The disclaimer, practically every character here is NOT mine. They all belong to their respective company. I am using a lot of them, so I can't list them all. Beside, I am gonna add more series to the story later on. Don't sue me. You won't get a penny out of me. Trust me, you won't. For others, there are SOME characters I made up, but who cares? I don't. Ranma Crossover fanfic first fanfic alert!!! draft alert!!! and... Ah heck, read at your own risk. STALLION Chapter 2. < They are smart, but they ain't Sherlock. > Ranma-chan happily took a bite of her Triple Chocolate Sundae on her way back to Tendo Dojo. Even though ice cream was one of her favourite, Ranma-chan was too self-conscious to eat it in public as a guy. There was nothing shameful for a girl to enjoy some ice cream in the public, however, and she took advantage of that as often as possible. Just like those girls in the ice cream shop... Tenchi stepped out of the bathroom still feeling dirty. It was a big mistake to put his arm in the toilet. He did put out that fire on his watch, but still...... "Are you okay, Tenchi-niichan?" "Um, yes! Of course! Fine. Really, I am fine." "?" While Sasami stood in front of him, confusion clear on her face, Tenchi kept wiping his left arm over and over with paper towel. He had washed it with soap five times, but the scene of his arm in the toilet bowl continued to flash in his mind. Tenchi noted that he still had the watch, which astonishingly still worked, on his wrist. He took it off and carefully put his watch in his pocket. It wouldn't look like it was going to be trouble any more, but he didn't want to take that chance. Sasami wondered about Tenchi's nervous reaction. But she was relieved to see that now he was fine. She then asked with the all-knowing look on her face. "Washu, right?" "*Sigh* I am not totally sure, but who else COULD do such a thing?" Tenchi told himself to have a LONG talk with his redheaded roommate later. Not surprisingly Sasami was thinking the very same thing. "Eh?" Washu woke up as she felt a chill going down her spine, just to find herself lying on a futon. Oddly, she also was tied up with a rope. "Gee, how did I get here? Where am I?" She turned her head to her side. She screamed when she recognized what she saw. It was Ryoko. Ayeka was there too, lying in the futon next to Ryoko. Both of them were unconscious. In fact, they looked worse than they did right after the fight. It wasn't Ryoko and Ayeka that scared Washu though. It was the one who was taking care of them what made her scream madly. If she was in the same room with them, then it could only mean one thing...... Washu was under care of MIHOSHI. She turned her head to the other side, to look for any means of escape. She screamed again. It was Kiyone, who was already passed out. If she was lying there with them, then it could only mean one thing...... Washu was under care of MIHOSHI ALONE. Without Kiyone, there would be no guarantee of the survival of Mihoshi's patients. 'And I am one of them!' So now Washu did only thing she could do, being all tied up and not able to move. She screamed. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!" It was a big mistake. The door opened to reveal huffing Mihoshi. To add on Washu's horror, the Galaxy Police had one of the first-aid boxes from their medicine cabinet in her arms. The one that had a NEEDLE. "What's wrong, Washu-chan? Oh, you are awake! That's good! Just in time for your shot, too!" "N, no, Mihoshi. I am feeling a lot better now. I don't need a shot. I'll be fine. Just let me out of here!!!" "Oh no, you don't, Washu-chan. You are a patient. I found you lying unconscious in your lab. You have no idea how shocked I was to find you like that. You were lucky I went into to ask you for help to bring Kiyone here. She was too heavy for me to carry her alone. You know, you are pretty heavy for your size, too, Washu-chan. If Nobuyuki-san didn't come home in time, I wouldn't know what to do!" Inbetween Mihoshi's usual mumbo-jumbo, Washu saw the heaven's blessing of exit out of her situation. "Wait, Nobuyuki is here? Can I talk to him for a sec?" But the reply of red-faced Mihoshi slammed the door of the exit shut. "Um, no you can't. I made him a dinner but um, you see, I kinda screwed up. He is passed out after the meal exploded on him.(1) I don't know why it did that. It seemed so nice and kind(?) at first. By the way, Nobuyuki-san is now a patient too, but I didn't think it was proper to put him in the same room with female patients. So I put him in his room. I am gonna give him a shot later, right after I give you one." "NO!! NO, PLEASE!!! HAVE MERCY!! GET AWAY!! GET AWAY!!!!!!" "Now, come on, Washu-chan. Don't be a crybaby. Auntie Mihoshi is going to make you alright again. You don't hear Ryoko complaining, do you?" "THAT'S BECAUSE SHE IS OUT COLD!!!!!" "Now, now. This might sting a little. Be careful and don't move around too much. The needle is very sharp." "I SHOULD BE CAREFUL OF YOU!!! GET ME OUT, GET ME OUT!!!!!" The Masaki house shook with a yell, as the greatest scientist in the universe was about to face the greatest horror in the universe. "HHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" "Huh? Weird. Did you hear something, Sasami-chan?" "No. Was there something?" "...nah. Probably just my imagination." What a miserable day Setsuna was having. All she wanted was a quiet meeting with her fellow Senshi. But the universe seemed to be pulling a harsh one on her today. She stared at a stranger, glared at Minako, yelled in the public, hissed at Ami, and even ducked under a table, all in one day. Whatever image Setsuna had kept up so far was demolished in less than an hour. She had a massive headache in her head, a broken Time Gate back at her castle, and a tearful Senshi mourning her computer in front of her. Oh yeah, her princess was crying over a bowl of ice cream, too. Setsuna massaged her head repeatedly. Nothing more could possibly go wrong today. She was wrong. "*yawn* Huh? What's going on here? Did something blow up or something?" Artemis slowly walked out of Minako's bag with sleepy eyes. He had been hiding in there not to get caught by the clerk. Unfortunately, after a short nap he had forgotten the reason why he was hiding in the first place. "Aaaaaaaahh!! A cat!" The clerk ran to their table as soon as he saw the white cat. Luckily for the Senshi's, he didn't hear Artemis talk. The problem