Ryoga : Crossover
by Mark Latus
A Ranma 1/2 fanfic in nine parts
The Quick Guide to Ryoga Hibikis
Ryoga 1 - The only Ryoga who belongs on this world. The guy you've seen in the
anime.
Ryoga 2 - Engaged to the Nabiki of his world. Has the same curse as Ranma. AKA
Ryoga 1/2, Ryoga-chan.
Ryoga 3 - Married the Shampoo of his world shortly after meeting her. Normally
lives in China. Trained by Cologne.
Ryoga 4 - Engaged to the Ukyou of his world.
Ryoga 5 - Forcibly engaged to Kodachi of his world. Slightly paranoid.
Ryoga 6 - Briefly married to "Ranko Tendo" of his world. Bitter & self
destructive.
Ryoga 7 - ?
Part 6 : The Magnificent 7?
9:57 pm local time. The basement of a vacant officeblock.
Perrier materialized feeling more nauseous than she'd ever been in her
life. It seemed human beings weren't designed for time travel. Still she
stayed conscious enough to yell, "Everyone clear, second group due in two
minutes."
Morph, Wilde, Dekker, Assengai, Traven, Inaba, Sharma and Moltov crawled
clear. Fighting sickness Inaba and Wilde began assembling the DNA trackers
from their equipment packs. Thirty seconds until arrival, Perrier got everyone
else to start assembling their weapons. Knowing full well that if a Hibiki
strikeforce appeared they were all dead.
A flare of light then Sadu and his team appeared. Despite the sickness
he screamed, "Heavy weapons on this spot! They'd breached the complex when we
jumped."
His team crawled clear as Traven and Assengai set up the plasma cannon.
They locked in on the insertion point and waited. A minute passed, another,
after five Sadu relaxed slightly.
"Lopez was going to use the thermals soon as we were gone. Guess he
did it. Melted the system so they couldn't trace us."
"So everyone's dead up the line. We're the only chance to stop Hibiki."
A shout from Wilde, "We've got a trace!"
"OK, Inaba, Sadu get us some vehicles quick. Everyone else prepare to
move out. This is the only shot we get to change history. They can't be
everywhere."
"At least I sure as hell hope not", she thought.
10:00 pm local time. The Tendo home.
Things were rather subdued at the Tendo house. Ukyou had departed shortly
after Ryoga 6's monologue. Besides the way Ryoga 4 kept looking at her made
her uncomfortable. Ryoga 6 was sitting in a corner drinking. Everyone hoped
he'd be a quiet drunk.
Just the Saotomes, the Tendos and the Hibikis left. No one was quite sure
what to say next so the room was silent. Which meant everyone heard the splash
from outside and the voice saying, "Blast, misjudged the landing zone."
Ryoga 2 sighed, "Not again, how many of us are out there?"
Akane went to open the door but it was opened from outside. The new Ryoga
ditched his wet shoes and took Akane's hand, "Sorry I'm so late dear, I got
lost on the way back from school. First time in months."
"Getting a little forward there pal!", Ranma said heading toward the
newcomer.
"Ranma? What are you doing back here? Did Ukyou kick you out?", the
puzzled newcomer asked as he released Akane's hand.
"I'm here to tell you to take your hand off my fiance", Ranma replied.
"Your fiance? You broke the engagement and picked Ukyou, remember? I'm
Akane's fiance now and if you think you can just walk back in and Akane will
forget the way you treated her ..." His voice trailed of as he caught sight
of the other occupants of the room. "Maybe I'm going crazy but it looks like
there's six of me already here."
Ryoga 3 looked at Ryoga 2, "Here we go again. At least we're well
rehearsed in our explanation."
Ryoga 2 nodded but he was thinking about those wet shoes. "He landed in
the pond and didn't change. Either he was never cursed or he's got a cure."
He wasn't alone, Ryoga 5 was thinking the same thing.
A little while later, after the explanation and the newcomer accepting
being called Ryoga 7, Ryoga 2 approached him.
"Listen you know about Jusenkyo?"
"The place Ranma, his father, Shampoo and everyone else got cursed? Sure,
glad I've never been there. What about it?"
"Nevermind". No cure, pity, it would have simplified life.
Ryoga 7 shrugged and went back to telling the Tendo's his version of
history. He was a good storyteller, bright, witty and interesting. Akane and
Kasumi were fascinated by him. Even Nabiki was listening closely.
"Maybe", Ryoga 2 thought, "That's why I've taken a dislike to him. Like
Ryoga 1 I resent meeting a version of myself who seems more competent. But
there's something about him that doesn't ... fit. I wish I knew why I felt
like this."
