Akane was suffering. Prior to her recent change of heart, Cerl
wouldn't have cared. However, Akane had come to realize just how much
she'd been projecting things when she shouldn't, and had fallen into a
deep depression. Cerl's hope had been that Akane would wake up to the
bad things and try to change them, but the end of their fight had set
the tone for Akane's change.
Cerl had been to a large number of psychology classes, but she
didn't feel confident enough try to rebuild someone's ego. She
preferred leaving that to a professional. The problem was that the
family couldn't truly afford a therapist for as long as Akane might
need one.
Which was why Cerl was looking through a newspaper, hoping to
find a job, a game show or something that would get them the money they
needed. If they couldn't get Akane some psychological help, the poor
girl might do something rash.
Then, she saw an advertisement for a fighting tournament. Cerl
arched an eyebrow. It was a little too convenient for a new tournament
to appear shortly after Ihadurca's appearance. Still, the prize money
was pretty good. If it was legitimate, Cerl wouldn't mind.
Cerl shifted uncomfortably on the park bench. Her right femur
had a small bone fracture. Nothing that would affect a normal person
too much, but Doctor Tofu had told her not to do any training for a
month to let the fracture heal.
"What'cha looking at?" Sabrina inquired.
"Well, we kinda need some money, so I'm thinking of joining a
tournament." Cerl responded.
"Are you sure you should? I mean, I heard you got badly injured
in that last battle." Sabrina asked, motioning to Cerl's right leg, the
bandages showing from underneath the blonde's shorts.
"It's for family and besides, the fracture is a small one. I
mean, so long as I don't go running, I'm fine right now." Cerl
answered.
"Actually.... uh, my aunt says she's got this healing potion that
might heal that. I've had it before and it totally healed this long
gash I got on my forearm." Sabrina offered.
"Does it taste like crap?" Cerl queried.
"Uh, yeah." Sabrina replied.
"Good, I wouldn't trust it otherwise. I don't trust anything
that's meant to taste good FIRST." Cerl told her.
Sabrina laughed, "I guess medicine does have to taste bad. Most
of the time, anyway."
"Well, that's how you know it's working." Cerl chuckled.
Sabrina helped Cerl up and the two headed back to Sabrina's
apartment.
Cologne looked at the tournament listing as well. She pondered
it over. She wouldn't know if it was a front for Ihadurca without
entering, but doing so might leave her open to a trap.
Then, the answer came to her. Shampoo, Cerl and Ranma could
enter as fighters and she could be their manager. Most of the fighters
would likely have a manager that was rather old, so hopefully she
wouldn't stand out too much. She would have added Mousse to the list,
but the only listed tournament rule forbade weapons.
"Grandmother, what is it?" Shampoo inquired.
Cologne glanced up at her granddaughter, "There will be a
tournament soon. It starts in a week. I believe it might be a front
for Ihadurca, so we have to investigate."
"Does this mean you increase training schedule of Ranma and
Cerl?" Shampoo inquired.
"No. If I were to increase it too much, they would be too busy
recovering to fight decently." Cologne answered, "However, they can
still complete their current training."
Shampoo nodded, then asked, "And what we do about Gel?"
"Sadly, nothing. The current rules don't allow for anything more
than a Fight of Rejection, but you are not yet ready for that, because
if she wins, you must become her partner." Cologne told her.
Shampoo stuck out her tongue and winced in disgust.
"Oh, by the way, Grandmother, I find... FOUND a strange game that
have many Amazon customs written within." Shampoo said, holding up a
black cardboard box that read 'Battletech'.
"Hmm, interesting..." Cologne commented.
(1)
Meanwhile, across the city, Sabrina and Cerl were just entering
Sabrina's apartment when Cerl noticed a strange smell in the air.
"Did you leave a pot on or something?" Cerl asked.
"No, I don't think so..." Sabrina began.
Just then, a leggy and well-tanned woman entered the room, her
short black hair reminding Cerl of Nabiki's haircut. She was wearing a
kitchen glove and holding a pot, "Oh, hello, Sabrina. And who's your
friend? I just made some spiderbread cookies."
"Aunt Hilda?" Sabrina asked, a lump of worry and panic instantly
knotting up her stomach.
"Oh, don't sound like that. I just came for a little house-
warming and see how things were going. You know, help you out with the
first month. I remember this time when I moved into London and OH!
That place smelled like a STY until my grandmother made me some
spiderbread cookies. After that, the place smelled heavenly for
weeks." Hilda responded.
"Uh, that's nice. This is Cerl, she's a foreign exchange student
as well, but part of her family already lives in Japan." Sabrina said,
introducing Cerl to Hilda, then began the counter-introduction, "Cerl,
this is-"
"I'm Sabrina's aunt, Hilda. It's so nice to know that Sabrina's
already making such good friends over here." Hilda interupted,
extending her free hand to shake Cerl's hand.
