Disclaimer: Ranma, Yugi-oh and Slayers are figments of some other peoples' imaginations and one should not blame the writer of this fic.
: Thoughts
Ranma-chan: Ranma as a girl, also called Ranko
A Puzzling Opportunity
In the district of Nerima, a teenage martial artist of exceptional talent wandered about the neighborhood bazaar as he waited for the arrival of his short-tempered fiancée. During this time, Ranma Saotome had decided to check out some of the stands and the second-hand merchandise that was being offered for sale. Since he didn't have much money with him, especially after Nabiki had taken her weekly extortion payoff, he wasn't thinking of buying anything. In any case, he thought that most of the junk there was overpriced and not worth spending what few yen coins he had left.
Just as Ranma passed another stand, a flash of gold caught his eye. He turned around and saw a small box that had several odd-shaped pieces of gold-colored metal in it. The box was surrounded by various pieces of jewelry and whatnot on the counter. He approached the stand which had an old man manning it.
"Good day to you sir. Can I interest you in anything?"
Ranma shrugged as he replied. "I'm... just browsing." As he looked over the various pieces of merchandise, his gaze kept on returning to that strange box with the metal pieces in it. He could tell by their tarnished surfaces that whatever that thing had been was old. However, it was clearly broken and the old man was probably just trying to get rid of it.
"What is that?" He pointed to the box.
"Ah, you have a good eye." The old man smiled as a glint appeared in his eye. "This particular item is an antique, coming all the way from ancient Egypt."
Yeah, right. Ranma thought sarcastically. Some people will say anything to sell off their old, broken junk!
"No, it is not junk, nor is it broken." The vender said with a grin.
"Huh?" The son of Genma was about to ask how the old man knew what he was thinking, then shrugged. Probably a lucky guess. "Okay, if it's not junk, then what is it?" Ranma asked, deciding to humor the old man.
"This... is a puzzle."
"A puzzle?"
"Yes. It is a very special puzzle."
"It looks like a box of broken metal to me." Ranma snorted.
"To the untrained eye." The old man agreed. "Nonetheless, it is a puzzle and a very complex one at that. As far back as I can remember, no one has EVER solved it."
"Yeah?" Ranma was already becoming bored. "So what's so special about this puzzle?"
"It is said that whoever solves this puzzle will have the key to attaining his greatest desire."
This had caught the pigtailed martial artist's attention, but he was very suspicious. His greatest desire was of course finding a cure for his Jusenkyo curse, but after all the failed attempts and false promises to achieve that goal, Ranma was more wary of getting his hopes up.
"I see that you do not believe me." The vendor said quietly. "Well then, how about this? Why don't you try to solve it? Then you will find out just how special this puzzle really is."
"Me? I ain't interested in puzzles and stuff like that. Besides, I ain't got much money."
"Ten yen."
"Excuse me?"
"I'll give you the whole puzzle and the box for ten yen."
"You're offering all this for ten yen?"
"Yes."
"Nothing's THAT cheap. What's the catch?"
"No catch. Ten yen."
----------
"Ranma, where have you been? I've been waiting for you for twenty minutes!" Akane fumed at her fiancé as he came walking toward her with a small box in his hands.
"Uh, I was just looking around and I guess I lost track of time."
"What's that?" Akane pointed at the box.
"This? Oh, it's... just something that I bought. The vendor said that it was some kind of puzzle."
At first, Akane became excited as she believed that Ranma had bought her a gift. However, as soon as she looked inside of the box, she frowned.
"That's not a puzzle! It's just a box of worthless junk!"
"Well... I haven't put it together yet. It only cost me ten yen and..."
"Hmpf! You wasted your money, and I wasted my time waiting for you!" Without another word, the angry girl turned and left him in a huff.
----------
Later that night, the Tendo home after dinner...
"Just what was I thinking? Ranma stared at the pieces of the puzzle as he sat at the dining table. Maybe Akane was right. This isn't a puzzle, it's just some worthless hunks of metal and I got suckered out of ten yen! I just can't believe that I fell for that line that this thing could fulfill my greatest desire.
Ranma began absently fingering two of the pieces in his hands and rubbed the sides together. He rotated and slid the parts about, not caring about anything in particular. It was then that he began feeling strange. His hands began moving as if they were being guided. He started hearing a very powerful, ancient voice in his head. When the two pieces became aligned in a certain position, they instantly came together like two magnets and fused into a larger piece.
Ranma stared at the object in confusion, then looked down at the remaining pieces of the puzzle. Slowly, he reached for another piece. He held it up and tried to fit its edges along the ones on the larger piece. The new piece locked into place with the first two.
