I'm reposting this on the FFML. Been a while since anyone has seen
this.......
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Ranma 1/2 = (C) of Shogakukan
"Nullifier 122"
by WebDragon
NULLIFIER 122 (LEMON BITS)
Disclaimer for all those purity-storyline-continuity nuts...
(This story operates on the assumption that Ranma's secret is still sort
of a secret. His classmates and other ordinary people don't know his
secret. Alternate Ranmaverse if you will)
Part One
(It is a special day at Furinkan High School. Today, the annual festival
and fair of all the departments is in full swing. The Arts department is
staging its own production of "The Monkey King" while the Home
Economics classes have been whipping up a batch of goodies. The
Science department is proudly showing off its homemade landmines
and improved choloroform gas while the Sports department is roughing
it up in the field and in the dojo. Akane and Ranma are touring each
exhibit one by one.)
Akane : Wow! Ranma, look at these dresses! The Fashion students are
really something!
Ranma : (looking unimpressed at the assortment of dresses with low-cut
bosoms) Hmph.
Akane : What's wrong? Don't think you'll look good in them?
Ranma : WHAT?! Keep it down, stupid!
Akane : I'm just kidding! Ranma, you're such a dope sometimes.
Ranma : What makes you think I'll wear a dress, huh?
Akane : Not in your normal form, idiot! In your girl body! Come to
think of it, you'd really look good in one of these dresses.
Ranma : HEY!! I'm a guy, okay?!
Akane : Ha ha ha ha ha! Can't you take a joke? (walks closer to the
Fashion exhibits)
Sayuri : Akane! Come take a look at this dress!
(Akane examines a blue dress, noting the satiny feel of silk. She blushes
slightly when she sees the slit on both sides of the dress, the better to
show the legs off. Sayuri notices Akane's blush and she laughs.)
Sayuri : The better to catch guys with, Akane. (leans closer and
whispers in her ear) If you really wanted to catch Ranma's attention,
why not buy this dress?
Akane : (whisper) What!? What makes you think I want Ranma
anyhow?
Sayuri : (whisper) Don't be coy, Akane. Anemi and the girls know.
(normal voice) Anyway, I'll sell it to you cheap. Only two thousand
yen.
Akane : No thanks, Sayuri. Hey, are you still up for the slumber party?
Sayuri : Yes! Tonight, at your place, seven p.m.? All of us are
coming!
Akane : That's great!
Sayuri : Let's hope that P-Chan will be there, too. If you can find him,
that is.
Akane : I'll try my best to find him.
Fashion Teacher : Hey, quit dawdling and come help me, Sayuri!
(Sayuri waves to Akane)
Ranma : Well, these seem almost like the last of them. Let's go home.
I'm starving!
Akane : (waving goodbye to Sayuri) What was that?
Ranma : I said, these must be, like, the last of them. I'm hungry and
I want to go home.
Akane : No!
Ranma : Why not?
Akane : The map here (waves it) says that there's one more exhibit just
around the corner.
Ranma : One more measly, crummy...ooof!
Akane : (removing her elbow from Ranma's side) Why are you so
insensitive? Give them, whoever it is, a chance!
Ranma : By the way, who is it?
Akane : (looking hard at the map) It...doesn't say. It just says `66'.
That's the last of the exhibits.
Ranma : Yeah, yeah. Let's get it over with.
(As the two round the corner it seems as if the brightness and the cheer
of the atmosphere suddenly reversed itself and turned into darkness and
gloom. No lights were on in this corridor, only candles lit the way to
the Exhibit 66.)
Akane : This is creepy! (itches to stay close to Ranma but restrains
herself)
Ranma : Yeah. Reminds me of somebody, though.....
(The two halt as they see Gosunkugi sitting behind a booth with the
words `Voodoo Items' on the sign. Various puppets hang from frayed
bits of cord under the sign, dangling above trinkets and bottles of
potions. He stands up and looks forlornly at them. It seems as if
nobody had visited his stand since he had it set up. The counter beside
the stand stood at a grand total of zero.)
Gosunkugi : H-hello, Akane!
Akane : Umm...you're Gosunkugi, right?
Gosunkugi : (thinking) She spoke to me! She actually spoke to me!
Ranma : Hey, weirdo! Watcha got over there?
Akane : (low voice) Be polite, stupid!
