[Ranma/SM][FanFic] Sailor Ranko Tunnel Vision, Chapter 6
Bill Heineman
A Continuation of "Sailor Ranko" by Fire and "Twice in a Millennium"
by Kevin D. Hammel and acknowledging "Black Moon - Eclipse of the Sun"
by Arthur Hansen
By Bill Heineman
Ranma 1/2 is property of Rumiko Takahashi. Publication Rights are held
by Viz in The US and Shogakukan in Japan. Sailor Moon is property of
Naoko Takeuchi. Publication rights held by Kodansha Ltd. in Japan and
Mixx Entertainment in the US. Terminator characters created by James
Cameron. Other characters are owned by their respective owners. My
purpose is to honor these creators and their works. No infringement
intended.
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"Corporal, come in here." Sergeant Paul Miller commanded. He was not
amused. Corporal Gonzalez requisitioned some cameras and remote video
surveillance equipment and he wanted to know why.
Corporal Jose Gonzalez was a Hispanic man in his early twenties. Tall,
thin and ready to change the world. Miller saluted and asked him to
sit down. "I've looked over your requisition and before I approve it,
I need to know why you need this equipment. It's expensive and your
report was a little vague."
Gonzalez's spirits were raised at the news that he would actually get
what he asked for. "I've observed damage on the test range that could
only have come from the use of heavy ordinance. Probably C4, dynamite
or TNT, but I hadn't been able to locate the individuals responsible
since they seem to disappear before I can make a direct observation. I
have with me," he reached into his briefcase and produced a manila
envelope and placed it on the Sergeant's desk, "photos of five
locations that have had heavy damage."
The Sergeant lit up his eyes and opened the envelope. It was filled
with black and white eight by ten glossy photos of shattered rocks,
open craters and burnt wreckage. "Any idea on who's doing this?"
"So far, the only conclusions I can come up with are domestic
terrorists practicing with black market ordinance. Or worse, they are
using homemade weapons. The damage is definitely not from small or
large arms fire. I think they may have grenades or even RPGs. My main
concern is the amount of ordinance used in these little jaunts."
"Where are you going to place the cameras? There isn't enough
equipment available for five locations."
"I've found one location that was hit five times in the last two
weeks. Check the map I gave you, it's marked location number two. If
they continue their pattern, I should hit pay dirt in a few days."
"Are you sure this was not caused by previous practice runs? It could
also be some of the Marines from Yuma Arizona. They tend to get
bored."
"That's one of my first conclusions. However, last Thursday, the Yuma
boys were on inspection and no one had left the base. The fourth set
of pictures was damage caused on Thursday. Unless someone went AWOL,
it wasn't the Marines."
"Damn, I was hoping to make them look bad." Miller stamped the forms,
signed them and handed them to Gonzalez. "Here you go, now don't you
dare lose or break any of that. Or it's coming out of your measly
pay."
Gonzalez held in his glee. "Thank you sir." He stood up, saluted and
left to get his equipment. He thought, "Whoever you pathetic rednecks
are, you're mine."
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Ryoga awoke in a small bed. He didn't remember how he got there. He
realized he was naked under the covers and bolted upright. He looked
around and found he was in a bedroom. The decorations were very
feminine with pictures of flowers, stuffed pigs and awards dotting the
walls. He examined the pink and white furniture and saw his clothes
sitting in a chair.
The clothes were neatly washed and folded. He got out of bed and got
dressed. On the desk next to the chair, he saw a framed photo of
himself. Little x's were marked in pen on his cheek in the photo.
Little hearts were drawn around the outline of his face. He turned the
frame around and saw the words 'Ryoga Hibiki', with little hearts,
happy faces and a little outline of a pig drawn around the name.
He put the picture down. He saw a stuffed toy pig. It was black and
had a solid yellow bandanna tied to it. It was sitting next to the
photo of Ryoga.
Ryoga felt good. This was not normal. He was not supposed to feel
good. It made him uncomfortable. "This must be dream," he thought. "No
one could possibly care about me like that. Could they?"
He crept up to the door and slowly opened it. He went into the hallway
when a familiar voice called out, "AKARI! Someone's here to see you!"
It was the old man that greeted him at the door. "I think he survived
the night!"
Ryoga went to the railing that separated the hallway from the first
floor. Ryoga was on the second floor with a great view of the living
room below. Akari's grandfather was sitting in a simple chair smoking
a pipe and told Ryoga, "She's outside doing her chores, slopping the
pigs, you know, fun stuff, should be back in a moment. C'mon down
son."
Ryoga went down and sat in a chair near grandfather. "You say you're
her grandfather?"