was, however, the shop had "no pet" policy. "You brought a cat into the store!! Sneaking it in, no less!! Out, right now!!" "But he is my cat! He is harmless!" The clerk was firm in his stance, however, despite the plea of Minako. They had been acting weird in his shop all day. Faster they got out, better. "Sorry. Store policy. No exception. OUT!" His mouth was saying "sorry" but his eyes weren't. His arms weren't even feeling "sorry," as they kept pushing the Senshi's towards the door. Suddenly, the Senshi's were out on the street. The clerk said one more thing before he slammed the door. "AND STAY OUT!!" Slam! Everyone on the street was now staring at them. They could hear murmurs and whispering as people passed by, some even pointing fingers. The Inners blushed as they all tried to hide behind Mamoru, who nervously laughed and waved at people. Haruka kept banging her head on the door. Michiru just hung her head down, covering up her face with a hand. Hotaru simply blushed and stood there frozen. Setsuna kept rubbing her forehead. As people turned away to get on with their lives, all the Senshi's turned their attention back to the cause of their current aggrievation. Under the glare of nine pairs of female eyes, Artemis cringed in Minako's bag and said only thing that came out of his mouth. "Um, sorry?" A "sorry" would never cut it for girls. Mamoru sweatdropped as he watched a cat being strangled by nine pairs of hands. When he turned his head back towards the street, he realized that people on the street were staring at them again. Blushing badly, he tried to come up with some kind of explanation. But only thing he could think of was something from a movie. "Eh, the cat owes them some money." The movie was a movie because it was a movie. Right now, he was in reality. Mamoru cackled nervously as everyone on the street were now dumbly looking at him. He jumped to avoid a puddle, just to land right into a lake. Even then the Senshi's were too busy stangling the cat. On the street, a little girl asked her mother. "Mommy, what are they doing to that cat?" "Um, sweetie. They are, eh, giving it a massage." "Really?" "Su, sure." "But I think that cat don't like it. Old ladies are mean." The phrase came out of the innocence of the girl. But the Senshi's already had too much on their mind. "WHAT DID YOU CALL US??!?!? YOU LITTLE BRAT!!!!!!!" "Waaaaaaaaaaaaahhh! Mommy, they are scary!" "Come here, sweetie. Don't worry, mommy won't let them get angry at you." The mother made a scowl at the Senshi's before taking off with her daughter. While the scowl was a brief one, it was long enough to shake them out of their trance and made them feel somewhat guilty. They let go of their hands from Artemis' throat, and made rather shameful expression on their faces. SPLASH! The clerk, however, didn't care as he splashed the girls AND Mamoru with a bucket full of cold water. "STAY AWAY FROM THE SHOP, TOO!!" Then he slamed the door, hard. SLAM! Artemis barely caught his breath and turned to his friends. "*cough* *cough* You guys okay?" The cat paled very quickly when he saw the eyebrows of everyone twitched simultaneously, including Mamoru's. A moment later, it was TEN pairs of hands strangling poor Artemis. Inside the shop, Belldandy was trying to wake up Keiichi. "Keiichi-san? Keiich-San? Are you okay?" Keiichi slowly opened his eyes. He was still a little groggy, but overall he was fine. One could become tougher fast if the one had to live with three goddesses in the same house. While he had no super power, his lifeline was getting as tough as a roach now. No matter how much hardship Keiichi had to endure, he just kept coming back to life. "Keiichi-san! You are alright! I am so glad." Who wouldn't in his situation! Right now Keiichi was lying down on the floor, with his head on Belldandy's lap. That beautiful happy smile on her tear-stained face. Those clear, waterly, purple eyes staring at him... the red, thin lip quivering right in front of his eyes... her silky smooth hand on his cheek... and that more than ample curveline on the front of her blouse... Whack!! "What are you staring at, you pervert!!" ...and never-missing mallet of her youngest sister smacked down on his head... "Oh no! Keiichi-san!" "Nice going, kiddo. Just when he was getting better..." "Oh shut up, you." Oh well, life was never easy. While Keiichi was out cold, again, Skuld was trying to figure out what went wrong. "Maybe I should have used a larger capacitor? Nothing seems to be wrong with the circuit design..." "Perhaps there was a problem with designER? You know, one of those wacky nutcase nerds?" "I designed it, you idiot!!" "Who did you think I was talkin' about, huh?" "Why you!!" "Anytime, you techno-freak!" There was a brief staring match between the Past and the Future. But suddenly Skuld stood straight and crossed her arms over her chest, with a rather arrogant grin on her lip. "Techno-freak, eh? At least my invention works! How about your potion?" "Huh? What are you talkin' about? My potion works fine!" "Oh really? Aren't you forgetting something? You know... about Keiichi?" "Huh? What're you... WAIT A MINUTE!!" With a shock clear on her eyes, Urd began to search her pocket frantically. She produced a small empty vial that seemed to have contained some liquid before. While Urd dumbly stared at it, Skuld spoke with rather proud voice. "Hah! I knew you'd try something between Keiichi and Belldandy-neesan when I saw you in your lab last night. Why did you think I was watching him so carefully today? I was right! I saw you putting it into Keiichi's sundae when he wasn't looking! But I added something extra before we left the house. Whatever it was, your potion won't work now!" The young goddess was in a smile full with arrogance, but Urd was now in full panic. "WHAT!! You have any idea what you did?!?! What did you put in? WHAT?!?" Skuld couldn't help but to cringe a little at Urd's upset tone. "Um, I don't know. But the label said something like [@>?!~:(]...?"(2) "[@>?!~:(]? Okay, then... it reacts with [^^;;$+]... then it causes [#4-.