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Sailor Ranko: Just Add Water: Chapter 10, The Second Victim.
by
Rebecca Ann Heineman
Ranma 1/2 and the characters therein are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. Based on "Sailor Ranko" by Duncan Zillman and "Twice in a Millennium" by Kevin D. Hammel.
I don't own these characters. Please don't sue me, kill me or make me write bad checks.
Akari was weeping holding his beloved husband. "WHY ME?"
Ryoga was awash in conflicting emotions. He wanted to storm off, hire a cab, be taken to Nerima and kill Happosai for what he had done to his beloved Akari. He would then kill Ranma because he just had to be the root cause of this in the first place. Ranma was always the source of all the trouble in Ryoga's life. Well, it just felt that way anyways.
Ryoga wanted to embrace his wife. Akari was still a girl inside even though he barely fit in his dress right now. He closed his eyes and tried not to think about his wife's current gender. He slowly held him and he trembled and held Ryoga tighter. "Ryoga..." Akari whimpered.
"There there..." Ryoga petted Akari's long hair. From Ryoga's view of Akari's back, he still looked female. "I'll find a way to change you back. We've got to go to China and find the springs."
"Is... Is this how it feels like to be cursed?" Akari buried his head into Ryoga's chest holding him tight.
Ryoga looked at the sky. "You're lucky. You could have been turned into a duck or a cat or..."
Akari smiled. "A pig?"
Ryoga sighed, "Yes, a pig."
Akari looked up at Ryoga. "But you're so cute like a pig." He smiled.
Ryoga couldn't help but smile back. Even as a guy, Akari still had that happy glow when he looked at Ryoga. Ryoga had a flash of inspiration. "Akari! Hot water!"
"Oh my god! Let's go!" The two ran to the farmhouse as fast as they could. Akari tripped and fell and pulled off his tight shoes that were starting to hurt his feet. Ryoga made it to the kitchen and turned on the hot water. Akari came a minute later as Ryoga filled a glass.
Ryoga held the water near Akari. "Ok, I splash you with hot water and you'll be back to normal." He poured the water on Akari's head.
Akari felt better. He looked at Ryoga, "There, I'm back to normal."
Ryoga blinked. He poured some more hot water on Akari.
"What's the matter?"
He poured more hot water.
"I'm getting soaked!" Akari looked down and saw that he didn't change.
Ryoga turned the sink back on. "I guess it wasn't hot enough." The water started steaming as it reached the maximum temperature. Ryoga filled his glass and the cup started to be too hot to hold.
"Akari, this might hurt a bit." Ryoga splashed some of the very hot water on Akari's chest so the pain wouldn't be as bad as on the face. Akari yelped in pain. Ryoga put down the glass and fanned Akari's blouse to quickly cool it off.
Akari's lip quivered and he had a look of fear in his eyes. "I don't want to stay like this Ryoga." He was feeling anguish and pain. Somewhere a demon was enjoying itself.
"You won't stay this way. I'll find you a cure." He raised a tight fist in the air. "I'll beat it out of Ranma!"
"Ranma? It was Happosai who did this to me."
"He was probably trying to get you to get at Ranma!"
Akari cocked his head to the side. "Huh? That doesn't make sense. Why do you blame Ranma for everything?"
Ryoga as about to say something but he had no real answer. "Uh... Well... Hmmm..."
Akari crossed his arms and tapped his foot. "Well? Why is this Ranma's fault? I think we should find Happosai and get him to change me back."
Ryoga felt bad. He always blamed Ranma for everything. He still believed that somehow Ranma was the cause of this. "Ok, let's find Happosai and beat the cure out of him."
Ryoga examined Akari's clothes. "Let's first find you some clothes that fit you." Ryoga led his male wife upstairs to their bedroom. Ryoga was thankful that Akari's grandfather was in town getting pig feed. He didn't want to explain this disaster to his grandfather-in-law. Ryoga rummaged through Akari's clothes and found a jumper that didn't look funny on a guy. Almost everything Akari owned was covered with images of flowers or pigs. Akari didn't a have trace of maleness in him. Ryoga had to find a cure. Akari couldn't exist as a man.
