Chapter 6 – Here’s Ryoko
By Paks
Date: 27/06/04
Disclaimer:
1) The characters and stories of Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon, and Tenchi Muyo belong to their respective creators, and are used here without permission or license.
2) No claims to the above copyright are made by the author of this work.
3) This work is for non-commercial use ONLY, and is produced for the enjoyment of fans only.
4) This work is the expression of the author and the depiction of the Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon, and Tenchi Muyo characters herein are in no way represented to be a part of Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon, and Tenchi Muyo as depicted by the original author and copyright holder(s).
Authors note: This story is set to be a mega-crossover, you have been warned.
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Haruka sighed as she stared at the chalkboard. Her mother had taken her out of the all boys elementary school and put her in this new, but boring school. Granted the school had infinitely more resources than her last school, the work was more challenging, and she didn’t have to fight over food at lunch time, but it all that just made the old school much more exciting. However, the fact remained, school was school, and to a young girl her age it was boring.
Daydreaming in class, Haruka cursed Ryoga for his stubbornness,
as she imagined him trekking through the icy mountains of Central Europe and
tropical jungles of
Sitting down to lunch with her meager bento, well at least she didn’t have to fight for it, she sighed. She missed talking to Ryoga at lunch-time, or Ranma if Ryoga had managed to get himself lost.
“Do you mind if I sit here?” A girl asked from behind her.
“Umph.” Came Haruka’s extremely expressive grunt.
“Your new here aren’t you?” The girl persisted. “Haruka isn’t it?”
“Yeah” answered Haruka, shoving more food into her mouth.
“I’m Michiru, we’re in the same class. How are you settling in?” Michiru questioned in a polite tone.
“School’s boring” grunted Haruka as she mechanically pushed more food into her mouth.
“Have you joined a club yet? Mugen has one of the largest selections of clubs of all the schools in the area”
“Oh yeah, like what?” Haruka had to give the girl points for persistence, besides it would be nice to have someone to talk to in this new school.
“Well flower arrangement and tea ceremony …” started Michiru.
“Hmph” grunted Haruka unimpressed.
“… Martial arts, track and other sport oriented clubs” finished Michiru taking note as Haruka’s eyes lit up. “The clubs are held after school, I could take you if you’d like.”
“I’d like that Michiru.” Smirked Haruka turning on the charm as the bell rang, and a lifetime friendship was born.
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Ryoga fumed as he trudged through yet another jungle. He had lost Ranma’s trail a week ago and was hoping that he would pick it up soon, any food other than instant ramen would be good right about now. Come to think of it, it had been a while since he had seen a village with a good Ramen shop. If only he could master that damn technique that his father had taught him, he thought to himself as he suddenly stepped knee deep in snow.
“Ranma, this is all your fault!” Ryoga screamed to the heavens, followed by a “where on earth am I now!”
Ryoga, of course, was getting used to finding himself in odd places at random. His newly acquired super heavy backpack was testament to that fact. He had been extremely embarrassed asking Haruka to lead him to and from school and most classes, but found that he need not have been. Yes, Haruka was a good friend. Haruka was an odd name for a guy though; maybe his parents were a little odd.
Arriving at a village Ryoga cheered up considerably. Fresh hot Ramen was his first line of business, his second was to enquire after Ranma. Slurping the hot spicy noodles, Ryoga asked after the Saotome’s. The Ramen Vendors face immediately clouded over in anger.
“No good fat, cheating bastard skipped town without paying,” ranted the Vendor, “made his own poor kid watch him stuffing his face from across the road”.
However, Ryoga only heard the first part of the Vendors rant, for at hearing the direction they had headed in his thoughts turned towards revenge. First he would buy supplies in town, if he could manage to find his way to the store, then he would find Ranma.
Laden down with the supplies necessary for a long journey, Ryoga moved in the direction that the Vendor had pointed out. Little did he know that his poor sense of direction had been leading him in a different direction. Shifting his bag uncomfortably he sighed, at least the heavy pack was weight training. If Ranma had continued his training journey he would be better when they met for their rematch.
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Tenchi sighed as he continued sweeping the stairs at his grandfathers’ shrine, or at least trying to. Ranko had barely left his side after he had bathed and dressed her. Now she had got it into her head to chase the broom, often re-scattering piles of leaves. Futilely, Tenchi yet again tried to re-gather a recently scattered pile of leaves. He didn’t know what he was going to do when the holidays finished, he couldn’t take Ranko to school, yet getting her to stop following him had proven just as futile as sleeping. She even slept curled up at the foot of his bed.
As Katsuhito came up the steps heading to his office, he stopped to observe his grandsons attempts at sweeping. He chuckled in amusement as he watched Ranko undo all of Tenchi’s hard work. After a while of watching the pairs antics with a large amount of amusement, he decided to let Tenchi out of the chore. After all the holidays would soon come to an end.
Eagerly, after being released from his chores, Tenchi raced to the cave excited that he would finally get to explore it. Ranko followed Tenchi, bounding around him in a playful manner. Reaching the cave somewhat breathless, he paused momentarily to rest. Ranko continued on in, the one who she had formerly shared the cave with was still here, so she meowed a greeting. Tenchi followed soon after catching his breath. The cave was dark, but enough light spilled from the cave mouth to see the miniature house with a sword hilt sticking out, sitting near the back of the cave.