-+] to..." Urd busily scratched her head, trying to work out the formula in her head. In fifteen seconds she figured out the final formula. She was really good at these, after all. Unfortunately, nothing she knew could possibly correct this error quick enough. "Aaaaaaack!!! You moron! You don't know JACK!! You really screwed up this time!" "Um, what are you talking about? What bad could it possibly do? It was only a drop..." It was then when the sleeping baby woke up. "Ouch... did somebody get the license plate of that truck...?" Keiichi slowly opened his eyes. He smiled as the first thing he saw was Belldandy's face. Then he wondered a bit as she seemed very surprised, shocked even. Then he also noted something else... 'Odd... why does my voice sound so thin...? And my clothes feels heavier... What happened...?' Then he saw his hand, his fragile, small, chubby hand. 'Wait. Small...? Chubby?' Keiichi finally looked at himself. What he saw made him to blink a couple of times. Somehow he had... shrunk. Now he looked as if he was only 6 years old. Actually, his body WAS that of 6 years old. 'Ah.' That was the only word came up in Keiichi's mind before he passed out... again. On the other corner of the shop, the blue-haired girl nervously asked the pony-tailed boy. "Um, are you really okay? Maybe we should head back..." Tenchi quickly picked up the hint of slight disappointment in her voice, and answered just as quickly. "Don't be ridiculous. We can't just throw away the entire day for something like this. Beside, this is nothing compared to what we go through everyday, you know?" "*giggle* You are right." Tenchi smiled warm-heartedly, as he always did in the presence of his alien princess. "Come on. Let's go to that amusement park. There is still a whole day ahead for us to have some fun!" This brought a big smile onto Sasami's face. "Really? Thank you, Tenchi-niichan!" "You're welcome, Sasami-chan." Politely, Tenchi took his right arm out towards Sasami. Actually, he didn't want her to hold on to his left, which he still felt dirty. Not knowing this Sasami clinged to Tenchi's right arm and began to pull. "Amusement park! Amusement park! Let's go!" "Okay okay. Slow down, Sasami-chan. The park is not going anywhere." The pair stopped briefly to pay for their ice cream, then went on their way. The Senshi's were still strangling the cat when the door of the ice cream shop opened again. Almost instinctively, they ducked on the cement to avoid another splash. But when they looked up slowy, there were only that boy with the pony-tail and the blue-haired girl. Both of them were staring at them with a sweatdrop on each of their head. Then the boy nervously smiled and waved at the girls a bit. With another sympathetic glance at Mamoru, he walked away with the girl, pausing only for a second to dumbfoundly look at now passed-out Artemis. Now every Senshi had their head down on the cement. They were never so embarassed in their entire life! Everyone was staring at them in their all wet, head-down, hip-up form. This day was getting worse and worse. It was then when Luna appeared. The black cat wisely decided to take a walk instead of sneaking into the ice cream shop. She was always the more reasonable one of the two feline adivisors of Sailor Scouts. Truth be told, if Luna wasn't as reasonable as she was, she would be dead long time ago.(3) When the black cat arrived at the scene, what she discovered had put her in total confusion. Artemis was lying flat on one side, gagging and huffing, while all the Scouts and Mamoru were in an embarassing pose. Everyone on the street were either staring at them dumbfoundly, or giggling at "the freak girls" and "the loser." If this was due to a youma attack, the youma must have a weird sense of humour or something. Before Luna could turn to Artemis to ask what was going on, however, Setsuna grabbed her and held the cat in front of her face. She opened her mouth to speak, but she closed it up and took a glance around her. Much to add on Luna's confusion, now everyone on the street focused their attention solely on Setsuna. Setsuna turned away from the street and spoke to Luna very quietly. "Luna, do me a favor. You see that boy over there? One who's walking with a young girl? Follow them." "Huh?" Luna blinked. She had no idea what was going on, and now it seemed that she wouldn't even have a chance to catch up. "I'll explain later! Just do it!" "O, okay. I'll do it..." Luna nodded her head and jumped down from Setsuna's hands, and began to run towards her target. Whoever the boy might be, Sailor Pluto must have a good reason for this. Beside, the Guardian of the Time Gate was very upset, to say the least, and Luna did NOT want to aggrievate her. Urd and Skuld slowly opened the door, and took a peak on the street. They blinked a couple of times as they saw the girls they saw a moment ago were now lying flat on the road. But they soon returned to themselves and started to search for the boy. This looked interesting, but they had a job to do. Then they saw one of the females of the group talking to a cat. This made them blink some more, until the cat nodded and jumped down from her hands. Urd frowned. It seemed that whoever the lady was, she knew how to control animals. The goddess followed the cat's trail and found the pony-tailed boy walking ahead. She smiled. This was going to make their work easier. "Skuld, follow that cat." "Huh? Why?" "That lady apparently has an ability to control animals. She probably told the cat to go after the boy. Whoever these girls are, they are interested with that kid, too. If we secretly follow the cat, we'll be able to watch both girls and the boy at the same time." "But what if they don't follow the boy? Shouldn't we trail them too, just in case?" Urd scowled at her sister and she answered. "How? Belldandy teleported Keiichi back home already. She won't be coming back until he grows up again. That won't be happenin' till I cook up an antidote. Which can't be done if I don't go back too. Simply put, THIS is ALL your fault!" Bonk! "Ouch! Alright already! I said I am sorry..." "Just go!" "Okay, okay..." Mumbling Skuld started to run towards the direction the boy disappeared to. Urd sighed. 