++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"That's horrible" a girl stared with horrified eyes. "There are laws against that sort of treatment you know!"
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"If I was you I would have broken and killed them all by now!" The guy stared at the girl in front of him with pity in his eyes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"You don't get it do you sonny?" the old lady stared hard at him. "Honor is to protect happiness, when it gets to the point where you are constantly miserable because of it; it is time to leave the honor behind." She shook her head. "Even in my day, arranged marriages were dying."
'dying'
'Dying'
'DYING'
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Phoenix and the martial artist fought… the impossible occurred.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The boulder, weighing just over two ton, was moving quite fast, but that was expected, it was flying through the air at supersonic speeds after all. It wasn't the only boulder in the air at that time, but it was the only one in sight. It had a purpose, and it would fulfill it admirably. The boulder smashed into a mountain, scaring the occupants into action like a flock of birds catching a hunter stalking them.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Saffron leant on the balcony, staring out across the land, he had been reborn, and had been left with a gift from the boy who killed him… a simple rock charged with ki, so much ki that it forced his body to grow at an incredible rate, for a time. Saffron was in his teens now, and in a month he would be able to ascend again to his full form, until then he would wait, and ponder the note Saotome had left with the rock. 'I don't understand boy… and why are you so desperate to ask me of all people…"
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Nabiki, I don't want you taking pictures of me anymore." Ranma said clearly.
"Pardon Saotome?" Nabiki said with more than a hint of disbelief. 'the spineless one saying that, must have misheard it.'
"You heard me Nabiki I no longer will tolerate pictures being taken of me and them being sold to anyone. This house does not need the money." Ranma said with some irritation.
Nabiki paused and looked around, there was no one else in the lounge room and Kasumi was out shopping. "Now listen here Saotome, you cause huge amounts of damage to this house and I am only just managing to stay in the black, you will pose for the pictures and if you try to get out of it I will make your life a living hell!" the mercenary snarled out.
"Then I will have to take steps, Nabiki." Ranma said with a twitch of the eye.
"The hell you will. Just for this I'm increasing the amount you owe me by 4000 Yen." Nabiki growled out just before leaving the room.
"Nabiki," Ranma said softly, "just in the black does not mean having two million Yen in the bank."
Nabiki stopped immediately, "How did you know that!"
Ranma scowled, "When you went through my stuff last week, I returned the favor, you shouldn't keep things where just anyone can put their hand through some metal to get." 'stupid safe, hurt my fist like hell.'
Nabiki ran to her room. "there'll be a reckoning of this Saotome!"
Ranma snickered after she was out of earshot, then he whispered quietly to himself. "yes, yes there will be."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Lord Herb has been most distracted of late." Lime whispered to Mint. Mint nodded slightly, they were in the throne room and Herb was absently juggling a rock while rereading a scroll for what seemed to be the millionth time, the scroll was long, long enough for someone's life story and more, Herb suddenly grabbed the rock and stared at it for a moment, and sagged in his seat then Herb spoke for the first time in three days, "Lime, Mint, Find the fastest of the Musk and have them brought here, they will be taking a message to Saffron."
Lime and Mint both paled, "But Sir, shouldn't Saffron be too young at this point in time to be able to communicate?"
Herb looked a little irritated, "If this scroll is correct Saffron will be ascending within the month. Communication must be commenced."
Lime and Mint saluted "Yes Sir!" and both ran out of the room.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ranma sighed, after Saffron's death and up to the wedding everything seemed to be going well, Akane had taken it into her fool head that he had declared his love and had ceased hitting him, for all of a week… then everything returned, 'stupid wedding', Genma just had to do that, Ucha- no, Ukyou, had betrayed his trust, she was no more than one of the bunch now, no longer a friend. Ranma looked up at the sky, the view wasn't bad from the top of the dojo at night, and it was taller than the household roof and harder to get too as well.
"RAAANMAAAAAA! GET DOWN HERE AT ONCE!" Akane bellowed, 'no grace or subtlety at all' Ranma though with a frown as he jumped down. Akane immediately spotted him and casually hit him inside with aid of her mallet. "How dare you hide from ME!" she snarled out, "its dinner time." Ranma sighed, she was so close to losing him, did she notice? Or even care… she had to know, nobody could be that stupid… although, not noticing ryoga being her pet pig was pretty close. "Ranma my boy, it is high time that you stop fooling around and marry your fiancé." Genma blurted out at the dinner table.
Ranma smirked, "Which one pop? How about the one who has already given her dowry to you pop?" Genma spluttered for a moment before falling silent, he had been doing that fairly often since Nodoka had found out their curses. She seemed not to care, but still had not disposed of the seppuku agreement or stopped carrying the sword around; it was seriously getting on Ranma's nerves. Which brought up another train of thought, in the kitchen two days ago Ranma had been cooking and accidentally dropped a knife on his foot, it hadn't even broken the surface of the skin. Odd, Ranma had eventually figured out it was an instinctive reaction to send ki to that spot to strengthen the skin; he was waiting for Ryoga to turn up so that he could test it in a fight.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Greetings to thee Lord Herb." Saffron declared as Herb entered the pale white tent at Jusenkyo.
"Greetings to thee in return Lord Saffron, please call me Herb." Herb said evenly, he took the offered chair, almost a wooden throne in its size and complexity.
"And you may call me Saffron also." Saffron said calmly, his new body was a slightly uncomfortable but at least was fully under control, unlike his last attempt at Ascending.
"I presume you got some sort of message from Saotome, want to share what we got?" Saffron probed after a moment of silence between the two arrogant rulers.
"I received a scroll detailing the majority of his life and a martial arts technique, I also received a used rock, I did not believe the scroll." Herb declared coolly, 'It's getting a little cold...' "Saffron can you turn up the heat a little?"
Saffron smiled, "sure, I received a scroll with a technique on how to store power and incidentally memories in a stone, it also had Saotome's life story in it."
The two rulers fell silent for a while.
"So will you do it Herb?"
"I did not believe."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Ranma, when are you going to tell the other girls that you're going to marry Akane?" Kasumi asked in a sweet manner, Ranma looked at her hard, she ignored it, but Soun and Genma both heard and capitalized on the opportunity, "Yes boy! When are you going to do that!" "WAAGGHHH Ranma's going to cancel all the engagements and marry Akane; the schools will be joined at last!"
Ranma frowned, "I may do it when Akane grows up, so it's guaranteed never
to happen, well at least not in my lifetime." 'Now nabiki, you get to see why I have been so eager to anger Akane for the last week.' Everyone stared at him; Ranma smirked as Akane grew a battle aura and readied her mallet for use. Ranma smirk grew broader. "HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT ABOUT ME!" Akane swung and Ranma dodged easily, smirking more Ranma pushed Soun into the way of the next mallet ' if this doesn't stop her…' Soun was squashed into the floorboards, Akane stared and then glared at Ranma, and prepared to attack again as Kasumi and Nabiki stared with horror written on their faces. "Akane, I don't think Nabiki would survive being hit with that mallet, especially with you using it, if you swing again we can find out…" Ranma sneered.