Ranma : (sotto voice) Are you forgetting that he put me in a pit full of
hungry c-cats? How about that tiger?
(When Akane had no answer, Ranma walked up to the stand and
scanned it. Mallets, nails, various potions, candles and matches...all of
it seemed like junk. Ranma spends some time looking through the
paraphenalia, picking and discarding items as he listens to Gosunkugi's
speech.)
Ranma : (picks up an ornament) What's this?
Gosunkugi : That amulet is supposed to take your warts away.
Ranma : Right. (about to toss it back down but halts when he sees
Akane's glare. He slowly sets it back on the table)
(The candles flicker out but Gosunkugi produced a flashlight
from his pocket. Akane politely looks through the junk that
Ranma had looked at. Ranma picks up a bottle containing
purple liquid.)
Ranma : Hey, what's this? Cologne?
Gosunkugi : That's a bottle of Nullifier, Blend 122. It's supposed to
cure curses, illnesses, and..
Ranma : Yeah, yeah. Just more of your jun..I mean, your stuff.
Hmph. Supposed to cure curses and.....(double takes) Did you
say...cure curses?
Akane : Curses?
Gosunkugi : Why, yes I did. But it's pretty old stock and.....
Ranma : Can it really cure curses? Can it?
Gosunkugi : Just follow the directions.
(Ranma is holding the bottle and reading the instructions on its side.)
Ranma : Hey, it's in Chinese!! I can't read that!
Gosunkugi : Did I forget to mention that it's from the Baiyan-Kalan
Range, Qinghai province of China? Apparently it was a tribal treasure
of some sort. Now, it's a family heirloom.
Akane : How did your family get possession of such an important
object?
Gosunkugi : My father was given it by a man. More, I cannot tell.
Ranma : Well, how much for it?
Akane : Ranma! Don't tell me you really buy into that stuff?
Ranma : (sotto voice) Hey, I'll try anything once! I want to be free of
this curse, Akane.
Gosunkugi : (flashlight shining under his face) You can have it, if you
want. I don't really think it will have much effect after all these long
years. Besides, you people were the only ones to visit my stand today.
It makes me feel like I've accomplished something with this little gesture
of mine. (hand behind head)
Akane : Thank you, Gosunkugi. (bows, and jabs Ranma in the side.)
Ranma : T-thanks, man (sketches a short, quick bow)
Gosunkugi : (switches the flashlight off, plunging the hallway into
darkness) Anytime.
(The darkness lasts only a few seconds and the lights come back on in
the hallway. Ranma and Akane are surprised, and more than a little
spooked, to see no sign of Gosunkugi or his stand. It was almost as if
he had disappeared.)
Akane : C'mon, Ranma. Let's get out of here.
Ranma : Yeah. Let's go.
(Half an hour later, Ranma and Akane are on their way home. Ranma
examining the bottle with much interest, somehow keeping his balance
on the fence at the same time. He even went as far as to open it and
take a sniff of the contents.)
Ranma : Hmm...smells funny.
Akane : Hey, are you sure you want to use that thing?
Ranma : What if it can really cure me, Akane? Nullifier, Blend 122.
Sounds pretty important. If it sounds important, it has a good chance of
being important.
Akane : How are you going to read the directions on it?
Ranma : I'm not. You go on home, Akane.
Akane : Why? What do you mean....oh. Nekohanten? I'm coming
along too.
Ranma : Okay, if you want.
(The two reach the restaurant in short order and the both of them walk
in. The place is nearly full and they managed to find a two-seater table.
Shampoo flounces over and gives Ranma a hug. Akane simply sipped
at her tea, seeming to pay no attention, but the tea cup shook with her
effort not to crush it into tiny bits.)
Shampoo : Ranma! Shampoo so happy see you! Shampoo go get ramen
for Ranma! On house! (she starts to leave but Ranma catches her apron
corner)
Ranma : Could you also bring the old ghoul too? I wanna speak with....
(an expertly aimed chopstick shot out of the kitchen and landed
smack on the side of Ranma's head. Moving with incredible speed,
a short figure came out of the kitchen and stood at Ranma's side,
just in time to catch the chopstick as it fell. The diners clapped at
this incredible feat of skill and speed.)
Cologne : Who's an `old ghoul', sonny boy? (prods him with the stick)
Ranma : I...uh..take that back.
Cologne : I see my future son-in-law still needs a little ironing-out.
Well, enough of all that. What was it you wanted to see me about?
