Disclaimer: These characters so not belong to me. I did not create 
them, nor did I create the original idea for this story. Please 
don’t sue me, I’m poor and have a bad computer. 

Ranma ½ Z Neo: Chapter 7

(…) thoughts
~…~ emphasis on word
^    author’s note


Secrets
=====+=====+=====+=====

*At Capsule Corp.*

Bulma: Hey, Trunks, could you hand me that tool kit over there?

Trunks: I’m not supposed to do any moving, remember?

Bulma: Handing me a tool kit doesn’t count! Now give!

Trunks: *tosses her the tool kit* I don’t see why you have to do this 
in ~my~ room, anyway.

Bulma: I have to do it here, or else I can’t tune it to your body.

Trunks: *sighs, then rolls over and starts reading a Oh My Goddess! manga*

Akane: *walks in, sees the comic* Hey, you like Oh My Goddess!, too, Trunks?

Trunks: *blushes* well…

Akane: Oh, isn’t it great!?  I just love how Keiichi remembers his 
promise to Belldandy and gets to stay with her because of it! 
It’s so sweet! 

Trunks: *interrupting Akane* So where is everybody else?

Akane: They’re all getting ready for bed. I should be going to sleep to. 
‘Bye! *walks out*

*in Ranma’s room* 

Ranma: Should we tell everyone what’s going on?

Ryouga: No, it’s too risky. We don’t wanna disappoint them if it 
doesn’t work.

Ranma: Guess you’re right. That wouldn’t be good. 

Ryouga: Of course I’m right. G’night, Ranma; I’m going to bed.

Ranma: Whatever.  

Ryouga: Of course, you’re the one who really needs rest. After all, 
you’re such a jerk that everyone cheers when you sleep in.

Ranma: *as Ryouga walks the wrong way out the door* At least I can 
find my way to my room!

Akane: *walking by* Don’t tease Ryouga, Ranma!

Ranma: He started it!!

Akane: Whatever, Ranma. *yawn* Goodnight, anyway

Ranma: Goodnight, Akane. *Akane goes to bed*

Ukyou: *on her bed, in her room* Goodnight, Ran-chan... *sigh* (I 
can’t believe he and Akane are getting along so well... I may be 
loosing him, but even if I do, at least he’ll always consider me 
his friend. He can’t say that for anyone else.) *she turns over 
and drifts off to sleep*

*the next morning*

Ryouga: Hey, that’s my egg! *grabs egg off serving plate just as 
Ranma starts to reach for it*

Ranma: That’s my biscuits! *grabs three biscuits off a different plate, 
at the same time he gets an egg off the egg plate*

Akane: Those are, Ranma, not ‘that is’. *grabs one of Ranma’s 
biscuits for herself* And you don’t need three of them...

Bulma: *eyeing the empty plates, as the group finishes* You eat so 
little compared to Vejita and Trunks... *the group facefaults, 
 seeing their own mess* It’ll be nice to not have to go shopping 
for lunch.

Ryouga: Lunch!?! I thought all that food was supposed to last a 
month!

Bulma: Naah. It usually only lasts a meal or two. Well, I’m off to the 
lab! *leaves room*

Akane: Wow, and I thought you guys ate a lot...

Ranma: We do! I could eat that much, if I wanted to!

Ryouga: Yeah! We could eat more than a Saiyajin if we wanted to!

Ukyou: Umm, hon, I don’t think that’s necessary to try... Especially 
since it’s about time to go train.

*At training grounds*

Piccolo: Ranma, spar with Ukyou this time. Ryouga and Akane, stay 
stay here until I return. *Bids Ranma and Ukyou to follow him*

Ukyou: Why’re we going somewhere else?

Piccolo: I’m going to train Ryouga and Akane alone for a while, then I 
train you two. Until then, you should use that time to spar; 
you’ll need every chance you get to improve.