Akane paled and let the mallet sink to the ground "y yo you wouldn't dare!"
Ranma sneered again, "why not? Has she not been the one who has single handedly done more to ruin my life than anyone else short of Genma? Has she not sold pictures of me in revealing clothes to the entire school? Has she not ruined any time I have had to myself? She's ruined my Christmas, my birthday, mothers day, and every other occasion that could have been enjoyable." Ranma paused and glared at Nabiki who had backed away and was sitting up against the wall trying to push herself through it. "Well, Nabiki? Got anything to say? Maybe an apology would be a good place to start, and then we can talk about your usage of my bodies in calendars and child pornography."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ranma yawned, it had been several days since the confrontation and his life had been much easier since, Nabiki scared out of her wits and not daring to do anything, Akane too scared to lose her temper, and best of all, both Soun and Genma were stepping very carefully around him. The message had spread around to the other fiancés and they had been on good behavior since then… well except for Kodachi, but since losing his fear of hurting girls at Kiima's hands, a simple boot had taken care of that, and given her a ride to her own alligator filled pond, what was truly scary though, was that she enjoyed that and came back begging for more. Ranma shuddered in disgust; trust the Kuno's to be so sick.
"How is your study going Ranma?" Hinako said from behind him, Ranma turned and smiled, she was in her adult form and more than easy on the eye. "Very well thank you." Hinako nodded and they continued walking along to school, Akane was still sleeping, Soun having turned down his offer to wake her while using him as a shield against her mallet and no one else game enough to.
"Ranma, what are you planning?" Ranma looked at Hinako with surprise on his face, "what makes you think I'm planning something?"
"Well, you engineered this situation and it can't last for long.. You must have a plan for when this breaks, or is it for before then?" Hinako was watching him very closely, but that was fine, it gave him an excuse to look at her too.
"I plan on leaving within the week, either with some help or without it; I will be leaving the country, one way or another." Hinako looked at him steadily, unspoken curiosity evident in her features. Ranma sighed, "I intend on faking my death, or being kidnapped and faking being mind washed."
Hinako's eyes widened, "Ranma?,,, "she stopped speaking for a moment, Ranma stopped walking and raised his eyebrows. "Can I come with you? I'll promise not to try and catch you if you want…"
Ranma looked a little surprised, "why do ya want to come with me?"
Hinako sighed, "Well, you're not going to try and hit on my adult form or muck around with my child form, and you don't treat me like a freak."
Ranma sighed this time, "How do you know that the people I'll be with won't do that?"
Hinako chuckled bitterly, "Everyone apart from you does that here anyway, and at least if I go with you, I am guaranteed of one person who'll be okay."
Ranma laughed at that, it was unfortunately true; suddenly he turned around and looked to the sky. "Speak of the devil! They're on their way." He smiled slightly.
Hinako stared for a moment, "They're on their way? How can you tell?"
Ranma smirked, "I can sense anyone's ki in a radius of a few hundred miles…"
Hinako just stared at Ranma for the rest of the walk. 'Just how far has he come in so short a time..'
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Ranma, what is the base algorithm for finding the hypotenuse of a right angle triangle?"
"A Squared times B squared equals C squared." The teacher looked at him in shock; Ranma continued staring out the window.
"So I gather you have been getting some study time in somewhere?" the teacher asked.
"Yes, Miss Hinako has been so kind as to tutor me on weekdays after school at her place." Akane suddenly grew a small battle aura, Ranma started to turn towards her and she quenched it immediately, the rest of the boys drooled, they could do some basic formulae… such as Hinako = babe + Ranma @ Hinakos house= HENTAI
The teacher's eyes bulged and he started to wander out of the room while babbling. "saotome… proper grammar…knew an equation… is studying…world ending…" a sudden explosion in the school grounds saw the teacher laughing madly in the corridor. "I KNEW IT!!! IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT!
Ranma stood up, "It has begun, the beginning of my end in this place and this time." The class stared in horrified fascination.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Ranma Saotome, You will be executed in seven days. You may come peacefully or we start killing." Saffron had a smile on, it looked a little forced but would do. 'Dammit, I want to know why you want this done Saotome! And how the hell did you get a boulder to fly all the way from Japan and land on MY mountain?!?'
Herb stood next to saffron with an odd look upon his face, 'I know you want out of here boy, I can see it in your eyes… but why do you want everyone thinking that you're dead…' "Lime, Mint, grab the first two people you can and hold them hostage." Lime and Mint dashed forward, one grabbing a guy and the other grabbing Hinako, who did not put up any resistance.
Ranma almost smirked, then he scowled, "You won't take me alive!" Saffron and Herb both started grinning, exceedingly large grins, Ranma grew a little worried, he had allowed himself to be fed some of Akane's cooking last night on the condition that she ate whatever he did not, needless to say she had been sick all night long… again, and was still a little weak from the food, which would be the excuse of why he 'lost' against Saffron and Herb. 'stupid tomboy should have known that her cooking was bad from the beginning of the week when I made her eat her own cooking and then didn't wake her up…heh, she probably got told about Ryoga being P-Chan and forgot about it before she saw him again.'
"Well, it seems we are going to have some fun then, Lime, kill that woman!" Herb pointed towards Hinako, Lime smiled and made a quick move to her throat, which seemed to explode in blood, the majority of the school screamed and backed even further away, Mint pulled his hostage away and near the other students effectively giving the trio privacy they needed. Saffron spoke in a low voice, "its blood of one of the musk who died the day before we left. Khu Lon will not be able to tell the difference."
Ranma nodded slightly and emitted a large red aura, "all I got to do is think of Akane to make this." He said just loud enough for them to hear.
"We Fight!" Saffron bellowed as he launched forward pushing two fireballs ahead of him. Herb seemingly vanished from the ground behind him.
"Shit, they're gonna have some fun first!" Ranma growled as he launched into the attack, a ki blast dissipated one of the fireballs, and his latest technique sent ki flaring down into his fist as it passed through the other fireball and onto Saffron's open hand behind it.
Ranma looked slightly worried until Saffron smiled and laughed loudly, "You think that hurt ME? I'm more powerful than last time we fought landling!"