Ranma : It's about this. (fishes out the Nullifier and hands it to
Cologne)
Cologne : (reading it) It's a Nullifier, Blend 122. My tribe used to
have one of these. It was old when I was just a young girl three
centuries ago. I was told by a village elder about its use but I forget
what she had said. It has been so long, you know. Anyhow, how did
you get a hold of this? It is exclusive to the Bayan-Kalan Range of the
Qinghai province of China and it has never been duplicated outside of
China.
Akane : We got it from Gosunkugi.
Cologne : Gosunkugi?
Ranma : He's some nerd at our school who thinks that magic is real and
voodoo curses work.
Cologne : What's his background?
Akane : We don't know. Nobody knows, not even the teachers. Why
do you ask?
Cologne : Oh, don't worry, dear.
Ranma : He said something about his father being given it by a man.
Akane : I'm not really following any of this. Can you explain it to us,
please?
(Cologne contemplates that question for a few moments, then she nods
and hops up on a seat. She motions Akane and Ranma close, so others
wouldn't hear what she had to say.)
Cologne : Our tribe had suffering from a band of marauding tigers. Not
a week would go by without one of our tribe getting mauled or killed by
these beasts. A travelling sorceror by the name of X'ian Taolu managed
to destroy each and every one of the beasts. In gratitude, we gave him
two of our treasures. One was this Nullifier, Blend 122. I don't
remember the second item, but it was the most important of all.
Ranma : So....this is your Nullifier, then?
Cologne : Very possible.
Akane : But that would make the man who gave the Nullifier to
Gosunkugi's father over three hundred years old!
Ranma : Ahh, he was probably making up a bunch of stuff, y'know?
I mean, who in the world can live to be three centuries old? (Cologne
coughs) I take that back. Why would a complete stranger give a tribal
treasure to Gosunkugi's father? Why not just keep it, or use it? Or
even sell it?
Cologne : You would be surprised to find out just how irrational our
world is. Stranger things have happened, and will happen again.
Ranma : What's that supposed to mean?
Cologne : Exactly what it means.
Ranma : Okay, whatever. What do the instructions say on the side?
Cologne : It says to use it while taking a bath in water that's neither hot
nor cold. I assume that means lukewarm water. Effects will occur after a
few minutes. That's it.
Ranma : Alright!! I can give this one a try then, right?
Cologne : No. The elder told me its exact purpose and I wouldn't want
my future son-in-law to be exposed to unpredictable magic. Let me try
and remember it before you use it, boy. The water is the key.....
Akane : She's right, Ranma. Who knows what it would do?
Ranma : Oh, all right.
Cologne : Anyways, I'll get Shampoo to bring you two some ramen.
On the house. (she leaves and heads back into the kitchen, deep in
thought)
(Shampoo comes out after a short while and places two orders of ramen
on the table. Ranma and Akane eat their food and leave to walk back
home.)
Ranma : (beside himself in elation) ....These are treasures that need no
key nor lock....
Akane : That ramen sure filled me up! I don't think I'll be having
dinner tonight.
Ranma : (humming a tune in his head) In the album of my heart, they
will keep like new....What was that Akane?
Akane : Never mind. Just keep singing that song.
Ranma : Okay! I..will..not...forget *this blue sky, I will not....forget
*how my dream came true...
(the two walk into the Tendo residence. Kasumi is drying
a new batch of clothes on the line. Soun and Genma are
playing go, each trying to outmaneuver the other. A bird
trills its song on the branch of a cherry blossom tree, which
overlooks a pond, where graceful carp swim. Nabiki is
watching TV, and Happosai...well, only God knows where
he is and He's not telling.)
Akane : I'm home! Kasumi, I don't need dinner tonight, I already ate.
Nabiki?
Nabiki : Yes?
Akane : Did anyone call for me?
Nabiki : Yes. Sayuri called at about five. Said something about a
slumber party and she would be coming with Anemi.....and two others.
Akane : (checks the time; it's five thirty.) Sounds fine to me. Thanks,
Nabiki.
Nabiki : Anytime. (goes back to watching the program)
Soun : So, Akane. How was school today?
Akane : Fine, dad! There was a festival at school. All the different
departments were showing their stuff.
Ranma : Yeah, all of 'em. There was even a voodoo exhibit, by that
Gosunkugi guy.
