Ryoga : Crossover - A Ranma 1/2 fanfic in (hopefully) 8 parts
by Mark Latus
Part 2 : Two's Company, Three's a Crowd
Watching the two Ryogas square off Ranma decided that things could not
possibly get any weirder today. So there was a certain cosmic inevitability
in the main gate slamming open and a third Ryoga marching into the garden.
"Ok Ranma if you really want to fight I ... I uh ...", the newcomer's voice
trailed off as he caught sight of his duplicates.
At the sight of the third Ryoga the fighters froze and stared. They saw a
Ryoga dressed in what appeared to be a red silk training gi emblazoned with a
gold dragon design. He saw two look-a-likes, one wearing a high school
uniform, the other dressed in his old green & black outfit. He decided to
ignore them and concentrate on Ranma. Cologne had drummed into him the
importance of avoiding distraction in combat.
(The village training ground, several months earlier.
"Son-in-law you must avoid becoming distracted. In combat focus
upon your enemy. Shampoo go put some clothes on, it is indecent to
walk around naked!"
"What?"
WHAM!
"Try to pay attention to me son-in-law. Don't worry your skull
isn't fractured. It only feels like it's broken")
"Ok Ranma, I'm ready to fight anytime you are".
Ranma had decided this had to all be some terrible nightmare. Maybe
everyone was about to turn into a Ryoga. He'd deal with them one at a time.
"I'm not looking for a fight, but if that's what you want".
"If you don't then why am I here?"
"How should I know? With your sense of direction how do you get
anywhere?"
"I may have a bad sense of direction, but being in China one second and
Japan the next is a bit too extreme even for me."
"China?", Ranma tried to comprehend this, "What were you doing in China?"
"Living with my wife of course. Shampoo wanted to return to her home and
I had no desire to stay in Japan so obviously we live in her village in
China".
One of the other Ryogas looked astonished. A revelation had hit him.
Ranma stared at Ryoga, "You're nuts, Shampoo's not married to anyone".
"Wrong Ranma", it was the Ryoga wearing what he considered his standard
outfit.
His double came over, "You stopped Shampoo hurting Akane, knocked her cold
and she woke up obsessed with you, right?"
Ryoga was puzzled by the duplicate's intensity, "Yes, everyone knows
that's what happened".
"Not here it wasn't", the duplicate broke in, "this is why the monk showed
me your memories. He knew we'd be meeting. Look we need to talk".
Ryoga considered. Ranma didn't appear to be issuing a challenge and his
behaviour was ... wrong. It didn't fit with a man seeking vengeance. Also
Akane was watching him with confusion rather than hostility. That didn't fit
either".
"OK, let's talk".
"Hey", it was the school uniformed Ryoga, "we were going to have a fight
remember. Akkk!". He added the exclamation as Nabiki emptied a glass of water
on his head.
"Cool off, OK Ryoga?"
Ryoga-chan glared at her, "Somedays I really regret our engagement".
Ryoga stared, "He turned into a female me, us, uh ..."
"Yes, but I think I know who he is and who you are and where you're from.
Let's discuss it".
Ryoga-chan walked over, "OK fine I could use an explanation".
The three sat down and the "standard dress" Ryoga began, "A few weeks ago
I met this old monk ..."
The watcher studied his monitors with confusion as the Ryoga's talked.
This was unusual, not outside the bounds of probability, but certainly at the
low end of the scale. The most likely outcome was that all the Ryogas would
accuse each other of being imposters and fight. He considered monitoring the
conversation but dismissed it as irrelevant. It didn't matter if the Ryogas
fought as long as they stuck together. Conversation would serve as effectively
as crippling injuries.
After all, if the point of the operation was to have Ryogas cause property
damage he'd have brought through Guyver-Ryoga. Who, in addition to the
standard hair trigger temper, had an alien superweapon and a paranoid attitude
after getting sucked into a war against a worldwide conspiracy. Drop him here,
he'd think it was a Chronos plot and start blasting everything. That presented
amusing possibilities for exploration. For now he turned his attention back to
the Tendo house.
"... so he must have shown me your memories so I'd know who you were when
you somehow crossed over to this world".
Ryoga-chan looked at her listening counterpart, "He's saying this isn't
our world and that's why everythings different. The people we know are on
other worlds and that's why people have different memories. Do you believe
any of this?"
"Yes, I think so. My appearing here was undeniable strange. Also
no-one's acting the way they would if this was the Tendo household I know".