Ranma's face let a small smile out, as he leapt forward…
Only to be knocked to the ground by Herb, "HA, better luck next time Saotome!" once on the ground Ranma allowed a few hits in and then flooded ki to his skin which affectively absorbed the damage… still he would end up with a lot of bruises and the cut on his face for special effects would still be there.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Akane looked on with a smile on her face Nabiki thought sourly that she was probably thinking about how that would teach him for daring to pull people in front of her righteous wrath or some such… and who cared if he died anyway.. A momentary twinge of conscience in Akane sent her a step forward, but it was ruthlessly suppressed and left for dust as she turned away and began to walk home, the other students parting for her in disgust as Nabiki felt her jaw drop at the callousness of her sister.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ryoga rounded a corner, in front of him he saw Ranma fighting against Herb and Saffron, he was winning It seemed until Herb flew down and hit him on the back, Ryoga cried out in fury before he knew it, 'Damn it, I'm the only person who can beat up Ranma!' Ryoga charged forward only to be intercepted by Lime, the tiger skin wearing man who grabbed Ryoga by the neck and held him off the ground, Ryoga stared at a blood covered Hinako who was lying on Limes shoulders like a fur… he started as she leaned forward and spoke cheerily, "Ranma and I are leaving, you want to come? Of course we will expect you not to tell Akane on your Honor…" Ryoga nodded dumbly, she looked like she should be dead, not cheerful. "Lime, Stop feeling up my but or I will kill you." Lime dropped Ryoga as he put both hands behind his back and whistled casually. "Oi, your meant to be holding onto Ryoga so he can't interfere silly." Lime nodded and reached down to Ryoga and tucked him under his arm. Hinako giggle slightly as she went back to playing dead for the crowd they were facing away from, Lime turned and faced the crowd and yelled out, "If any of you value your lives, you will run… NOW!" the crowd began to flee.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Nabiki ran, last time the Musk had been nothing like this, and now this! She looked up as she ran with the crowd and saw two phoenix people with high tech headsets on, they were watching the crowd run and moved to swoop towards her when she slowed, Nabiki picked up her pace as much as she could. 'I understand being pissed because he got beaten... but teaming up to do this!' Nabiki thought about Herb as she ran, she hadn't thought that the Musk Prince could have been capable of that... but then she didn't really know what any prince was capable of did she…Nabiki made a sudden decision to never marry a prince in her life.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ranma was lying on the ground, watching Hinako wiggle as she tried to convince lime to put her down, "Ranma." She had a very nice butt, especially when limes hands were not on it. "RANMA!" a voice bellowed in his ear; he jumped slightly and turned to face Kiima who was frowning at him. "I have been commanded to carry you; you have a choice, over the shoulder or in the arms like a baby."
Ranma smirked, that was no choice at all. "Arms please Kiima, your shoulder's too bony right now and I'm too sore."
Kiima rolled her eyes as she picked him up, "What happened to the macho man, he'd rather go over the shoulder or be dragged away."
Ranma snickered slightly, "You did, and I figured anyone as good a fighter as you and not being a man meant that being a manly martial artist means jack."
Kiima stopped walking behind Herb and Saffron for a second, she then looked down at him, "I don't know if I should be happy or insulted by that."
Lime walked passed still carrying the 'dead' teacher, she was currently trying to elbow him in the back of the head, "Keep your hands to yourself dammit!"
Ranma snickered, then looked up at Kiima, "umm where's Mint?"
Kiima looked around, "You two, go back and get Mint!" she pointed at a random pair of soldiers, the two, both phoenix people, flew back the way they had come. Kiima then called to Herb and Saffron, "Lord Saffron, Lord Herb, we left Mint behind…but I sent two arms men to go get him."
Herb groaned, "Good thing you did, he would have stayed there with that hostage for months."
Saffron, Kiima and Ranma all laughed, even if it was only a feeble cough for Ranma, Hinako managed a snicker before being groped again and demanding that someone else carry the 'dead' teacher.
They continued to the harbor, where Mint and the two soldiers caught up to them. The party boarded a ship and immediately set sail, Ranma was unceremoniously dumped on the deck, while Hinako was taken by Kiima down to find a shower for her to wash the blood off.
"Come on Ranma." Saffron said, "You are going downstairs, having a shower… you do stink and Kiima will back that up, and then you're going to tell me exactly why you did what you did."
Herb snorted, "He wanted out of there."
Saffron looked confused, "Why?"
"Let me guess," Herb paused in thought, "Akane Tendo… Ukyou Kuonji and Xian Pu for Fiancés? After meeting them during my last trip, I'd want to run too.
And then you have Mu Tsu and Ryoga and whoever else wants a piece of you, then you have the Kuno family, they're in a class of their own!"
Saffron was looking really confused then comprehension dawned, "You mean, You Killed Me… for someone you just ran away from?"
Ranma put his hand behind his head and laughed nervously, "Well….ididn'tmeanitithoughthatitwouldnotkillyousogoodbye!" and dived down the nearest open hatch.
Saffron stared.
Herb laughed.
Lime and Mint decided to go find Kiima and Hinako.
Ryoga got lost on board.
Everyone else just went to bed; after all… it was rather late.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
At the Tendo household…
Soun stared at Akane.
Nabiki glared at Akane.
Genma stared at Akane.
Nodoka glared at Akane.
Kasumi gave a disappointed look at Akane.
Akane was eating her dinner with a smile.
"Akane. How could you leave your fiancé to die?" Soun said in an all too calm voice
Akane looked up, classic innocence written all over her face. "What do you mean dad?"
Soun stared for a moment, "You left Ranma to be killed by Saffron and Herb."
"No I did not." Akane protested.
"So you didn't walk away when he was being beaten on by Saffron and Herb?" Nodoka ground out while fingering her Katana.
"Oh… that." Akane said sheepishly, "yeah, we need to go rescue him tomorrow."
Genma blinked, maybe all his hard work wasn't dead yet. "What do you mean by that Akane?"
"Well, Saffron did say he would be executed in a week, probably at some big festival at Phoenix mountain where they get their revenge for killing Saffron in the first place, stupid baka should have died back then." Declared Akane.
"So he should have let you die the too?" asked Nodoka in a chilly voice.
"Of course not. Hmm I wonder what that baka will say when he realizes he has been rescued by me…" mused Akane.
Nodoka stood up suddenly, "Genma, we are going to visit the other girls, Soun, you may come as well if you wish."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ranma was looking for breakfast; he finally traced the smells to the galley where he found Saffron and Herb sitting down talking. He grabbed some chow and sat down next to Herb, figuring that he had less reason to be annoyed with him at the moment, "hey guys"
"Hey Ranma."
"Hey Ranma."
"So Herb, how did you know about all the fiancé stuff anyway?" Ranma asked innocently.
Herb snickered. "There's a magazine called Nerima Martial Arts, it has a fair bit about Saotome Ranma and Saotome Ranko… it has the cursed form under a separate name to keep it believable for non nerimians… its from a Tendo Publishing I believe, its quite popular in Japan and has made it all the way to our little corner of China,"
Ranma stared, Saffron snickered, "I get it too… I get to keep up to date on everything, techniques of people you fight... all sorts of stuff."
Ranma growled, and stood up, "I'm going to go back and kill Nabiki, and I'll meet you on the way to China."
Ranma started to move away but was grabbed by Herb and pulled back down before he could go far. "Don't worry; there is a lawsuit against them now from my lawyers because they gave information about me, it won't shut them down completely, but it will put them in the red, they may be able to pull out with an issue about your death, but after that, it's good as gone."
Saffron and Herb sighed in unison and then Saffron spoke in a downcast voice. "Damn that sucks..."
Ranma glared at them both.
"RANMA! YOU ABANDONED AKANE! HOW COULD YOU!" Ryoga bellowed as he entered the room. "See, I'm a nice person now, I didn't even say 'Ranma, Prepare to die!' everyone present sweat dropped.
"You just said it then…" Ranma pointed out very helpfully.
Ryoga glared at him.