He took the camera from his pocket and looked around the room. Might as
well get a few shots of his multiple selves. He'd want some kind of proof this
happened when he got home. If he got home. He took a few shots getting as
many Ryogas as possible into each picture.
The other Ryogas had broken up into small groups. Ryogas 1 and 4 were
talking together. They seemed to feel they had the most in common with one
another. Ranma and Ryoga 3 were discussing fighting techniques. It seemed
their aborted battle had given them a mutual respect for each other's skills.
Ryoga 6 was still slumped alone in the same corner projecting his "everyone
else can go to hell" attitude. Ryoga 7 was still charming the Tendo sisters,
he'd also got Soun's and Genma's attention. As for Ryoga 5 ... he was also
observing Ryoga 7 closely, while scribbling something down in a notebook.
Ryoga 5 stopped writing and walked over to join him.
"Do you always carry a camera?"
"Nabiki's idea. She always carries one herself. Like she says, 'You
never know when you'll see a financially rewarding scene to save for
posterity'."
"You mean for blackmail?"
"If you want to be crude about it ... OK if you want to be honest about
it, yes."
While Ryoga 5 considered this answer Ryoga 2 asked him, "I've been meaning
to ask you something. If ninjas keep trying to kill you why do you dress like
one?"
"Initially it was necessity. The first time they attacked I wound up
heading through the bedroom window naked. One of them got ahead of the pack
and rushed me. I knocked him out, grabbed his clothes and dressed on the run.
Later the advantages of that type of outfit occurred to me."
"You mean camouflage at night?"
"That and ninjas hold their fire when they think you may be one of them.
They see someone in the distance dressed in black how do they know it's not
one of their own people. So I have fewer arrows to worry about dodging."
Ryoga 2 looked at him, "With all the trouble you get I can't believe
you're still engaged to Kodachi. The other's choices I can understand. I
mean Nabiki obviously, Akane of course, Ukyou why not, Shampoo I can understand
that ... " By unspoken agreement they skipped Ryoga 6. "...But Kodachi?"
"She's not all bad."
"Name one good thing about her."
Ryoga 5 always hated having to respond to that challenge. Probably
because it was so hard to answer. "Uhh ... she never hurts anyone accidentally,
it's always deliberate."
"Right."
"Look if you got to know her ..."
"I know her well enough thanks. She nearly killed me during the Rhythmic
Gymnastics Martial Arts Contest."
Ryoga 5 stared at him, "Nearly killed you?"
Ryoga 2 nodded, "Yeah. That was before I got involved with Nabiki. I
still had a crush on Akane. Anyway she was supposed to represent Furinkan in
the contest but hurt her ankle during training. I figured this was a great
chance to show her I was a great, dependable guy. So I turned female and
announced that I'd fill in for Akane."
"Clever."
"Actually no. I'd forgotten that Kodachi had said if she won the match
Ranma was her fiance. Which would have meant I had a chance with Akane.
Unfortunately in those days I tended to acting without thinking things
through."
"You could have lost the contest on purpose."
"But that would have meant letting Akane down. Anyway once the contest
started I had the choice of fighting for real or face severe injury."
"Who won?"
"I did. I sliced the cornerpost Kodachi was standing on with the ribbon.
She went out of the ring, which started moving to catch her. I panicked and
punched the canvas. The shockwave knocked the girls hauling it from
underneath off their feet. So Kodachi landed on the arena floor and the
contest was over. She's never forgiven my female self and is still looking for
revenge. Luckily like her brother she seems incapable of understanding the
girl she's looking for is me.
"Sounds like Kodachi, although she did figure out my curse eventually.
Like all the others I got the pig curse. Everyone but you, and him", Ryoga 5
said as he pointed at Ryoga 7.
Ryoga 5 continued, "Jusenkyo was a major turning point in all our lives.
Before the cursed springs I just wanted to beat Ranma up for skipping our
duel. After I got cursed I wanted to kill him. In fact .. I remember our
first real fight when I learned Ranma was cursed. He's standing there in his
girl form making this speech about how tough life is for him. The whole time
he's saying this I'm thinking, 'you think you've got problems? I turn into
an animal that gets cooked and eaten over most of the world.' Then I resumed
the fight. It must have been a bit different for you."
Ryoga 2 nodded, "It was."
"I'm curious, mind telling me about it?"
"Well as I recall it happened this way ..."
Ranma-chan watched as Ryoga broke down laughing. She was getting angry.
She'd told Ryoga to laugh at him (her) if he felt like it having seen the
curse. However she now realized she hadn't actually meant it.