Akari was changing his clothes. Ryoga pulled his backpack out of the closet and started filling it with supplies. He thought, "Let's see, Nerima is about thirty kilometers from here. Or was it forty kilometers? Ok, I'll need about a weeks supply of food." He filled the backpack with cans, a can opener and dried foods that would last a while. Ryoga had a lot of practice going on long journeys. Ryoga put his backpack on. He went to the front closet and grabbed his umbrella.
Akari was waiting for him at the front door. He was smiling. "Uh, I had to borrow your underwear. That's ok right?"
"That's ok."
Akari's face changed to a look of excitement, "Is this how you started one of your adventures?"
Ryoga looked at Akari. Akari was a hopelessly cute guy with feminine features. Ryoga shook his head in disbelief. He actually liked the way he looked. "Yes Akari, this is how they start. Ranma pisses someone off and I have to rescue him or Akane."
Akari was excited and scared. Ryoga was pissed and depressed. They walked out the door and Akari called Katsunishiki. He had to take some time to convince the pig that it was Akari. Once the pig trusted him, they got on the pig's back and Ryoga pointed the way north. A few moments later, Akari was steering the pig to the south towards Nerima.
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The demon in Happosai was overjoyed. The water worked perfectly. The base curse was endowed with the magic that was being powered by Happosai's pain and suffering. It was a permanent transformation spell.
The demon spoke to Happosai. "Just think about it Happosai. No more breasts, no more red head, no more girl type Ranma!"
Happosai spoke inside his mind to the demon, "You fiend! This isn't why I summoned you! Boo hoo hoo! No more pretty lady!"
The demon fed off the pain and despair. "That's right. Feed me! FEED ME!" It refilled the squirt gun. "Now it's time for the red headed bimbo to die!"
Happosai screamed in agony. "NOOO! Not girl type Ranma! Squirt Akane! Squirt Nabiki! Not girl type Ranma! She's the one with the biggest breasts!"
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Ukyou waved to her last customer of the night. Konatsu took down the shop curtain and locked the front door. Ukyou was deep in thought as she cleaned off the grill. Konatsu swept the floor, wiped the tables and put the seats up on the counter.
He had put away his things in the supply closet when he saw his mistress sitting in a booth sulking. He appeared in the seat opposite from her. "What's wrong?"
Ukyou put her head down into her folded arms on the table. "Nothing. Everything. I don't know."
"It's alright Mistress. Things are alright."
Ukyou inhaled and held her breath. She slowly let the air out. "Once, I had a dream. I wanted to have a husband, children and to be the best okonomiyaki chef in the world. I wanted to make my father proud of me. Then my father's cart was stolen and I lost my dream. I had a new dream. I wanted to punish the Saotomes for ruining my reputation and my life."
Konatsu listened with empathy. His life until now was not much better.
"I studied martial arts for years to prepare myself for that day. I found that idiot Genma and took my revenge." She gave a blank look. "I didn't feel any better. I wanted to punish Ranma and he... He... He said I was cute." Ukyou started shedding tears. "I had my old dream again. I wanted to be a good wife, a good mother and a great cook. My dream is gone again."
Ukyou turned her head to wipe away the tears, "I saw the Senshi on TV when they were fighting those demons. I wanted to be one of them. If I couldn't be a wife, maybe I would be a magical girl fighting for love and justice."
Ukyou start to give a sad laugh. She was laughing at the pitiful irony of the way things turned out. "Ran-chan! They picked Ran-chan to be a magical girl. The power she must possess as Sailor Sun, oh I can only imagine it. And if I was..." Ukyou shuddered.
Konatsu held a small towel to wipe Ukyou's face. He watched her with love in his eyes.
"If I was the one those demons took away. If I was the one Ranma rescued. If I was his..." She whispered, "wife." She took a small breath. "I would have been chosen to be Sailor Io."
Konatsu took out another towel, "You don't know that Ukyou. Akane could have still been Sailor Io."
"I can still have a dream can't I?"
"Yes Ukyou, we all can."
Ukyou lifted her head. "I've got to go to sleep. Thanks for listening to me. You're a good friend." She got up and slowly went upstairs to bed.
Konatsu sat in the booth and watched her disappear into her room. "Thanks for sharing with me." He turned to look at the floor. "I have a dream. I love you Ukyou."
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Kato, Yoshi and Akira were leaving the arcade. They had spent most of their money and were going to go home. Kato remembered something, "Hey, you guys still want to meet the old geezer tomorrow?"