Ranma continued unheeded, "well, now I understand why you like being P-Chan so much, it's cool being carried around by a girl…mmm squishy." Ranma snickered slowly. Saffron looked past Ranma and put his hands up in a warding gesture, Herb took the hint and moved away from Ranma who was looking around curiously, "what's with you guys?................................................................................. She's standing right behind me isn't she?"
Ryoga nodded with a large grin present on his face, it suddenly fell when Kiima sat next to Ranma, no violence happening. "Hello Ranma, I'm glad you liked it so much… I'll take it as a compliment."
Ranma let out a sigh of relief. "Well, I can honestly say, you're well built, and soft in all the right places... Well the ones I got too at least."
Kiima's eye twitched, "Shut up Saotome, while you still can."
Ranma did, and ate his food.
"So, Ranma, what are you planning on doing now?" asked Saffron in between bites of the breakfast cereal.
"Well… I don't know… probably find some really tough opponents to spar with all the time, either of you up to the job?" Ranma asked Herb and Saffron.
Herb and Saffron both gained manic looks and spoke eerily in unison. "Hell Yes!"
Ranma, Kiima and Ryoga stared at the duo. Ryoga suddenly gained a look of comprehension, "Ranma, Are you saying I'm not good enough for you?" and then immediately looked his normal confused self when everyone burst out laughing, a moment later he too was blushing and stammering out denials. "DAMMIT YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT!" he finally bellowed out.
Ranma nodded, still in mirth. "Well, Ryoga, the I see it is that as soon as you get lost you home in on me somehow and then we're going to fight no matter what… so I kind of take you for granted… however… you need some speed training. And some more special.. non lethal.. techniques."
Ryoga glared for moment, and then smirked evilly. "Well… on one condition, if you teach me the amazon techniques you have to teach the unflawed ones."
Ranma blinked, and then blinked again... Then a third time for good luck. "What exactly, do you man by flawed?"
"Well, you told me how cologne could do the Hiryu shoten Ha without moving, so there must be a reason why you cannot…" Ryoga paused thoughtfully, "and then there's the Chestnut Fist, haven't you noticed that you have barely increased in speed since learning that? I think the only reason you're as fast as you are, is because you don't always use it, imagine if you did! You'd probably lose speed or something."
Ranma's eye twitched... multiple times. "Flawed Techniques" he growled out. "Herb, Saffron, would you guys like to help me destroy the Amazons?"
Saffron smiled, Herb frowned.
"It wouldn't be hard between two tribes and us three." Said Saffron.
Herb frown wavered a little as he spoke. "They have been useful in the past..."
"How so Herb? If it wasn't for them we wouldn't have fought at all." Ranma said slowly.
"Well…" started herb
"And how many of your people have been taken by that damned marriage law?" asked Ranma quickly.
Herb sighed, "Too many."
"Good, then we go in and kill them all as soon as we can." Said Saffron cheerfully.
Ryoga stared, "Ranma, you have got to be crazy! You're going to kill hundreds of people!"
Ranma shook his head, "they don't have to be killed, just scattered… we'll have to either destroy or take their library too."
"Yeah, I say I'll go defend the library and you guys destroy the village…" Saffron cheered out.
"ahh, Saffron, I don't know but your not really that good at doing anything but mass destruction…" said Ranma slowly. "Wouldn't you accidentally destroy it or something?"
Saffron scowled, "You interrupted my ascension, so I did not have full control over my power... I'll have you know that before you I had not blown the top off my mountain once during my many fights." He sniffed haughtily.
Ranma rolled his eyes in disbelief, Herb noticed and decided to speak, "It's true Ranma I could feel how odd his Ki was from the Citadel."
Ranma looked around, Kiima was nodding as well, Ryoga had wandered off like usual. "I suppose."
"Hey Ranma, want to trade in techniques?" asked Herb suddenly.
Ranma brightened; getting his hands on Herbs flight would be awesome. "Sure... But I can't teach you the Saotome Sealed Techniques... but anything else is fair game though." Saffron looked thoughtful for a moment but said nothing.
"Come on Ranma, we may as well do this on deck, you want to come too Saffron? I reckon there has to be way to figure out how to use fire like you do with our ki."
Saffron laughed, "But if I did that you'd find a way to counter it!"
Ranma snickered, "That's the point, you let your enemies counter your moves so you are driven to make new and better ones… the Hiryu Shoten Ha didn't work on you so I had to innovate, and when I fought Herb, I had to do the same thing. That's the point of fighting people at our own strength or better, to get better."
Saffron smiled suddenly, "there is one thing you could tell me, how the hell did you get that boulder to fly from Japan to My Mountain?"
Ranma smirked, "Now that's…. a secret." And ran from the room as fast as he could.
Herb sighed, "I think he has seen some Slayers Anime."
Saffron shuddered, "anything but that..."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Nodoka and Genma were walking alone down a street, Nodoka was twitching and stopped suddenly forcing Genma to stop and face her. "Genma, Akane has acted without honor, and according to my son has done so more than once… take the magical dogi for example."
Genma cringed and panicked, he might lose the marriage at this point. "But she has been honorable before."
"Name those times Genma, and then tell me what she did that was so honorable."
"Well," Genma started, "all those times she has been kidnapped, she did not sleep with any of them or anything like that." He smiled, feeling she could not rebuke that.
"She also did nothing to stop it either, Ranma caught her about to marry Kierin of the Seven lucky gods, she was in Toma's private room… need I say more?" Nodoka hissed, she was finding large faults where little lay now, but she wanted the engagement ended. "also she has beaten on my son far too often for my liking, I have seen some of the food she calls cooking and that she has forced my son to eat it and bashed him when he got sick from it."
Genma cringed a lot from that.
Nodoka smiled and began walking again, going in for the kill. "If my son were to marry her and live with us she would of course do the cooking."
Genma paled.
"We should break the engagement." Nodoka said calmly.
"But, its family honor!" Genma protested with a pose.
"It is dishonorable to treat a fiancé like she does." Nodoka sighed, "None of the fiancé's treats him correctly. I don't even think he knows how he should be treated," Nodoka paused, and then continued in an icy voice, "does he Genma?"
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Alright, so we're going for a rescue." Akane said with a feral smile. "Who can get us to China?"
Kuno raised his hand, "I have a new boat, it is considerably larger and faster than any you have used before." Kuno sighed, "You will probably ruin it like you do everything else though... so I have had it insured." 'I owe you for my behavior, but can I ever finish paying it back?'
"Good" said Ukyou cheerily.
Shampoo started bouncing, "Shampoo rescue too too happy husband!"
Ukyou did a double take, "What do you mean by too too happy? Shouldn't he be pissed that he's captured?"
Shampoo smiled, "no, I rescue and he then happy."
Ukyou and Akane simultaneously frowned.
"My boat will be ready soon." Declared Kuno, "I will see you there this evening at three Pm."
Everyone chorused out, "right." And the meeting ended, and they left to ready for the rescue attempt.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Authors note: It's the End of the world as we know, and I feel fine…. Six a
clock TV hour… and I forget the rest of the lyrics... but its "end of the
World" by R.E.M
"That's horrible" a girl stared with horrified eyes. "There are laws against that sort of treatment you know!"
