[Ranma][FanFic] The Bet - Featherbrite's Tale 4b
MetroAnime
by Gregg Sharp based on Rumiko Takahashi's situations/char
other char TM other authors.
Metro...@aol.com
http://members.aol.com/greggsharp/index.html
4b: Ah No! Chigau!
-----Rooftop of "All Nerima Chocolates"-----------
"Jazz," M said with a nod as he walked to
the edge of the building.
The heavyset ex-wrestler nodded and
handed the MiB agent the odd looking binoculars.
M looked through the binoculars and
wondered if he'd EVER get used to this stuff. "That's
them?"
"Yeah," Jazz said. "I can't get too close,
the faerie would be able to detect my presence. Not
to mention the Gun."
"Outside my usual range," admitted M.
"I've usually got my hands full dealing with alien
superscience and beings from outer space."
"Yeah, they ARE a handful." Jazz pulled
another gadget out of his pocket.
"Nah, most of 'em are quiet types. That's
why they come here mainly. Like people who get
tired of big city life and want to retire to some quiet
spot out in the country. Most of the problems are
from illegal aliens, political refugees, the occasional
hunter or (even worse) teenagers."
"Well, my branch deals with the other side
of the coin. This is WELL within my jurisdiction." Jazz
regarded M and jerked a thumb towards the dojo. "You
get to deal with your intergalactic conmen and bug hunters,
while I get to deal with busybody demons, ecological
terrorist werewolves, and the like. Hell, you know how
many copies of the Necronomicon I had to burn last
year?"
"Better you than me. This, this ain't nothing."
"Got that right. We got a couple of cursed
martial artists, a pixie, an amazon, and multiple intrusions
into the Faerie Realm. No problem. You remember that case
last year?"
"I could forget 'Blecch The Devourer'? No way.
Now THERE was a menace. Evil, mean, nasty, vampire
demon shapeshifting thing from outer space." M handed
the binoculars back to Jazz, then lit a cigarette. "None of
this surveillance crap. Just go in with my 'Little Cricket' and
blast the hell out of it."
"Nah, I tagged it with Baby here." Jazz patted the
gun at his hip.
"Did not," M slipped back into the familiar argument
without taking his eyes off the dojo.
"Did so!" Jazz let a grin crease his face. "The 'Little
Cricket' fires an ultrasonic beam. Baby fires godsfire. Which do
you think really hurt that slimeball?"
"Hey, you only hurt what you hit. And I nailed that
sucker."
"Did not."
"Did so."
------------Tendo-ke, Nerima-----------------
Nabiki woke up, stretched, and realized she
felt GOOD. Fully awake, fully energized, and ready to
take on the world (or at least Furinkan.) Also somewhat
ravenous and not entirely sure WHAT had happened
last night.
There was a sleeping Ranma over there, in
male form. From the look of things, he'd been in a fight
last night.
"Oh no, Akane!" Nabiki hurried to her
youngest sister's room. Akane wasn't there, but there
was Shampoo sweeping up what appeared to be some
sort of black dust.
"Nihao, Na-bi-ki. Shampoo just cleaning up
here. You have good sleep with airen?"
Certain details of certain dreams came back to
Nabiki. She blushed. "Y-yes. We...I slept fine."
There was a snapping noise and Shampoo
noted that the broomstick she had been holding had
somehow broken. "Oops. Shampoo not know how that
happen."(1)
Nabiki nodded and left the amazon to the
cleanup, wondering at the intensity of the dreams she
had experienced the previous night. She also completely
missed the look Shampoo shot at her.
Ranma passed her on the stairs as he headed
for the kitchen. The sound of Kasumi happily humming
was briefly interrupted by Ranma's request for food.
Nabiki glanced into Kasumi's room and noted
that Akane was sprawled out over a futon and snoring.
She wouldn't admit how relieved that made her feel.
Genma's room had the odor of liquor emanating
from it, as well as the annoying smell of damp panda.
Nabiki shook her head. She'd get the details
later. Right now she had to get ready for school, and it
looked like getting a ride from Ranma would be out of the
question for today.
