Guyver Ryoga / Ryoga 1/2 : Worlds in Collision
A fanfic about three alternate Ranma 1/2 Universes
by Mark Latus
Part 4 : Let's Do The Time Warp Again!
Monday Evening - Outside the Tendo Dojo - Guyver Ryoga Timeline
Having sent his orders to his subordinates Ryogoid 207 headed for the
dojo grounds. Closer proximity would assist his sensors in analyzing the
residue from the dimensional shift. The house's other inhabitants were still
inside. Possibly they were unaware Nabiki and Ryoga had just vanished. For
the time being he had little else to do except run scans.
As he approached the gate he noticed someone emerge from a parked car
and head towards him. Whoever it was must have been watching the front gate.
207 shrugged, orders were to avoid trouble so he began angling away from the
gate.
The watcher kept advancing on 207 from behind. Things had been dull and
Grothis was looking for a little excitement. He slapped a hand onto the
norm's left shoulder, "Hey creep, talk to me." His chosen victim stopped and
rotated to face him. There was absolutely no fear in his eyes as he got a
good look at Grothis. That was a bit strange, at seven foot tall, 300 pounds
of muscle and a face covered in scars he was used to scaring people. Of
course compared to his Zoanoid form his human self looked warm and cuddly.
The creep spoke up, "Just passing by. I'm not looking for trouble."
"Tough luck, you found it." Weird, the creep's voice was steady. He'd
thought he was squeezing hard enough to hurt. He increased the pressure.
The creep sighed. It sounded weary, like royalty forced to deal with
inferiors. In a blur of motion his right hand pulled something from his
jacket. It was close in size and shape to an electric shaver. It emitted a
faint hum as it pointed as Grothis's face. Looking slightly puzzled the
creep put it away with the same blurring speed.
"What the fuck was that toy?"
The creep answered, "Neural Scrambler. It should have shut down your
autonomic nervous system. An apparently natural death. I guess Zoanoid
neural networks are too rewired to be affected. Live and learn."
Grothis didn't understand the explanation but he caught the key word.
This guy knew about Zoanoids! He squeezed hard enough to break bone. "Tell
me what you know about Zoanoids or I crush every bone in your body!" There
was absolutely no give in the creep's shoulder, what the hell was it made of?
The creep smiled and without a trace of pain said, "Ah well, there are other
ways to inhibit brain function." He punched the index finger of his right
hand through Grothis's forehead. The Zoanoid saw a flash of white then
keeled over dead.
207 caught the body as it fell. Data indicated Zoanoids dissolved slower
in human form so he'd better conceal the remains. No witnesses, still he'd
better be quick or he'd have more bodies to hide. Hmmm, the Zoanoid's car
should serve.
As he carried the body over 207 considered the intelligence level of
Zoanoids. "I pointed a device at him and told him it was a weapon designed
to kill him. He still didn't get the idea he'd better take me out immediately
before I tried something else. Not that there was a lot he could have done to
stop me. Still he could have tried."
207 studied the car and popped the trunk. Small car, small trunk, big
man. The guy wasn't going to fit. Not unless he was folded just right.
Resisting the urge to whistle a happy tune 207 got to work. The street was
filled with multiple popping, cracking and squelching noises.
Just as he was finishing and closing the trunk someone walked out the
main gate of the dojo. 207 slid silently behind the car as Soun Tendo
emerged. He was engaged with animated conversation with someone invisible to
all of 207's senses. As he listened he realized the elder Tendo was talking
to his late daughter Kasumi. Completely unaware of 207 and the outside world
in general he headed off down the street. He was happy, Kasumi had come home
and things were back to normal. Now he just had to find Genma and they could
resume their game.
Behind him 207 jammed the trunk lock. Hopefully by the time it was
opened his victim would have sublimed into gas. It occurred to him he had
unintentionally done the old man a favor. In his dementia he'd have been an
easy victim if Kronos's watcher was still alive. Just one of those things.
At which point 207 heard two trucks approaching rapidly from the north.
He quietly moved away from the dojo and into deeper shadows. It could just
be lost delivery trucks or it could be Kronos was making a housecall.
Meanwhile inside the dojo Akane had realized something was wrong. She'd
been staying away from the window thinking Ryoga and Nabiki might want some
privacy. Of course that was just a guess, frankly she wasn't sure what they
thought of each other. In any event she'd risked a look outside and seen
nothing. That was a problem, they should have been in plain sight. Unless of
course ... No it wasn't possible, they couldn't have vanished again. If they
had then Ranma, herself and Daddy were in big trouble.