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"If I was you I would have broken and killed them all by now!" The guy stared at the girl in front of him with pity in his eyes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"You don't get it do you sonny?" the old lady stared hard at him. "Honor is to protect happiness, when it gets to the point where you are constantly miserable because of it; it is time to leave the honor behind." She shook her head. "Even in my day, arranged marriages were dying."
'dying'
'Dying'
'DYING'
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Phoenix and the martial artist fought… the impossible occurred.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The boulder, weighing just over two ton, was moving quite fast, but that was expected, it was flying through the air at supersonic speeds after all. It wasn't the only boulder in the air at that time, but it was the only one in sight. It had a purpose, and it would fulfill it admirably. The boulder smashed into a mountain, scaring the occupants into action like a flock of birds catching a hunter stalking them.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Saffron leant on the balcony, staring out across the land, he had been reborn, and had been left with a gift from the boy who killed him… a simple rock charged with ki, so much ki that it forced his body to grow at an incredible rate, for a time. Saffron was in his teens now, and in a month he would be able to ascend again to his full form, until then he would wait, and ponder the note Saotome had left with the rock. 'I don't understand boy… and why are you so desperate to ask me of all people…"
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Nabiki, I don't want you taking pictures of me anymore." Ranma said clearly.
"Pardon Saotome?" Nabiki said with more than a hint of disbelief. 'the spineless one saying that, must have misheard it.'
"You heard me Nabiki I no longer will tolerate pictures being taken of me and them being sold to anyone. This house does not need the money." Ranma said with some irritation.
Nabiki paused and looked around, there was no one else in the lounge room and Kasumi was out shopping. "Now listen here Saotome, you cause huge amounts of damage to this house and I am only just managing to stay in the black, you will pose for the pictures and if you try to get out of it I will make your life a living hell!" the mercenary snarled out.
"Then I will have to take steps, Nabiki." Ranma said with a twitch of the eye.
"The hell you will. Just for this I'm increasing the amount you owe me by 4000 Yen." Nabiki growled out just before leaving the room.
"Nabiki," Ranma said softly, "just in the black does not mean having two million Yen in the bank."
Nabiki stopped immediately, "How did you know that!"
Ranma scowled, "When you went through my stuff last week, I returned the favor, you shouldn't keep things where just anyone can put their hand through some metal to get." 'stupid safe, hurt my fist like hell.'
Nabiki ran to her room. "there'll be a reckoning of this Saotome!"
Ranma snickered after she was out of earshot, then he whispered quietly to himself. "yes, yes there will be."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Lord Herb has been most distracted of late." Lime whispered to Mint. Mint nodded slightly, they were in the throne room and Herb was absently juggling a rock while rereading a scroll for what seemed to be the millionth time, the scroll was long, long enough for someone's life story and more, Herb suddenly grabbed the rock and stared at it for a moment, and sagged in his seat then Herb spoke for the first time in three days, "Lime, Mint, Find the fastest of the Musk and have them brought here, they will be taking a message to Saffron."
Lime and Mint both paled, "But Sir, shouldn't Saffron be too young at this point in time to be able to communicate?"
Herb looked a little irritated, "If this scroll is correct Saffron will be ascending within the month. Communication must be commenced."
Lime and Mint saluted "Yes Sir!" and both ran out of the room.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ranma sighed, after Saffron's death and up to the wedding everything seemed to be going well, Akane had taken it into her fool head that he had declared his love and had ceased hitting him, for all of a week… then everything returned, 'stupid wedding', Genma just had to do that, Ucha- no, Ukyou, had betrayed his trust, she was no more than one of the bunch now, no longer a friend. Ranma looked up at the sky, the view wasn't bad from the top of the dojo at night, and it was taller than the household roof and harder to get too as well.
"RAAANMAAAAAA! GET DOWN HERE AT ONCE!" Akane bellowed, 'no grace or subtlety at all' Ranma though with a frown as he jumped down. Akane immediately spotted him and casually hit him inside with aid of her mallet. "How dare you hide from ME!" she snarled out, "its dinner time." Ranma sighed, she was so close to losing him, did she notice? Or even care… she had to know, nobody could be that stupid… although, not noticing ryoga being her pet pig was pretty close. "Ranma my boy, it is high time that you stop fooling around and marry your fiancé." Genma blurted out at the dinner table.
Ranma smirked, "Which one pop? How about the one who has already given her dowry to you pop?" Genma spluttered for a moment before falling silent, he had been doing that fairly often since Nodoka had found out their curses. She seemed not to care, but still had not disposed of the seppuku agreement or stopped carrying the sword around; it was seriously getting on Ranma's nerves. Which brought up another train of thought, in the kitchen two days ago Ranma had been cooking and accidentally dropped a knife on his foot, it hadn't even broken the surface of the skin. Odd, Ranma had eventually figured out it was an instinctive reaction to send ki to that spot to strengthen the skin; he was waiting for Ryoga to turn up so that he could test it in a fight.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Greetings to thee Lord Herb." Saffron declared as Herb entered the pale white tent at Jusenkyo.
"Greetings to thee in return Lord Saffron, please call me Herb." Herb said evenly, he took the offered chair, almost a wooden throne in its size and complexity.
"And you may call me Saffron also." Saffron said calmly, his new body was a slightly uncomfortable but at least was fully under control, unlike his last attempt at Ascending.
"I presume you got some sort of message from Saotome, want to share what we got?" Saffron probed after a moment of silence between the two arrogant rulers.
"I received a scroll detailing the majority of his life and a martial arts technique, I also received a used rock, I did not believe the scroll." Herb declared coolly, 'It's getting a little cold...' "Saffron can you turn up the heat a little?"
Saffron smiled, "sure, I received a scroll with a technique on how to store power and incidentally memories in a stone, it also had Saotome's life story in it."
The two rulers fell silent for a while.
"So will you do it Herb?"
"I did not believe."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Ranma, when are you going to tell the other girls that you're going to marry Akane?" Kasumi asked in a sweet manner, Ranma looked at her hard, she ignored it, but Soun and Genma both heard and capitalized on the opportunity, "Yes boy! When are you going to do that!" "WAAGGHHH Ranma's going to cancel all the engagements and marry Akane; the schools will be joined at last!"
Ranma frowned, "I may do it when Akane grows up, so it's guaranteed never
to happen, well at least not in my lifetime." 'Now nabiki, you get to see why I have been so eager to anger Akane for the last week.' Everyone stared at him; Ranma smirked as Akane grew a battle aura and readied her mallet for use. Ranma smirk grew broader. "HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT ABOUT ME!" Akane swung and Ranma dodged easily, smirking more Ranma pushed Soun into the way of the next mallet ' if this doesn't stop her…' Soun was squashed into the floorboards, Akane stared and then glared at Ranma, and prepared to attack again as Kasumi and Nabiki stared with horror written on their faces. "Akane, I don't think Nabiki would survive being hit with that mallet, especially with you using it, if you swing again we can find out…" Ranma sneered.