'Sometimes that girl is WAY too much trouble.' She turned back, which made her to come face-to-face with the store clerk with a nasty scowl on his face. "Eh?" "Where do you think you are going? YOU and YOUR FRIENDS haven't paid YET." "Eh?" "Like I said, why do I have to come, too? I just wanna take a nap." Ranma, now back to male, complained to his fiance as he was walking with the entire Tendos and Saotomes. "Come on, Ranma. Don't be a party-pooper! We are going to have some fun, that's all." Akane, who was in her favorite yellow blouse, answered rather sweetly. She always enjoyed going to the amusement park. Ever since her mom died, her dad stopped doing anything remotely resembled a family fun. Or rather, She and her sisters stopped asking for one, because that put Soun in his full "I miss my wife oh my poor daughters waaaaaaah" mode. It was rather sad to sacrifice her childhood over a grown man's crying, but it was okay. Just because she got older didn't mean she couldn't have fun. His father didn't cry this time, either. "It's been a while we had fun as a whole family. Your mother will be so happy to see this. Waaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!" Not as much as he used to, anyway. Kasumi was already in her comforting mode and tried to calm down Soun. "Now, now, father. Everything is okay. We are just going to enjoy the day." "She is right, Soun. Tendos and Saotomes going out as one. This is a sure sign of our school's union!" This made Soun stop crying and turn to his head towards his best friend. "You, you think so?!" "Of course, my friend. An amusement park is where young couple these days feeds the flame of their passion! Surely our children will get closer as the day goes on. Then soon, our family will be joined!" CRACK! Ranma kept walking ahead after he implemented his father on a wall. He flinched a bit at his mother's disapproaving scowl, but kept on walking anyway. Nodoka sighed as she proceeded to get Genma out of the wall. When she did, she didn't forget to add a comment to her still unconscious husband. "You should really let them be, husband. That will be good for both them AND you." Soun nodded vigorously while still taking a nervous glance at his now steaming youngest daughter. Beside him the eldest daugher had her neverending smile on her face, while Nabiki had a smirk on her own. Still upset, the pigtailed martial artist of Nerima growled. "That nutcase! Can't keep his mouth shut. Whatever happens between me and Akane ain't none of his business!" Ignoring the glances and the murmurs of passingbys, Ranma kicked a trash can nearby. The ice cream kind of helped his mood a bit, but his dumb excuse for a father had to ruin it for him. Then Ranma hung his head as he remembered what he said. The "school's union." Him and Akane. He had a lot on his mind lately so that he rarely had time to think about their relationship. Not that he did that often before, but sometimes the thought would just pop up in his head. The conclusion always had been the same, though. 'Grrrr, whatever!!' Being a Saotome meant that your brain didn't have much capacity for mental labor. It also meant that your thinking system came with ZERO emotional support. Any problem that had to do with thinking and emotion was NOT Ranma's strength. It simply gave him too much headache. Over several hundreds of feets away, Ranma could see the giantic entrance of the amusement park. He turned his head back to Akane to complain again, but stopped when he saw Akane's happy smile. Ranma then returned his attention to his front. He was staring at the sidewalk but his brain was showing something else. Akane's happy smile...... 'It's been a while since I saw her smile like that... Can't blame her... With all the things happening around us, it's no wonder...' He lifted his gaze to the road ahead. He could now hear the music coming from the park. It was a happy tune of a flute. Somehow, it seemed to touch a very small part in his heart... 'A song... Nice. It sounds familar. Must be a popular one or something...' Then Ranma turned back again to see Akane. Her eyes were shining with high expectation. Looking back ahead again, he mused a bit. 'An amusement park... can't be that bad... actually it might be okay...' With the happy tune still ringering his mind, Ranma stopped and looked behind with a smile, waiting for the others to catch up... "There it is! Let's go, Tenchi-niichan, let's go!" "Haha, wait a minute there, Sasami-chan." With the strength mightier than the sucking black hole, the young Juraian Princess literally pulled Tenchi all the way from the ice cream shop to the park. It took a while, but Tenchi finally calmed down Sasami a notch. "Now, now. We have to buy a ticket first from that counter over there. Wait here. I'll be right back." "Okay, Tenchi-niichan. Hurry up!" With the happy princess gleeing with expectation, Tenchi walked fast to the ticket counter. But when he saw the line wasn't all that long, he slowed down and took his time. Luna caught up with the boy. As she watched him from inside a bush, he walked towards the counter, probably to buy the tickets. The cat asked herself the question that she had on her mind for quite a while. "What does Pluto want with that boy? He looks perfectly normal." "He only LOOKS normal, but he is not." "Aaaack! Where did you come from!" Today, Setsuna was on a roll, answering the question herself twice. "It doesn't matter. Others will come here soon. Let's just watch him." Sailor Pluto sat beside the still wondering Luna and studied the boy piercely. 'Whoever you are, you are not getting away until I get some answers...' She frowned a bit as she remembered the other mysterious strangers. 'They seemed to be looking for something, too. If I watch him, they might show up again. If not, I will find them myself. Whatever the cost...' Only feets away from the cat and the woman, a goddess was watching both them and the pony-tailed boy. "What's taking them so long? Do I have to do this by myself?" Skuld wouldn't admit but she was nervous. She never had been on her own to solve a problem. There always was either Urd or Belldandy with her. Even when she learned to ride a bike, she couldn't have done it without Senta-kun. The boy she was looking for was on his way to the counter. Then she suddenly came to a realization. "Wait, he must be buying the tickets! Then he will go into the park!! But I don't have any money!" Nervously Skuld searched the vicinity for some water. Then she saw a booth beside the entrance. It had the washroom sign on its door. "Good. All I have to do is to teleport to the washroom inside the park. It's easy!" She probably wouldn't have said that if she knew that the booth was a PORTABLE washroom. When Tenchi finally reached the end of the line, he took a quick glance back to Sasami, who seemed to be listening to the music. He wasn't looking ahead and he bumped into someone. Tenchi was fairly built himself, but he had to step back a little from the impact. The other one was still standing still though. Tenchi scratched his head and apologized to the stranger. "Um, I am sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." The stranger, who Tenchi noted now to have a pigtail, grinned and answered back. "Nah, I wasn't looking myself. Nuthin' to worry about. I ain't hurt. You in the line, too?" "Huh? Oh, the line! Yes, I have to buy the tickets too. Please, you go ahead." "Really? Thanks, man."