Where was her father anyway?
One thing at a time. Yelling at Ranma to check the garden for the others
she commenced a frantic house search for her father. No trace. Ranma dashed
back inside, being already in his female form the drizzle hadn't worried him.
"Nobody out there. Unless they suddenly decided to take in a movie without
telling we've got a problem."
"You don't mean they vanished again, do you? We nearly died this
afternoon when that happened." Akane felt the weight of the world pressing
down on her. "Daddy's gone, Nabiki and Ryoga vanished and there's people ...
things out there that want to kill us. I don't know how much more of this I
can take."
Ranma squatted down beside her. Forgetting for the moment he was female
he took her hand. "Akane ... ", he began.
Before things could get too touching the Zoanoids arrived. They'd
transformed in the back of their trucks and leaped the wall on arrival.
Monsters of varying description smashed through the walls. From outside the
operational controllers watched via the cameras carried by the Zoanoids.
Their main purpose right now was reminding their troops who they were supposed
to take alive. "All right I want those two intact. Spread out and kill the
others. Grab her you fools, she's only human. Hurry up ... what do you mean
there's no one else in there? How can they be gone? Where the hell's Grothis
anyway?"
On the screen a furiously struggling Ranko Tendo was being gripped by
two Ramothis class Zoanoids. Akane Tendo was helpless in the grip of a
Varmore. Captain Charburn decided to head in to survey the situation. "Try
and find the bastard who's supposed to be watching this place." His comrade
nodded, he was happy to stay outside. Frankly he didn't trust the report that
the Guyver was currently a long way away. The slaughter this afternoon was a
reminder of what it was capable of.
Charburn entered the house, the Zoanoids not holding prisoners saluted.
One reported, "Sir, we can find no trace of Ranma Saotome or Soun and Nabiki
Tendo."
He nodded an acknowledgement and faced his captives. They looked defiant
rather than scared. Interesting, he liked spirited women. It was enjoyable
breaking that resistance. Sadly they were wanted intact. "Well ladies, care
to tell me where your relatives are?" Ranko responded with a series of
comments about his parentage. He smiled, "Well ladies this is sort of your
lucky night. The good news is we want you alive. The bad news is we're going
to destroy your personalities and brainwash you to obey us."
"Hah, it'll never work creep!" That Ranko certainly was loud mouthed.
"Tell that to Kasumi Tendo." Both paled at that reminder. In any event
it was time to move out. He surveyed the assembled Zoanoids and made a
choice. "Harbrel, Lithorne, you stay behind. Keep a motion detector. If
Hibiki returns get out fast and report in. Do not attempt to engage him."
They nodded. "If Ranma Saotome, Nabiki or Soun Tendo return kill them."
"NO, YOU CAN'T!" That shout came from Akane Tendo. She struggled
against the Zoanoid's grip but couldn't break free.
"Don't be silly, of course we can. And we will." Charburn smiled and
ordered his troopers out. They exited dragging their captives with them.
Behind them Harbel headed for the fridge, "Stakeouts are thirsty work.
So you've killed civilians before?"
"Just once, normally I get stuck with guard duty."
"Well I've done eight. It's like eating peanuts, you keep wanting more."
Outside Charburn was talking to Ravel. From inside his truck came the
muffled shouts of Ranko and Akane. It's hard to talk clearly with a paw
covering your mouth. "Where the hell's our observer?"
Ravel shrugged, "No sign of Grothis. He's either deserted or fucking
off. Either way he's in deep shit. I'm leaving Webber behind to take over."
"Fine." Webber saluted and slid behind the wheel of Grothis's car. As
he watched the trucks pulled away carrying the captives off to Tempus. The
lights in the house began clicking off as Harbel and Lithorne settled down to
wait in the darkness. Inside the trunk Grothis's body continued to decompose
rapidly. Webber settled back, no one in sight, everything was under control.
Webber was wrong, he was under observation himself. In the shadows Unit
207 watched him. That had certainly been exciting, whatever it was. Perhaps
541 and 673 would find some answers. Assuming that a Kronos installation was
the source of the dimensional shifting.
It was under a minute later that 207 detected an incoming shift in a
nearby sidestreet. There was a puff of displaced air, an energy flux then
the signature of Ryogoid 218. 207 signalled his comrade to join him quietly.