"Nice to meet you. Actually, thsoe DO smell nice. Are there any
ready to eat?" Cerl inquired.
"Eat them? Oh, heavens no. You don't EAT spiderbread cookies,
because they smell good, but taste like horse dung. You let them bake
and cool, then you break them open and the sweet scent that you can
smell right now permeates the room." Hilda responded.
"Sort of like potpurri, then." Cerl acknowledged.
"Yep. Only less likely to summon minor spirits." Hilda replied.
Sabrina felt the knot in her stomach begin to stab painfully as
Hilda re-entered the kitchen.
"So, she must be your magic-using aunt. The one who knows the
voodoo magic." Cerl commented, "She's pretty nice."
"Uh, yeah. She is." Sabrina replied, happy that the first
impression with her aunt went by rather nicely, "Hey, Aunt Hilda, can
you whip up a batch of that healing potion that you made that one time?
My friend Cerl has a small bone fracture and she needs to be in top
condition for a tournament next week."
"Hmm, bone fracture, huh? It'll take some doing, but with your
help, I can have it ready in about twenty minutes." Hilda responded.
"Um..." Sabrina began, looking between Hilda and Cerl.
Cerl interupted Sabrina's apology, "I can read my newspaper.
It's not like I'm in a rush or anything."
"Great. There's a bed in the next room." Hilda told her.
As soon as Cerl was out of sight and Sabrina was in the kitchen,
Hilda cast a privacy spell to block verbal noise from exiting the
kitchen, then turned to Sabrina, "So, what's the cover story?"
"Well, you're my voodoo-using aunt." Sabrina responded.
"Did she seem okay with that?" Hilda pressed.
"Yeah. She thought you were nice. And she's the kind of person
who's pretty laid back about things." Sabrina answered.
Hilda considered that, "Do you think she'll react well if you
need to use magic around her?"
Sabrina nodded, "Most likely. Her cousin was using a magical
dougi the other day and Cerl didn't really seem to freak out about it."
"A magical what?" Hilda asked.
Sabrina tried to explain, "It's like a uniform for martial
artists. You know, the baggy pants and the vest-like jacket?"
"Oh, like the kind you see Chuck Norris wearing in those karate
movies?" Hilda inquired.
Sabrina nodded.
"So, what did this one do?" Hilda asked.
"A lot of things. It boosted the wearer's skill level and
physical abilities waaay up and the spirit of the dougi can take over
in the fight if the wearer gets knocked out." Sabrina replied.
"That sounds like the Battle Armor spell that Zelda knows, only
adapted a bit for martial arts and more permanent." Hilda commented,
"Anyway, if you think she's okay, I'd reveal your talents before it
comes down to a confession under awkward circumstances."
"You think so?" Sabrina asked.
"Yeah. If she's seen a magic item in action, she'll probably
react more favorably towards you than some people would." Hilda told
her.
Sabrina considered it. Cerl did seem to be like some of the good
friends she'd made.
"I'll do it." Sabrina agreed.
"Good, now, don't keep her waiting." Hilda said, handing Sabrina
a potion.
"But... I thought..." Sabrina began, startled.
"It's easy to do when you have a formula spell." Hilda answered.
Sabrina arched an eyebrow, "And since when has a healing potion
been a formula spell?"(2)
"Oh, I had a lot of accidents in my day. You think being a klutz
in this day and age is hard, try being a klutz when medical science was
entirely 'Leech it!'." Hilda answered.
Sabrina nodded slowly, then turned and exited the room while
Hilda removed the privacy spell.(3)
"Hmmmm...." Cerl commented as she re-read the paper.
"What's up?" Sabrina asked.
"Well, I've been looking over this tournament listing and it's
very strange. For one thing, I think the prize money just doubled and
I didn't get a new newspaper. Hmmm, must be my imagination." Cerl
commented.
Sabrina frowned and looked over Cerl's shoulder at the newspaper.
She focused hard on the page and just as she suspected, a number of
magical runes appeared in the ad for the tournament. Not huge ones, or
even aggressive ones. The runes were meant to drive away most people's
attention while catching a specific type of person. They also allowed
for instant updates. Only a quick-minded person or someone with
magical talent would be able to catch the updates and the former would
brush it off as a trick that their own minds had played on them.
Such things weren't that uncommon. Since the invention of the
personal ad, there were spell-casters who used those runes intermixed
with messages as a means of increasing the chances that they'd get what
they wanted.
The only thing was, as far as she'd heard, most witches and
wizards in Japan didn't like being even sneaky with their magic and
instead, preferred to travel to the astral plane to do whatever magic
they desired.