(4) With that, the boy tried to step in the line, just to get his pigtail caught by a short-haired girl in yellow blouse. "Ouch!" "What do you think you are doing, Ranma? Being rude to a stranger and all. Beside, Nabiki already got the tickets!"(5) "Alright, alright. Just let go of my hair, Akane!"(6) "Come on and hurry up! Everyone is waiting for us!" "Ouch ouch ouch! Okay! I'm coming, I'm coming! Just LET go of it already!" There was a large bead of sweat on Tenchi's head as he saw the girl practically dragging away the boy with his pigtail. "Alright, alright. I am coming, Geez!" After a few more complains from her fiancee, Akane finally let go of his pigtail in her hand, only to bonk him on his head. "Ouch! What was that for?" "That's for making all of us wait for you! You just had to go wonder around by yourself, didn't you?" "Man, didn't I say sorry?" "You better be! I've been looking forward to this. But look! We haven't put one step in the park and you already started to ruin the day!" "Ah, come on. It's not that bad yet." "But it WILL be bad if you keep acting without a care for the rest of us!" "Okay, okay. Geez. I step off for a sec and you are ready to tear my head off or something. You are so uncute."(7) "WHAT did you say?!" The best martial artist in Nerima was still no match for the most hot-headed lady in the entire Tokyo, as Ranma cringed and put his hands out for defence. "Not, nothing. I didn't say anything. Really!" "RANMAAAAAAAAAAA~!!" Only thought came up in Ranma's mind now was how long he would have to fly this time. A good thing that someone came to his rescue. A bad thing that the someone happened to be Nabiki. "Would you cut out the lover's quarrel? There are people watching, you know. If you keep this up, you guys are gonna be offered a TV series." A relieved sigh escaped from Ranma's mouth but Akane was still upset. She turned to face her sister to retort. "WE ARE NOT HAVING A LOVER'S QUARREL!! And nobody is watching us anyway......" Akane's sentence was cut short as she had noticed people watching them with keen interest. A embarassed blush came up to her cheek. However she soon took her control back and yelled at the audience around her. "This isn't none of your business!!" While some people flinched at her voice before they ran away, some still stayed and snickered at her. Soon they also left hurriedly, not because they weren't interested any more but because Akane punched a hole through a nearby mailbox.(8) Being the Ice Queen of Furinkan High, all Nabiki did was to raise an eyebrow. Then she took out a ticket out of her pocket, and held it in front of Ranma, who just blinked and stared at it. Again cooly, Nabiki spoke. "Your ticket." "Oh, okay." However, as soon as Ranma reached out to grab it, Nabiki pulled her hand back. "3000 yen." "What?! What for?!!" Ranma was surprised at Nabiki's reaction as she made a rather upset scowl at him. "Because while I was WAITING for you two outside here, the rest of the family are already inside having fun. You should be grateful that I actually WAITED for your sorry ass." Then Nabiki added after noticing Akane paled at hearing this. "Well, Akane. You went to get your lover-boy back here, so I am not mad at you." "He is NOT my lover-boy!" "Whatever. Here is your ticket." Nabiki took another ticket out of her pocket and gave it to Akane. Akane put it in her own pocket and turned away, but not before Nabiki added some more words. "Your charge is gonna be on your LOVER-BOY's account." Akane rolled her eyes and muttered "whatever," and ran towards the entrance. This actually put Nabiki in brief shock. She was expecting another "he is not my lover-boy" speech. To say she was disappointed was putting it mildy. But she didn't get to contemplate on this much longer, since she had an another upset customer to take care of. "WHAT?!!? I have to pay for Akane's, too!?!" "Well, yes, Ranma. A husband always have to take the responsibility for his wife's action, especially if the action was due to YOUR mishap." "She is NOT my wife! We didn't go through with that wedding!! You of all people should remember that, because you HELPED crashing it!" "Oh, so you WERE gonna marry Akane that day?" "That's not the point!!" Nabiki smirked. While Akane didn't show the reaction she had expected, Ranma still did. He was so predictable, and always reliable for her to get a laugh out of him, or out of his expence, depending on the situation. "Whatever. You want the ticket, or not?" "*sigh* Okay, fine. The usual rate?" "Of course. May I presume it will be on your tab?" "What do YOU think? You already cleaned me out last week." Even though there was clear irritation in Ranma's tone, Nabiki didn't faze at all, and answered him with the innocent-looking puppy eyes. "Oh, I don't know. I thought you might had some money drop out of sky, just like your fiancees." "*Grrr* Shut up. I gotta go to the washroom first." "Ho-ho-ho. Okay. See you later inside~." With satisfied smile, the middle Tendo daughter walked away to the entrance. Ranma muttered something like "moneyhog," or "smarty-mouth," but not in a voice loud enough to be heard. After all, he was already at the verge of bankruptcy. Ranma kept muttering as he walked. He was so into it that he failed to see a little girl standing, humming a song with her eyes closed. He almost bumped into her when he finally noticed the girl standing in his way. The little girl, who had two long ponytails on the sides of her head, also opened her eyes in time to find a stranger walking right up to her. "Eeeep!" But he wasn't "the best" martial artist just by the name. Ranma's replex took over quickly enough to avoid a contact with the girl. "Oopsie, that was close. Sorry, kid. Didn't watch where I was going." "Um, that's okay. I should have paid attention around me, too." "Nah, it was my fault. You okay? I scared ya a bit, didn't I?" "Hehe. I'm fine. I am just waiting for Tenchi-niichan." "Niichan? Your brother?" "Eh, something like