218 arrived with a speed and silence any ninja would have killed to achieve.
207 adjusted his vocal systems to frequencies under the range of human
hearing. It would have been more efficent to interface but human personality
traits made the androids chose to talk in non crisis situations. "You're
back already?"
218 shrugged. "I found them already, they're on Delta. I figured odds
were from Gamma they'd end up either Beta or Delta." From the androids point
of view their worldline was the Prime (or Alpha) Timeline. "Anyway I found
two identical sets of DNA patterns. Corresponding to Nabiki Tendo and the
Emperor's counterparts."
"Fine."
"Want me to go back and find out what they're doing?"
207 shook his head. "I don't care what they're doing. I just needed to
know where those two were sent. If they only bumped up one level that
indicates they don't have any fine control." He paused briefly. "Whoever
exactly 'they' are."
218 nodded. 207 decided to ask him something he'd been wondering.
"Say 218, do you have any idea why this operation was launched so quickly.
We got sent back a few hours after I made my report about the anomalies in
this timeline. Why the hurry? We could have spent days gathering a large
force instead of just dumping the five of us back here because we were the
only explorer units available. We've got time travel so why the rush?"
218's answer surprised him. "You've been in the field too much. You
should download some of the theories of the human scientists sometimes?"
"Humans? You mean the Emperor's listening to human thinkers?"
"Yeah, they get some weird ideas. And time travel's a very weird thing.
Anyway it's a variation of the idea of the observer influencing the observed.
Basically 'now' is fluid. When we change a world's history we see its
present change. Why? After all the new history is now the only reality that
timeline ever had. Nothing changes until we depart from our time and make
the change."
"How does that apply here?"
"Basically the possibility of our timeline being invaded by inter
dimensional invaders from this timeline didn't exist until you reported it.
After your report they had to hustle us back before reality changed on us.
Sometime tomorrow we'll do something to this World's history. If we do the
wrong thing we could undermine our own timeline's history."
"This is just a theory ... isn't it?"
"Yes, but with that kind of risk would you take the chance?"
Both fell silent and wondered if their timeline's history still existed/
would exist. There was nothing to do know but wait for 541 and 673 to track
the source of the shifting.
While circumstances and people vary wildly across the multiple timelines
that exist one thing is constant. That is time itself. To be more specific
when it is say 2:03 am EST June 21st 1995 on one world it is this time on
all the worlds that exist. So while all these events had proceeded on this
timeline the three people bumped into another universe had been experiencing
things themselves. In the timeline known to the Imperials as Delta ....
*****************************************************************************
Monday Evening - The Garden of the Tendo Dojo - Ryoga 1/2 Timeline
Nabiki had broken their embrace when she felt that weird disorientation
again. Ryoga, who was already feeling disorientated from the kiss, hadn't
noticed a thing. She glanced swiftly around the garden and felt ice crawling
down her spine. There were new planks nailed over a hole in the training
hall's wall. They hadn't been there a few minutes ago.
Ryoga was struggling to think of something to say. "Uhh Nabiki ... I ...
that is ... uhm ..."
Nabiki grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "Wake up, it just
happened again!" Whatever exactly "it" was.
Ryoga's mind started working again. Nabik was pointing at the wall?
Then he realized there shouldn't have been a hole there. He looked around the
garden, it was full of discrepencies. Things were moved, there were repairs
that shouldn't have been there, missing damage. To him it added up to one
thing. "Zoanoids!"
He headed for the door, taking care to keep the umbrella over his head.
Behind him Nabiki called, "Ryoga wait!" If her theory was right and they had
somehow slipped into the past he might be about to kill their past selves.
Inside the Dojo Ranma, Ryoga and the other martial artists heard someone
in the garden heading their way. Ranma hoped it wasn't the Kuno with the
weird armour. The door slid open and another Ryoga entered. Ryoga looked at
his furious counterpart and said, "I hope that's not the same guy as this
afternoon."
"Ryoga, wait!" That call came from behind the new Ryoga. Behind him
another Nabiki entered. Like the one they'd seen this afternoon this one was
missing an eye.
"No waiting! Get back." She did, rather hurridly as the newcomer
yelled "GUYVER!". Around him the doorway and floor was shredded as if by an
invisible sphere centered on the newcomer. Which was more or less what had
happened.
"We're in a lot of trouble here people.", Nabiki remarked. "Time to
pull one of your winning-despite-incredibly-bad-odds tricks, Ranma."