------------Furinkan SHS----------------
Hikaru Gosunkugi was torn. He could collect a few hair
samples, maybe a piece of wing, and he was sure he could use the
faerie magic to make Akane love him. He knew that they would
then be happy together.(2)
Instead, there was a problem. It was easy to overhear
conversations when almost everyone ignored your existence. Such
as the conversation between Hisakawa-sensei and certain others.
He could warn Ranma, and try to get the boy to change
to his yousei form so that he could get those ingredients as repayment.
Alternatively, Gosunkugi could see himself just waiting for the rescue
attempt and then capturing the pixie.
He could see the faerie, and he knew what that meant. He,
Hikaru Gosunkugi, had magic in his blood. That he finally had some
confirmation of what he had always felt to be the case was doing
wonders for his self-esteem.
Now if he could just figure out what to do.
-----------Myou No Maru, Tokyo Harbor-------------------
"<Praise all the gods, LAND!>"
Vanilla's red eyes regarded Shammi with her usual
lack of emotion. "<You do realize that we've got to make the
same trip on the way back home?>"
Rei Ga sniffed the air. "<Eeeeeewww. What IS that
smell? How can people bear to live in such foul conditions?>"
Di Na didn't say anything beyond a mumbled plea
for someone to please stop making the ship move up and down
like that.
Observing the amazons with a smirk, Nathan nodded
to Tolkein and sniffed at the freshly brewed coffee in his hands.
"Long shift?"
Tolkein shrugged slightly and continued to study the
waterline. "We managed to do okay last night. Netted more fish,
so we can do the sale. Looks like Lao met up with the Dutchman last
night if the traces were correct, we stayed clear of course."
Nathan Brazil nodded again. Those two were considered
"Hazards To Navigation" and did not get along together. They never
actually fought a battle but would get really careless with their
"warning shots." Being in the immediate vicinity of both would be bad.
"The amazons mainly slept, I got 'em blankets out of storage.
Tried to figure out the albino. You ever see anything like her before?"
"Yeah," Nathan sipped at his coffee again. He didn't
elaborate, which was enough of an answer for the shapeshifted
dragon.
---------Tendo-ke, Nerima-----------
"Shampoo is taking the ashes to the harbor to dispose
of them." Kasumi smiled at her sister. "Ranma's out training. Nabiki
wanted to get to school early today. Father and Mister Saotome are
both still asleep today."
Akane nodded. She'd wanted to thank Shampoo. She
found herself with an entirely new appreciation for the Amazon.
The bouncy girl with the kawaii voice that spoke in pidgin had
proven herself a capable warrior. The two times she had made an
attack it had been with grace and strength. The bokken had been
thrust at a precise angle so that it had missed Ranma yet had
gone straight through the heart of the vampire.
Each blow had been precise, with no wasted movements.
Akane had reviewed the scene several times in her mind and had
come to one inescapable conclusion. Shampoo would be a MUCH
better friend than an enemy.
Ranma hadn't been bad either. He'd risked his life to
distract the vampire so that Shampoo could strike the killing blow.
Certainly, even with his fast healing, being hauled up by the neck
like that HAD to have hurt.
Akane brightened. She could show her appreciation for
both of them by making them cookies! From overhearing Shampoo
talking to Kasumi, Akane knew that her home village was a little on
the primitive side. She'd probably never had homemade cookies
before. As for Ranma, being dragged all over Japan and China, he
probably hadn't had them very often himself.
Akane smiled. Just as soon as she got home from school,
she'd be sure to whip up a couple of batches of cookies.
------------Tokyo Harbor, Dock 47-------------------
Shampoo looked up at the sky. Had that been thunder?
There was some overcast, but it didn't look like thunderclouds to
her practiced eye.(3)
She finished tapping the ashes into the water below
the pier. Shampoo didn't want to get too much closer to that water,
as the water didn't look that clean.
Smiling, Shampoo tossed the box into a trash receptacle,
and began her trip back to the Tendo household. She needed to help
Kasumi out, then she could get registered for school! Many, many,
hours spent with her airen, and she could ask him for help with her
homework!