Akane paled and let the mallet sink to the ground "y yo you wouldn't dare!"
Ranma sneered again, "why not? Has she not been the one who has single handedly done more to ruin my life than anyone else short of Genma? Has she not sold pictures of me in revealing clothes to the entire school? Has she not ruined any time I have had to myself? She's ruined my Christmas, my birthday, mothers day, and every other occasion that could have been enjoyable." Ranma paused and glared at Nabiki who had backed away and was sitting up against the wall trying to push herself through it. "Well, Nabiki? Got anything to say? Maybe an apology would be a good place to start, and then we can talk about your usage of my bodies in calendars and child pornography."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ranma yawned, it had been several days since the confrontation and his life had been much easier since, Nabiki scared out of her wits and not daring to do anything, Akane too scared to lose her temper, and best of all, both Soun and Genma were stepping very carefully around him. The message had spread around to the other fiancés and they had been on good behavior since then… well except for Kodachi, but since losing his fear of hurting girls at Kiima's hands, a simple boot had taken care of that, and given her a ride to her own alligator filled pond, what was truly scary though, was that she enjoyed that and came back begging for more. Ranma shuddered in disgust; trust the Kuno's to be so sick.
"How is your study going Ranma?" Hinako said from behind him, Ranma turned and smiled, she was in her adult form and more than easy on the eye. "Very well thank you." Hinako nodded and they continued walking along to school, Akane was still sleeping, Soun having turned down his offer to wake her while using him as a shield against her mallet and no one else game enough to.
"Ranma, what are you planning?" Ranma looked at Hinako with surprise on his face, "what makes you think I'm planning something?"
"Well, you engineered this situation and it can't last for long.. You must have a plan for when this breaks, or is it for before then?" Hinako was watching him very closely, but that was fine, it gave him an excuse to look at her too.
"I plan on leaving within the week, either with some help or without it; I will be leaving the country, one way or another." Hinako looked at him steadily, unspoken curiosity evident in her features. Ranma sighed, "I intend on faking my death, or being kidnapped and faking being mind washed."
Hinako's eyes widened, "Ranma?,,, "she stopped speaking for a moment, Ranma stopped walking and raised his eyebrows. "Can I come with you? I'll promise not to try and catch you if you want…"
Ranma looked a little surprised, "why do ya want to come with me?"
Hinako sighed, "Well, you're not going to try and hit on my adult form or muck around with my child form, and you don't treat me like a freak."
Ranma sighed this time, "How do you know that the people I'll be with won't do that?"
Hinako chuckled bitterly, "Everyone apart from you does that here anyway, and at least if I go with you, I am guaranteed of one person who'll be okay."
Ranma laughed at that, it was unfortunately true; suddenly he turned around and looked to the sky. "Speak of the devil! They're on their way." He smiled slightly.
Hinako stared for a moment, "They're on their way? How can you tell?"
Ranma smirked, "I can sense anyone's ki in a radius of a few hundred miles…"
Hinako just stared at Ranma for the rest of the walk. 'Just how far has he come in so short a time..'
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Ranma, what is the base algorithm for finding the hypotenuse of a right angle triangle?"
"A Squared times B squared equals C squared." The teacher looked at him in shock; Ranma continued staring out the window.
"So I gather you have been getting some study time in somewhere?" the teacher asked.
"Yes, Miss Hinako has been so kind as to tutor me on weekdays after school at her place." Akane suddenly grew a small battle aura, Ranma started to turn towards her and she quenched it immediately, the rest of the boys drooled, they could do some basic formulae… such as Hinako = babe + Ranma @ Hinakos house= HENTAI
The teacher's eyes bulged and he started to wander out of the room while babbling. "saotome… proper grammar…knew an equation… is studying…world ending…" a sudden explosion in the school grounds saw the teacher laughing madly in the corridor. "I KNEW IT!!! IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT!
Ranma stood up, "It has begun, the beginning of my end in this place and this time." The class stared in horrified fascination.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Ranma Saotome, You will be executed in seven days. You may come peacefully or we start killing." Saffron had a smile on, it looked a little forced but would do. 'Dammit, I want to know why you want this done Saotome! And how the hell did you get a boulder to fly all the way from Japan and land on MY mountain?!?'
Herb stood next to saffron with an odd look upon his face, 'I know you want out of here boy, I can see it in your eyes… but why do you want everyone thinking that you're dead…' "Lime, Mint, grab the first two people you can and hold them hostage." Lime and Mint dashed forward, one grabbing a guy and the other grabbing Hinako, who did not put up any resistance.
Ranma almost smirked, then he scowled, "You won't take me alive!" Saffron and Herb both started grinning, exceedingly large grins, Ranma grew a little worried, he had allowed himself to be fed some of Akane's cooking last night on the condition that she ate whatever he did not, needless to say she had been sick all night long… again, and was still a little weak from the food, which would be the excuse of why he 'lost' against Saffron and Herb. 'stupid tomboy should have known that her cooking was bad from the beginning of the week when I made her eat her own cooking and then didn't wake her up…heh, she probably got told about Ryoga being P-Chan and forgot about it before she saw him again.'
"Well, it seems we are going to have some fun then, Lime, kill that woman!" Herb pointed towards Hinako, Lime smiled and made a quick move to her throat, which seemed to explode in blood, the majority of the school screamed and backed even further away, Mint pulled his hostage away and near the other students effectively giving the trio privacy they needed. Saffron spoke in a low voice, "its blood of one of the musk who died the day before we left. Khu Lon will not be able to tell the difference."
Ranma nodded slightly and emitted a large red aura, "all I got to do is think of Akane to make this." He said just loud enough for them to hear.
"We Fight!" Saffron bellowed as he launched forward pushing two fireballs ahead of him. Herb seemingly vanished from the ground behind him.
"Shit, they're gonna have some fun first!" Ranma growled as he launched into the attack, a ki blast dissipated one of the fireballs, and his latest technique sent ki flaring down into his fist as it passed through the other fireball and onto Saffron's open hand behind it.
Ranma looked slightly worried until Saffron smiled and laughed loudly, "You think that hurt ME? I'm more powerful than last time we fought landling!"