"Sooner him than me." Ryoga was trying to figure if he could pull the
"they went that way" trick again. Probably not. For lack of any other
options he snapped into a fighting stance alongside Ukyou and Ranma. Akane
was still swiveling her head back and forth between the Nabiki next to her and
the one behind the armoured Ryoga. The armoured Ryoga raised a hand to his
chestplate. Then stopped as the Nabiki behind him slid past and into his
firing line.
"Get out of the way, Nabiki. They'll kill you."
"Maybe. Except why haven't they transformed already? And how did they
get in here and rearrange everything? Why duplicate Ukyou and Genma when we
both know they're dead?"
"I don't know, but I do know the only good Zoanoid is a dead Zoanoid!"
"You're forgetting my timeslip theory."
"Only because it's crazy."
"And everything else in our lives makes sense?"
The armoured Ryoga paused. "Well ... no."
She nodded, "Exactly. Well, there's a simple way to test my theory."
She reached for a vase, fumbling slightly as her depth perception wasn't what
it used to be. She pulled out the flowers and picked up the vase. "If
they're cursed they aren't Zoanoids, right?"
"I guess so."
Nabiki studied the crowd ahead of her. They all looked puzzled having
not followed the last exchange at all. They also looked a little nervous
having witnessed what the Guyver was capable of doing. "Here goes nothing!"
She splashed the vase's contents over Ranma and Ryoga. The results weren't
quite what she had expected. While Ranma naturally turned female the other
Ryoga did not become P-chan. Instead he also turned female. Genma caught
part of the splash and became a panda. He shrugged and went back to his
boardgame. Neither he or Soun had reacted to the Guyver's appearance.
Instead they had just shrugged and carried on playing.
Neither of the newcomers knew what to make of this. Those had been the
instantaneous transformations of the Jusenkyo curse rather than the sinew
twisting change of Zoanoids. But that Ryoga had the wrong curse. Which meant
... what did it mean?
"Hey you're that girl from this afternoon!", Ryoga shouted at his
counterpart.
"Ahh, you could say that", Ryoga-chan answered. If she got very lucky
these guys would disappear any second. Unfortunately there was no sign of
that happening.
The one eyed Nabiki folded her arms across her chest. "I'd appreciate
an explanation and I'd advise you to hurry. My friend back here tends to
overreact to weird situations."
Everyone looked at Ryoga-chan. "Well it's a long story."
"Shorten it."
"This is a parallel universe with a slightly different history. Here
I don't have a suit like that and I fell in the same spring as Ranma."
The new Nabiki looked at him. "I see." A pause. "So what's the long
version?"
Meanwhile over at the Kuno mansion there were two Tatewaki Kunos. So far
neither was aware of the other. Guyver-Kuno was concluding his search of the
mansion. He had found no trace of Saotome and was concluding that Nabiki had
been wrong when she advised him to seek his enemy here. The last place to
check was the underground training hall. He wondered what kind of shape it
was in. When he'd initially activated the Guyver and regained his senses he
had tested its capabilities downstairs. In doing so he had largely destroyed
the hall. While he had ordered Sasuke to restore the place even he recognised
that it was close to impossible.
He headed downstairs, passing Sasuke on the stairs. "Sasuke, why are
you not working on the training hall?"
Sasuke studied his master with some surprise. "The training hall is in
excellent shape Master Kuno."
"We shall see, remember everything must be perfect for my two loves!"
Kuno headed down leaving a puzzled Sasuke behind. His two loves? What
had happened to number three? Which had he dropped, Akane Tendo, the pig-
tailed girl od the bandanna girl? For that matter why was he up and around?
Sasuke had thought Master Kuno was in his room recovering from his latest
attempt to seduce the bandanna girl (known as Yuriko to Kodachi Kuno, the
name under which Ryoga-chan had defeated her in gymnastic martial arts).
On entering the training hall Kuno had looked around in amazement. He
had underestimated Sasuke. The hall was restored to the state it had been
before he cut loose with the Guyver. Incredible. He remembered why he had
come and looked around. There was no trace of Saotome. He settled into a
lotus posture, it was time to meditate. Since Saotome was not here should he
seek him elsewhere and end the fiend's reign of terror. Or should he go to
the Tendo Dojo to date the pigtailed girl and Akane Tendo. This was a very
weighty problem and would require his full mental abilities.