Ryoga managed to choke off his laughter and wiped his eyes. "Oh this is
good, heh, heh, heh ... there is some justice in the world after all." Ryoga
started chuckling as Ranma tried to work this out.
At this point the crowd who'd been following the fight showed up and
surrounded Ranma, Ryoga and Akane.
"Where's Ranma?"
"Who's that girl?"
"Why's Ryoga just standing there, he's supposed to be off fighting Ranma?"
Comments buzzed around the crowd, Ranma felt panic building. Ryoga was
was about expose his secret before everyone.
Ryoga stopped laughing and told the spectators, "Ranma remembered a
dental appointment and had to leave. We agreed to postpone our fight until
later."
Various cries of outrage came from the crowd. They intensified when
Nabiki announced that since the fight had ended without an undisputed winner
all bets were forfeit to the house (her).
During this commotion Ryoga looked at Ranma-chan and smiled, "Miss,
please be sure to tell Ranma we'll conclude this fight later. That's a
promise." Ryoga sauntered off.
Akane whispered to Ranma, "Why didn't he either expose your secret or
finish the fight?"
Ranma shook her head, she had no idea.
Ryoga 5 broke into the narrative, "So the fight ended there? In my
world we kept going until I pulled the 'belt sword' trick. Ranma kicked it
out of my hand and gave Akane an involuntary haircut."
"So that's why Akane has short hair. And why Ranma and the other Ryogas
got nervous when I asked her about it."
Ryoga 5 nodded, "Right. So you did continue the fight later?"
Ryoga 2 continued, "It was a dark and stormy night when I arrived at the
Tendo Dojo ..."
Ryoga 5 broke in again, "You snuck in the house, tried to wake Ranma and
failed, then yelled at him until Ranma's father, in panda form, tossed you
both outside?"
"Right. Do you actually need me to tell the story?"
"Yes. I'll bet what followed was different."
"It must have been", Ryoga 2 said. "So here's what happened ..."
Ranma spluttered awake and sat up. He'd turned female, hardly surprising
considering he'd landed in the pond. The rain would have done the job anyway.
"Ryoga? What are you doing here?"
From underneath his umbrella Ryoga answered," I told you I'd be back to
finish our fight."
"I don't believe this", Ranma-chan replied as she climbed out of the pond.
"It's the middle of the night for crying out loud. Why are you so mad at me
anyway?"
"You'll find out before the end", Ryoga told her. "I promise you that."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"No more words, defend yourself!" Ryoga launched his assault, hampered by
needing his left arm to hold the umbrella overhead.
Ranma retaliated. Inside the house the noise of the fight woke Akane,
Nabiki and Kasumi. They began looking for prowlers.
The fight seemed a stalemate but Ryoga had a plan. He'd remembered how
Ranma had taken him off guard when he turned female. You don't expect your
opponent to switch sex in the middle of a fight. He had to time this just
right, this trick would only work once.
Now! Ryoga folded his umbrella and hurled it like a spear. Ranma-chan
dodged and it embedded itself in the garden wall. Ryoga charged Ranma
following it. Ranma prepared to block, but it wasn't Ryoga. It was some
girl he'd never seen before. Ranma hesitated briefly, that was long enough.
Ryoga-chan slammed into Ranma-chan, the strength of her punches dazed Ranma.
She drove two more piledriver punches into Ranma and saw her drop. Perfect,
now for the final blow!
The barbell bounced off the back of Ryoga-chan's head. She looked down
at Ranma in amazement. "How'd you do that?" Then her eyes rolled up and she
collapsed on top of Ranma. A bit shakily Ranma pushed her off and stood up.
A lightning bolt bolt illuminated the scene.
"Oh it's just Ranma and a friend", Kasumi said.
Ranma-chan looked down at the unconscious girl. She didn't know her but
those clothes ... could it be? She picked up her fallen foe and walked
inside. The Tendo sisters were waiting for her.
"So Akane", Nabiki said, "Why do you suppose your fiance was rolling
around in the mud with another girl? Particularly while he's in his girl
form."
Akane ignored this and asked, "Is she all right? I thought she was a
prowler."
Ranma-chan examined the injury. "She'll have a nasty lump but I think
she'll be fine. She probably needs some hot water though."
Kasumi looked a little surprised by this request but went to fetch the
water. Akane studied their unexpected guest and asked, "Who is she? She looks
sort of familiar."
Nabiki nodded, "Funny, I was just thinking the same thing." It was more
than the face Nabiki realized. She'd seen that outfit before, when she was
setting up bets on its wearer vs Ranma. She glanced at Ranma-chan. Could it
be ...?
Ranma-chan was wondering if asking for hot water had been a good idea.