Slowly, but surely, the teenager began fitting the puzzle pieces together. He thought that it was strange that he was assembling something without knowing what the finished product would look like. As he worked the puzzle, he kept hearing that odd voice in his head, urging and guiding him on how the pieces fit with each other. The puzzle began taking shape and formed a small pyramid with a metal hoop at the bottom. At last, he reached for the final piece, which resembled an eye and snapped it into place, completing the puzzle. It was then that the thing gave off a brief, but mysterious light which almost made Ranma drop it in surprise. It felt as if it were alive, and that was when he knew that he was on to something. After dealing with various kinds of magic, (Jusenkyo, magic mushrooms, the Wishbringer Sword, the Dragon's Whisker, the Mark of a God, etc), Ranma knew that he was in possession of some kind of mystical item. The problem was that he didn't know how this could help him become free of his curse. He knew that somehow, it could. He just had to find out what. Until then, he would have to hold on to it.
Ranma stood up and went up to the guest room. Currently, both his father and Soun Tendo were out drinking, Happosai was out on his nightly panty raid, Nabiki was separating another fool from his money, Kasumi had gone shopping and Akane was out with some friends. Entering the room that he shared with his father, he went to the closet and took out his backpack. Reaching into a pocket, he pulled out a length of string and threaded it through the loop of the puzzle, forming a kind of necklace. Tying the ends of the string together, he then hung it around his neck.
That should do for now. He looked into a nearby mirror and shrugged as the puzzle glittered. Not a bad deal for ten yen.
----------
The next day...
"Oh how pretty!" Kasumi said as she held the puzzle in her hands. "What is it?"
"It's a puzzle that I bought at the bazaar for ten yen." Ranma shrugged. "I put it together last night."
Akane snorted as she glanced at it while heading out the door. "It's just a tacky piece of jewelry, that's all." She was still feeling insulted that Ranma had not bought it for her.
Nearby, Genma and Soun were engaged in another round of Shogi. The father to the heir of the Anything Goes frowned as he looked at the trinket that hung around Ranma's neck. When he had first laid eyes on it, he had thought about selling it for some fast cash. However, after hearing how little his son had paid for it, and that it wasn't real gold, he had later labeled it as worthless junk.
Little did Ranma know that he was in possession of one of the legendary Millennium Items, and that he was one step closer to realizing his dream to be free of the Jusenkyo curse. The item only LOOKED like a simple piece of jewelry and was actually worth far more than mere gold. The magic within it would reveal itself when the time came. Until then, the spell that made it appear worthless, kept on making others believe that it was nothing more than a trinket.
----------
Noon at Furinken High...
"What's going on?" Ranma asked a student as he saw a large group of people crowded around one of the picnic tables near the gymnasium.
"Daisuke and Obari are having a duel!" The teen replied as he went over toward the crowd.
A duel? Daisuke's not a martial artist. Ranma followed the boy and managed to get near the table where the two teens were 'duking it out.'
"Huh? I thought they were having a duel." The only thing that Ranma could see was two students vigorously slapping down cards with pictures of monsters and warriors on them.
"They are!" A nearby student replied excitedly. "And it looks like Daisuke has Obari cornered!"
"But... they're not throwing any punches or anything." Ranma was confused, but deep within his Millennium Puzzle, an ancient presence began to react to the game.
"It's not that kind of duel. They're playing Duel Monsters! It's the hottest game in world! Everybody's playing it! Don't you know about it?"
Ranma could only shake his head. After all, if it didn't have martial arts in it, he tended to ignore such things. Furthermore, this game dealt with cards, and he knew that he sucked at cards. However, the magic within his Millennium Puzzle began stirring in response to the game.
The pigtailed martial artist shrugged as he turned to walk away. This didn't concern him. As he began moving away from the crowd, he heard Daisuke's voice as he cried out in disbelief.
"Oh no! It's a trap card!"
Obari smirked as he triumphantly slapped down his final card. "My Vortex freezes your Rock Ogre and cuts your attack points in half! Now my Cyber-Triceratops destroys your monster! Your Life Points are gone! I win! Hand over your lunch money!"
"No fair! C'mon, give me another chance!"
"Tough luck! Hand it over!"
Daisuke grumbled as he reached into his pocket and gave his opponent all of his money. "That wasn't fair."
"It's not my fault that you stink!" Obari said with a sneer.
"But it's all the money that I have! I won't be able to buy lunch for a week!"
"Then you shouldn't have bet it all on that pathetic deck of yours! Then again, you always were a loser!"
----------
In the background, Ranma clenched a fist. He hated to see bullies picking on the weak. However, this wasn't like his other fights and Daisuke had made the mistake. He had wagered, and since it dealt with cards instead of fists, there was nothing Ranma could do about it.
Or was there?