"Oh yeah, here's the potion." Sabrina spoke up, handing the
potion to Cerl.
Cerl took a swig, made an 'URK' noise and then proceeded to fall
over, Sabrina snatching the potion from her rigid hands before she
could hit the ground. That had been her reaction to the potion, so it
wasn't that implausible that it would be everyone's reaction.
Sabrina corked the potion, cast a spell to label it as Cerl's,
should she need it again, and placed it in a subdimensional locker.
Then, she hefted the stiff form of Cerl up onto her bed. Then, she
decided to look into the tournament ad....
Ranma was confused as to how he should feel. He already knew
what he felt for Cerl was growing the more time he shared with the
body-swapped girl, and he'd even managed the courage to confess, but he
had yet to receive an answer. Cerl had just told him that it would
take time for her to sort out her own feelings.
However, the fact that it had taken her so long was beginning to
nag at him. Was she even thinking about it, given the whole thing
between her and Akane? What would he do if she didn't feel that way
about him? Could he really stop thinking about her as anything more
than a friend?
"What's wrong, Ranma?" Ukyou inquired, interupting Ranma from his
thoughts as they sat down on a park bench.
"Mmm? Oh, it's Cerl." Ranma responded.
"Sounds like a nice girl. Certainly better than Akane, anyway."
Ukyou answered.
"Well, I kinda told her my feelings about her and... she hasn't
gotten back to me yet, but I'm pretty sure she's been really
distracted." Ranma told her.
"Hmmm... are you sure she feels the same way about you? I've
seen a lot of girls give boys the "let's just be friends" speech."
Ukyou warned him.
"......" Ranma replied.
"So, you just blurted it out at spur of the moment? Or did you
think there was a mood going?" Ukyou inquired.
"......" Ranma repeated.
"That's not an answer, Ranma, and I don't have telepathy, so I
can't read your mind. And trust me, I've tried." Ukyou informed him.
"I thought we had a chemisty going, but things changed rapidly
and I guess I was acting without thinking." Ranma answered.
[This is almost like watching a bad soap opera or a romance
comedy.] Ukyou thought to herself with a heavy sigh.
There were organizations that spanned the dimensions, just as
there were organizations that spanned galaxies. Many people would be
fascinated to know that many of these groups found their purpose in
keeping various realities from dying, an effort to stop or slow
entropy.
Obviously, organizations that spanned dimensions were often
somewhat strange, usually led by a madman or a genius, depending on
when one looked at said leader.
One of these pan-dimensional groups shocked many who saw it's
name for the first time: Evil, Inc.
It was generally thought that only evil would ever want to
destroy everything. This could not be more wrong. Just like color and
shadow are not officially light or darkness, good and evil don't always
act as most would assume.
Evil, Inc. wanted to preserve the universe, but obviously, the
first interpretation was that such a thing would go against the grain
of evil. Not in the least. Evil, Inc. wanted to preserve the universe
so that it could continue to manipulate it's inhabitants.
Evil wasn't always stupid, after all. That was usually the
cannon fodder and most of the pretentious losers who thought that they
were superior (most of whom could be defeated by lame heroes, such as
Mary Kate & Ashley, Kim Possible, Teamo Supremeo, the Smurfs or even
the Super Friends).
No, Evil, Inc. knew that it was power that was found from
manipulating entire galaxies into doing what they wanted while the
inhabitants remained unaware. Evil, Inc., however, often felt that a
direct hand sometimes was needed to prevent things from getting too
good or evil. A corrupted balance had to be maintained or else evil
itself would suffer.
The truth was, in many dimensions, the more common evil needed a
helping hand to get on it's feet so it could distract good from the
real evil (Evil, Inc.) and so, Evil, Inc. took in various aspiring
villians, gave them the knowledge, power and (depending on their value)
resources.
"So, basically, you're going to make me a shield against any
groups of heroes who might catch on to you and your operation." the
young man repeated.
The shape-shifting sorceror nodded, then changed into a rabbit.
"Damn that blasted curse. This is why it's best never to take on
another evil organization, even though it seems pathetic." the sorcerer
commented, looking at his laptop before continuing, "Now, your
dimension has an evil rating of 5, just typical evil, no real baddies
just yet...."
An alarm flashed on the screen, "Oop, no, there's one
reincarnated sorceress. That raises it to 9." the rabbit-sorcerer
said, then made a disapproving, "Mmmmm."
"Is that bad?" the young man inquired.
"Well, let's just say this: You would have been given an army and
the standard base hidden in a different dimension when it was level 5.