Exposing Ryoga's secret before everyone could be considered a violation of
the warrior's code of honor. Kasumi re-entered carrying the kettle. It was
time for a decision.
The decision was taken out of Ranma's hands by Nabiki. She grabbed the
kettle and poured its contents on the girl.
"Uhh, hot!", Ryoga groaned as he revived. His eyes focused and he saw
Ranma. "Ranma prepare to aargh!!" Ryoga's forward lunge was interrupted as
pain seared through his skull.
"Better take it easy for a while", Ranma told him. "You took a heavy
blow. Guess your head's not as thick as I assumed."
Ryoga glared at her, "So now you know why I hate you."
"Why'd you fall in Jusenkyo anyway?"
"I didn't fall, I was pushed!"
"How?"
"When you ran out on our duel (Ranma groaned) I vowed to follow you to
the ends of the Earth. I heard you'd gone to China with your father so I
followed. After weeks of searching for you I arrived at Jusenkyo. I was on
a cliff overlooking the springs when this panda came charging at me. I managed
to avoid it but there was this red haired girl chasing it. She ran into me
and knocked me off the cliff. I plunged into one of the springs and when I
emerged ... well you saw the results. Not surprisingly I panicked. Luckily
I ran into a local guide. He gave me some hot water along with the news
that, while I was back to normal now, for the rest of my life I'd change sex if
I touched cold water. This is all your fault Ranma!"
"My fault? How is it my fault?"
Behind Ranma Akane, Nabiki and Kasumi looked at each other. Something
about the story had struck them.
Ranma continued, "It was a girl chasing a panda who actually knocked you
off that cliff, right?"
"Right, so?"
"So you shouldn't be mad at me, you should be mad at the panda and the
girl." Brief pause. "Panda and a girl?!"
With exceptionally bad timing Genma (still in panda form) slid open the
door and held up a sign. The sign read, "Quiet down, there are pandas trying
to sleep!" He turned and went back to bed.
Ryoga was thunderstruck. "Panda", he whispered. He looked at Ranma-chan.
"Girl ... now I get it! You got cursed so you decided to share the misery with
me. I'll kill you!"
"Wait a second ... whoa." Ranma dodged Ryoga's strike, his anger was
greater than the ache in his head. Ranma dashed outside followed by Ryoga.
Ryoga's threats changed in tone as his voice and body altered.
Akane decided to ignore the commotion outside. "I'm going back to bed.
Far as I'm concerned Ranma brought this on himself." She left. Nabiki
studied the scene outside.
"The pig tailed girl fighting another girl, both with soaking wet clothing
plastered to their bodies. I wonder what Kuno would pay for photos of this."
"I doubt you an get a clear picture with the rain, the darkness and the
lightning", Kasumi told her sister.
"I suppose so", Nabiki sighed. "Two guys who turn into girls, there have
to be lots of really great ways to make money off this. WHY CAN'T I THINK OF
ANYTHING?", she shouted in frustration.
"That's quite a story", Ryoga 5 commented. "How'd you hear the ending if
you were outside fighting Ranma?"
"Simple, Kasumi told me later", Ryoga 2 said. "Now I have a question for
you. You mentioned earlier that Kodachi forced you to become her fiance. Why
not break up with her? Especially if it's endangering your life on a regular
basis. Have you fallen in love with her?"
Ryoga 5 sighed, "I've never discussed this with anyone else, but I can
rationalize this as talking to myself. Frankly I'm not sure how I feel about
Kodachi. Maybe it's just the sex, maybe I feel I owe her since she's taught
me to start thinking. Admittedly most of the stuff I think tends to be
paranoid and/or unethical, a side effect of her influence, but still ... I
don't know."
"That's the positive side. On the negative side she does a lot of things
I'd rather she didn't, she's got a real dark side. As for her family, her
father's a nut and Tatewaki ... would you want him for a brother-in-law?"
Ryoga 2 smiled, "I'm engaged to Nabiki, remember? I'm facing getting
Ranma as a brother-in-law."
"A grim prospect. But at least he's not actively trying to kill you."
"True."
"Also I suspect if I broke up with Kodachi she'd be serving suckling pig
for dinner. Anyway leaving aside personal matters the main reason I wanted
to talk to you was I recognised a kindred spirit."
"A Ryoga who thinks?"