Ukyou: Makes sense.  *Piccolo guides them to a spot farther away 
and leaves them sparring there.*

Ranma: Ready, Ukyou?

Ukyou: Well, I want ta ask you something first...

Ranma: What?

Ukyou: Are you going to marry Akane?

Ranma: That kawaiikune tomboy? What makes you think--

Ukyou: Stop it, Ranma. *he shuts his mouth, surprised* Tell me the 
truth, are you going to marry her? Do you want to?

Ranma: *Quiet for a minute, thinking* Well,... *figures something 
out, then stammers and looks down, nervously* Y-yes. Yes, I 
do.

Ukyou: *pauses, regretfully, then speaks* Thank you, Ranma. I had 
to know. We’re still friends, though, right?

Ranma: I’ve always considered you my friend, Ukyou. *blushes* 
Umm....

Ukyou: *grins* Thank you, Ranma. *suddenly looks serious* Well, 
ready to spar? *Ranma answers by taking a fighting stance.*

*Where Ryouga, Akane, & Piccolo are*

Piccolo: Attack me, together. *Akane moves to comply, but Ryouga’s 
lack of motion stops her*

Akane: Ryouga, come on. He said to attack.

Ryouga: Ganging up on someone isn’t fair.

Piccolo: I admire your ethics, but there’s something you need to 
consider.

Ryouga: What?

Piccolo: *charging him* These people don’t play fair! *punches him in 
the gut; Ryouga doubles over*

Akane: Ryouga, you okay? *blocks punch that Piccolo throws at her, 
then kicks with one foot*

Piccolo: *catching her foot* Worry about yourself first. *uses her leg 
to throw her*

Ryouga: *standing back up* Just fine, Akane. *his eyes glint with 
determination, and he charges Piccolo*

Akane: *picking herself back up and joining Ryouga in attacking* 
Great. *She punches out, but hits Ryouga’s fist instead. The 
two constantly find eachother in their way.*

Piccolo: Learn to work together. *ducks under Akane’s high kick and 
Ryouga’s punch*

*The battle speeds up. Ryouga flings a bandana at Piccolo, who  
merely moves his head out of the way. It scrapes Akane, and 
Ryouga looks horrified-- until she lands a kick on Piccolo, 
proving herself fine. Ryouga attacks with a sudden spurge of 
energy, throwing out punches and kicks at a rate that lets 
Piccolo block only most. However, Ryouga quickly wearies and 
must fall back to avoid serious damage. Akane, seeing him in 
danger, starts to cover him. Unknowingly, they begin to do what 
Piccolo had originally instructed them to: work together to fight 
him. Akane gets a punch in face, but Ryouga blocks the 
follow-up and uses Piccolo’s distraction to land one of his own. 
When Ryouga punches at Piccolo’s face, Akane sweeps his feet 
from under him, letting both attacks do damage. They work 
in this way for several hours, eventually tiring. Suddenly, 
Piccolo flies back.*

Piccolo: That’s enough for now. Take a little rest, then go and get the 
other two. *Ryouga and Akane sit down on a nearby boulder*

Akane: *pant, pant* Ryouga... thanks for... covering me.

Ryouga: *wiping his face* No... prob. *not breathing quite as hard as 
Akane* You... did the... same.  *the two catch their breath, 
then follow Piccolo to where he left Ukyou and Ranma*

Ryouga: Where’d they go?

Akane: Maybe they drifted while fighting...

Piccolo: No way. We’d see, or at least hear, them. 

Akane: *concentrates* Ukyou’s over that way... but where’s Ranma?

*The three fly to Ukyou, finding her in a forest*

Ukyou: *not sensing them at first, she’s so distracted* Ranma! 
Ranma!!! 

Akane: Ukyou....

Ukyou: *starting* Oh, Akane! It’s you!

Akane: Where’s Ranma?

Ryouga: Yeah, where’d that coward go? Did he chicken out?

Ukyou: *glaring at Ryouga* No, he’s.... gone.