The Millennium Puzzle then glowed with an eerie light as Ranma's desire to help his friend had activated the ancient magic within. The martial artist felt strange new energies flooding into his body. The light was so bright, that he had to shut his eyes. When it faded away, Ranma stood with more confidence than he had ever felt before. If he tried to fire off his confidence-fueled ki, it would have devastated the entire schoolyard. He had remained unchanged except for his hair, which was more unruly. With one quick turn, he headed back to where Daisuke and Obari were.
----------
"Care to bet next week's allowance?" Obari chuckled.
Daisuke was about to shake his head and leave when he felt a strong hand being placed on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw his fellow classmate smiling at him.
"Ranma?"
"Don't worry Daisuke. Everything will be all right." He addressed Obari with a much harder edge to his voice. "I hereby challenge you to a duel!"
"You?" Like everyone else in school, Obari knew that Ranma was the top martial artist in Nerima. He beat up Kuno on a regular basis. He shivered as he knew that he would be no match against Ranma in fight.
However, Ranma simply smiled as he said, "I don't mean THAT kind of duel. I'm challenging you to a game of Duel Monsters!"
Obari gave off a sigh of relief, then smiled. Thanks to a little tidbit that he had bought from Nabiki, he knew that Ranma was also the world's worst card player, which gave him a decided advantage. He could gain some notoriety, if he were to defeat Ranma. "Okay... sure, but what are the stakes?"
Ranma gestured for Daisuke to stand up. when Ranma sat down, he asked Daisuke, "May I use your deck?"
Daisuke looked down at the cards in his hand, then shrugged while handing it to him.
Ranma took the deck and used his Chestnut technique to flash through them. After scanning its contents, he nodded as he addressed Obari once more. "I can't see how Daisuke could have lost to you, especially since his deck has some very strong cards. Therefore, I will use his deck and when I defeat you, you'll give back Daisuke's lunch money."
"You think you can beat me using his wimpy cards?" Obari snorted. "You don't even know how to play this game!"
"If you're not afraid, then you'll have nothing to lose." Ranma said simply as he shuffled the deck in his hands.
Obari snorted again. "Fine, but if I win, then you'll give me your whole month's allowance! Deal?"
"Agreed." The martial artist replied as he laid down the deck and drew five cards. "IT'S TIME TO DUEL!"
At this point, the crowds got bigger as more people became interested.
----------
A little later...
"That jerk! Where is he?" Akane grumbled as she looked about for Ranma. She frowned as she saw Ukyo approaching with a takeout box in her hands; obviously for Ranma, of course.
"Hey Akane. Have you seen Ranma? I made this special seafood okonomiyaki for him."
"No." Akane gritted as she looked down at Ukyo's food. It smelled wonderful and there was no doubt in her mind that Ranma would gulp it down without hesitation. That baka! He'll eat Ukyo or Shampoo's cooking, but not mine! Hmpf!
"Hey, look at that crowd over there." Ukyo said as she pointed to where a large gathering of people were surrounding a picnic table. "I wonder what's going on?"
Both girls decided to investigate and headed toward the mass of spectators. When they got to it, they were just barely able to see past the throngs of people.
Ukyo tapped the shoulder of one of the observers. "Excuse me, but can you tell us what's going on?"
"It's a really intense Dual Monsters game!" The student replied, while keeping his eyes focused on the match.
"Dual Monsters?" Akane repeated. "Isn't Dual Monsters that really popular card game that everyone is playing now?"
Ukyo nodded. "Yeah. It's caught on here in Furinken. I've even gotten hooked on it." She reached into the pocket of her male school uniform and pulled out a deck of cards. "It involves a LOT of strategy."
Akane smirked. "Well then, I'll bet that Ranma would be totally useless at this game."
"No argument here, sugar." The okonomiyaki chef then asked the student. "So who's playing?"
"Our school champion Obari and Saotome. Ranma's already beaten Obari four games in a row!" The student replied.
"WHAT?!" Both girls cried out.
"That's impossible! Ranma's the world's WORST card player!" Akane exclaimed as she began pushing her way toward the table. Ukyo followed and both were in a state of shock as they saw Ranma about to trounce his opponent.
----------
"Draw your last card, Obari."
The current Duel Monters champion of Furinken growled as he slapped a card onto the table. "I've got you this time! Let's see if you can stand up to my Ice Giant and his Blizzard Beam Attack!"
Ranma however, was unconcerned as he simply flipped over a card that he had laid out previously. "I counter with this trap card, Mirror Force!"
"WHAT?!"
"The Mirror Force reflects any attack right back at you. Your Ice Giant is destroyed and you have no more Life Points. I win."
Obari could do nothing but stare with his mouth agape. The cards in his hands fell though his fingers as Ranma got up.
"Wait! Just one more game!"