She was so distracted by this vision that she failed to
notice that she was being followed. This was also a testament to
the skill of the tracker.
Di Na grinned. They would find out what was going on,
check on Shampoo's progress, then leave. They'd be back in
the village within the week! Using the special jar, Di Na could then
bring the pixie home and Elder Di Mon would have a way to increase
her power beyond that of her rival Cologne!
Rei Ga, having swapped the "demon catching jar" for
a pickle jar earlier in the journey, wondered exactly what was going
on anyway.
----------------Myou no Maru, Dock 13, Tokyo Harbor-----
There was one scrambler and an encryption device on
each end, and both of the people speaking were using a dialect
of an obscure form of Old Norse. It was deemed enough for
a brief conversation, so long as major secrets were not broached.
"<Tiger here,>" came Tanaka's voice from the speaker.
"<Any further observations?>"
"<Mixed bag, that's what I'm thinking,>" Captain Fujii
put aside her lurid romance novel to stare thoughtfully at the ceiling.
"<Each of the amazons has got her own agenda. Looks like the
reappearance of a faerie has started all sorts of repercussions.>"
"<You're telling me. The witch-hunters over at Interpol
are running surveillance, the MiB's mainly watching Interpol, and
the Yakuza have gotten interested now.>"
"<Japanese mafia?>" Fujii scowled. "<Let me guess,
small packet trade?>"
"<More like favors given and received. They also
probably don't want competition in smuggling.>" "Tiger"
Tanaka paused. "<You know, all we need is James to show
up. I haven't seen this much scurrying around since the
last time he was in Japan.>"
"<No thank you,>" Fujii rolled her eyes. "<Her
Majesty's Secret Service causes entirely too much collateral
damage. I like my ship intact, thank you. If I even see a hint
of them, a Garou warpack, or just ONE of the Seven Seals,
I'm heading for a warm port out of the blast zone.>"
"<Things will quiet down, don't sweat it.>"
Tiger chuckled. "<Now about the amazons?>"
"<The Nichieju matriarchy is divided into a
single Matriarch and representitives of the major castes,
which forms the Elder Council. At least according to my
crewmen. The players here are Elder Di Mon, a mage
whose cauldron reputedly has a few cracks in it. She
wants the faerie. If the dragon's right, probably for use
in ritual magic or to open the gates to the Faerie Realm
so she can access the magic there. Opposing is Cologne,
the current Matriarch.
"<Elder Han Ki is opposing Di Mon, supporting
Cologne, but the agent has her own agenda. Uncertain of
what THAT is, other than she dislikes Cologne's great
granddaughter. No clue what the albino, Vanilla, is after.
She represents Elder Cherry, who represents the craftswomen
in the council. Again, no definite reason for an artist to
be in on this, though she doesn't get along with most of
the Elders apparently.>"
"<So you see no reason for us to get involved,
as this is an internal matter of the Amazons?>"
"<Exactly. Now if you don't mind, Tiger-chan...>"
"<Understood, Tiger out.>"
With a relieved sigh, Fujii turned back to the
story of the dashing swashbuckler and the young Spanish
maiden (currently dealing with the swashbuckler rising to
the occasion.)
-------------Another rooftop in Nerima-----------------
"So why not just run a quick Snatch job,"
the thug said as he straightened his jacket. "Just go
in real quick, beat the snot outta the girl, then throw her
in the back of a van and off we go. Happens alla time."
Isao sighed. He chose to let one of his other
associates talk to the Talent.
"Because, my strong but slow friend," Yotsuya
spoke in his usual smarmy tone. "The girl in question is
actually a boy martial artist of considerable speed and
talent with a shapeshifting curse."
Unari considered that, at least as well as he was
able. "I thought she was some kinda fairy..."
"The girl indeed has both human and faerie
characteristics," Yotsuya agreed. "While your own skills
make you invaluable to our grandfather in the Yakuza,
the girl has...other qualities our associate wishes to study."