Genma : You don't say.....hmmmm.....gotcha, Tendo.
Soun : Hey, you....! Excuse me, Akane. (Soun turns back to the
game)
Kasumi : Akane, could you come and help me make the treats for the
slumber party?
Akane : I'd love to!
Ranma : (thinking) Lucky I'm not a girl, otherwise I would have to eat
that stuff she calls food!
(Akane helps Kasumi make the sweets and bonbons
but Kasumi is careful, though in a tactfully polite way,
to cook all the items herself. Ranma is on the roof,
looking at the little bottle.)
Kasumi : There. That's the last of them, Akane.
Akane : Thanks, Kasumi!
(Akane walks out of the kitchen feeling like she had really accomplished
something. She felt on the top of the world, as if she could do anything
and succeed. Feeling a little feisty, Akane looks for Ranma.)
Akane : Ranma!
Ranma : (jumps down from the roof) Yeah?
Akane : C'mon, let's go workout in the dojo. Do a little sparring.
Ranma : Why? I've noticed you've been training more than usual....is
it because you want to challenge me?
Akane : It's just....we haven't sparred much lately...and...y'know.
Ranma : I don't know, but let's go anyways.
(The two head to the dojo. Akane cinches up her belt on her
gi and takes a ready stance. Ranma adopts the crane style and
sways slightly on the balls of his feet, his hands locked into the
crane fist.)
Akane : Stop showing off, Ranma! Honestly!
Ranma : (straightens out) I am not....whoah! (barely dodges a sidekick
from Akane)
Akane : Sucker! Shouldn't have let your guard down, stupid!
Ranma : Oh, yeah? Try this on for size!
(Ranma launches into an attack routine of crane fist strikes and kicks
that keeps Akane on the defensive. Akane parries a punch with
one arm, dodges a sidekick, dodges a roundhouse kick and successfully
blocks Ranma's double-direction strike, where both hands attack each
flank simultaneously. She tries a snap kick at Ranma's face but he
dodged out of reach by swaying back on his feet. Ranma lunged and
attempted to chop a crane fist on Akane's neck but she blocked. Ranma
faked with his other hand and the moment Akane let her defenses down,
to parry the expected attack, Ranma had already tripped her with his
legs. Akane went down and Ranma quickly pinned her arms.)
Ranma : The match is over.
Akane : Not quite!
(She puts a foot into Ranma's midsection and kicks him off.
Ranma flips in mid-air and lands on his feet, unruffled. He
adopts his usual stance and runs toward Akane. Akane gets
up and launches a mid-air roundhouse kick at him. Ranma
rolls under the kick and catches Akane with his `shish-kebob'
maneuover. Akane loses her momentum and Ranma brings
her crashing unceremoniously onto the dojo floor. In a quick
and fluid motion, Ranma rolls Akane so that she's facing down
and he pins her arms behind her back while sitting on her legs.
Akane finds herself trapped for no matter how much she struggled,
she just couldn't break Ranma's pin.)
Akane : Okay..huff...you win.
Ranma : (gets up) Finally!
Akane : And I didn't even land a hit on you at all. You really are good,
Ranma.
Ranma : You didn't stand a chance! (starts to preen himself) Why even
bother to challenge me, Akane? Even if you've got that brute strength
working for you, I'm......huh?
(Akane was already halfway to the exit of the dojo. Ranma suddenly
realizes that he had gone too far in taunting Akane,and he runs up to
her. Her shoulders were slumped and she looked downcast.)
Ranma : Hey. It was only a joke.
Akane : No, it's not a joke! I'm supposed to inherit the Tendo Dojo but
my martial art skills are lousy. If I can't defend the Dojo against a
yaburi, then how am I supposed to uphold the Tendo name, much less
the Anything Goes Martial Arts School. I didn't really want to tell you
this but I've been training because I wanted to see how good I was
against you. Guess I wasn't as hot as I thought I was, huh?
Ranma : You held up pretty well....
Akane : No. You could have ended the match within a few seconds of
starting it, but you just wanted to play with me. I was trying my
hardest, back there. I'm.....ashamed.
Ranma : Cheer up, Akane. I started training when you were playing
with your dolls...there's no need to feel ashamed. I swam across an
ocean, fought and beat Shampoo a number of times,beat the old ghoul
a coupla times, learnt new techniques, beat up that Dojo yaburi, stepped
on the old lech a coupla times, fought Mousse, Ryoga, Kodachi and a
whole bunch of others! I've been getting experience. If you keep
fighting me, I'm sure you'll improve. (drops an arm on Akane's
shoulders)
Akane : (Akane looks up, surprised at Ranma's behaviour) R-really?