Yoshi shook his head, "No way! Count me out!"
Akira was surprised, "Huh? I thought you wanted to help get revenge on Ranma."
"And get the tar beat out of me again? Uh uh! Now way, no how!" Yoshi waved his arms like he was pushing something away from him. "I've got a terrible feeling about this. It can only end badly."
Kato crossed his arms. "Suit yourself. Akira, are you in?"
"Oh yeah! I want some payback after what he did to us at school. My sister has been teasing me about it all day."
Yoshi tried to reason with his friends, "Look you two, Ranma is a martial artist and if you piss him off again, I'll have to scrape what's left of you off the walls."
Kato was not moved, "But he's a homosexual!"
"How do you figure that? He likes girls. He's married to a girl for goodness sake. He hangs out with girls. The girls are crazy for him."
"That's because he is a girl! You saw him uh... her at school yesterday. Guy's don't come to school in a sailor fuku!"
Yoshi tried a different tactic, "You saw him in the locker room. He's a guy!"
"A guy who changes into a girl!"
"He changed back into a guy!"
"He is still a weirdo and a pervert!"
Yoshi was fuming. "Fine! Be that way! And if you end up in the hospital, don't bother calling me!" Yoshi stormed off.
Akira saw how Kato was also turning red with anger. "You know, he does have a point."
"Are you taking his side too?"
"Look, all I'm saying is that the old man scares me a bit. Yoshi is right. If we doing anything to Ranma and he finds out it's us. I don't want to be hanging from a tree again."
"Then we make sure that he doesn't know that it's us."
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Ranko was on break. She was in a corner of the kitchen area sipping her tea and looking at her homework from school. She hated English. Akane got on her case to try harder to study English since traveling the world was part of being a Senshi. English was spoken the world over. She still didn't like English.
Mariko handed Ranko a phone message. It was from Nabiki and asked for her to call. Ranko crumpled up the paper and threw it away. She looked at her homework and decided that talking to Nabiki was better than homework. It was barely better than homework.
Kasumi answered the phone. "Oh hi Ranko! How are you? Nabiki? Sure I'll get her." She cupped the receiver. "Nabiki! Ranko's on the phone for you!"
Nabiki picked up the phone in her room. "Hey Saotome!"
"You called?"
"Just wanted to tell you about Kodachi."
Ranko raised her head and groaned. "What is she up to?"
"She said she was playing martial arts volleyball against the Juuban team Monday. Ring any bells?"
"The coach mentioned that there was a special exhibition game being planned but he didn't go into details. Let me guess, Kodachi is on the team."
"Bingo! It's even better than that. She's the team captain. You and my sister had better watch out for her."
"Yeah I know. Kodachi likes to take out the opposing team before the game starts." Ranko sighed. "Anything else you want to drop on my head?"
"Hmm, not really. Unless you want to count the fact that Kuno has a new love."
"A new love? Who's the poor girl this time?"
"You know Kuno. He does things in pairs. He's after Sailor Senshi now."
Ranko had a feeling of dread coming over her. "S-S-Senshi? You wouldn't know w-w-which ones right?"
"But of course I do Saotome. He's gone bananas for Sailor Io and Sailor Sun."
Ranko dropped the phone. She composed herself and picked it up. "Y-y-you didn't say Sailor Sun did you?"
"What's with you? Your mom and Kasumi acted just as weird when I told them."
"Oh nothing. Heh heh. Uh, nothing at all. Oh, they're calling me. Got to go! Bye!" Ranko slammed the phone down. "Oh great!"
Nabiki heard the loud click. "Why in the world does he care about the Senshi?" Nabiki put the phone down and went back to her homework.
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Sailor Sun flashed into her apartment. Akane didn't bother to look up from her homework. "Hello dear."
Sun fell over onto the pile of blankets that Akane had left on the floor for her arrival. She was sound asleep.
Akane smiled, "Rough day at work?"
"Zzzz...."
Akane scribbled the answer to the history homework and closed her book. She put her books back in her school pack and tossed it aside. She went over to Sailor Sun and picked her up to take her to bed. She unceremoniously dropped her on the mattress. "Huh?" Sailor Sun woke up. "Hi dear."
"Good evening to you too."