that. Hehe." "?" Her answer confused Ranma a little. He forgot about it soon though, because he recognized the girl from the ice cream shop earlier. "Hey, weren't you at the ice cream shop down the street a moment ago?" "Huh?! Yes, I was. How did you know?" "I saw you there when I went there earlier today. With a guy who had a ponytail." "Yeah, that was Tenchi-niichan. But weird. I didn't see you there. I just saw a bunch of ladies there. I saw some guys there, but I didn't recognize your face......" "Oh, re, really?" Ranma began to sweatdrop. He just remembered that he was there as HER. It was no wonder the girl didn't remember him there. He was there in wrong gender. "I saw a redheaded lady with a pigtail like you, but......" "Oh, re, re, really?" Now Ranma was pouring sweat down his head. She DID remember him. But again, only in WRONG gender. Nervously he tried to divert the girl's attention. "Um, by the way, I am Ranma." "Huh?" "My name. Saotome Ranma." "Oh! I am Sasami!" Fortunately the girl seemed to have dropped the subject. Relieved, Ranma took his hand out towards Sasami. "Nice to meet you, Sasami-chan." The girl, Sasami, smiled brightly as she shook his hand and answered cheerfully. "Nice to meet you too, Ranma-niichan." Back in Sailor Pluto's castle, the Time Gate, which till now only had darkness on its surface, started to glow violently. Soon, the entire room was filled with bright light. The shock was so great that Setsuna almost bolted right up. She could feel the Time Gate acting up again, but in abnormal pattern. Being the Guardian of the magical relic, Sailor Pluto knew what to expect in almost every situation. However this time she was in a total loss. What made Setsuna more frustrated was the fact that the best suspect of this case had been under her surveillance whole time. She had watched the boy's every single movement, but so far he didn't do anything out of normal. Despite that, something had upset the timeline enough to re-activate the dormant Time Gate. Whether the boy did this or not, she would have to go back to her castle. "Luna, keep watching him. And tell the others to do the same when they come." "Huh? How about you..." When Luna turned her head, Setsuna was already gone. Her eyes widened, as she realized her predicament. She yelled, to particularly nowhere. "But what if he goes inside the park!?!?!?!?" Out of nowhere... no answer came. HONK! "Sorry about that!!" HONK HONK! "Excuse us!!" "Hey!!" "We are sorry!!" On the road to the park, a red car was creating a havoc. No. The red car WAS the havoc. On the driver's seat, Haruka was in her race mode, even though she was on the city road, not the one in a race track. On the shotgun seat, Michiru kept yelling apologies either to the honking cars beside them, or to the people who were running away from them. On the backseat, Hotaru, who already buckled up, held tightly onto the seat with her eyes closed. After she shouted another sorry to a group of nuns, Michiru took a moment to ask Haruka. "Um, can't we go any SLOWER?" "No time! That bastard could already be out of the city for all we know!" "Bu, but Setsuna's message said he was at the amusement park! It's only minutes away from here, on foot no less!!" "Hah! He might try to lose us in the crowd! We have to get there as fast as we can!" "Hey! Setsuna said that he MIGHT be the disturbance! She wasn't sure he was!" "She wasn't sure he wasn't, either! Good enough reason to beat him up for me~!" "NO IT'S NOT!!" On the back, a small word escaped from tightly shut mouth of Hotaru. "Mommy..." She definitely wasn't calling her Michiru-mama. A portable washroom was not very big. It barely could fit one grown-up man. Nasty smell surrounded it. Many people, how much in hurry they might have been, chose to run a little further to the nearby restaurant to use the can. However, Ranma was never a picky person. Living on the road for 10 years would do that to you. After he parted with Sasami, Ranma came to the nearest toilet he could find. While he knew it wasn't the best place to do his business, he was too lazy to hold it and to walk for another five minutes. It wasn't the best, or even the satisfactory middle, but it would do. A guy would never stay in the toilet longer than he had to. Especially if it was as smelly as this one. While not picky, Ranma still had a normal nose. Although it had higher threshold than a normal human, being trained by the smell of Akane's so-called cooking, his nose clearly told his brain that it REALLY didn't like here. So the brain ordered a quick evacuation. For once, all the parts of his body agreed to the brain's plan and hurried got out of there. When he came out, Ranma had another almost run-in with a girl. This girl had weird marking on her face, and, this Ranma looked twice to make sure, had a long, white mallet on her back. Due to the mallet, the girl lost her balance while trying to avoid an impact with him. Soon the girl was sitting on the road, rubbing her bottom. "Ouchouchouch. It hurts..." "Um, you okay?" "Uh, yeah......" Skuld was a bit baffled to find a very good-looking boy looking down at her. She realized how embarasshing her position was and stood up very quickly. The goddess was in hurry. She had to find some water before that boy went inside the park. Then she remembered one of Belldandy's advices, one that taught her to be more polite to the strangers. So she took a moment to grab the guy's hand and shook it. "How are you doing? My name's Skuld." "Um, I am Ranma. Nice to meet you, Skuld..." Sailor Pluto was now back in her room inside her castle. She was studying the glowing Time Gate carefully, when it suddenly started to shine more brightly. Setsuna covered her eyes with her hand, and was very shocked. The Time Gate was now beginning to produce some omnious vibration. "What's going on?" When Skuld finally let go of his hand, Ranma dumbly stared at his hand. She almost dismissed it, but the look on his face seemed too weird. The goddess just had to ask. "Eh, what's wrong?" They say the curiosity killed the cat. This time, it just made the goddess WISH she was dead. "Um, I didn't wash my hand yet......" "EEEEEEEEHHHHHHHH?!?!?!" For a moment, Skuld became a frozen statue. Soon her face became bright red as all the blood in her body seemed to rush up to the veins on her cheek. Then it turned as white as sheet as all the color drained out of it. Suddenly the goddess ran into the