Ranma : Really. Now, let's try that match again......
(The two spar some more, to the same results, but Akane was starting
to improve. She could just feel it. Her awareness reached new heights
when she fought Ranma, because she had to be extra alert for any
unexpected attacks. She punched harder and kicked swifter, in order to
compensate for Ranma's uncanny speed. After six more sparring
matches, Akane called it a day. Sweaty and smelly after a long day,
especially after the sparring, Ranma goes to his room and gets his bath
stuff. He places the bottle of Nullifier in the pail, with no intention of
ever letting it get out of his sight. He begins to fill the tub with hot
water and he sits on a plastic chair. With a tip of a bucket, he is
transformed into Ranma-chan, who sits there shivering. She pours more
cold water on herself, making sure that she washed every inch of herself.
She lifts each of her breasts, mumbling and muttering to herself as she
pours the water under them. When she was a guy, she never had to do this!
The tub was almost full of hot water and she turned the tap off. With a
sigh, she lowers herself into the tub and relaxes. Ranma sits there for
long minutes, soaking in the soothing heat, and he twirls the bottle of
Nullifier around in his fingers. Then he gets out of the tub and sits on a
stool, still holding the bottle.)
Ranma : Surely this teeny bottle cannot cause much harm....oh well.
(he places it on the edge of the tub and begins to soap himself.
As he scrubs his back, he starts to wonder what it would be like
to be free of the curse...right now. Wonder changes to curiousity,
and curiousity quickly turns into temptation. The little bottle seemed
to beckon to him, seemed to invite him to pour its contents into the
bath. Ranma sat unmoving for quite a long time, thinking and weighing
the pros and cons of using something he didn't even know about. But
he is, by nature, stubborn and unwilling to wait. He waited until the
bath water had cooled to lukewarm, then he opened the bottle and
slowly let a single drop fall out. The purple liquid dissipated quickly.
Ranma hesitates for a second, then he washes the soap off himself with a
bucket of hot water and gets into the tub. He thought he felt a slight
tingle but he wasn't sure. Convinced that not enough Nullifier was used,
Ranma tips it just enough for another drop.
Unfortunately, the bottle slips from his grip and falls with a plop
into the tub. Cursing, he flailed blindly under the surface of the
water with his hands, grabbing for the bottle, but it keeps slipping out of
his grasp - as if it had a mind of its own. After three
futile tries, he managed to get a hold of it and he held it up. Where
once was purple liquid, now only water remained. The tingle started even as
his eyes widened in the realization of what he did. The sensation felt like
tiny needle pricks on the part of his body that was submerged in the
lukewarm water. The tingle quickly increased in intensity and Ranma tried
to get out of the bath. But his legs felt like lead and the water seemed as
viscuous as wet cement. He tried to call for help but nothing came out,
just a strangled croak. The tingling now probed the beginning of real pain,
and Ranma was helpless! Suddenly an explosion of light burst forth from the
waters and engulfed Ranma, delivering him into the realm of
unconsciousness.)
Kasumi : Ice cream, everyone!
(all) : Okay!
Akane : Where's Ranma? He loves this flavor of ice cream.
Nabiki : Last I saw of him was when he went to take a bath. You
know, he's been in there awfully long.....
Kasumi : Oh, my. I hope there's nothing wrong. I'll go check on him!
Akane : Ahhh, (shoos Kasumi away) don't worry about him. Let's keep
his share in the freezer. He's bound to come out any moment now.
(Minutes pass by and soon an hour had elapsed. Still no sign of Ranma.
Kasumi turns to Akane.)
Kasumi : Akane, why don't you go check on Ranma?
Akane : Sure. Whatever you say. I hope nothing has happened....
(Ranma-chan woke up in the bath, feeling the cool water on her skin.
She found herself slumped in one corner of the bath, one arm dangling
over the edge and the other on her lap. She sat up straight and
examined herself for any injuries. She found none.)
Ranma-chan : What a stupid Nullifier! I guess Blend one-two-two didn't
have the power to change me back to normal. I gotta remind myself to
have a word or two with that nerd. Who'd ever believe in junk like
that....magic potions...hah! All just a bunch of hooey, if you ask me.