Sailor Sun slowly got up. She stumbled into the bathroom and turned on the hot water. She changed to Ranko. As she was waiting for the water to get hot she told Akane the bad news. "I got a call from Nabiki."
"Nabiki? What did she want?"
Ranko splashed hot water on herself and dried himself with a towel. "It seems that Tatewaki Kuno wants to date with you."
Akane didn't care. "What else is new?"
"Oh... He wants to date with Sailor Io."
Akane turned white and held onto the doorframe to keep from falling.
Ranma sat on the couch. "It gets better."
"No. Don't tell me."
Ranma put his hands behind his head and stretched out. "He wants to date with Sailor Sun too."
"Is there a country where murder is legal?"
"If there is. Let's give a one way ticket there to Happosai." Ranma had a bad sensation come over him. "He's here."
Akane looked up. "He's on the roof."
"Call the scouts, I'll catch the little freak." Ranma jumped out to the balcony. He sensed the photographer was gone. He ki jumped to the roof.
Ranma was on the dark rooftop of the apartment building. He sensed a different kind of evil. He knew the demon and Happosai were near. He sensed danger of a different kind. It sent a chill down his spine. For the first time Ranma actually felt real fear. He started to back away and ran to the roof edge to jump away.
Ranma jumped in the air and was stopped by a force field. Ranma fell to the ground and he was hit with a blast of water. Deep in his soul he heard a girl's scream and part of his being was ripped away. He felt empty and cold. Ranma was filled with blind rage. He turned around to see a ghastly smile on the face of Happosai. "MOKO TAKABISHA!" Ranma ki blasted Happosai's gun out his hands. "You little freak!" Ranma jumped and aimed his feet at Happosai's skull. The little man gave out a low-pitched laugh that couldn't have come from Happosai. It was an evil laugh worthy of a youma. Happosai faded away and Ranma landed on the roof.
Ranma tried to use his Senshi sense and it felt wrong somehow. He used his danger sense and felt nothing. Ranma felt ill. He stumbled and sat down. His mind was dizzy and confused. Sailor Io jumped to the roof and ran over to Ranma.
"Ranma? Are you ok?"
"I don't know. I think the old freak poisoned me." Ranma started to come around. "I feel strange. I can't explain it." Ranma got up and found Happosai's water gun. "We'd better give this to Ami. Maybe she can find out what was in this stuff."
Sailor Io sensed the area for evil. "It seems like Happosai got away. I can't detect him."
Ranma looked around. "The freak of nature can teleport. He must have learned that from his demon friend."
"What? He can teleport!"
"I saw it with my own eyes."
"Great!" Sailor Io pulled out her communicator, "Sailor Moon, you there?"
A moment later Sailor Moon was on the screen. "Is there something else happening?"
"No. We are going to meet at Mercury's house. Happosai got away. He shot something at Ranma and we need Mercury to see if it was poisonous."
Sailor Moon smiled. "Ok. We'll meet you at Mercury's place. Could you bring some ice cream?"
"Sure." Sailor Io let out a tiny laugh. Sailor Moon still was a young girl and it showed. She turned to Ranma, "Ok. Transform and let's go."
Ranma had a shocked look on his face. "Something's wrong."
"What's wrong?"
"I can't reach into my pocket dimension." He reached into the air and his hand never disappeared. He flicked his wrist to grab his henshin stick and only obtained empty air.
"Here, let me try." Sailor Io reached up and pulled out her own henshin stick. She reached in again and rummaged around. "I think I got it but I can't pull it out."
Ranma slid his hand along Io's and was able to fit into the rip in space. He felt around and found his stick. It wouldn't come out. It was stuck tight. "That's weird."
Sailor Io was concerned, "Well, Ami's place is about three kilometers. She might have an answer. Ready to have a rooftop run?"
"First let's put this gun in a plastic bag. I don't want any more of whatever is in this thing to get me." Ranma felt the air over the edge of the roof and found the force field was gone. He leapt to the balcony and into the apartment. He got a plastic trash bag and put the loaded water gun inside. He noticed that he was wet and went to the bathroom to dry off.
Ranma put the towel down and noticed something odd. The water was cold. He was still male. He turned on the faucet and splashed his face with cold water. He looked at the mirror and saw his manly features and black hair. He splashed himself again and looked again. "AKANE!!!!"