Akane: Gone?

Piccolo: People don’t just disappear. (Except Goku.... but Ranma 
doesn’t know teleportation) Where is he? 

Ukyou: Ranma... went Neko...

Akane: *eyes widening in worry* Oh, no! He didn’t!!!

Ukyou: It happened just a little bit ago....

*thirty minutes earlier*

Ukyou: Com’on, Ranma, is that the best you can do?  *grabs his fist 
and kicks out*

Ranma: Hey, I’m TRYING not to hold back, but old habits die hard, ya 
know. It just comes naturally.

Ukyou: I know, but it still bugs me when you feel you have to hold 
back on me. What does that say about your trust in me?

Ranma: Give me a break! I’m not ~trying~ to, I told you that!

Ukyou: *sighs* Alright, alright. Thanks for trying, anyway. Or should 
I say not trying?

Ranma: *laughs* not trying, definitely. *blocks kick*

*Suddenly, the two hear a small noise from nearby*

????: m-mew?

Ranma: *turns white* T-that’s not a c-c-c-c-c-c-cat, is it?

Ukyou: I’ll go check it out. *flies over* Awww, how cute!

Ranma: What?

Ukyou: *pauses* Uh, don’t come over here, Ranma.

Ranma: What is it?

Ukyou: a couple of mountain lion cubs. Definitely feline.

Ranma: *shudders* I don’t wanna see.

Ukyou: I’ll move them away... *picks up something, carefully hiding it 
from Ranma* Be back in a sec. *flies away*

Ranma: I’ll wait here. *sits down against a small ledge*

????: Rrrrroooooowwwwwwrrrrrrrr!!!

Ranma: ... *turns around & looks up* eep....

*The mother of the cubs is right above his head. The two stare at 
eachother for a second, then the lion pounces. Ranma screams, 
but his voice changes to a roar. His eyes become slitted, and 
his hands curl up into fists. Claws of ki poke out, and he 
growls. The mountain lion does a double-take at him, then 
slowly starts to back away. Ukyou returns in time to see it turn 
on its tail and flee. Ranma proudly licks himself, then turns 
around to see Ukyou. He trots up to her on all fours and starts 
rubbing against her legs, purring.*

Ukyou:... (oh, Ranma... Not again.) *she looks around for some water 
to change Ranma into a girl and break the curse, but sees none. 
She picks up Ranma and carries him to the nearby forest* There 
ought to be some water out here, ne, Ran-chan? *finally, she 
comes across a stream. She puts the purring Ranma down and 
scoops up some water in her hands. Unfortunately, Ranma 
chooses that moment to see something off to the side, and 
starts chasing it. Ukyou turns around to see him gone.*  
Ran-chan! Ran-chan! Ranma, where’d you go?

*the present*

Ukyou: Now I can’t find him. He won’t come when I call him, or 
anything like that. 

Piccolo: ... He... acts like a ~cat~ when he gets scared?

Akane: It’s not his fault! His dumb dad did something to him when he 
was just a little kid, called Neko-ken. Now whenever he gets 
close to cats, he starts acting like one. It makes him fight 
better, but it also makes him utterly unreachable except by a 
few people! *at that second, Akane fell flat on her face*

Ranma: *from on top of Akane’s back* mrow?

Ukyou: Oh, Ranma! Thank goodness!!! *she promptly splashes him 
with water that she had gotten from the stream. Ranma-chan 
sits up, confused.*

Ranma-chan: Where am I? 

Akane: Get off me!! 

Ranma: *looks down; blushes* oh, Gomen, Akane! *gets off*

Akane: (did he just apologize???) I-it’s alright. You couldn’t help 
yourself. *stands up*

Piccolo: ... (a-ano...) *keeps his usual poker face*

Ryouga: Now that Ranma’s had his break, let’s get back to work.