While Kuno pondered Ryoga-chan was finishing her explanation to the pair
she now thought of as Nabiki 2 and Ryoga 2. Ryoga 2 was still wearing his
armour but from his posture seemed to have relaxed a bit. It occurred to
Ryoga-chan that she was getting very practiced at this story. Of course
prior to this her life hadn't depended on the explanation. Incentive is not
always a good thing.
Nabiki 2 had slumped against her armoured friend. She sighed, "So this
isn't our past meaning I don't get to change anything. Everything happens the
way I remember it." She looked pretty close to tears. The figure behind her
rested a hand on her shoulder.
Given the power of that armour Ryoga-chan would have considered that a
hostile gesture. Nabiki 2 seemed to find it comforting. The peace of this
moment was broken by Kasumi entering. "Oh my, no one told me we had
visitors."
Both Nabiki 2 and Ryoga 2 freaked! Nabiki 2 screamed and tried to slid
herself between the wall and Guyver Ryoga. He stepped forward extending his
arm blades as he raised a hand to his chestplate. Then stopped dead and
studied Kasumi. She was watching him with polite incomprehension. He
sheathed the sonic swords and lowered his hands. "Excuse me, I ... thought
you were someone else." The guilt rose up inside him again, knowing he'd had
no choice didn't make it any easier. Perhaps it was a subconscious desire for
punishment that made him step away from Nabiki and deactivate the Guyver. Or
perhaps he just wanted a chance to explain. The results were the same.
Kasumi was introducing herself as Ryoga 2 shouted "Guyver" and felt his
battlesuit fold itself away into its dimensional pocket. She looked
momentarily startled then regained her mental equilibrium. "My goodness Mr.
Guyver you have a striking resemblance to Ryoga. Are you related?"
"Not as such, no."
"Oh. And your friend is ... ?"
Nabiki 2 stepped forward, "My name's Nabiki. It's really (amazing?,
terrifying?) ... nice to meet you again."
Kasumi frowned slightly. "Yes we met this afternoon. You ... left
suddenly. Has anyone ever told you you bear a remarkable resemblance to my
sister Nabiki?" Kasumi's subconscious tended to edit the weirder events she
witnessed from her memory. This enabled her to remain an island of stability
in the midst of constant chaos.
"Yes, so I've been told."
"Well I must make you some tea. Just a moment."
Kasumi returned to the kitchen leaving the "guests" studying the room.
Both were half convinced everyone would suddenly say "Hah, fooled you!" and
transform into monsters. Paranoia had become a definite survival trait on
their world. In any event the room had gone silent. Akane's gaze was still
darting between the pairs, Ranma and Ukyou were remaining wary, while Ryoga
and Nabiki studied their counterparts wondering why they had reacted to
Kasumi.
Ukyou broke the silence. "So who's going to pay for the damage to my
restaurant?"
"Uh ... sorry about that, it just ... "
Nabiki 2 broke in, "Ryoga don't admit liabilty, that's the wrong way to
start negotiations."
Nabiki headed over to Ukyou. "For a small fee I'll be happy to serve as
your agent in these matters." She could outmaneuver everybody else but could
she outwit herself? The challenge was irresistable.
However before things could get bogged down in financial negotiations
Ryoga-chan decided to mention a few facts. "I hate to mention it but things
can't stay permanently in another universe. When these two snap home
everything that came with them vanishes with them. Including money."
Ryoga 2 was happy to change the topic, frankly he felt safer facing
Zoanoids than a furious Ukyou. "That's a good point, how long are we here
for. There's people back ... back home who need us." That thought brought
the reality of the situation home to him. "Shit, while we're stuck here
Akane and Ranma are on their own. If the Zoanoids attack ..."
Nabiki 2 paled. "We've got to get back immediately! How do we do that?"
"How should I know? I don't even know how you got here? Just because
I've been through this sort of crazyness doesn't mean I have any control over
it." Ryoga-chan took a deep breath and calmed down. In a more reasonable
tone she said, "As I understand it there are two ways to switch universes.
The first is you get some kind of energy charge, when the energy's used up
you snap back home. The second is there's a gizmo of some sort that holds
you in the wrong universe, when it's destroyed you also snap home." She
paused. "I'm guessing here but since you already appeared and disappeared
once today maybe the energy charge version is the answer. If so when it wears
off you go home again."
"You mean we're stuck here?"
"For the time being. So while you're here maybe you can answer a few
questions."
"Such as?"
Ryoga-chan studied her counterpart, "Well for starters, why did you try
to kill me, Nabiki and Ukyou this afternoon?"