"There would be little point. You're clearly no match for me. Now, you will give back Daisuke his lunch money, or do you want to lose more than just a few games?" Ranma's underlying threat was emphasized as he held up a fist and clenched it even tighter, cracking his knuckles.
The former Duelist Champion of Furinken gritted his teeth, but gave in as he reached into his pocket, and returned the money to Daisuke before skulking off. The rest of the crowds cheered on Ranma's victories as he held out the deck to his friend.
"Here's your deck back."
Daisuke smiled as he shook his head. "Nah. You keep it, Ranma. Think of it as my way of thanking you for getting my money back. I'll build a new deck."
On the sidelines, Akane and Ukyo were still in a state of shock. Ranma had actually won at something besides martial arts?
---------
At the Tendo Home...
"Well Ranma, I hear that you've become a Duel Monsters sensation in just one day." Nabiki commented as she confronted him while he was practicing some katas in the dojo. "So when did you become so good at card games?"
"None of your business." Ranma said as he continued to put his body through its paces.
"Oh don't give me that, Ranma. Until today, you couldn't win a card game to save your life without cheating." Nabiki remembered how Ranma had beaten the Gambling King. "Now all of a sudden, you beat the school's best player at a very complicated game; not once but FIVE times in a row!"
"I guess I got lucky."
"No way! The odds are too stacked against you, to chalk up those wins to luck! You didn't even know how the game was played until today. Out with it, Ranma!"
"Leave me alone, Nabiki." He growled as he finished with his katas and headed toward the furo to take a short bath before dinner.
Nabiki frowned. This was the first time that Ranma rebelled against her without even thinking about the consequences. That would not do. She had to know just how Ranma had done it and whether or not she could turn this new talent into a money maker. Nabiki decided that it was time to remind him of his place.
"Hold it, Ranma. You can't just walk away."
"Hmmm?" Ranma stopped and glanced over his shoulder.
"Why don't we play a little game?" The middle Tendo daughter held up a deck of playing cards. "Instead of Dual Monsters, we'll play a few hands of poker. If I win three hands, then you'll tell me everything that I want to know, PLUS pose for a few dozen snapshots. Kuno's getting hungry for photos of his pigtailed goddess again."
"And when I win three hands?" Ranma asked, not turning around to face her.
Nabiki's eyebrows narrowed. Ranma had said 'when,' not if. "If by some miracle that you win three hands... I'll cancel out half of the amounts that you owe me."
"All of it."
"What?"
"This will be an all or nothing deal. My secrets and the snapshots versus the all the debts that I owe you. After all, I'll be sacrificing my pride and my cursed body to your camera. Unless, you're afraid?"
Nabiki considered him for a very long time, before finally nodding. "Agreed." Ranma's not THAT smart and he's no match against me when it comes to gambling.
Ranma's Millennium Puzzle glowed with a soft light as Ranma became something more. Since his back was turned to Nabiki, she did not catch the subtle transformation. When he turned around, his expression was more smug as he said, "It's time to duel."
----------
Three hands later...
Nabiki was in state of total disbelief as Ranma got up from the floor after beating her Full House with a Royal Straight Flush.
"And that's win number three. Nice doing business with you, Nabiki. I don't owe you anything. We're quits!"
As Ranma left the dojo, Akane's sister remained as still as a statue.
How did he DO that?!
Then she winced as she realized that Ranma's debts were now null and void.
----------
Later that night...
How did I do that? Ranma thought as he lay on his futon. I've never played Dual Monsters in my life, but as soon as I had those cards in my hands, I knew all the rules and the best ways to play! And I BEAT Nabiki at her own game! He continued to ponder as he absently fingered his Millennium Puzzle. He held up the charm in front of him and considered. Could... it have something to do with this? My greatest desire is to be cured of my curse, but getting Nabiki to cancel out what I owed to her, comes in as a close second.
The martial artist eventually decided to figure it out in the morning and soon went to sleep. A few minutes later, the Millennium Puzzle glowed again as Ranma's consciousness slipped from the mortal plane and entered another side of existence known as the Shadow Realm. It was there that Ranma awoke to find himself facing... himself.
"W-Where am I? How did I get here? And... who are you?"
The mirror image of himself, (except for the more wilder hairstyle), nodded as he replied. "In order, you are in the Shadow Realm. You were brought here by the Millennium Puzzle. And as for who I am... simply put, I'm you. However, you may call me Yami."
End of Prologue...
Author's Notes
Whether or not I will continue this is up in the air, but I just had to write this much down after seeing Yugi-oh. We all know that Ranma is the worst card player, so I thought this might put a new spin on things. Eventually, I was going to add the Slayers Cast when Ranma goes to search for the other Millennium Items in Lina Inverse's world and so on. Ah, too many ideas and too much caffeine does this to me every time.