"Yep, on her mother's side." He recalled Akari telling him that Ryoga
was there when her other grandfather passed away.
"Oh, sorry about last night. I didn't expect Akari to hit me with warm
water like that."
"Oh, nothing to be embarrassed about my son! I think she did that for
my sake. She was carrying on for the longest time about you changing
into a pig. I thought she simply lost her marbles. Hanging around pigs
all day could do that you know. Now you show up and proved me wrong."
Ryoga looked away from grandfather. He didn't like anyone reminding
him of his curse. "DAMN YOU RANMA!" Ryoga screamed in his head like so
many times before.
"What's the matter son?" Grandfather was quick to pick up on emotions.
He was not a man that could be fooled easily.
Ryoga looked back at grandfather. "Nothing."
"Nothing eh? P-Chan?"
Ryoga turned white. "P-P-P-Chan? Where did you hear that name?"
"From Akari of course. She said that some girl named Ranma told her.
Sometimes I couldn't get my granddaughter to stop talking about you.
She just kept going on and on about how you defeated Katsunishiki, her
prize pig."
Ryoga stopped listening, just the mention of the name Ranma was enough
to have him phase out of reality. He phased back in when Akari entered
the room.
"Ryoga!" Akari ran toward him and grabbed him. "I've missed you so!
Why haven't you come by sooner?"
"Uh... I... I..." Ryoga stammered.
"Got lost again?" Akari answered for him.
Ryoga looked down, depression set in, "Yeah."
Akari's contagious smile could cheer up almost anything. "C'mon, let
me show you around." She took him by the hand and gave him a tour of
the Unryuu sumo pig farm. Pigs? Why did it have to be pigs?
Grandfather kept a watchful eye on Ryoga. He wanted to make sure that
this man was truly the right man for the job. Akari's other
grandfather before he died swore up and down that the right man for
her would be someone who could beat the family's prize pig. According
to Akari, this was the man.
Hours passed by, Ryoga was actually laughing and smiling with Akari.
Talking about his travels, his self-taught education, and his
knowledge of science, language and martial arts. Grandfather picked up
on everything. There was still a test he had to perform.
"Ryoga, I need you to go to the store for me son." He handed Ryoga a
one thousand yen note and asked, "go down the street to the store and
get me a dozen eggs. Bring back the change, got it?"
"Uh... Ok. I'll be back." Ryoga gulped. He was not sure he'll be back
before the eggs expired. He went to the front door feeling depressed
since he thought he was not going to see Akari for a while. As he left
grandfather called out, "Akari needs those eggs."
Ryoga went to the front gate, and turned to the market. In a few
minutes he entered the store, found the eggs, bought them and returned
to the house.
Ryoga entered and announced, "I'm back." Grandfather was sitting in
his chair facing the door with an evil grin on his face. He got up,
thanked Ryoga, got his change and took the eggs to the kitchen. The
refrigerator had plenty of eggs already so he had to make room to fit
them in.
"He feels the same way about her," grandfather quietly said. Time to
get to know my future grandson-in-law in detail.
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Konatsu was waiting patiently for his mistress to awaken. The alarm
clock went off and Ukyou hit the snooze again. This was not like her.
She usually awoke with the sun and practiced martial arts cooking for
an hour before breakfast. He was a little concerned that his mistress
was slipping in her devotion to martial arts.
He practiced with his takemitsu in the main dining area until he heard
his mistress get up. In a flash, he changed from his stealth ninja
outfit into a pink and white flowered kimono with full makeup. He then
knelt by Ukyou's bedroom door awaiting her instructions.
"Good morning Konatsu," Ukyou greeted her servant this way every
morning. Konatsu was ever so grateful for the kind words he received
from his mistress. It was infinitely better than the life he led with
his stepmother. He had a stepmother who raised him in a world without
kindness. A stepmother, who had a stepson, but raised him as a
daughter and taught him the female ninja arts.
"I have news for you about Ranma and Akane." Konatsu proudly
announced.
"You do? That was quick. What news?" Ukyou was curious, she barely
remembered sending him out to Juuban to spy on Ranma.
"You were right. Akane is a Senshi." Konatsu looked at his mistress
expecting her to be pleased with this information.
"You're kidding right?" Ukyou giggled.
"No. I saw her transform. Ranma too." He said with a straight face.
"Ranma?! You said Ranma? Please tell me you didn't say Ranma." Ukyou
was shocked at this, this must be some sort of joke.
"Yes, he first splashed himself with a faucet, became a girl and then
transformed into a Sailor Senshi. She then pummeled Happosai."
Ukyou was rather taken aback at this. "Ok, Konatsu, seriously, Ranma
cannot be a Senshi."
"Yes he is."