Curiously Tenchi pulled the finely carved hilt out of the house to get a better look at it, only to be disappointed by the rusty old blade that followed it. This was the legendary misaki blade that Yosho had used to slay the demon Ryoko. He swung the old rusty sword at a nearby boulder only to have it shatter, leaving only the hilt. Putting the hilt of the sword in the belt around his waist, Tenchi continued to look around. Ranko watched him intently, but started to yowl as the whole cave began to shake. Unnoticed by Tenchi, the rusted blade had sliced the boulder in half.
As rocks rained down from the roof sealing the cave entrance, a secret passage way opened. With no other option Tenchi ventures deeper into the cave with Ranko following at his heels. Suddenly, Tenchi stepped over a steep incline, loosing his footing he fell down an incredibly steep slope. Ranko stopping at the top of the slope peered at him over the edge, and then bounded down the slope far more gracefully. Leaping to his feet Tenchi took stock of his surroundings. They were in a large chamber, at the center of a shallow pool with the mummified remains of the demon from the legend in the center.
To Tenchi’s horror, the demon began to move towards him as he approached. Ranko meowed happily and bounded over to the demon and began to playfully splash around its feet. Too petrified to run, Tenchi stared into the demons eyes, which glow yellow behind the mask it wore. Suddenly, the hilt of the sword, which he has tucked into his belt began to glow brightly and as the demon touched him it emitted a burst of light making the demon stagger backwards. Ranko stopped bounding around the demons feet and eyed both the demon and Tenchi, she meowed at them both questioningly. Although this eased the tension somewhat, Tenchi took his chance and fled the cave. Trying to reassemble the sacred sealing rock by wrapping it in vines, he sighed in relief as the passageway closes behind him leaving both Ranko and the demon behind.
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Staring through the large doors that were in actual fact the time gates, Sailor Pluto was startled out of her trance by a horrifying feeling of premonition. Quickly checking on the young children who would one day become the Sailor Senshi she shook her head in confusion, they were all fine, in fact two had met each other already. What could have awoken her from her long slumber? She only awoke from her time trance when something was about to go drastically wrong. It must be an enemy, one who could interfere with the Senshi’s chances at awakening, or one who would threaten the world before the awakened.
Gazing through the doors she hoped that they would reveal what had awakened her. Watching as the gate revealed various images of the present, images that she was sure meant something – but what? The first image was of a boy, he looked to be about sixteen years of age, he had dark spiky hair tied back in a pigtail. The second image was of a small girl with brilliant red hair; a deep scar ran across her throat. The third image was of a well-endowed woman with spiky aqua hair, there was something odd about her eyes and ears though. Images continued flashing across the time portal that lay through the gates, although they all seemed to focus on these three people. Pluto wondered if they could be the cause of the disturbance, or would they be involved in a disturbance to come?
With her thoughts focused on her duty, she began to monitor the time-stream closely, particularly where those three individuals were involved. She would not resume the trance unless she was certain there was no threat, even if it took years. After all when she was pulled from the sleeplike trance something major would invariably occur, something to shift the currents of the timeline, something that may even threaten the lives of those she had sworn to protect.
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At school the next day, Tenchi brooded over his encounter with the demon. He was worried about Ranko who he effectively trapped with the demon, sure his grandfather said she was dangerous, but she only behaved like an overly playful and affectionate house cat when she was around him. He had grown fond of the wild girl who had attached herself to him, and hoped the demon wouldn’t hurt her. On second thought, Ranko had acted pleased to see the demon, almost like she was meeting an old friend. Was the wild girls appearance related to the demon somehow?
After a disagreement with a classmate during lunch, Tenchi stormed off to the school roof. Sighing at his over reaction to what was simply some friendly teasing, he lay down to stare at the sky and brood some more over yesterdays caving expedition. Quickly falling asleep, he dreamed about his meeting with the demon the previous day, and Ranko’s playful behavior.
When Tenchi finally woke up, night had fallen. Sitting up, he cursed himself for falling asleep during school. Looking around he found that a strange young woman was watching him. The cyan haired woman introduced herself as Ryoko. At first the name did not register, after all it was quite a common Japanese name. Ryoko, from Tenchi’s observations, was tall, well endowed, and had elfin like features, but when Tenchi spotted her glowing yellow eyes, he realized that she must be demon Ryoko from the cave. That was when he spotted Ranko next to her, the wild young girl was getting her head scratched.
“You know Tenchi, I have been in that cave for seven-hundred years…” Ryoko purred when she noticed that the boy had awoken and was looking at her “… and someone has to pay for locking me away for all those years.”
“Yyyour the demon demon from the cave…” Stuttered Tenchi, as the fear from the cave returned, “…bbbut it wasn’t me who trapped you, it was my ancestor.”
“Mmmmhmmm, but before I get my revenge I think I’ll have a little bit of fun.” Stated Ryoko as she ignited her red light sword.