(She raises herself out of the tub. And falls straight back on her butt,
splashing a considerable amount of water out of the tub. She rubbed
her eyes once, then twice. Ranma was right there at the other end of
the tub. She was so shocked that she couldn't even think.)
(Ranma awoke from unconsciousness and lay looking at the bath ceiling
for a long moment or two. He could feel the cool water of the bath
lapping at his body. Wait a minute.... cool water? He tentatively felt
himself from head to toe, making sure as to what sex he is at the
moment. No mistake about it, he was male. A grab in between his legs
confirmed that to him. And that meant........)
Ranma : (bolts upright) I'm cured! I'm really cured!!
(He hears a little splash from the other end of the tub, and looks up. He
rubbed his eyes again and stared at Ranma-chan sitting at the other end
of the tub, as surprised and as naked as he is.)
Ranma-chan : Ummm....this is just a dream, right?
Ranma : It must be a dream. No way there could be my female self
right across from me. No way.
Ranma-chan : But...I'm right here. Why is it....I mean...why are
you.....there?
Ranma : I should ask you the same question. This has gotta be a
dream!
(He bangs his head on the tub, a decision he immediately regretted
for he cut his forehead on the edge. He felt the pain searing on
his head and he felt the blood dripping from the cut. He tasted
the blood. It tasted salty. This couldn't be a dream! In addition to
the pain, he felt the stirrings of sexual arousement beginning, just by
looking at his naked female form. Ranma-chan saw Ranma's reddening
face. Putting one and one together, she placed an arm over her breasts
and drew her legs close to her.)
Ranma : S-sorry. Are you real?
Ranma-chan : As real as that! (pointed at Ranma's hardening penis)
Ranma : I can't help it! (moves closer to Ranma-chan, who edges
away) If you are real, then take my hand. I want to feel you, to see if
you are real. (reaches out a hand)
Ranma-chan : You pervert! (slaps the hand away) How dare you try
and `feel' me!
Ranma : (looks at the slap mark on his hand) It's true. You are real.
Ranma-chan : This has gotta be a dream! I can't be with you. You are
me. I am you. We are the same people.....unless....
Ranma : Unless the Nullifier really did work. But, I thought it was
supposed to nullify curses.
Ranma-chan : I'm...I'm gonna put some hot water into the tub.
(Still holding an arm over her breasts, she gets out and walks over to the
tap, which was near by Ranma. She bends over and turns the hot water
tap on. She leaves the tap running and she sits right next to the taps,
letting her body get the hot water first. Ranma sat there, mesmerized
by the naked beauty next to him.)
Ranma-chan : What's the matter? Never seen a real guy before?
(splashes some hot water on herself, oblivious to the pain.)
Ranma : (even he can feel the hot water from his place) What guy?
You're still a girl.
Ranma-chan : (drops her arm from her breasts) I-AM-NOT-A-GIRL!
I'm a guy now! See?
(Ranma-chan thumps a hand on her chest and stands up, dripping water
from her graceful curves, long legs and from her pubic hair. Ranma's
eyes goggle and Ranma-chan looks down at her body.)
Ranma-chan : EEEEEEEEEEEE! I'm....still a girl!! (dunks her head
under the scalding hot water) This should....owww! This should do the
trick!
Ranma : No, stop you fool! You'll get boiled alive!
Ranma-chan : Shut up, you. I'm a guy, not a girl! C'mon, change,
damn it!
(Ranma grabbed Ranma-chan by the shoulders and drags her kicking and
screaming from the jet of near-boiling water. She tries to throw herself
under the tap again but Ranma flung both arms around her body and
pulled her from the tub. His hands were clamped tight around her
firm breasts. His still-erect penis poked hard against her butt and
Ranma-chan shrieked.)
Ranma-chan : PERVERT!! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!! (turns around
and slugs Ranma across the face)
Ranma : Hey! I didn't mean to do that! I was only trying to help you!
(Ranma backs away defensively. Ranma-chan looked steamed, literally.
Her upper torso was completely red from the near-boiling water.
Suddenly conscious of her nakedness, she sinks to her knees and covers
herself with her hands, which she pulled away immediately because even
a mere touch on her scalded skin was pure agony.)
Ranma-chan : Wh-why didn't I change back? Why? WHY??!?