washroom and slammed the door shut. SLAM!! A second later, she kicked it open and exhaled very loudly. "Fehhhhhhhhhhh! What's this smell!?! And why isn't there any water?!? What kind of washroom is this?!?!?" Ranma, still with blank expression on his face, slowly pointed his finger towards the direction of the restaurant. "This is a portable washroom. I think there is a restaurant over there..." His words brought a rather bad blush on her cheek, since she realized her mistake. But Skuld quickly composed herself. "Thank you, um, Ranma-san. I will, um, go now. Eh, bye." As soon as she finished her words, the goddess of the future dashed away from Ranma. She didn't know it was the opposite of where Ranma was pointing. Ranma blinked, but shrugged his shoulders, and walked towards nearby water fountain to wash his hands. At the entrance Tenchi was with Sasami, waiting in the line in front of ticket collector. But when their turn came, Tenchi suddenly stopped and smacked his forehead. He just remembered something important. "Darn! I almost forgot about that!" "Huh? What's wrong, Tenchi-niichan?" "Grandpa told me that he was gonna visit today for dinner. He isn't gonna be happy when he finds out I have left without telling anyone." "Don't worry! I put the dinner in the refridgerator. I told Kiyone to heat it up later. There should be enough for everyone!" "Oh, really? That's good." Tenchi was glad to hear that, but people behind them wasn't all that glad to wait for him. "Hey!! What's taking so long over there?! Hurry up!" "Yeah! We haven't got all day!" "So, sorry!!" Tenchi bowed to the shouting crowd. Then he gave their tickets to the collector, and ran out of there quickly. A second later he came back, just to grab the bewildered Sasami, and ran out just as quickly as before. Back to the Masaki Mansion, Masaki Katsuhito, also known as Yosho the crown prince of Jurai, made his way to the house. It wasn't dinnertime yet. In fact, it was only late afternoon. But there was nothing to do in the shrine today, and he was in a mood for a game of shogi with his son-in-law. 'I hope Nobuyuki is back home by now.' Soon he stood in front of the house. Nobuyuki's car was parked outside the house. That was a good sign. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!" Nobuyuki's scream shook the house. That was a bad sign. Katsuhito stood there, blinking his eyes as the agonizing scream of pain rattled the window. Inside the house, Nobuyuki was in his bed. However, he wasn't asleep. A man couldn't normally be sleeping if his arm was being punctured with a very sharp needle. Repeatedly. Especially if it was in Mihoshi's hand. "Oh my. I think I did it wrong again. Let me see... The instruction said to find the vein... But what is 'the vein,' anyway? Do you know, Nobuyuki-san? Nobuyuki-san?" Nobuyuki was out cold. "Oh well. It's gotta be here somewhere. I am just gonna have to do it over until I find it. I found Washu-chan's vein in an hour... but Nobuyuki-san's arm is so thick. I might have to do this for about TWO hours then." It was then when Nobuyuki opened his eyes and came back to the reality. Sadly, it was very, VERY harsh one. "Heeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllppppppppppppppppp!!!!!!! Anyone, HEEEEELLLLPPP!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!!!!" Outside of the house, Katsuhito turned back towards the shrine, leaving the painful voice of his son-in-law behind. It seemed he would have to satisfy his stomach with only rice and pickle tonight. However, it would be better to go hungry than to face whatever horror lied in the Masaki house. Living for seven hundred years gave him many experiences enough to defuse any dangerous situation, but it also gave him wisdom to know when to avoid such a situation. Right now his survival instinct told him that it was time to run. But it wasn't fast enough, as he stumbled on a rock and fell. Crash! "Umph!" The priest held on to his nose when he stood up. He seemed to have banged his nose on the ground when he fell. Katsuhito wondered how this could be. He normally wasn't clumsy like this. "Who's there? Katsuhito-san? Oh my! Look at yourself! You are hurt!" "Mi, Mihoshi-kun? Um, it's nothing, really. I was just passing by. Then good day to you. Bye!" "Oh no, you don't! We have to look at your nose. It might be broken!" "No no! It's not broken. Beside, I don't want to be a burden..." "No problem! Today everyone is either hurt or passed out. I've been taking good care of them. One more wouldn't be a burden at all!" "No, really! I am okay! Mihoshi-kun! Please let go of me! Mihoshi-kun!!" That was the last heard words of Katsuhito before he was dragged inside of the House of Doom. A peaceful day. On a parking lot near the amusement park, people walked towards the entrance after they parked, occasionally exchanging words between them. Screeech! All of sudden, a red car blazed its way through the gate. It took a quick curve, barely missing a parked car. It went into a lot fast, and stopped abruptly. In the middle of the scared and shocked eyes of people around, the car door opened, and the driver, a young woman with short hair, stepped out. She blinked when she noticed people's nervous glance, and spoke. "What?" Kaboom! A loud boom rang through the air as everyone in the parking lot facefaulted almost at the same time. "Geez, what's their problem?" Michiru, who was now stepping out also, answered in rather sacastic tone. "Who knows? It's not like they just saw a maniac who drives 200km/hr on the city road." "What 200? I only drove up to 150. I didn't want to kill anyone by mistake." Crash! Rather small compared to before, the facefault of the long-haired Senshi still looked very painful. Michiru rubbed her head as she stood up. It was a miracle they hadn't been pulled over. They DID meet a cop on the way. But he didn't seem able since he knocked himself out when he jumped into a post trying to avoid their car. Beside the car Hotaru was trying to hold the vomit down her throat. As soon as Michiru and Hotaru got hold of themselves again, the Outers ran towards the entrance. Well, Haruka ran. Michiru and Hotaru was being dragged by her. With their free hand, Michiru rubbed her head again, and Hotaru covered her mouth, trying not to throw up. When they arrived at the entrance, they were quickly met by Luna. The cat glanced around carefully, and nodded towards a bench near them. The Outers