[AMG/Ranma/SM][FanFic] A Certain Distance - Prologue and Chapter One
Rob Kelk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's preface:
I've noticed a quite few fanfics lately that are crossover stories
between "Ranma 1/2" and "Sailor Moon". The thing is, they all seem a
little "off" to me. Ranma joining up with the Sailor Team in so many of
these crossovers gnaws at my suspension of disbelief - Ranma's not the
kind of person to join any long-term group, IMHO.
Rather than moan and complain, I decided to try my hand at writing one
of these crossovers. Of course, I can't just do things the same way
everyone else does - what would be the point? Thus, I added a third
anime to the mix ... Here's the result.
My thanks to Heather Monson and the ATU-ML for pre-reading, and to David
Watson for his help with the story's title (which works so well on so
many levels).
- Rob Kelk, rob...@ottawa.com
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Legal disclaimer:
"Aah! Megami-sama" (or "Oh My Goddess!") was created by Fujishima
Kosuke, and is licenced to Kodansha and AnimEigo.
"Ranma 1/2" was created by Takahashi Rumiko, and is licenced to
Shogakukan Inc., Kitty, Fuji TV, and Viz Communications Inc.
"Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon" (or "Sailor Moon") was created by Takeuchi
Naoko, and is licenced to Koudansha, TV Asahi, Toei Douga, and DIC
Entertainment, L.P.
No challenge is intended to any of these intellectual properties.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prologue
~~~~~~~~
Whatever it was, it was dark.
And malevolent.
And cold.
And on a course that would take it too close to the Solar System for
comfort.
But the Outer Senshi were on guard, ready for just such an eventuality.
At least, they *thought* they were ready ...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Please observe this event, on the outskirts of the System."
"This does not bode well for the Earth."
"The Earth itself will survive, as will the humans. They will merely
lose the capacity for war."
"Is that not as bad? There are many dangers the Humans will have to
face as they expand into space, and some of them will require that they
all be able to fight for their rights, or perhaps for their very
survival."
"You speak wisely."
"What of my daughters?"
"You have the gift of foresight. You know they will remain on Earth
for the foreseeable future."
"I know it is against our ways to interfere, but at least let them
take part in the defence of the Earth!"
"Very well. Your youngest must be made ready. Do you have any
objection to this plan?" With that question, information passed between
the two at the speed of thought.
"Sir, I have no objections. I wish she did not need to be forced into
her powers, though ..."
"There is no real alternative, is there?"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Whatever it was, it was dark.
And malevolent.
And cold.
And now, thanks to the attention paid it by the Outer Senshi, it was
aware that there was life in the Solar System.
It changed course, heading straight for Earth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coming in Chapter One:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Most of the heroes are gathered together.
"They're *both* his fiancees?" Usagi was stunned.
"I can't believe it either." Ami was equally shocked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter One - A New School, and New to School
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The repair budget is completely drained." The auditor's announcement
wasn't news to anyone on the school board - various Nerima construction
crews were regular visitors to Furinkan High School.
"So what can we do about it?" The school's vice-principal (nobody
trusted Principal Kuno enough to invite him to these meetings) held up a
collection of photographs. "The problems started when the principal's
son announced that anyone who wanted to date Tendo Akane had to defeat
her in combat. The problems got worse when Tendo's fiancee, Saotome
Ranma, started attending the school. And now that Saotome's
self-proclaimed 'master' shows up on a regular basis, the school suffers
damage almost continuously."
There was silence for a moment. One of the newer teachers finally
asked, "Can't we just expel the problem students?"
"No," replied the vice-principal. "Tendo is a good student, and hasn't
done anything deserving of explusion. She's just the focal point for
the rest of them. Kuno is the principal's son, so we can't expel him.
We've all seen how nasty Saotome can get when he's angry - do you want
to tell him he's been expelled? And most of the other troublemakers
aren't students here. The only one that is is that Kuonji girl, and
she's nowhere near as bad as the others are."
"That comment about Saotome seems rather cowardly, sir."
"You're right. I would prefer to avoid a stay in the hospital, no
matter how small the chance is that he'd become angry. Does anyone else
have any ideas?"
The silence was longer this time.
Finally, the vice-principal's temporary secretary (his usual secretary
being off sick) spoke up. "Couldn't we transfer some of the problem
students to another school?"
"That's a great idea, Meiou-san!" The vice-principal smiled, then
frowned. "But which school would we send them to?"
Meiou looked through the students' personal records. "It says here that
Saotome's mother lives in Juuban. Can't we send him to one of the
schools there?"
"Yes! Let's send them all there!"
The part-time secretary stared at her boss, who eventually wilted. "If
we send them all to the same school, that simply moves the problem.
However, if we keep the principal's son here, part of the problem is
solved."
"You have a good point there. Please start the paperwork as soon as
this meeting is finished."
Meiou Setsuna smiled. The Plan was proceeding on schedule.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Meanwhile, in Juuban, three young ladies were standing on the sidewalk
across the street from the high school in question. The youngest, who
looked to be barely old enough to attend the school, was smiling. The
oldest, who might have been a college graduate, was scowling, and not
just because of the youngest's attitude ...