Ranma's face let a small smile out, as he leapt forward…
Only to be knocked to the ground by Herb, "HA, better luck next time Saotome!" once on the ground Ranma allowed a few hits in and then flooded ki to his skin which affectively absorbed the damage… still he would end up with a lot of bruises and the cut on his face for special effects would still be there.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Akane looked on with a smile on her face Nabiki thought sourly that she was probably thinking about how that would teach him for daring to pull people in front of her righteous wrath or some such… and who cared if he died anyway.. A momentary twinge of conscience in Akane sent her a step forward, but it was ruthlessly suppressed and left for dust as she turned away and began to walk home, the other students parting for her in disgust as Nabiki felt her jaw drop at the callousness of her sister.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ryoga rounded a corner, in front of him he saw Ranma fighting against Herb and Saffron, he was winning It seemed until Herb flew down and hit him on the back, Ryoga cried out in fury before he knew it, 'Damn it, I'm the only person who can beat up Ranma!' Ryoga charged forward only to be intercepted by Lime, the tiger skin wearing man who grabbed Ryoga by the neck and held him off the ground, Ryoga stared at a blood covered Hinako who was lying on Limes shoulders like a fur… he started as she leaned forward and spoke cheerily, "Ranma and I are leaving, you want to come? Of course we will expect you not to tell Akane on your Honor…" Ryoga nodded dumbly, she looked like she should be dead, not cheerful. "Lime, Stop feeling up my but or I will kill you." Lime dropped Ryoga as he put both hands behind his back and whistled casually. "Oi, your meant to be holding onto Ryoga so he can't interfere silly." Lime nodded and reached down to Ryoga and tucked him under his arm. Hinako giggle slightly as she went back to playing dead for the crowd they were facing away from, Lime turned and faced the crowd and yelled out, "If any of you value your lives, you will run… NOW!" the crowd began to flee.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Nabiki ran, last time the Musk had been nothing like this, and now this! She looked up as she ran with the crowd and saw two phoenix people with high tech headsets on, they were watching the crowd run and moved to swoop towards her when she slowed, Nabiki picked up her pace as much as she could. 'I understand being pissed because he got beaten... but teaming up to do this!' Nabiki thought about Herb as she ran, she hadn't thought that the Musk Prince could have been capable of that... but then she didn't really know what any prince was capable of did she…Nabiki made a sudden decision to never marry a prince in her life.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ranma was lying on the ground, watching Hinako wiggle as she tried to convince lime to put her down, "Ranma." She had a very nice butt, especially when limes hands were not on it. "RANMA!" a voice bellowed in his ear; he jumped slightly and turned to face Kiima who was frowning at him. "I have been commanded to carry you; you have a choice, over the shoulder or in the arms like a baby."
Ranma smirked, that was no choice at all. "Arms please Kiima, your shoulder's too bony right now and I'm too sore."
Kiima rolled her eyes as she picked him up, "What happened to the macho man, he'd rather go over the shoulder or be dragged away."
Ranma snickered slightly, "You did, and I figured anyone as good a fighter as you and not being a man meant that being a manly martial artist means jack."
Kiima stopped walking behind Herb and Saffron for a second, she then looked down at him, "I don't know if I should be happy or insulted by that."
Lime walked passed still carrying the 'dead' teacher, she was currently trying to elbow him in the back of the head, "Keep your hands to yourself dammit!"
Ranma snickered, then looked up at Kiima, "umm where's Mint?"
Kiima looked around, "You two, go back and get Mint!" she pointed at a random pair of soldiers, the two, both phoenix people, flew back the way they had come. Kiima then called to Herb and Saffron, "Lord Saffron, Lord Herb, we left Mint behind…but I sent two arms men to go get him."
Herb groaned, "Good thing you did, he would have stayed there with that hostage for months."
Saffron, Kiima and Ranma all laughed, even if it was only a feeble cough for Ranma, Hinako managed a snicker before being groped again and demanding that someone else carry the 'dead' teacher.
They continued to the harbor, where Mint and the two soldiers caught up to them. The party boarded a ship and immediately set sail, Ranma was unceremoniously dumped on the deck, while Hinako was taken by Kiima down to find a shower for her to wash the blood off.
"Come on Ranma." Saffron said, "You are going downstairs, having a shower… you do stink and Kiima will back that up, and then you're going to tell me exactly why you did what you did."
Herb snorted, "He wanted out of there."
Saffron looked confused, "Why?"
"Let me guess," Herb paused in thought, "Akane Tendo… Ukyou Kuonji and Xian Pu for Fiancés? After meeting them during my last trip, I'd want to run too.
And then you have Mu Tsu and Ryoga and whoever else wants a piece of you, then you have the Kuno family, they're in a class of their own!"
Saffron was looking really confused then comprehension dawned, "You mean, You Killed Me… for someone you just ran away from?"
Ranma put his hand behind his head and laughed nervously, "Well….ididn'tmeanitithoughthatitwouldnotkillyousogoodbye!" and dived down the nearest open hatch.
Saffron stared.
Herb laughed.
Lime and Mint decided to go find Kiima and Hinako.
Ryoga got lost on board.
Everyone else just went to bed; after all… it was rather late.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
At the Tendo household…
Soun stared at Akane.
Nabiki glared at Akane.
Genma stared at Akane.
Nodoka glared at Akane.
Kasumi gave a disappointed look at Akane.
Akane was eating her dinner with a smile.
"Akane. How could you leave your fiancé to die?" Soun said in an all too calm voice
Akane looked up, classic innocence written all over her face. "What do you mean dad?"
Soun stared for a moment, "You left Ranma to be killed by Saffron and Herb."
"No I did not." Akane protested.
"So you didn't walk away when he was being beaten on by Saffron and Herb?" Nodoka ground out while fingering her Katana.
"Oh… that." Akane said sheepishly, "yeah, we need to go rescue him tomorrow."
Genma blinked, maybe all his hard work wasn't dead yet. "What do you mean by that Akane?"
"Well, Saffron did say he would be executed in a week, probably at some big festival at Phoenix mountain where they get their revenge for killing Saffron in the first place, stupid baka should have died back then." Declared Akane.
"So he should have let you die the too?" asked Nodoka in a chilly voice.
"Of course not. Hmm I wonder what that baka will say when he realizes he has been rescued by me…" mused Akane.
Nodoka stood up suddenly, "Genma, we are going to visit the other girls, Soun, you may come as well if you wish."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ranma was looking for breakfast; he finally traced the smells to the galley where he found Saffron and Herb sitting down talking. He grabbed some chow and sat down next to Herb, figuring that he had less reason to be annoyed with him at the moment, "hey guys"
"Hey Ranma."
"Hey Ranma."
"So Herb, how did you know about all the fiancé stuff anyway?" Ranma asked innocently.
Herb snickered. "There's a magazine called Nerima Martial Arts, it has a fair bit about Saotome Ranma and Saotome Ranko… it has the cursed form under a separate name to keep it believable for non nerimians… its from a Tendo Publishing I believe, its quite popular in Japan and has made it all the way to our little corner of China,"
Ranma stared, Saffron snickered, "I get it too… I get to keep up to date on everything, techniques of people you fight... all sorts of stuff."
Ranma growled, and stood up, "I'm going to go back and kill Nabiki, and I'll meet you on the way to China."
Ranma started to move away but was grabbed by Herb and pulled back down before he could go far. "Don't worry; there is a lawsuit against them now from my lawyers because they gave information about me, it won't shut them down completely, but it will put them in the red, they may be able to pull out with an issue about your death, but after that, it's good as gone."
Saffron and Herb sighed in unison and then Saffron spoke in a downcast voice. "Damn that sucks..."
Ranma glared at them both.
"RANMA! YOU ABANDONED AKANE! HOW COULD YOU!" Ryoga bellowed as he entered the room. "See, I'm a nice person now, I didn't even say 'Ranma, Prepare to die!' everyone present sweat dropped.
"You just said it then…" Ranma pointed out very helpfully.
Ryoga glared at him.