"Right", Ryoga 5 agreed. "And what I think is that number 7 over there
doesn't fit. I drew up this chart showing where we started varying from each
other. 'Ryoga prime' is the point at which we were all identical. Take a
look."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryoga Prime
|
\|/
Jusenkyo ---------------->Spring of Drowned Girl
| Ryoga 2
\|/
Spring of Drowned Pig
|
|
\|/
First meeting with ------>Kodachi obsessed with Ryoga
Kodachi Ryoga 5
|
\|/
Kodachi obsessed with
Ranma
|
|
\|/
Arrival of Shampoo ------>Shampoo falls for Ryoga
| Ryoga 3
\|/
Shampoo falls for
Ranma
|
|
\|/
Ranko Tendo incident ---->Amnesia
| Ryoga 6
|
|
|---------------------->Ranma declares Akane his only
| true fiance.
| Ryoga 4
|
|
\|/
Ryoga 1
Still obsessed with Akane but
hasn't said anything to her.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryoga 2 studied it. "Interesting but I already knew this. What's your
point?"
"The point is I can see how we branched off from one another. What I
don't see is where Ryoga 7 fits."
Ryoga 2 considered, "He must have differed from us before the Jusenkyo
incident. That was a major turning point ... no wait I see your point. We
didn't act like him before Jusenkyo, he must have branched off earlier. His
personality is quite different from the way we used to be."
Ryoga 5 nodded, "It's more than that, how does he even know Akane?
Before Jusenkyo when I was wandering around China my obsession with Ranma was
fading. I figure a few more weeks and I'd have decided I had better things
to do than hunt for a coward. Then I got cursed and my obsession was stronger
than ever. It was no longer enough to fight Ranma, I had to track him down
and kill him."
Ryoga 2 agreed, "Yes, my experience was similar. But Ryoga 7 comes
across as a charming, well balanced person. Not someone who'd go to another
country to fight over a relatively minor matter. But we only met Akane
because we came here hunting Ranma. If he never did that how'd he meet Akane?
Let alone get engaged to her?"
Ryoga 5 nodded again. "All the other Ryogas I can see how they developed
into the people they've become. How they branching points changed us. Him I
can't figure out. He must have changed radically from the rest of us years
ago. Which is strange because the rest of us varied inside a timeframe of
about a year."
Ryoga 2 considered, "That's right, it's almost as if ..." His voice
trailed off as a brainstorm struck.
"Almost as if?", Ryoga 5 prompted.
"Almost as if he's the Ryoga I wanted to be after meeting Akane. Clever,
witty, fascinating, everything I wasn't."
Ryoga 5 thought this through, "Yes, you're exactly right ... in fact
there's more than that. When he arrived Ryoga 7 'accidentally' landed in the
pond. Showing everyone who knew about our various curses that he didn't have
one."
Ryoga 2 frowned, "But if he was never cursed it should never have occurred
to him to demonstrate his normality."
"Unless he was once cursed and is now cured. In addition to which he's
playing the part of the way he wants people to think of him."
"Maybe, but again how'd he know to act that way. Unless he already knew
who and what he'd find when he got here."
"If he did already know we were here maybe he knows how we got here."
"I think we should ask our other self a few questions."
"I think you're right."
Ryoga 7 smiled inside. He'd heard the whole exchange while he charmed
the Tendo's. Those two were definitely the pick of the litter. For all the
good it would do them. He heard three vans pull up nearby and focused on the
faint voices outside.
"He's in there commander, but I'm getting multiple readings."
"How's that possible?"
"If he had a twin brother the scanner would show two signals. Six?
Could he have been one of sextuplets?"
"Maybe, he purged a lot of records about this era. Didn't want his image
tarnished by a less than glorious past. We know he rewrote a lot of records
about his personal history."
"So he wiped out his brothers to keep them from duplicating his
achievement?"
"Maybe. Anyway people, this means we can't target one man. We go over
the wall and shoot everything in the house. Anyone who can't deal with that
I understand. Just stay out of the way of the rest of us."
No one volunteered to step down. A voice said, ""Hell Perrier, if
nothing changes they all die in a few years anyway. We've come to far for
any of us to turn back. Like you said this is the last chance for freedom we
get."
"OK, take up positions around the grounds. We go over the wall on my
signal."
Ryoga 7 smiled, almost time.
Ryogas 2 and 5 strolled over. "We'd like a word with you", Ryoga 2 said.
Ryoga 5 nodded in agreement.
Ryoga 7 looked at them, "I'd be happy to answer your questions gentlemen,
but I'm afraid we're out of time."
Outside the commandos vaulted the wall, landed in the garden, then opened
fire on the house.
end of part 6
Next episode: The secret of Ryoga 7 and the plan behind the crossover are
revealed as things get serious. Terminally serious.
Part 7 : For Whom the Bell Tolls, or, A Farewell to Arms.
(
geocities.com/tokyo/temple) (
geocities.com/tokyo)