Now, we give you a sewer base (Ninja, Turtle and Mutant free when we
give it to you), locate some bottom-rung personnel for you, grant you
generic energy draining powers and give you our 2001-20004 catalog."
the sorcerer told him, changing into a bottle of Clorox, a flying
tortilla roll, a penguin and finally back to a vague human-shape in the
process, before pulling out a catalog.
"Uh, don't you mean 2004 and not 20004?" the young man inquired.
"Damn type-o." the sorcerer commented, shifting into a sorceress,
then a bean burrito.
The young man stared at the burrito that had the Evil, Inc.
catalog laying on it.
"Don't worry about me. Just pick up the catalog. It's really
heavy." the sorcerer's muffled voice came from the burrito.
"Uh, right..." the young man said, picking up the catalog.
The sorcerer returned to his original shape, but he looked like
the squat image shown in a circus funhouse mirror. Or an image that
had half of it's height reduced, but nothing had been cropped out.
"Anyway," the sorcerer continued, "you should choose a new name.
It helps get into the Evil Overlord mindset. Plus, it's easier for
both of us if we call you by your Evil Overlord name instead of your
real name."
"Hmmmmm, I've always like names that had a Z sound to them....
how about Zangulus?" the young man asked.
"Taken."
"Zagraguttural?"
"Taken."
"ZZ Top."
"Taken. Twice...."
"Xenon?"
"Not taken."
"Good, I'll take it." the young man declared.
"Oop, taken." the sorcerer said, then chuckled, "Just kidding."
"MUST... CONTROL... HAND... OF DEATH!"
Ihadurca didn't have much to do while she waited for her body to
recover enough spiritual strength so that she could move more readily.
Her envoy to Shadowloo was completed and now, the only thing she could
do until Bison filled his end of the bargain was watch television.
Of course, mass media was known to be one of the biggest
corruptors of the human mind.
"MIKA!"
"YAMAZAKI!"
Whirlwind of Love was pretty good. If only those two could stay
together for more than two episodes.
Things weren't looking good, the ancient warrior decided. And
the worse it went, the more likely he would suffer. It was insane, but
for the last three hundred years, their plans had failed at a critical
juncture, and all because of a small area in China that produced
phenomenal fighters.
Were it not against the rules to directly or indirectly attack
any fighter on the planet, it would have been over long ago. Instead,
he had to appease himself with the fact that for every tournament that
the inhabitants of this miserable planet won, it only gave them a
single tournament of leeway.
Unfortunately, they had already managed NINE tournaments of
leeway.
Shang Tsung sighed a weary sigh. If they did not win the next
Mortal Kombat, Raiden could file a seal, which would prevent Shang
Tsung's master, Shao Khan, from ruling over the world. Sheer endurance
was something the natives had in spades. If brute strength would not
abide, Goro's many bruises could attest to that, then it was time for a
little strategy.
Shang Tsung smiled. After all, the tournament could operate in
any fashion he saw fit, so long as it could be deemed fair. It was
time to call up the souls of a few Lin Kuei he knew. The tournament
was still a year away, but it wouldn't hurt to train extensively.
Xenon sighed. It was difficult moving in, but the effort had
been well worth it. The idea of a sewer-based fortress had been
unappealing, but the entire sewer had a scent filter, canceling
anything but fruit-flavored scents from catching the nose of anyone in
the sewer, and a gas detector was set up to warn if any high
concentrations of gases got loose.
He wore a white cape over a fairly nice t-shirt jeans combo. He
couldn't afford an official uniform yet. Hell, he had only been able
to purchase some minor items to help out in his first money-making
scheme.
Before him was a blondish-brunette with her long hair in back
being tied into a long braid. Her bright green eyes and her one
(always visible) fang were sort of cute. And best of all, she already
had a fairly decent minion outfit, a black shoulderless leotard with
baggy white and grey short-shorts and an identical jacket that had
puffy shoulders. She wore black and grey boots and black fingerless
gloves.
Of course, she didn't seem to have a last name or know where her
parents were, but she remained uselessly energetic and she was
currently still in high school, though she assured Xenon that she would
be graduating soon.
He just wished he knew why he'd accepted her application. Then,
he remembered that he'd chosen her because she was actually better than
most of the other candidates, many of whom would likely pawn whatever
was given to them for beer money or blow off any assignment that was
more time-consuming that 'sit on toilet and poop'.
"HAIL, LORD XENON!" the girl declared.
"Ah, Excel, good of you to come on such short notice." Lord Xenon
began, still trying to get the feeling for being a leader down. It was
best to start thinking rationally and allow the ego to swell in
proportion to actual accomplishments.
Excel bowed, "I'm always happy to answer my Lord Xenon's
requests, no matter what they may be."