*Piccolo agrees, and starts training Ukyou and Ranma-chan like he 
did Ryouga and Akane. Ryouga has some trouble fighting 
Akane, though...*

Akane: Ready, Ryouga?

Ryouga: (How can I fight Akane? She’s just so... so... so... I can’t!!! I 
just can’t fight her!!!) *meanwhile, Akane takes his silence to 
mean that he is ready, and attacks. Ryouga reflexively blocks 
and punches back. He hits her, and she’s thrown back a bit.*

Ryouga: A-Akane! Are you all right?

Akane: Of course!!! This’s a spar, isn’t it? I’m just glad that I can trust 
you to fight back, unlike Ranma. It’s really so annoying when he 
won’t fight back. Of course, he’s working on it, but I hate it 
when he looks down on me like that! And just because I’m a 
girl! I’m stronger than most guys out there! *Akane catches 
herself before she starts whining* Oh, sorry, Ryouga. You 
probably don’t want to hear me complain about Ranma. You’re 
just such a good listener... Thanks. Well, ready to fight some 
more?

Ryouga: (How can I fight her now??? I don’t want to hurt her! But if I 
don’t fight back, I’ll hurt her feelings!) *Ryouga decides her 
feelings outrank trying to avoid sparring* Uh, sure. *he gets an 
idea.* But I’m going to work on the defensive, okay? I need to 
improve some on that.

Akane: Sure!

 *Akane kicks at him, and he blocks. She doubles around and 
makes him spin around to keep his eyes on her, then takes 
advantage of putting him off balance by sweeping his feet out 
from under him. He stumbles, and only barely manages to avoid 
falling. She takes that moment to elbow him in the ribs. He 
gasps as the breath is almost knocked out of him, and is thrown 
into a rock close by. Rubbing his head, he notices Akane 
standing next to him.*

Akane: Are you okay?

Ryouga: *blushes* Y-yeah, Akane.

Akane: Great! C’mon, then, we’ve got to train to save this world. If 
we give up now, the people will be lost! We can’t let that 
happen! 

Ryouga: Right!!

*The two leap out at each other again,  straining to improve 
themselves. They spar on for hours, until Ukyou appears.*

Ukyou: Hey, guys! It’s getting dark, so we need to go back to Capsule 
Corp! *Sure enough, the sun is getting low in the sky, though 
neither Ryouga nor Akane noticed. They see the sunset, then 
go with Ukyou back to the place where she had trained with 
Piccolo.*

Piccolo: You’re doing okay, but I expect you to do better tomorrow. 
There’s no slacking off now, no matter how tempted you are to 
take a break. I will meet you here at dawn. *Piccolo flies off*

Ranma: Well, guess we better get back. Otherwise, Bulma-san will kill 
us.

Ryouga: I agree, we’d better hurry back. *Group flies off to Capsule 
Corp*

Bulma: *sarcastically* Welcome back. You know, I’ve been working 
on fixing the mess you made of the gravity room all day!

Akane: Gomen, Bulma-san. We really didn’t mean to hurt anything.

Bulma: *relenting* Well, I wasn’t really that mad. It’s not as bad as 
when my husband and son do it. You should see it then! It’s 
like... No words to describe it. I’m nearly finished with the 
repairs now. If it was them, I’d take a week or so.

Ranma: You’ve already almost finished fixing it!? I thought it would 
be impossible to fix, after what we did! *Trunks is seen in the 
background, walking around. He hears what Ranma has just 
said, and starts waving as if to tell him to cut off his words 
before he says something stupid. Ranma, however, doesn’t see* 
And how the roof was split! How ever did you fix it?

Ryouga: *also not seeing Trunks* Yeah, personally, I’d think a woman 
of your age might have some trouble doing all that herself... 
*Trunks can be seen in the background, hitting his head against 
the wall, which dents*

Bulma: *dangerously* A woman... ~my~ age?