Ranma : The Nullifier! It did work! But instead of curing my curse
completely, it separated my female half from my male half. So we aren't
cursed anymore, it's just that I'm back to normal and you're in a normal
girl's body. (stands up and gets a towel) Here, put this on until we get
this all sorted out.
(The bathroom door slams open and Akane runs in, one hand clapped
over her eyes. Ranma yelps in fright.)
Akane : Ranma?! Is there something wrong?
(Ranma, in a supreme act of willpower, willed his manhood back to
normal and covered himself with the towel in record time. Ranma-chan
is still examining herself, trying to find out why she didn't change
back.)
Ranma : A-Akane!
Akane : Is Shampoo in here again?! I heard a girl's voice in here,
Ranma! No use hiding, Shampoo! (wills a mallet into her hand) Come
here, you...little...!
Ranma : Akane! Stop that, or you might hurt someone!
Akane : The only one who's gonna be hurt is that little witch!
Ranma-chan : (still in shock) Why didn't I change back? Why?
(Akane stumbles into the bathroom, blindly swinging. At length, she
simply pulls her hand from her eyes and she stalked the bathroom, ears
tuning out the sound of the hot water tap. Through the billowing clouds
of steam coming from super-heated bath, she could make out Ranma
searching for his clothing ....and a female form on the bath floor, hands
out and resting on either side of her. Akane had finally reached the
breaking point of her hatred for Shampoo's unwanted attentions on
Ranma. This was the last straw!)
Akane : Ah-hah! There you are! Prepare to die!!!! (brings the mallet
up and swings it down at the female form.)
Ranma-chan : AAAAHHHHH!!! (catches the mallet in both hands, just
inches from her head.)
Akane : Nnnnnggrrrrrr! Die, you!!
Ranma-chan : Wait, Akane!! It's me! Ranma!
Akane : Oh, no you don't!!! Don't try to trick me, Shampoo!! Ranma
is over there, in his normal body! Now, give up!
Ranma : Wait, Akane!
(Ranma turns the tap off and opens the window, allowing the steam to
flow out. The atmosphere clears and the scene unfolds. A naked
Ranma-chan is holding off Akane's attack with all her strength, while
Akane was leaning hard on the mallet, putting her strength and her
weight behind it. Akane takes a good look at Ranma-chan and she lets
the mallet drop from her nerveless fingers.)
Ranma-chan : (skin color starting to return to normal) H-hello, Akane.
Akane : What is going on here?! Ranma! (turns on Ranma, who pulls
his towel tighter)
Ranma : Yeah? W-What?
Akane : What happened?!
Ranma : Umm....the Nullifier dropped into the bath. All of it spilled
into the water and then this happened.
Akane : (kneeling beside Ranma-chan) Ranma? Are you alright?
Ranma : Of course I am!
Ranma-chan : She means me, stupid. Well, I got burnt by the hot
water. I didn't change back though...!
Akane : (noting the finger marks on Ranma-chan's breasts) Who did
that to you?! (looks at Ranma) Ranma! You pervert!!
Ranma : I was only trying to pull her away from the hot water tap,
stupid! Tell her!
Ranma-chan : Why didn't I change back?! That water was hot enough
to hard-boil eggs!
Akane : (grabs a towel and drapes it over Ranma-chan, who winces in
pain) Ranma, why did you use the Nullifier? Didn't you hear what
Shampoo's great-great-grandmother said?!
Ranma : Yeah, but I couldn't wait. If only it didn't slip....anyways,
I'm completely cured now. See? (grabs a pail of cold water and
splashes it on himself. He doesn't change at all.)
Akane : Wow, you really are cured! This time.
Ranma-chan : W-what about me? Why couldn't I change back?
Voice from door : That's because neither one of you have the curse
anymore.
Akane : Oh, Cologne! What do you mean by that?
Cologne : I came to tell you what I remembered but I guess it was too
late.
Ranma-chan : Tell me! Why - didn't - I - change - back!?
Cologne : Let's start from the beginning. Our Amazon village had,
from time to time, a shortage of men to become husbands for the
strongest women. Back then, we had no contact with the outside world
and we were isolated by the mountains. During times like those, our
strongest women visit Jusenkyo and dive into the Spring of Drowned
Man.
Ranma : So what does that have to do with this?
Cologne : Learn patience, sonny boy, or you won't get anywhere. Like
I said, our strongest women become cursed with being a man half the
time. This is where our Nullifier comes in. Blend 122 makes one
person into two people - one male....and one female.