nodded and walked to the bench, carrying Luna with them. They finally sat down, and Luna spoke. "I am glad you are here. You guys got here fast." "*sigh* You have no idea." Luna blinked at Michiru's comment, and blinked some more when she saw Hotaru covering her mouth again as if she was going to throw up. Haruka was acting normal though. "Um, okay. Anyway, the boy already went inside. Setsuna disappeared again, but I don't know why. I haven't been able to contact the Inners yet." "Okay, we will follow the boy inside. Whatever it is, Setsuna must have a good reason to leave like that. She always do. For the Inners, tell them to split up inside the park to look for the boy in case we can't find him......" Haruka stopped in the middle of her sentence because now all three people, well, two people and a cat, were dumbly staring at her. "What?" "No, nothing. I think it's a good idea. Don't you think so, Luna?" "Ye, yes. I do. Don't you, Hotaru?" "Um, yes." Haruka scratched her head in confusion. She had no idea what was wrong with them, but she soon dismissed it. Michiru smiled at her partner. Despite her hot-headed personality, Haruka was very intelligent and responsible, at times(9). Her quick temper also helped her make a quick decision and act upon it just as quickly. Michiru was glad to be her partner. Luna was amazed too. She was always worried that the Outers might have some conflict with the Inners due to their difference in their point of views. But at times like this, Haruka seemed very reliable and trustworthy. The cat couldn't help but to feel a bit proud to be on same side with her. Hotaru kept her silence, but she was also very proud of her Haruka-papa. Haruka-papa mightly be a girl physically, but she showed enough strength to give Hotaru much-needed paternal guidance. The young Senshi felt secure in the presence of Sailor Uranus. "Okay, then let's go! Luna, stay here and wait for the rest of them!" "Will do. Please be careful, Haruka. The rest of you, too." "No problem! Let's go, guys!" The Outers ran to the entrance. They had a job to do, and there was no time to waste. Too bad they forgot to buy the ticket, or they might have actually looked really cool. A girl, no a goddess, ran through the street, looking for something. Skuld was in hurry. She had to find some water fast. Not to travel though. She just shook a guy's hand, fresh(?) out of washroom. Wash first, teleport later. Her hands already started to feel itchy, not to mention icky. A man was coming out of a van marked "Gorgeous TV's" on its side. He was carrying a TV. His boss put Kasuke on the delivery position when he freaked out, screaming his head off while running around the neighborhood. It was rather hard to move all those heavy TV's, but now he didn't get to see that strange lady any more. '*sigh* Maybe she WAS just my imagination.' Today's job was to deliver this TV to a restaurant near the amusement park. They were expecting this one today, and the boss didn't like it if he was late on the promised schedule. A very good merchant, the boss said, would never make his customer wait. That was the shop's motto, and his boss made sure to follow that phrase to the letter. When he arrived at the shop, an old lady was tending the counter. "Delivery! I got your TV here." "Oh, you came! I really like your store. Always so dependable." "Um, thanks. Could you sign here, and here?" "Sure. There you go." "Thank you. Now, where should I put this?" "Oh, just leave it there. I'll tell my son to put it up. Oh, could you do me a favor?" "Um, what is it, ma'am?" "Well, I was going to water the front of the restaurant, today being so hot and all. Could you just put this bucket outside on you way out, while I go and call my son? I would really appreciate it." "Sure, no problem, ma'am. Have a good day." "Thank you. You have a good day, too." Kasuke lifted the bucket full of water, and stepped outside. When he put it down, however, a girl with a long mallet on her back rushed to his side and began to wash her hand. He was very confused to say the least. But he was more surprised when she finished washing. "Whew, that should be enough! Eww, I don't feel good traveling through this... but I have no choice... *sigh*" Then she jumped INTO the bucket, and disappeared. Kasuke blinked. Then he screamed. Back at the ice cream shop. "Thank you, come again!" Urd bowed to another customers in her uniform. It was fortunate that she could work her debt off. Unfortunate news was that she had rather large debt. It seemed she won't be coming home tonight. This was all of that brat's fault. "When I get hands on her, I will make her pay!!!" Thwack! "No yelling behind the counter!" "Yessir!" Back at their home, Keiichi, a very really young Keiichi, with slumbering shoulder, dumbfoundly stared at the blank TV screen. "When is Urd coming back?" Back at the restaurant, the old lady came out to find a very strange scene in front of her store. "A girl, mallet, hands, wash, bucket, jump, boom! Gone, girl, mallet, gone!!" The delivery man was waving his hands in the air and screaming top of his lungs. All she could do was just to watch him go all out. "...I heard watching TV could do some bad to people, but I had no idea carrying one TV could do that. Maybe I should tell my son not to put up the TV..." Chapter 2 end. It's coming! Stallion Chapter 3! < For every hero, he requires a villain. For him to look GOOD, he needs damsels in distress. > (1) If you saw Tenchi Muyo, then you don't need an explanation for this. Really. You really don't. (2) Urd always labels her potions with her secret code. The code table was invented by Urd, and it ain't a pretty one. (3) She had had to guide Usagi to be Sailor Moon, for goodness' sake. Do you think that's an easy job? (4) The school of Genma had no course on such things as manner or courtesy... (5) Nabiki didn't pay a penny for those tickets...... I won't tell you where they came from though. As I said in the disclaimer, I haven't got a penny...... (6) No it's not typo. Yes he's still Ranma. No he didn't call her "kwaiikune tomboy." Like I said before, he changed. Changed a lot. (7) He has changed, but not by THAT much. (8) That day, Tokyo postal office made a purchase of two brand-new, custome-made, TITANIUM SUPER ENDURANCE mailboxes. (9) How rare it may be...... Finally! Sorry to make you people wait for the second part. It was the exam week. I will get the next chapter asap!!