"How do you mean?"
"I'd rather not talk about that". He turned to the indigenous Ryoga, "You
shared my memories for the day Shampoo arrived here?"
A nod.
"Everything?"
Another nod.
"Including what happened at my campsite that night?"
The other Ryoga blushed a brilliant crimson and developed a gushing
nosebleed.
"Seems fairly definite".
"Well I don't believe it for a second". It was Ranma, "No way in any
world could Shampoo prefer you to me".
The Ryogas realized that everyone had been eavesdropping on them. Ryoga
controlled his temper and commented to Ryoga-chan, "Looks like Ranma doesn't
change much from world to world".
"Yeah, the one I know is just as arrogant".
Akane, carrying a kettle, joined the crowd standing around the Ryogas.
"Ryoga ...", she began.
"Yes Akane?", all three replied.
Akane's eyes glazed slightly.
Ryoga-chan thought of something, "Hang on a moment Akane". To her
counterparts she said, "Look since we're all Ryoga Hibiki we need some way for
people to tell us apart. I suggest numbers".
"Fine by me, I'm Ryoga 1".
"Why are you Ryoga 1?"
"Because I'm the only one of us that belongs in this world".
Ryoga-chan considered, "OK fine but I got here second so I'm Ryoga 2".
Shampoo's husband shrugged, "Which makes me Ryoga 3. Fine, now what?"
Ryoga-chan took the kettle from Akane and turned male, "Thanks Akane, this
sex changing stuff is a real pain".
Ryoga 3 laughed, "Heh, you think that's a pain, I'll tell you what a real
curse is ..". He broke off as he caught a frantic look from Ryoga 1.
Ryoga 2 looked at him, "Go on".
Ryoga 3 thought quickly, "Oh Cologne's told me plenty of stories about
Jusenkyo. If you come out human you're very, very lucky. At least you still
have hands".
To Ryoga 1 he whispered, "P-chan?", and saw his counterpart nod slightly.
"Excuse us", he told the listeners, "We need a private Ryoga to Ryoga
conference".
The three huddled together.
"What's a P-chan?", Ryoga 2 whispered.
"That's Akane's name for my, and also number 1's, cursed form", Ryoga 3
replied.
"Hold it, you got Ranma to swear you weren't cursed", 2 said to 1. "No
wait, he swore you didn't turn female not that you weren't cursed".
Ryoga 1 coughed nervously then said, "Remember the pig Akane was petting
when you arrived? Well that was ... me".
Ryoga 3 picked up the conversation, "No one here except Ranma knew of my
curse until the day Ranma blew my cover".
"That hasn't happened here yet".
Ryoga 3 nodded, "Obviously Akane doesn't know you're her pet. I remember
how she blew up when she found out. You still think you've got a chance with
her don't you?"
"Look maybe in your worlds things worked with Shampoo, or even Nabiki,
but here they didn't. My heart still belongs to Akane, even if she doesn't
know it. Just because you failed with her doesn't mean I will".
Ryoga 2 sighed, "In short we pretend I'm the only one of us with a curse.
What the hell I used to be just like you, pining after Akane all the time. If
that's really what you want I'll go along".
Ryoga 3 nodded, "As will I"
"Thank you".
The conference broke up and the Ryogas turned back to the waiting Tendo's
and Saotomes. Ryoga 2 addressed them, "Sorry personal business. Uh look until
we figure out how we got here and how to get back to our homeworlds do you mind
if we stay here?"
Kasumi answered, "Of course not, we'd be delighted to have you as our
guests."
Soun groaned, "Kasumi we already have two freeloading houseguests. The
last thing we need is another three".
"Now father we should be hospitable to people in distress. Two of them
literally have no place in this world to call home. Besides if Ryoga 2
marries Nabiki he'll be your son-in-law, or daughter-in-law depending on if
he's wet or dry".
Ryoga 2 had learned (from Nabiki 2) to seize any chance that presented
itself. "Thank you, we're delighted to accept your hospitality".
Ranma groaned. Three Ryogas living in the same house as him. How could
things get any worse?
end of part 2
Next episode: Shampoo and Mousse drop by, Ryoga 2 has a run in with Kuno and
Happosai and Ranma learns Ryoga 3 beat his counterpart to a
bloody pulp.
Part 3: I am he and he is me and they are we and we are all together, though I
think we're starting to strain the Tendo's hospitality.
(
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