as swordholder as long as she could. The problems
continued after my mother was born. Mom is a real skeptic and insisted
Grandma prove demons existed. The dragon had dissolved after death so there
were no remains to show her. Also Mom had a fairly active libido so she
removed herself as a candidate pretty young. Things sort of fell apart after
that and the order's reputation went into the sewer. Which is why we're a
group of cut rate incompetent assassins."
Ryoga was studying the unusual demon headed ring Yohko wore. "The sacred
ring you mentioned ..."
"Yup that's it. All my life Grandma's been pushing me to be the one to
redeem the clan. She's also threatened to kill me if I lose my ...
qualifications. Which is a bit tricky to explain to my boyfriends. But I
don't have much luck with men anyway which is sort of lucky."
"So any hope of finding a demon?"
"Not really. I've actually tried demon summoning rituals with absolutely
no luck. Life sucks!"
Ryoga tapped his stump. "Tell me about it. Anyway get some rest.
Tomorrow we'll see about getting back to our own world." Yohko settled down
and Ryoga reflected he might be about to have another problem. Hopefully
Yohko wouldn't figure out that since this was a different world maybe there
were demons around. In which case she wouldn't be in a hurry to leave and
he'd have another problem. Hell with it, worry about it in the morning.
Elsewhere Belldandy, Ryoga and Keiichi were bunking down as best they
could in the van. Belldandy reminded herself to send it back tomorrow. Its
disappearance must have rather alarmed the owners.
From a concealed spot Ranma watched the Tendo dojo. While Ryoga always
got lost he always found his way back. When he did Ranma would be waiting.
Ranma's temper had cooled from burning rage to an icy thirst for vengeance.
He had actually been thinking. Beating the living shit out of Ryoga in front
of Akane wouldn't get her back. But there was something that would work.
Akane thought Ryoga was a real nice guy. When she learned that Mr. Nice Guy
had been watching her undress and sleeping in her bed for months she'd have
second thoughts. He clutched the handle of the bucket. Why should he keep
Ryoga's curse secret any longer? Absolutely no reason. "Just you wait
P-chan!"
Inside the house Akane slept quietly. Xerxes watched her silently. The
drug was wearing off, should he give her a second dose? No. He resealed the
bottle and slipped away unnoticed. It should be a lot more fun when Akane
returned to normal.
The following morning Akane woke up feeling strange. She remembered a
series of erotic dreams but didn't know who they'd been about. Details of
her partner's face blurred. She yawned and opened her eyes. The first thing
she saw was Ryoga. She snapped all the way awake and stared. Her room seemed
to have been been plastered with pictures of Ryoga ranging from snapshots to
fullsized posters. When the heck had this happened? Getting up she found
a variety of extremely flowery and just plain bad poetry addressed to Ryoga
scattered around the room. It read like the sort of thing Kuno would write.
However it was her handwriting. So she must have written it but she had no
memory of doing so. Except it felt like something in her dreams.
Akane tried to remember what had happened yesterday but all the details
seemed fuzzy. At last in frustration she pulled on a bathrobe and went down
to breakfast. Ranma was missing from the table. Strange, he normally never
missed a meal. Stranger still her father started weeping at the sight of
her and Mr Tendo (in his panda form) turned away from her. Nabiki and Kasumi
seemed to be studying her carefully.
She sat down and said, "What's going on?"
"After yesterday you have to ask?"
Akane frowned. "Yesterday's kind of vague. What happened to my room and
why is everyone acting so weird? Where's Ranma anyway?"
Nabiki looked at her in amazement. "You really don't know do you?"
"Know what? Did anything happen yesterday?"
She saw a look pass between her sisters. Nabiki pulled her notebook and
opened. "A couple of things of interest. Let's see ..."
end of part four
This whole mess gets concluded as Ryoga 1/2 and Ryoga-K get violent. Also
Belldandy finally gets the chance to kick some ass
Part 5 : "This is all your fault!"
Trivia note : The movie being filmed was "Tod Booster : The Motion Picture"
Tod Booster was a pseudo 1930's SF radio show on "Frantic Times"
quite a few years ago on CBC radio. "Join us fifty years in the
future where robots do the housework, people commute from Mars
and Ronald Reagan is still alive ..." Lots of anachronism jokes
Well I liked it.
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