Ranma: *unfortunately, has the same sense of tact as a bullet* 
Well, yeah, I mean, you’re not exactly young anymore... You 
could easily be a grandmother! *Trunks is seen trying to find a 
place to hide*

Bulma: *despite the fact that she ~is~ a grandmother* That’s it! I 
took you into my house, fed you, gave you a place to sleep, and 
what do you do? Insult me! You destroy my gravity room, train 
with that green guy, and do nothing useful to help me out! *The 
scene fades out with all of Team Akane cowering from a wrath 
almost as terrible as Akane’s when Ranma says something he 
should have learned long ago not to.*

*In the main room of a now-familiar space ship, Syme is holding what 
looks like a CD. Argos is relaxed in his chair, when the doctor 
approaches him*

Syme: Argos, I have discovered something quite unusual from my 
surveillance of the Earth warriors.

Argos: Yes, Syme? What is it?

Syme: Part of it, I have caught on this tape. *inserts CD-thing into 
slot on his console*

*A screen comes down from the ceiling^, and a scene unfolds in front 
of the Zeal warriors.*

^If you’ve ever watched the Jetsons, it’s rather like that. If not, well, 
I don’t blame you; it’s not anime.

Sounds from video: Rooowwwwwwrrrr!!!!!!!! 

???: eep.... YYYYAAAAAAAAAAOoooowwwwwrrrrrr.......

???: Ranma! Ranma! RANMA! Ran-chan, where are you? 

*splash*

???: Where am I?

???: Get off me!^

^no, that’s not ~all~ they heard on the video, but you’ve read it all 
before.

*Video ends, and Argos has a thoughtful expression on his face*

Argos: Tell me, Syme, how do you plan on using this information?

Syme: Well, I suppose we could lock the one called Ranma into the 
feline mind set. Apparently, water snaps him out of it, but also 
changes his gender with the effect. There is some way to 
reverse this, because later surveillance shows he is again male. 
I believe that the gender switch may wear off with time, but it 
is possible that some other factor is involved.

Argos: And being near felines activates this unusual behavior? 

Syme: Hai.

Argos: Are the others also afflicted?

Syme: From the dialog, I do not believe so.

Argos: And if we could use this to get that one out of the way, how 
would it help us?

Syme: He is the strongest of the group, besides the Namek. His power 
is great for one of his age.

Argos: *obviously interested* How could you arrange for this to happen?

Syme: It would be possible to lock him in a constant state if I use a 
dream-mask, especially if he was also given arthen, the 
hallucinogen that we found on Las 5.

Argos: Can you achieve this?

Syme: *pretending offense* Of course. I wouldn’t suggest it if I 
couldn’t!

Argos: *laughs at their old joke: He would question Syme’s abilities, 
and Syme would pretend to be offended* Alright, then, do it.

Syme: As you say, Argos. 

Argos: *Calls out to him* If you need assistance, take whomever you 
you like.

Syme: *calls back* I probably won’t, but maybe I’ll just take Tempo 
for the fun of it.

======+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+======

Author’s notes:

How will Syme try to disable Ranma? Will the Zeal ever discover the 
truth behind the Jusenkyo curses? Will Ranma’s friends be able 
to save him from certain fright? Tune in next time for the 
exciting continuation! 

Alright, that’s out of my system. I apologize for the delay in getting 
this out, but hey, I ~got~ it out. Be thankful for that! And I 
managed to add some excitement, too... Don’t you think Ranma 
will look good in a flea collar? But poor Akane will always have 
to take him to the vet and all.... And considering how Ranma 
was almost forced into marrying a duck when he thought it was 
Akane, just imagine how their parents will react when she 
brings him home! *Suddenly, Lynn screams as readers start 
reaching through the computer screen to throttle her* Just 
kidding, just ~KIDDING~!!! As to what will really happen, 
you’ll have to wait until next time to find out. Well, gotta go, so 
‘Bye for now!

Send all Comments/questions/etc. to Fanime_Lynn@hotmail.com