Sailor Io came to the bathroom at the sound of her true name. "Ranma? What's wrong?"
"I..." He took a small glass and filled it with water. He stood up and poured it on his own head. He stayed male. "I think I'm cured."
"Cured? How can you be cured? Don't you need heated Nannichuan to do that?"
"I don't know. But that water in that gun must be how it happened. Let's get to Mercury's place right now." Ranma grabbed the trash bag and jumped out the window. Sailor Io changed back to Akane and followed him. She didn't want to attract attention to Ranma by having a Sailor Senshi chasing him all over town. He didn't need rumors of another fiance circulating at school.
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Ranma was hopping from rooftop to rooftop to get to Mercury's home. His head was full of thought. He had wanted to be cured for many years and now that he was, all he could think about was how he could be uncured. He was used to the idea of being cursed. He didn't even think it was a curse anymore. It was a part of him. Ranko was Ranma. Half of him was missing. He flushed the ideas out of his mind and concentrated on getting the gun to Sailor Mercury. Maybe this condition was temporary. He didn't want to contemplate what would happen if this were permanent.
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"Boo hoo hoo! NOOOO!!!" The mind of Happosai was it absolute terror and anguish. The level of pain was unprecedented. The very concept of Ranma's girl side being wiped out was bad enough, but to see it actually removed was beyond pain.
The demon sat across from Ranma's apartment. It was smoking Happosai's pipe and staring at the city landscape. It was feeding from the dark energy that Happosai was generating. It just had to listen to Happosai scream for only another day before it had the power to cast the final spell. The demon had waited lifetimes to have this sort of fun. It was going to enjoy its freedom and the pain and suffering it was going to cause worldwide.
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Sailor Mercury was sitting with Sailor Mars and Moon in her room. Venus and Jupiter were busy doing homework and would come if there was a real emergency. Ranma jumped in the window and landed in the center of the room.
Sailor Moon was surprised, "Ranma? Why didn't you transform?"
He held out the bag to Mercury. "This is why. Can you check this for magic? I think it's Nannichuan."
Mercury got wide eyed. "Nannichuan?" She pulled away from it like it was radioactive.
Sailor Mars pulled back too, "Is that the stuff that turns you into a guy?"
Ranma sagged his features. "Yes. I want to know if that is what is in this thing." He instinctively stepped aside and Akane jumped in the room from the window. She was holding a small bowl of ice cream.
Akane handed the ice cream to Sailor Moon. Moon cried out, "Yummy!"
Sailor Mercury scanned the bag. "Wow! The magic readings are off the scale! Let me adjust. Hmm..." Mercury scanned Ranma. "You got hit with this stuff didn't you?"
Ranma sat on her bed. "Yes."
"Your aura is really strange. There is powerful magic that's coming from you."
"Magic? Shouldn't the magic be gone? I mean, if I'm cured then I shouldn't have any magic at all."
"Well you're emitting a magical glow. It's starting to fade." Mercury noticed that the glow was coming from where the water had hit his back.
"So then this is temporary?"
"I don't know, maybe, maybe not. It looks like it has a permanence spell on it too. So I'd guess it's a permanent spell."
Sailor Moon gasped, "Does this mean you can't change to Ranko anymore?"
Ranma started to tremble. He felt true fear. "Please don't let this be permanent. Please don't... Please..."
Akane held her husband.
"Ranko... Please... Not her..." He searched his thoughts and feelings. He felt an echo, like someone was trapped in darkness from which there was no escape. He knew a part of him was missing, dormant or worse, possibly killed. He didn't want to accept the fact that Ranko Saotome, his other half, may never be seen again. It was like someone had died. "That... Son... Of... A..." Ranma slammed his fist into the floor making a hole in it. Ranma bellowed, "When I find Happosai I will make him suffer like he's never suffered before."
Sailor Mercury uncovered her ears, "Need a bullhorn? I think the people in Yokohama didn't hear that."
Ranma pleaded, "Mercury, see if this is reversible."
Sailor Moon sulked. She looked at Ranma. "What about Ranko? What about Sailor Sun?"
Ranma was too much of man. He would not cry. He would not shed a tear. "I think they are dead. Unless we can undo what Happosai has done. They're gone."
Author's Notes: Please review my story. It makes me feel oh so happy and prevents me from killing all my neighbors.
Last edited on November 23, 2002