As Excel slipped into a daydream and began making peculiar
moaning sounds while rubbing her hands up and down her body in an
erotic fashion, Xenon quickly grabbed his Evil, Inc. catalog and
flipped through it to find the subject on Bottom-Rung Minions.
Bottom-Rung Minions are sometimes given false memories
and/or loyalty neurochips to ensure absolute loyalty.
Sighing as he realized exactly what Excel was moaning about (he
now wished he had remained in the dark), Xenon continued with the
conversation, doing his best to ignore Excel, "As you have no doubt
noticed, we are lacking in vast quantities of capital. Ordinarily, we
would simply go out and get jobs."
Xenon stood up from his somewhat uncomfortable throne-like chair
and struck a dramatic pose, "HOWEVER, we are no ordinary organization.
We are the secret para-military organization ACROSS! Thus, we will be
making a form of capital that will ensure that we will only improve the
organization while we are on ACROSS time."
"Um, does that mean we don't get free donuts?" Excel inquired.
Lord Xenon paused, then looked in his catalog, before answering,
"Only if we don't do well."
"BANZAI! ACROSS! BANZAI!" Excel cheered.
[It was going to be a LONG first mission.] Xenon thought to
himself, [A VERY long mission.]
"Excel, please be quiet while I explain our mission." Xenon
ordered.
Excel quieted instantly.
"Now, our first mission is to collect energy from humans in the
city. We'll sell that energy in order to pay off the loan on this
fortress as well as gain capital so that we can expand our operations.
I have been loaned the magical ability to drain energy, but I could not
afford the same ability for you, so you'll have to rely on this." Xenon
said, holding up a vaccuum.
Excel tilted her head in confusion, "Nyah?"
"This is a specially modified vaccuum. DON'T USE IT to clean up
your clothes or clean around your house. It drains energy only." Xenon
explained, "It does NOT need to be plugged in. Just point the end
toward a crowd and turn it onto low. It'll switch off once it reaches
it's maximum capacity. Once that happens, return here. If I'm not
here, just leave the vaccuum and report here tomorrow at the same
time."
"I, Excel, will do my best to complete this mission for you, my
dear Lord Xenon!" Excel declared.
[Well, at least she's very eager to please. I won't need to
worry about her backstabbing.] Xenon thought to himself.
"Yes, for you, Lord Xenon, I will do anything! Through fire!
Burning, burning! Through water! Pouring! If you ask me to strip,
I'll strip right away! If you want me to throw up, I'll throw up!"
Excel continued, "As a loyal member of ACROSS, and as a maiden who's in
love with Lord Xenon," Xenon sighed and raised a barrier, "OH! LORD
XENON, TAKE ME NO-" Excel slammed into the barrier and slid down.
Xenon looked down at her, "Let's stay focused."
"Right..." Excel mumbled.
A week passed with little to no complications. Doctor Tofu HAD
been a bit suspicious about Cerl's 'miraculous recovery', but he'd seen
stranger things and the bone fracture _was_ gone. Cerl had returned to
her training with Cologne and Ranma to finish out the week and the
training.
Cerl shifted uncomfortably as she leaned against the wall. She
was wearing a new white dougi that had the kanji for 'Tendo' sewn on
the back and as a patch on the front, courtesy of Kasumi. She'd pulled
her hair back into a ponytail to prevent it from getting in her face
during the tournament. It hadn't bothered her much during her fight
with Akane, but the last thing she needed was to be distracted at a
critical moment.
Ranma was wearing his white chinese shirt and usual black pants.
Shampoo, who had joined, much to Cerl's surprise, was wearing light
pink pants and a red and pink shirt that was elaborately embroidered
with gold. According to the amazon, it was her favorite fighting
uniform.
Cologne eyed the trio. She had no doubt that they'd win against
most of the fighters in the tournament, but she was very uncertain if
they would be able to avoid a trap, should it be one of Ihadurca's.
Fortunately, the three were in separate divisions, meaning that the
likelyhood that they'd face each other right off the bat was minimal.
That would allow Cologne plenty of time to investigate the tournament
hall, in search of the person who's arranged it.
In the audience, many of Ranma and Cerl's friends sat, eagerly
awaiting what was sure to be another excellent fight, especially
considering how awesome Cerl and Akane's fight had been. Sabrina sat
between Haruka and Ukyou, the latter grumbling about how it was unfair
that weapons weren't allowed in many tournaments. Haruka had brought
eight of her friends along, Michiru included. Michiru sat on the other
side of Sabrina while the rest of Haruka's friends sat behind them.
"Helloooooooooooooo, Nerima!" came the voice of the announcer.
The young man who looked like he was wearing a cross between a
mime and a dog outfit, waved energetically as the lights illuminated
the ring, granting a better view of the strange man.