Unari nodded. He still didn't understand why
they didn't just run a Snatch but understood that they had
a reason for doing it another way.
Yotsuya watched the big man go off to join
the other low-level thugs. "I'm ashamed to actually have
kinship with such clods."
"You know what they say," Isao remarked. He
raised the binoculars to watch the house. "You can choose
your friends, but you can't choose your...family."
Isao grinned. He had an idea. "Leave one man
behind to monitor, we've got a couple of errands to run, boys."
---------A small park, Furinkan ward, Nerima----
Kasumi blinked as they came up to
an unremarkable area in between two old trees.
She couldn't see why this place was special.
"Pardon me, but are you sure about
this? Why here?"
"Shampoo thought Big Sister was
leading..." Shampoo clapped a hand over her
eyes. Sometimes she thought her new friend
might be lovable but was not entirely there.
"Now, Shampoo, I'm sure Kasumi
was following someone ELSE." Nabiki kept
watching the way Kasumi's eyes focussed on
some point that flitted around in midair. While
Nabiki couldn't see the faerie, she knew that
everyone here believed in it at this point. Akane
was still sure everyone was just humoring
Ranma, and that it was an imaginary friend.
Featherbrite flicked from one of
the girls to the next, then began the tricky
part.
Nabiki drew in a startled breath
as sparkling motes of light shot around all
three of them, a technicolor comet whose
tail grew longer as it continued to move.
A circle, Nabiki realized, the tail of
the "comet" would lengthen to the point where
the head would catch it in a few seconds.
Shampoo dropped into a defensive
posture, having an instinctive dislike for being
contained - even if it was merely multicolored
sparkles of light that faded out a few moments
later.
Kasumi merely waited patiently.
How nice. A faerie ring.
The comet became a circle then faded.
The wind whipped through the empty area in
Bumblebee Park.
---------------Somewhere in Furinkan---------------
"<You shall not bar my way!>" Shammi
drew her nunchaku. "<How dare you (a mere male)
interfere with the mission of a member of the
Nichieju!>"
"Huh? Hey, speak Japanese!" The
boy glared at the oddly dressed woman. "Better yet,
leave me alone, I'm on a Quest For Vengeance."
"You tell him, Shammi!" Rei Ga called out
in Japanese, then realized that her companion did
not speak that language. Really, it was so rude to
go to another country and not learn at least some of
the native's language. "<Don't accept him talking
back to you like that!>"
Swinging her nunchaku in a complicated
pattern, Shammi snarled. So he _was_ talking back to
her. She'd show him! She'd show all of them! She was
just as good a fighter as Shampoo.
"<We don't have time for this, Shampoo is
getting away!>" Di Na pointed towards the park. She
was sure that they could catch up with them soon, but
if this was going to be a proctracted fight...
"Look, whoever you are, I don't fight girls.
So just go away nicely, will you?" Ryouga tried not
to show how miffed he was at having some girl slam
into him with enough force to bowl him over.
"<Hey, he just said that he didn't consider
you a worthy opponent?!>" Rei Ga wasn't completely
sure, the boy had spoken too quickly, but that was
what it had sounded like...
Shammi began to glow a fitful blue. "<You...
YOU...YOU DARE!!!>" This was hitting her right where
it hurt. She knew others considered her skills to be
less than stellar, and it rankled. "DIE!"
Ryouga took a step back. "Uh oh."
========================================
(1) Anyone believe this? Nah, I didn't think so.
(2) Gosunkugi is mean, petty, spiteful, cowardly, and
has no sense of honor. His preferred method of attack involves
the victim being unaware of his presence or incapacitated. That
does not mean he can't be salvaged, just that it would require
some work.
(3) A village of warrior/farmers in a mountain region.
As i understand it, the Bayankala range is mainly rocky
mountains with little in the way of topsoil and vegetation.
In some ways this could be similar to the area near Canyon
du Chelly. Flash floods are likely. Weather sense becomes a
survival trait.
<clip to 4c> when ready
Next time: Genma gets an offer he can't refuse...
yes this segment is mainly to set up for the 4c segment...