In the confusion of the past few minutes everyone else had forgotten
that. Ryoga 2 found everyone (except Nabiki 2) glaring at him. "Sorry,
case of mistaken identity. I thought you were Zoanoids."
"Zoanoids?"
Nabiki decided to ask something that had been bugging her. "While we'd
all like to know what Zoanoids are there's something I want to know. Why
are you both scared of Kasumi?"
The two outsiders looked at each other. After a pause Ryoga 2 said, "In
our world Kasumi ... died a few months ago. So seeing her alive again was a
... a shock."
This news was stunning. Akane was the first to say, "Kasumi? That ...
that's awful. What happened?"
Ryoga 2 looked awful. He was trying to answer but couldn't put together
the right words. Nabiki 2 broke in, "It ... the Zoanoids are the ones
responsible. Since you don't know the word maybe you don't have them here.
If so you have no idea just how lucky you are."
She paused to gather her thoughts. At which point a distraction arrived.
A black rose suddenly embedded itself in the floor next to Ryoga-chan's foot.
It would have embedded itself in her foot if she hadn't caught a glimpse of
it coming and sidestepped. A somewhat damp Kodachi Kuno leapt in through the
window she'd pried open. "Yuriko Hibiki I have come to finish you and claim
my darling Ranma." Ryoga-chan groaned, entering that stupid contest after
Akane injured her ankle had not been the brightest thing he'd ever done.
Beating Kodachi had turned out to be an even worse move. Now she was
determined to avenge herself and claim Ranma (who she was convinced was being
pursued by Yuriko). "Where is my darling?"
Ranma was rather glad he was in female form. "He left, won't be back
all evening."
"Oh really, then why are you, the cheater and the scully maid all waiting
here."
Ukyou pulled a few spatulas from her bandolier. "Care to repeat that
you leotarded psychotic?"
Kodachi twirled her ribbon threateningly, "You need a lesson in manners."
"Take your best shot."
"Look this is ridiculous", Akane decided to try playing peacekeeper.
"Stay out of this you flatchested tomboy."
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?"
With the exception of the Nabikis every female in the room was glaring
at each other. Suddenly the room was full of barely leashed tension. The
slightest thing could trigger it.
The kitchen door opened and Kasumi emerged, "The tea's ready."
That was good enough. Suddenly the room exploded into a storm of clubs,
spatulas, ribbons, bandannas and furiously struggling girls. From the
sidelines Ryoga 2 and Nabiki 2 watched in amazement. The last fears they had
of this being a Zoanoids trap dissolved. Who else could generate such chaos.
Somewhat nostalgically Ryoga 2 remarked, "Reminds me of the way things used
to be."
Nabiki 2 nodded. "The good old days."
"I guess they aren't ready for it yet", Kasumi said and retreated into
the kitchen.
The fight moved towards the window. Akane, nursing a bruised knee, had
dropped out. Kodachi, realizing just how bad the odds were headed for the
window. Ukyou, who'd been hoping to accidentally injure Akane but missed the
chance, followed. Being tangled in Kodachi's ribbon Ranma-chan and Ryoga-chan
were dragged along for the ride. Both were accusing the other of their
predicament being his fault.
The two outsiders headed over to the window to watch. Ryoga had
forgotten it was raining until a gust of wind gave him a faceful of water.
Engrossed by the fight, a reminder of better days, Nabiki 2 didn't notice.
Akane was the first to see the results. "What's that?"
Nabiki emerged from behind the TV where she'd taken cover. "What's
what?"
"That", Akane said pointing at the small black piglet standing by the
second Nabiki at the window. She limped over and picked it up. "He's so
cute." The piglet made a series of frantic squeals, evidently it wasn't used
to strangers. "Easy, everything's all right. Poor baby." She cuddled it
to herself. The piglet quieted down, though to Nabiki it looked almost
embarrassed.
Nabiki 2 turned from the window, the excitement was over. Nice to see a
fight that wasn't the life or death struggle she was far to used too. She
took in the scene behind her and froze. Then yelled, "RYOGA, WHAT THE HELL
DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"
The piglet began a series of frantic squeals. Nabiki stamped over and
(with a little jealousy in her voice) asked Akane, "Mind putting Ryoga down
Akane? Why are you so crazy about a pig anyway?"
"Ryoga?", Akane looked down at the pig in confusion. For the first time
she noticed the bandanna it was wearing.