He had a bright red clown-like nose, floppy ears that looked like
a cross between a thin-eared rabbits and a floppy-eared german
shepard's. The only article of clothing he wore was a pair of brown
pants which were held tightly in place by a rather plain-looking belt.
"I'm your announcer, Yakko Warner. Now, I'm sure many of you are
unsure of what the heck is going on, and I'd like to tell you, but I
don't know myself." the strange man explained.
Just then, he looked at one of the exits, yelped, and ran off.
As an overweight guard ran around the ring after the strange man, the
audience gave sideway glances at each other, then hesitantly applauded.
Then, a normal-looking man wearing a tuxedo walked into the ring
and took the microphone, "LLLLLLLLLLLLLLET'S GET READYYYYYYYYY TOOOOOOO
RUMBBBBBBBBBBBBBBLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEE!"
Again, though this time even more hesitantly, the audience
applauded.
"Introducing our first two contestants. First, in the red
corner, Tendo Cerl, heir of Tendo Anything Goes School," the announcer
continued, "And in the blue corner, the legendary stealer of faces and
styles, the infamous Copycat KEN!"
Cerl arched an eyebrow as she walked to the ring's edge. A
style-stealer? She hopped into the ring and saw her opponent for the
first time.
Copycat Ken was an unassuming type. Black hair, yellow shirt
with snot-green vest, tan pants and a Genma-esque hankerchief over his
head.
"Heh-heh-heh! I've been watching you, Cerl Tendo, and I know ALL
your moves." Copycat Ken chuckled evilly, "Give up now and I won't
embarrass you... too much."
"Only the weak trash talk before proving themselves." Cerl
responded calmly.
Ken's face turned bright red with anger for a few seconds, then
he forced himself to settle down. He would have all the chips soon
enough.
The referee entered the ring and took the microphone while the
announcer exited and headed for his ringside table. The referee
cleared his throat and began, "This is a single elimination tournament.
You may not use weapons. If you are thrown out of the ring, stay down
for a count of ten, or, the gods forbid, kill your opponent, you are
eliminated from the tournament. Also, deliberately striking an
opponent in the groin is forbidden and will count as a penalty. Get
three penalties and you are disqualified."
The bell rang.
"Heh, watch this!" Copycat Ken chortled, pulling out a cloth and
backflipping onto his corner post. In an instant, Ken was transformed
into a replica of Cerl.
Cerl-Ken leapt down and sneered at Cerl, who calmly shifted into
an aggressive stance. Cerl-Ken shifted into the same stance. Cerl
charged, which Cerl-Ken copied. Suddenly, Cerl dove for the mat at her
feet, rolling and kipupping into Cerl-Ken's stomach. The surprized
shapeshifter stumbled backwards.
"AAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Cerl roared with laughter.
"What's so funny?" Cerl-Ken demanded.
"I can already tell that you're going to lose." Cerl told the
copycat, circling to the right, a knowing grin on her face, very
similar to the one of a cat that had figured out how to get into the
goldfish tank at a pet shop and not get caught.
Cerl-Ken growled and tried to rationalize out the flaw in her
technique. Normally, when she watched someone and then took on their
form, her opponents fell into a predictable pattern. However, Cerl
hadn't even been fazed by the transformation, nor was she falling into
a pattern.
Cerl interupted Cerl-Ken's thoughts by suddenly jumping against
the ropes, then flying at Cerl-Ken faster than the copycat could react,
catching the imposter with a clothesline that sent Cerl-Ken to the mat.
"I can't believe it! Copykat Ken's rated as one of Japan's top
ten fighters!" a nearby crowd member declared loudly.
Cerl, upon hearing that, again began laughing, slapping her knees
as she struggled to regain her composure. However, every time she
caught sight of Cerl-Ken, she burst into fresh laughter. Finally, she
caught her breath and forced herself to face the now recovering Cerl-
Ken.
"Whew... I almost puked." Cerl commented, still snickering.
Cerl-Ken coughed a few times to make sure her throat still
worked. The clothesline had been both unexpected and quite powerful.
Whatever training the girl had done, it had given her more strength
than Cerl-Ken had counted on. The magical cloth that granted her the
power to assume another's form did increase her physical attributes,
but the user had to have an accurate idea of said target's attributes,
otherwise the cloth simply made slight boosts.
"KACHUU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!" Cerl-Ken cried, lunging at Cerl,
throwing a hundred punches as quick as she could.
Cerl leapt away, then frowned, "Why in the nine hells are you
calling out the name of a training technique? Don't you know that it
sounds stupid? Jeez, why not yell something like 'Branch Fist' or
'Oceanborn'? You'd sound less stupid."