"No way."
"I saw it with my own eyes."
"You must have been mistaken."
"No." Konatsu was frustrated. He was giving a truthful accurate report
to his beloved mistress and she won't believe him.
"It's impossible, from what I heard, the Senshi are royalty of some
kind. Ranma is definitely not royalty material. That jerk wouldn't
last five minutes in the emperor's presence before he would insult him
and get deported to Brazil." She burst out laughing, images of Ranma
being booted from the emperor's palace flashed in her head.
"Mistress, with all my deepest respect. Ranma and Akane are both
Sailor Senshi." Konatsu was saddened that he wasn't being taken
seriously.
"Ok, so I take it that Akane is Sailor Mercury." Ukyou said between
giggles.
"Actually no. She is Sailor Io. She made a speech announcing her name
for Happosai."
"HAPPOSAI! She wouldn't give that leach the time of day! Sailor Io?
That's a new one! HA HA HA!" Ukyou had never heard of Sailor Io. There
were only ten as far as she heard.
Konatsu saw that this was going nowhere fast. "Ranma is called Sailor
Sun. She made a speech to Happosai as well."
Ukyou fell to the floor laughing, she had seen pictures of Sailor Sun.
She looked nothing like Ranma, girl or guy. Well she did have red
hair, but she was not Ranma. "Now I know you are making this up! Ranma
making a speech to Happosai! Ranma in a Sailor mini-skirt! Oh, Nabiki
would kill for photos!" Ukyou was holding her stomach since it was
starting to hurt.
Konatsu put the photos he was about to give Ukyou back into his
pocket. The very thought that these photos getting into Nabiki's hands
would dishonor his friendship he felt for the Saotomes. They helped
him get away from his stepmother. "I'm sorry mistress. It was all a
joke. I thought that this news would cheer you up." Konatsu lied. He
felt really bad but he couldn't give the proof to the Saotome's secret
unless he was sure that his mistress would not dishonor them by
telling others.
Ukyou kept laughing for a minute until the joke wore off. "Thank you
Konatsu, I really needed a good laugh. I must have been insane to even
think that Akane could be a Senshi. Ranma... He he he..." She started
giggling again.
Konatsu was disappointed. He had hoped that Ukyou trusted him that he
would give totally accurate reports. He whispered, "Why disrespect me?
I thought you were better than that."
Ukyou stopped giggling. She watched Konatsu sadly bow his head and
sulk. "I didn't mean to disrespect you. I'm sorry I sent you to
Juuban. I didn't know what I was thinking."
Konatsu barely spoke, "I love you Ukyou. Please don't laugh."
Ukyou knew that Konatsu loved her. She however didn't return that love
since she was so focused on catching Ranma. All this time Konatsu was
nothing more than a fixture at the restaurant. At this moment, she
felt a tiny tinge of guilt and even started to see the form in front
of her as a person. Ukyou took a deep breath. "I'll stop laughing my
friend."
Konatsu felt a bit of pain with the word 'friend'. But then lit up and
smiled at Ukyou. She said 'friend'! Now, will she ask me to go out
with her on a date?
"Well, I've got to get ready for school." Ukyou smiled at Konatsu and
closed her bedroom door. Ukyou thought about Konatsu. He was always
there for her. She was just too blind to see it. It was good to have a
friend who she could count on. She felt a bit happier than she felt in
a long time. She dressed and left for school.
Later, after Ukyou had been gone for a while, Konatsu studied the
photos of Sailor Io and Sun. The set of pictures that showed Ranko's
transformation into Sailor Sun was absolute proof the she was a
Senshi. He slid the photos in an envelope and put them away for now.
Konatsu's eyes turned to hearts, "Oh to be a magical girl! Tee hee! I
must ask Ranma about what it's like!"
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Far away deep underground, messages, phone calls and emails were being
sent worldwide to selected people, asking questions and getting
answers. The list of candidates was narrowed. Missions have been
selected and for some, already assigned. The seeds of discord have
been sown.
Survival is assured.
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Haruka sent Michiru and Hotaru to the park. Hotaru was happy to be
spending time with Michiru-mama. It usually meant lots of ice cream
and playtime. Haruka wanted to be alone so she can have a talk with
Setsuna. Setsuna was holding back information. There was no doubt
about that. Haruka pulled up the evening paper. There were riots in
Bangladesh. Pakistan and India were positioning troops near Kashmir.
Iraq was defiant again. North and South Korea were exchanging insults.
China once again was demanding Taiwan to rejoin the mainland. Food
riots were occurring in Russia.