"Wow! This is great! This *is* the right place, right?"
"Somebody *please* tell me we took a wrong turn somewhere. This place
is ugly - no better than almost every other school in this city. And
it's so far from home, too! Maybe we should find someplace else for
you ..."
"*You* shut up - I like it here. Please tell me I get to go to this
school, big sister!"
The third member of the group smiled. "Of course. This is the address
that was included in the message we received, after all. Are you
nervous?"
"Yeah, a bit, but it isn't my choice to make, is it? His message said I
have to go to school to learn how people behave around here, so I have
to go to school. But why *this* school, big sister?"
"I don't know ..."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A week later, two close friends were walking into the yard in front of
that same school.
"Did you hear the news? We're getting four new students in class
today!" Tsukino Usagi could barely keep her enthusiasm in check. "I
hope they'll be friends with us!"
"I hope so too, Usagi. The alternative could be disquieting."
"Ami, sometimes I don't quite understand you. Do you think anyone who
isn't a friend is an enemy?"
"No, I didn't mean that. It just seems sometimes that every new face
hides a new enemy. Even the friendly newcomers are sometimes evil, like
Ail and Ann."
"And sometimes they're not, like you and Makoto."
Mizuno Ami smiled. "I hope you're right, Usagi. I'm getting tired of
fighting everyone who comes along." She looked at her watch. "We'd
better hurry inside; class is about to start."
"Okay ..." And the two girls took their seats with half a minute to
spare.
Once the teacher was finished calling the roll, she opened the door and
looked down the hall, then came back into the classroom. "Some of you
already know that there are some new students arriving today. Three of
them are transfer students from Furinkan, in Nerima." She noticed the
looks on some of the students' faces. "Yes, *that* school. Please try
not to look too shocked at anything they might say. The other person is
a foreign exchange student who placed well enough on her exams to pass a
few grades ..."
Just then, there was a bone-jarring THUD against the wall beside the
classroom, followed by the phrase "What'd you do *that* for?"
The teacher stepped into the hallway and returned with three students in
tow - two girls and one (slightly bruised) boy. "Here are three of your
new classmates. Please introduce yourselves."
The boy stepped forward. "The name's Saotome Ranma. I'm a martial
artist, and I don't see why I gotta put up with all this schoolwork."
["Wow! He's a hunk!"] Usagi whispered to Ami.
["I thought you were in love with Mamoru,"] Ami whispered back.
["I can still look at other guys, can't I?"]
Meanwhile, one of the girls had stepped forward. "My name is Tendo
Akane. I'm pleased to meet you."
The other girl stepped forward. "I'm Kuonji Ukyo, Ranma-honey's cute
fiancee."
["Fiancee?"] gasped three-quarters of the females in the class.
"Hey! Don't go spreading wild rumours like that, Ukyo!"
"C'mon, Akane, we both know Ranma-honey's going to pick me, not an
uncute fiancee like you."
"That's a lie!"
["They're *both* his fiancees?"] Usagi was stunned.
["I can't believe it either."] Ami was equally shocked.
The teacher finally got the two new students to settle down. "That's
quite enough, you two. Ranma, please take the vacant seat beside Naru."
The redhead waved at the mention of her name. "Akane, Ukyo, please take
the seats on either side of Usagi. Maybe she'll be able to get you two
to behave in the classroom."
The three transfer students took their places in silence. It was
obvious that Akane was upset about losing her temper in front of her new
classmates, so everyone left her alone. Well, *almost* everyone left
her alone ...
["Hi! You're Akane, right? I'm Tsukino Usagi. Do you want to have
lunch with me and my friends today?"]
Akane smiled. Maybe things weren't as bad as she thought. ["Thanks,
Usagi, but I promised Ranma I'd have lunch with him,"] she whispered
back.
["Oh, he can join us, too!"]
["All right, then."]
"Excuse me, sensei ..."
"Yes, Ami?"
"Didn't you say there were four new students joining us today?"
"That's right, I did. I don't know where the other student is." Just
then, there was a knock at the door. "Perhaps that's her now." The
teacher opened the door, then let the person waiting come in. "You're
late."
The girl, a young gaijin with long black hair, looked like she was about
to cry. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I missed the train, and had to wait for the
next one. It won't happen again, I promise."
"All right," replied the teacher after a moment's thought. "I'll let it
go this time. Please introduce yourself to the class."
The girl turned to face her classmates. "Hello! I'm really glad to be
here! I've never attended a Japanese school before, so I hope you'll
all help me avoid making any mistakes."
The students smiled at her enthusiasm, then realized she'd already made
one mistake. Usagi raised her hand, then stood. "Ummmm ... what's your
name?"
"Oops! Sorry about that! I'm Skuld Odinsdotter."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coming in Chapter Two:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Secrets Are Learned.
Ami answered her question with a question. "Isn't it strange
that four new students show up at the same time as a new threat
does?"
--
Rob Kelk http://members.tripod.com/~robkelk/ rob...@ottawa.com
"I'm _not_ a kid! Nyyyeaaah!" - Skuld (in "Oh My Goddess!" OAV #3)
"When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of
childishness and the desire to be very grown-up." - C.S. Lewis, 1947