Ranma continued unheeded, "well, now I understand why you like being P-Chan so much, it's cool being carried around by a girl…mmm squishy." Ranma snickered slowly. Saffron looked past Ranma and put his hands up in a warding gesture, Herb took the hint and moved away from Ranma who was looking around curiously, "what's with you guys?................................................................................. She's standing right behind me isn't she?"
Ryoga nodded with a large grin present on his face, it suddenly fell when Kiima sat next to Ranma, no violence happening. "Hello Ranma, I'm glad you liked it so much… I'll take it as a compliment."
Ranma let out a sigh of relief. "Well, I can honestly say, you're well built, and soft in all the right places... Well the ones I got too at least."
Kiima's eye twitched, "Shut up Saotome, while you still can."
Ranma did, and ate his food.
"So, Ranma, what are you planning on doing now?" asked Saffron in between bites of the breakfast cereal.
"Well… I don't know… probably find some really tough opponents to spar with all the time, either of you up to the job?" Ranma asked Herb and Saffron.
Herb and Saffron both gained manic looks and spoke eerily in unison. "Hell Yes!"
Ranma, Kiima and Ryoga stared at the duo. Ryoga suddenly gained a look of comprehension, "Ranma, Are you saying I'm not good enough for you?" and then immediately looked his normal confused self when everyone burst out laughing, a moment later he too was blushing and stammering out denials. "DAMMIT YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT!" he finally bellowed out.
Ranma nodded, still in mirth. "Well, Ryoga, the I see it is that as soon as you get lost you home in on me somehow and then we're going to fight no matter what… so I kind of take you for granted… however… you need some speed training. And some more special.. non lethal.. techniques."
Ryoga glared for moment, and then smirked evilly. "Well… on one condition, if you teach me the amazon techniques you have to teach the unflawed ones."
Ranma blinked, and then blinked again... Then a third time for good luck. "What exactly, do you man by flawed?"
"Well, you told me how cologne could do the Hiryu shoten Ha without moving, so there must be a reason why you cannot…" Ryoga paused thoughtfully, "and then there's the Chestnut Fist, haven't you noticed that you have barely increased in speed since learning that? I think the only reason you're as fast as you are, is because you don't always use it, imagine if you did! You'd probably lose speed or something."
Ranma's eye twitched... multiple times. "Flawed Techniques" he growled out. "Herb, Saffron, would you guys like to help me destroy the Amazons?"
Saffron smiled, Herb frowned.
"It wouldn't be hard between two tribes and us three." Said Saffron.
Herb frown wavered a little as he spoke. "They have been useful in the past..."
"How so Herb? If it wasn't for them we wouldn't have fought at all." Ranma said slowly.
"Well…" started herb
"And how many of your people have been taken by that damned marriage law?" asked Ranma quickly.
Herb sighed, "Too many."
"Good, then we go in and kill them all as soon as we can." Said Saffron cheerfully.
Ryoga stared, "Ranma, you have got to be crazy! You're going to kill hundreds of people!"
Ranma shook his head, "they don't have to be killed, just scattered… we'll have to either destroy or take their library too."
"Yeah, I say I'll go defend the library and you guys destroy the village…" Saffron cheered out.
"ahh, Saffron, I don't know but your not really that good at doing anything but mass destruction…" said Ranma slowly. "Wouldn't you accidentally destroy it or something?"
Saffron scowled, "You interrupted my ascension, so I did not have full control over my power... I'll have you know that before you I had not blown the top off my mountain once during my many fights." He sniffed haughtily.
Ranma rolled his eyes in disbelief, Herb noticed and decided to speak, "It's true Ranma I could feel how odd his Ki was from the Citadel."
Ranma looked around, Kiima was nodding as well, Ryoga had wandered off like usual. "I suppose."
"Hey Ranma, want to trade in techniques?" asked Herb suddenly.
Ranma brightened; getting his hands on Herbs flight would be awesome. "Sure... But I can't teach you the Saotome Sealed Techniques... but anything else is fair game though." Saffron looked thoughtful for a moment but said nothing.
"Come on Ranma, we may as well do this on deck, you want to come too Saffron? I reckon there has to be way to figure out how to use fire like you do with our ki."
Saffron laughed, "But if I did that you'd find a way to counter it!"
Ranma snickered, "That's the point, you let your enemies counter your moves so you are driven to make new and better ones… the Hiryu Shoten Ha didn't work on you so I had to innovate, and when I fought Herb, I had to do the same thing. That's the point of fighting people at our own strength or better, to get better."
Saffron smiled suddenly, "there is one thing you could tell me, how the hell did you get that boulder to fly from Japan to My Mountain?"
Ranma smirked, "Now that's…. a secret." And ran from the room as fast as he could.
Herb sighed, "I think he has seen some Slayers Anime."
Saffron shuddered, "anything but that..."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Nodoka and Genma were walking alone down a street, Nodoka was twitching and stopped suddenly forcing Genma to stop and face her. "Genma, Akane has acted without honor, and according to my son has done so more than once… take the magical dogi for example."
Genma cringed and panicked, he might lose the marriage at this point. "But she has been honorable before."
"Name those times Genma, and then tell me what she did that was so honorable."
"Well," Genma started, "all those times she has been kidnapped, she did not sleep with any of them or anything like that." He smiled, feeling she could not rebuke that.
"She also did nothing to stop it either, Ranma caught her about to marry Kierin of the Seven lucky gods, she was in Toma's private room… need I say more?" Nodoka hissed, she was finding large faults where little lay now, but she wanted the engagement ended. "also she has beaten on my son far too often for my liking, I have seen some of the food she calls cooking and that she has forced my son to eat it and bashed him when he got sick from it."
Genma cringed a lot from that.
Nodoka smiled and began walking again, going in for the kill. "If my son were to marry her and live with us she would of course do the cooking."
Genma paled.
"We should break the engagement." Nodoka said calmly.
"But, its family honor!" Genma protested with a pose.
"It is dishonorable to treat a fiancé like she does." Nodoka sighed, "None of the fiancé's treats him correctly. I don't even think he knows how he should be treated," Nodoka paused, and then continued in an icy voice, "does he Genma?"
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Alright, so we're going for a rescue." Akane said with a feral smile. "Who can get us to China?"
Kuno raised his hand, "I have a new boat, it is considerably larger and faster than any you have used before." Kuno sighed, "You will probably ruin it like you do everything else though... so I have had it insured." 'I owe you for my behavior, but can I ever finish paying it back?'
"Good" said Ukyou cheerily.
Shampoo started bouncing, "Shampoo rescue too too happy husband!"
Ukyou did a double take, "What do you mean by too too happy? Shouldn't he be pissed that he's captured?"
Shampoo smiled, "no, I rescue and he then happy."
Ukyou and Akane simultaneously frowned.
"My boat will be ready soon." Declared Kuno, "I will see you there this evening at three Pm."
Everyone chorused out, "right." And the meeting ended, and they left to ready for the rescue attempt.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Authors note: It's the End of the world as we know, and I feel fine…. Six a
clock TV hour… and I forget the rest of the lyrics... but its "end of the
World" by R.E.M