Haruka didn't like to read headline news; she tossed that part of the
newspaper onto the table and kept the sports section. She read about
the current race results and hoped that one day soon she could go into
professional driving. Nice dream, but being a Senshi was a bigger
responsibility.
Earlier in the day, Haruka and Michiru looked into Michiru's Deep Aqua
Mirror to see anything about the future. All it showed were people
shouting and being paranoid. There was nothing but unrest. This only
made Haruka more resolved to beat the secrets out of Setsuna.
Setsuna came home. She was quick to notice the lack of people in the
house and tried to get out the door unnoticed. Haruka called out, "We
need to talk, please sit down."
Setsuna knew she was busted. She reluctantly came to the dining room
table and sat down. "Ok, what shall we talk about?"
"Don't give me that innocent routine! You know something and I want to
know what it is!" Haruka was angry. She knew that Setsuna knows what
the future holds, and if what they saw at Rei's temple last night was
any indication; she needed to know how to protect her family.
"I already told you what I know." Setsuna answered.
"That's not good enough!" Haruka shouted. "Hotaru dreamed that Michiru
and I died! Is my daughter going to be an orphan?!"
"I don't know."
"You don't know? The great Setsuna doesn't know? You expect me to
believe that?" She slammed her fist on the table. Haruka was trying
desperately not to reach across the table and throttle the information
out of her.
"Fine, I'll explain, but the answer is as I said. I don't know."
Setsuna reclined a bit in her chair to keep out of strangling
distance. "I am not omnipotent, contrary to popular belief."
"Ok, explain." Now we are getting somewhere Haruka thought.
"We are dealing with a time fork. A splinter in time that should not
exist."
Haruka relaxed a tiny bit. She gestured for her to keep talking.
Setsuna continued, "It's like this, it's possible for a future event
to affect the past that causes the future event to happen. It's like a
circle. Since the future event needs the past event to cause the
future, this is a classic example of a time paradox."
Haruka started to feel a headache coming on.
"Now, this time loop occurred by an event about twenty years in a
possible future. That event caused an event twenty years in the past.
However, the event was undone years ago so the original event became a
moot point. The time loop disappeared and all is right in the world.
The entire timeline ceased to exist. It never happened."
Haruka was massaging her temples, "So, what is affecting the present?"
"I don't know." Setsuna answered matter of factly.
"And why not?"
"Because I don't know everything. The only clue I had was that a few
weeks ago, I felt a time ripple. It was very faint, but it felt just
like the one I felt twenty years ago. But it could not be the same
event causing it."
"Are you sure about that?" Haruka was getting suspicious.
"I'm positive. The old event was cancelled out. It never happened."
Setsuna spoke with an air of confidence.
"And how to you know this?
"Because doomsday had already past."
"Say again?"
"If the time loop was in place, we, all the Senshi, would already be
dead years ago." Setsuna took a view out of the dining room window.
"Since I can see Juuban in all its splendor right now. It means the
time loop never happened and we have nothing to worry about." She bit
her lip.
"What was the event?"
Setsuna paused. She closed her eyes, "The stuff of nightmares."
"End of the world?"
"Far worse. It was the end of everything. World War III." She opened
her eyes and made a hint of a smile, "But it was stopped."
"How?"
Setsuna started staring into space. "We are not the only heroes on
this planet. We must not blind ourselves into thinking that the Senshi
are the only people in the world that can make a difference. We have
to take our blinders off and stop looking at the world in tunnel
vision. There are others everywhere who give their lives and sacrifice
everything to protect our world. It was stopped by such a hero."
"Who was this hero?"
"It doesn't matter. He already saved the world. Because you and I are
sitting here right now, he already succeeded. Everything he had done
was wiped away by the ravages of time."
"So why the omens?"
"That's what I don't know." Setsuna got comfortable in her chair
looking out the window admiring the view.
"What happened? Was it World War III?"
"Imagine your worst nightmare and multiply it one thousand fold. You
might then get close to what that future was. I pray that that
nightmare never comes to pass. Only the fact that doomsday should have
already happened gives me comfort."
"Do you have any idea what the fire reading meant?"
"No. Please stop asking me. I really don't know." Setsuna gave a look
that she was about to cry.
Setsuna was honestly telling the truth, for once, Haruka thought. She
got up and went out the front door. She went to the park. She wanted
to spend time with her family.
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Some of you may complain about the Konatsu being a spy thread, had
already been done in "Black Moon - Eclipse of the Sun". Remember at
the end of that tale, time was erased and many events were undone.
This story would not exist without the inspiration I got from "Sailor
Ranko" by Fire and "Twice in a Millennium" by Kevin D. Hammel
Additional public and private C&C welcomed!
Bill Heineman
October 5, 2002
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bur...@contrabandent.com
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