Ranma-chan : You don't mean to say that......those two marry each
other? And have children?
Ranma : No way!
Cologne : Sad, but true and very necessary for the survival of the
Amazons in times of crisis. But because we had quite recently
established trade routes with the outside world, willing males were in no
short supply and the Nullifier was effectively useless and gathered dust,
until X'ian received it. You're lucky it was old stock, you two,
otherwise an even worse thing could have happened.
Ranma-chan : Why's that? What could be worse than this?
Cologne : Because it was so old, the spell energies had faded somewhat
and an essential feature had been dropped over the course of time. Call
it `spell decay' or whatever you will. Anyways, that feature was to
instill lust and passion in both the subjects - thereby ensuring that the
deed would take place. Actually, the part about using it in the bath was
a recommendation. One could've taken it, in a drink, while lying on a
bed...a *big* bed....or any suitable location.
Ranma : You mean...me and her were supposed to....(Akane smacks his
head)
Cologne : If it were new stock you two would be....if I may put it in
less vulgar terms, having alot of fun.
Ranma-chan : He almost did! Look at my chest! (unconsciously she
also feels the spot where Ranma's penis had poked her.)
Ranma : Hey!
Cologne : Don't worry about it. It was just some residual energies of
the lust spell. It should go away in a couple of days or so.
Akane : Ranma, you pervert!!
Ranma : It wasn't the spell! Like I said, I was trying to pull her away
from the hot water!
Ranma-chan : Hey, old ghoul! Am I gonna be stuck this way forever?!
Is there a cure?
Cologne : I don't know.
Ranma-chan : You mean....you mean I'm gonna be stuck as a girl?!
Cologne : I'm afraid so.
Ranma-chan : (whirls on Ranma) This is your fault, you moron!
Ranma : My fault? This is your fault and your problem, shorty!
Ranma-chan : How is it my fault?! You're the guy and I'm the girl.
Now who was it that put the Nullifier in the bath, hmmm?!
Akane : Stop it! The both of you are equally at fault! Stop blaming
each other!
Cologne : She's right, you know. You (points at Ranma) and you
(points at Ranma-chan) are the same person.
Ranma-chan : Yeah, but he's cured and I'm not! That makes it his
fault!
Akane : Huh?
Ranma : Well, I'm not gonna stand around here like this. (grabs his
clothing and exits)
Ranma-chan : HEY, IDIOT!! THOSE ARE MY CLOTHES!!!
(Ranma-chan gets up and wraps the towel completely around
herself. She ties it up and runs out after Ranma, shouting at
the top of her lungs. Cologne turns to Akane.)
Cologne : Oh, well. It's his own fault this time. I told him to wait.
Akane : Isn't there a cure? Can't you find out?
Cologne : Dearie, in all my three hundred years of life, I don't recall
any cure for the Nullifier.
Akane : So...this is permanent, then?
Cologne : As permanent as the `couples' back in Qinghai. Akane, I
want you to keep an eye out for them. That lust spell might kick in
once in a while and....
Akane : No need to tell me about it!
Cologne : Also, there is another thing I sort of remember. It had
something to do with `imbalance' or `overload', or something like that.
I tried very hard to remember the whole phrase but I'm afraid three
centuries has been a long while.
Akane : Okay, I'll remember that. (exits the bathroom)
(Ranma is in his room and is about to put on a shirt. Ranma-chan,
wet and dripping and clothed in a slip of a towel, glares at Ranma.)
Ranma-chan : That's my favorite shirt you're wearing!!
Ranma : No it's not. It's my favorite shirt!
Ranma-chan : Give it to me!
(Holding the towel in place with one hand, Ranma-chan grabs at
the shirt with the other and tries to take it away. Ranma contemptuously
pulls it away from Ranma-chan's one-handed grasp. Ranma-chan
growled in anger and took hold of the shirt with both her hands, pulling
with all her might. Unfortunately her towel took a mind of its own and
fell from her body, exposing her nakedness to Ranma. Yelping in fright
Ranma-chan let go of the shirt and made a grab for her towel. Ranma
couldn't resist the temptation and he kicked the towel into the air with
one foot and caught it. Ranma-chan screeched and lunged for the towel
but Ranma dangled it just out of reach. The door banged open and
Akane walked in.)