“It was Yosho who trapped you” insisted Tenchi, who was by now standing and backing away from the women who was quickly moving to very scary status in his mind.
Despite this short dialogue Ryoko tried to pounce on Tenchi, the terrified boy made a run for it. Ryoko followed in closely hurling explosive fireballs and wielding a sword of red light. Ranko seeing the fun chasing game decided to join in and bounded after the pair, instinctively dodging the fireballs that the woman was hurling around.
Tenchi flew through the school corridors, now empty on account of the late hour. Seeing a science lab he quickly slipped into it and slammed the door behind him. However he soon heard a hissing sound, sniffing the air suspiciously he was unsurprised to find that somewhere there is a gas leak. The crazy woman/demon after him had managed to rupture one of the gas pipes in her endeavors to kill him.
Briefly looking through the doors window Tenchi attempted to make a stealthy exit, but got spotted by Ranko who had not been fooled by the hiding trick. Meowing loudly she alerted Ryoko to Tenchi’s presence. Ryoko hearing Ranko’s meows, and sensing her excitement in cornering her ‘prey’, quickly arrived at the boy’s location. Cornered and helpless Tenchi racked his brains for a way out of what seemed like a helpless situation.
“Look behind you a big purple dinosaur” yelled Tenchi pointing to a spot somewhere over Ryokos shoulder, hoping that the evil of the purple monster was known even to demons.
“Wha… where?” asked Ryoko spinning around.
When Tenchi realized that his ploy had worked, he quickly made a run for it. Ranko had not been fooled by Tenchi’s ploy, after all how was a purple dinosaur significant to a cat? She immediately took off after him. By the time Ryoko realized that she had been tricked both Tenchi and Ranko were disappearing behind another corner. Unfortunately by this time the sparks from her weapon had time to set off a gas explosion, Tenchi hoped that the demon had been killed in the explosion. However, he still needed to escape Ranko who was still pursuing him.
By the time Ryoko emerges charred, blackened and angrier than ever, Ranko and Tenchi had disappeared into other areas of the school. Eventually being pinned by Ranko, Tenchi somehow managed to escape her grasp, as usual she had not hurt him. Now he needed to find a spot to hide from the demon, and convince Ranko not to alert her to his presence. Luck was indeed on Tenchi’s side for when Ryoko she spoted her reflection in a mirror, she stopped to tidy herself up. Ranko had also decided to play Tenchi’s be quiet game for the time being.
Having retrieved his satchel from his desk Tenchi begins to think. Subconsciously he had already realized that the sword kept the demon back before, he just needed to think of a strategy to stop the demon and/or escape. After all his life was on the line. Crouching behind his desk with Ranko sitting beside him quietly purring as Tenchi took up scratching her head where Ryoko had left off. After pondering this for a while he suddenly made the connection, the gems and the sword.
Having come to this realization Tenchi began to dance around in celebration, with Ranko capering around his feet meowing happily, she had picked up on his excitement. Alas Tenchi’s joyous antics alerted Ryoko to Tenchi’s position and she rounded the corner to resume her attacks. Jumping out the window Tenchi began running again, noticing that the fickle Ranko had rejoined Ryoko in the chase. Rounding yet another corner in his efforts to escape he bumps into Ryoko, who is swinging her red light sword around a look of evil anticipation on her face. Looking around he spots Ranko slowly stalking towards him from behind. Feeling as if he is trapped between two hunters he begins to panic again.
As Ryoko rushed to attack Tenchi, his luck apparently changed again. The remains of the legendary sword, which he was keeping in his satchel, burst into life and protect him with a blade of blue light. The sword on its own accord, cut Ryoko's hand off, and the gem on her wrist exploded. Both Tenchi and Ryoko look at the stump, Tenchi with mortification, Ryoko with an annoyed resignation. Rank simply battered the severed limb around curiously.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…..” Tenchi began apologizing profusely, while bowing low and backing away.
Ryoko simply grinned and produced another hand. When Tenchi began to clap she waved Ranko to her side and putting her hand on the young girls head, they both vanish. Tenchi quickly snapped out of his daze when they left, looking aroud at the ruins of his school he too quickly departs. After all he didn’t want to get the blame for blowing it up.
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Arriving home exhausted after battling Ryoko, Tenchi staggered up to his room. He failed to notice Ranko curled up at the in his bed sleeping; this surely would have given away the surprise curled up in his own bed. Thinking to himself that he will never see the demon/woman again he slumps into his bed in relief. Thinking that his mattress seems to be a little lumpy, he pulls them back to adjust them only to find Ryoko fast asleep.
“Oh shit.” Was the first curse to pass his lips despite the ordeal that he had endured over the last few weeks. First Ranko had arrived and then the demon Ryoko had come to make his life interesting. Things would definitely be different from now on, he could feel it in his bones.
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Authors Note:
Does everyone like the longer chapters? These last two
just flowed. I guess working in
Many thanks go to everyone who has reviewed and given me ideas. I am far from dead. However, I think that I will start working on my other projects for the next little bit. However, if I get any sudden inspiration I’ll come right back to my first pet project, “To take”.