Nabiki looked over at the window, she noticed the pile of clothing below
it. "Oh right I remember Ryoga's story now. He was the only one with the
girl curse, all the other Ryogas he met had the pig curse."
"WHAT?" Akane's voice indicated growing anger. She looked down at the
pig in her arms. "YOU CREEP!"
Nabiki 2 quickly grabbed P-chan from her sort-of sister. "Before you get
too worked up I'd like to know if he acted petlike or you just grabbed him."
"Uhm ... well I suppose I ..." Feeling embarrassed Akane blushed and
went quiet. P-chan breathed a sigh of relief. Nabiki 2 looked down at him
"Don't think you're off the hook yet. I thought you were over your thing
with Akane. She's not even the right one." She ignored the piglet's frantic
squeals of denial.
"His 'thing with Akane'?", Akane repeated. "Things must be very
different in their world."
"Uh huh, right." Nabiki responded. To herself she thought, "She never
did catch on that "our" Ryoga had a crush on her. Well he's my Ryoga know so
Akane's stuck with Ranma."
At which point the boys in question (who were still temporarily girls)
reentered. They were still squabbling over whose fault it was they'd got
entangled.
"Where's Ukyou", Akane asked the mud drenched pair.
Ranma answered, "Chasing Kodachi. Guess she needs to blow off some steam
after that mess this afternoon."
Ryoga nodded. "Sounds right. I don't know about you but I need some
hot water and fresh clothes."
"Good thinking, time to get back to normal.'
Nabiki 2 handed P-chan to Ryoga. "In that case mind changing Ryoga back
at the same time. I'm sure he's got some explaining to do."
Ryoga-chan nodded absently. Ranma looked at the pig in confusion,
"Ryoga?"
"Different world, different curse. I distinctly remember telling you
the story, Ranma."
"Well yeah, but ... it's weird."
Ryoga nodded and the three headed up to the bathroom. Nabiki studied
her counterpart, "Say are you and Ryoga ... ?"
"Just friends!", Nabiki 2 exclaimed a little too quickly.
Nabiki shrugged, "OK, just wondering if you two were engaged like us."
Nabiki 2 stared at her, "Engaged! You're kidding?"
"Nope, I swear on my secret Swiss bank account."
"Wow, you are serious."
Akane decided to get things back on track, "About what you were saying
earlier? You know before everything went crazy."
"I don't want to talk about Kasumi, OK! I think the Zoanoid stuff can
wait until the others rejoin us." Her tone made it clear she wouldn't budge
from this position.
"All right." Nabiki considered asking her counterpart how she'd lost
her left eye but refrained. After all in her position, and if she'd been born
in that world it would be her in that position, she wouldn't want anyone
prying into her personal problems.
They sat quietly until the boys returned. Ryoga 2 made a somewhat
incoherent apology to Akane, incoherent since he got carried away and
apologized for several things that hadn't happened on this timeline. With
that out of the way the two outsiders began to explain what Zoanoids were.
Along with what had been happening on their timeline.
Ranma was glad Ukyou had left, she wouldn't have enjoyed hearing that
she had died on the other Earth. They didn't give too many details about how
but it became clear that a lot of their friends and acquaintances were gone.
It took quite a while to conclude their story. At the end of it Nabiki 2
was slumping. She hadn't had a full night's sleep in quite a while. Her
nightmares wouldn't let her relax. She yawned and mumbled, "'Scuse me, think
I'm gonna doze off."
"Ok, you can bunk in my room", Nabiki told her. "We're a little short
on space with Ryoga, Ranma and his dad all living here." She helped her
counterpart up the stairs. Behind them she heard the two Ryogas talking
softly. A short while later she was putting her half asleep counterpart to
bed. Barely aware of her, or perhaps thinking she was talking to herself
Nabiki 2 muttered constantly.
"Listen, I know Ryoga blames himself but he shouldn't. I know what I
said but it wasn't his fault at all. No one could have saved Kasumi. My
face, guess that was my fault but I had to try, she might have still been in
there. Bad things happen sometimes, we just got real unlucky. That's all,
not his fault, he did his best. What else can you do ..." She dozed off.
Feeling very cold Nabiki headed downstairs. The living room was quiet.
As she entered Ryoga pantomimed "quiet". Ryoga 2 was slumped over a cushion,
deeply asleep. He padded over to join her. Once they were in the hallway
he said quietly, "He just keeled over. Exhaustion finally catching up with
I guess."