Cerl-Ken leapt at Cerl, intending to catch the blonde flatfoot as
she landed, but Cerl caught Cerl-Ken's foot and flung her into the
corner post. Cerl winced as Cerl-Ken impacted with the corner post,
then collapsed to her back.
The announcer's voice, which Cerl had been ignoring, stated the
obvious, "And Copycat Ken... at least I think that Ken... is down
again. The referee has decided to begin counting. 1... 2..."
Cerl-Ken groaned as she sat up. It wasn't working, she decided
as she unsteadily got to her feet. Time to switch. With a flip, she
took out her cloth and changed into a different person. Cerl didn't
seem to even blink in surprise as Ranma-Ken turned around, "Heh heh
heh! Let's see if you can wail on your boyfriend."
"You don't seem to understand, do you? You can't beat me using
that cheap trick." Cerl told the fake Ranma as Ranma-Ken leapt to the
mat and charged her.
Cerl slid into Ranma-Ken's guard, surprising the shapechanger,
and proceeded to punch him twice in the face, then kneed him in the
stomach before catching his head with one hand and flinging him out of
the ring.
"Hmph. You weren't worth my time." Cerl told Ranma-Ken before he
hit the ground, backfirst.
"THE WINNER, CERL TENDO!"
"Ranma, you sure Cerl is sane?" Shampoo asked.
"Yeah... she's just... not fazed by much." Ranma answered,
sweatdropping.
Cologne sighed as she flipped through the folders. It seemed
that a lot of fake files had been included in the file cabinets she was
looking through, ones made to throw off anyone who wanted to learn
things they shouldn't know.
Finally, she found a folder marked 'Mary Bo Peep' in English.
Inside was the donation roster for the people who had financed the
tournament. Most of the names were resturaunts or corporations who had
purchased rights to sell or advertise at the tournament.
However, for some reason, the Prime Minister had made a donation
to the tournament, one equal to the listed prize money for first place.
Cologne pondered that fact. Why would the Prime Minister of Japan
supply the prize money for a tournament?
She would have to do further investigation. But first, it was
time to see how well her next pupil was going to do.
Ranma yawned. Whoever Dan Hibiki had been, he'd been a
certifiable quack. If it weren't for the fact that Ranma had seen
other fighters employ similar distractions to aid their weak fighting
style, Ranma might have been in for a serious fight. As it was, it was
Shampoo's turn to fight.
"In the blue corner, from Location Deleted, China," the announcer
began, pausing a bit to consider that, "SHAMPOO! And in the red
corner, from southern Hokkaido, current heir of the Kidou Karate
fighting style, YUKA TAKEUCHI!"
Cerl watched as a girl with longer hair than even Shampoo's and a
pairs of breasts that made it look like two watermelons were under her
shift entered the ring. She wore her hair in a ponytail with a red
ribbon tying it and she was wearing a white button up shirt with an
orange waitress skirt. In fact, she looked like she'd come straight
from a job at Hanna Miller's.(4)
Even Shampoo seemed to be eyeing the girl's bust, wondering what
kind of bra could possibly hold that chest in place during a fight. In
the audience, Haruka received a intestine-gouging elbow from Michiru.
"What?!" Haruka demanded.
"You were thinking it." Michiru responded.
Haruka's face flushed red as she did her best to ignore the girl
in the ring. Sabrina sweatdropped, "That's gotta be one hell of a
bra."
"I wonder what her diet is like..." Ukyou murmurred, stroking her
chin thoughtfully. Sabrina glanced at Ukyou, then decided to focus on
the fight.
In terms of physical fighting skill, Yuka was weaker. Shampoo's
training had been much more extensive and vastly more difficult. On
the other hand, in terms of ki, Shampoo was a raindrop before a
waterfall. Yuka had power to BURN and in spades. The problem for Yuka
was that she didn't seem to have the control or perhaps the training
necessary to reach that power.
"This will be interesting." Cerl noted.
"You really think so?" Ranma inquired.
Cerl nodded, "Yuka's got a lot of power. I'd estimate almost
enough that it could compensate for her lesser skills."
"I don't know. Shampoo's got a lot more speed and a large
strength advantage." Ranma responded.
"Not so much that Yuka couldn't compensate. It'll be close,
that's for sure." Cerl declared.
The bell rang. Yuka and Shampoo both charged. Shampoo leapt
into the air and jump-kicked at Yuka, who slid to a stop when Shampoo
jumped and backflipped away from Shampoo. As Shampoo landed, Yuka
rebounded off the ropes and retaliated with her own jumpkick, which
Shampoo leapt over.
Yuka landed and spun to catch Shampoo's almost-surprise punch and
flung the amazonian warrior into the air. Shampoo twisted and landed
on a corner post instead of the hard concrete outside of the ring.
Like a projectile out of a bow, Shampoo shot at Yuka again, but she
landed early and began striking at Yuka.
Though she had a large chest, she wasn't hampered by it's size or
weight. Shampoo grew more and more frustrated as Yuka cleanly dodged
every strike. Finally, she retreated to catch her breath. How Yuka
had managed to dodge every single attack, even the ones aimed at her
chest, was amazing. Most opponents who had an overgrowth (such as a
fat belly or a large breasts) were too slow or awkward in their dodging
to avoid EVERY strike. Usually, they slipped up and allowed their
overgrown body part to be struck. Yuka seemed to have trained around
that flaw.
"You not fight back?" Shampoo asked.
"Just seeing what you could do." Yuka said, before gathering
energy into her right hand, which was clenched tightly.
"What the-" Cerl began, sensing a large energy spike from Yuka.
"SHAMPOO!" Ranma cried.
Shampoo realized seconds too late of the power that Yuka was
gathering.
"SCREAM DEVIL BULLET!" Yuka cried.
A basketball-sized ki blast of red energy flew from Yuka's fist
and catapulted Shampoo out of both the ring and the tournament.
"Shampoo! Are you okay?" Ranma asked, racing over to his
friend's side.
"Oh... I think I overdid it..." Yuka apologized, hopping out of
the ring to help check on Shampoo.
Cerl hummed to herself. If Yuka could manifest that level of
attack already, then she would be a very dangerous opponent. She would
have to go all out with no restraints, should she face Yuka in the
ring.
=======================================================================
Amusing Ancedote: Back in the late 80s-early 90s, some friends
(who have since moved away) and I used to make lists about dream teams,
similar to the Olympic Dreamteam from the NBA. The dream teams we came
up with were usually based on things like music or games. I recently
rediscovered a lot of these dream teams that I only vaguely recalled
and, flipping through the list, I found many very VERY _VERY_ poorly
chosen names. But, I was only about eight to ten years old back then
and a lot of things hadn't come to our attention back then.
One dream team (remember, late 80s-early 90s) was if M.C. Hammer
and Vanilla Ice joined up, they could call themselves Hammerin' Ice.
I'll let that settle in your brains until you get the wrongness
of it.
Well, obviously, I busted up laughing at the names, and, with my
new circle of friends, set about creating a brand new list of sheer
wrongness.
Best Result: Outkast and Aerosmith make Aer Out O'Smith's Kast
and their hit single would be, "I'm Sorry, Miss Jackson, For What's In
The Elevator."
Eye Roller: Run D.M.C., M.C. Hammer and L.L. Cool J make
R.A.P.P.E.R.S. M.A.K.I.N.G. C.R.A.P. U.P.
Weakest Result: Christina Aguilera, Brittany Spears, Ginger Spice
and Madonna make 4 Blondes (antithesis to 4 Non-Blondes).
(1) Omake!:
"AIYAH! SCENE IS CHANGING ABRUPTLY!" Shampoo cried.
"OH NO, YOU DON'T, A-KUN!" Cologne shouted, before raising her
staff and taking on a narrative voice, "Meanwhile, across the city..."
(2) Formula spells are often researched by witches or warlocks who have
frequent use of a specific potion. The spell automatically conjures up
the ingredients necessary from the nearby area and creates the potion
just as the witch would. The spell, however, takes only two minutes to
finish the selected potion, provided it doesn't requite anything
outside of the ingredients. Due to the fact that some ingredients are
more rare than others (and thus, more likely to get the owner of said
ingredient angry at it's sudden disappearance), it's usually safest if
the caster collects all of the ingredients beforehand.
(3) Privacy spells must be cast carefully. If a full Privacy spell is
cast in the middle of the street, the effects are rather noticeable as
an opaque sphere appears around those within it's radius. If the same
privacy spell is cast in a closed room, anyone trying to peek in will
be irritated to find that SOMETHING is always blocking their view and
it will sound like the two within are whispering, regardless of what
hearing aides the peeper brought with them.
Obviously, the desired effects can be chosen prior to casting.
(4) Hanna Miller's (Anna Miller's in the real world) is a resturaunt
that serves American food. The japanese are fascinated with it, which
is why you saw Ranma-chan and Akane munching on burgers during the
first season. It's also from Variable Geo, which happens to be one of
my biggest obsessions.
"My sweet silky milky May!" - Kotoro Nanbara, Hand Maid May
Chapter 7, Complete.
Stay tuned!
Next chapter:
The next few rounds of the tournament unfold!
Cologne discovers the truth behind the tournament!
Evil Inc.'s first plot unraveled!
And Cerl versus Ranma!
(
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