She nodded. "So what did you think of their story."
"Well hopefully they're both crazy. Because if they aren't their world
has some real problems."
"The Guyver part is real, so's her injury."
"Yeah, yeah it is isn't it. Wish there was something we could do to
help."
"Like what?"
"I don't know. I just think we should do something. They're us, or the
us we could have been." He paused. "You know what I'm getting at?"
Nabiki looked very serious. "Yes. But I don't know what we can do."
They held each other realizing just how fortunate they were.
About 2 am Nabiki 2 awoke with a start, covered in sweat. The nightmare
had snapped her awake, now she stared around herself in confusion. She
remembered where she was and calmed down. Her hearrate dropped back to normal
and her eyes adapted to the darkened room. She was alone, the other Nabiki
had mentioned finding a space in Akane's room. She seemed to recall saying
something about her having to get used to having a roommate and seeing her
counterpart color. Could she and the other Ryoga ... ? No, not a chance.
Almost no chance anyway. In any event she didn't feel like going back to
sleep. She located her clothes and pulled them on. Then, moving slowly, she
opened the door and headed downstairs.
Her Ryoga was slumped in the living room. He was asleep but far from
peaceful. He twitched and groaned in the grip of his own nightmare. She
hesitated a moment then reached out to wake him.
Ryoga snapped awake and rolled frantically away from her. He began
shouting "Guyv ...." then stopped the activation as he realized who it was.
The air crackled with energy that slowly disappated.
Nabiki felt embarrassed, she'd forgotten that lately Ryoga tended to
wake fairly violently if disturbed. "Sorry."
He let a breath and relaxed. "That's ok, it was a rotten dream anyway."
He paused then asked, "Couldn't sleep?"
"No, usual reasons."
He nodded in agreement. "What I wouldn't give for one night's dreamless
sleep. You could make a fortune that way."
"Not from you, you're always broke."
He chuckled, "You've got me there. He glanced out the window. It
remained cloudy but the rain had stopped. "I could use some fresh air. Care
to join me."
"Sure. Nice to be able to step outside without worrying something's
waiting for you."
"Yeah." They stepped out into the garden. It was a quiet night, you
could almost imagine the two of them were the only ones around. Ryoga felt
peaceful for the first time in ages. At the back off his mind his conscience
reminded him about the people back home but he ignored it. Until they got
back there wasn't anything he could do. Perhaps he should just seize the
moment. He remembered what they'd been doing when they arrived. He turned
to her, "Nabiki ...", he began.
The sudden cloudburst took them both by surprise. Whatever Ryoga was
going to say suddenly came out as "Bweee" as his body changed. Nabiki cursed,
scooped up the pig and ran inside. She looked down at the piglet cradled in
her arms and smiled. "We have got to work on our timing."
This was truer than she realized because at that moment the world shifted
around them.
*****************************************************************************
2:30 am Tuesday Morning - Tendo Dojo - Guyver Ryoga Timeline
Harbrel was waiting for his watch to end when the motion detector
suddenly screamed to life. He kicked Lithorne awake hoping Hibiki wasn't
back. Configurations didn't match him, meaning whoever it was was fair game.
Whoever it was could be found by the patio door. He flicked on the light as
He heard Lithorne slid up behind him. Nabiki Tendo froze in shock at the
sight of two Zoanoids. "Shit, we're back", she muttered.
The only other thing being detected was some sort of pet. Which meant
no Guyver, which meant time for a little fun. Harbel smiled exposing a lot
of fangs. "Run, maybe you'll make it to the street." Behind him Lithorne
chuckled.
She recovered her poise and said, "Sorry, I've decided to give up on the
damsel in distress routine." She put the small piglet she was carrying down
and stepped behind it. "It's only fair to warn you guys that this is an
attack piglet."
Harbel looked at Lithorne, that was a new one. A fairly miserable bluff
but at least it was original. "Well I'm scared, are you scared?"
Lithorne giggled. It sounded strange coming from an eight foot tall
combination of squid and humanoid insect. "Absolutely, I'm terrified."
Harbel unsheathed his claws. "But I'm also kind of hungry. I think
pork chops will make a nice appetizer." He smiled at Nabiki, "Then I'll
move on to the main course."
He bore down on the piglet like an express train.
End of part 4
Next in part 5 : What the androids have been doing
Where Ranma and Akane are
Why Nabiki's pulling this stunt
Part 5 : Invincible Defender P-chan.
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