[fanfic][Ranma] My Past, My Future (Ch. 2)

Hi!  I've *finally* gotten part two out!  And only three days ago
I was thinking of dropping the story!  Thanks to everyone who
wrote in and asked me to continue.  It just goes to show what you
can do when you're motivated. 

Just to clear one thing up:  In the future where Ranma's married
Shampoo, he's gotten over his fear of cats.

On with the show!


MY PAST, MY FUTURE
A Ranma 1/2 fanfic by Andrew Dynon

Ranma 1/2 and all characters therein (c) Rumiko Takahashi et al. 

All original characters (c) Andrew Dynon.
**********************************
Chapter 2
**********************************
Women to the left of me,
Women to the right
Ain't got no gun, Ain't got no knife
Don't you start no fight!
     - AC/DC, "TNT"
**********************************

FUTURE # 2

     The sunday morning sun shone over the Tendo Dojo, as two
figures sparred in the garden.  One was a teenaged girl with
straight, red, neck-length hair, dressed in a navy-blue gi.  Her
sparring partner was a boy of the same age, with short black hair
and a white gi.  Both were obviously highly-skilled combatants,
and neither seemed able to gain a decisive advantage over the
other.

     "Admit it, Kento, you're not gonna beat me!" the girl
yelled.

     "You're the one who can't win, Kaede!  There's no way I'm
gonna lose to a hot-tempered..." Kento dodged "...and
arrogant..." he dodged again "...and above-all UNCUTE sister like
you!" 

     "KENTO NO BAKA!" Kaede landed a kick in Kento's chest,
knocking him into the pond.  "Hands and feet are more fun for
hitting people with than mallets." she thought to herself.  A few
seconds later a figure emerged - one that looked exactly like
Kaede.  Kento-chan leaped out of the pond, ready to resume
battle.

     Two figures sat and watched, eating breakfast - a man with
pigtailed black hair, and a woman with short black hair, wearing
a green pullover and brown slacks.

     "They act just like we did at their age, don't they, Akane?"
Ranma's wife just smiled, thinking back to their youth - Shampoo
and Ukyo chasing after Ranma, Ryoga desperately wanting to let
Akane know how much he loved her, and Kuno chasing both of them. 
Now, it was the twins' turn to experience that part of their
life.  Despite Soun and Genma's attempts to persuade them, the
Ranma and Akane had refused point-blank to force their son and
daughter into arranged marriages, but the inevitable love
problems were beginning to surface - problems which were now
becoming the topic of conversation during the twins' fight.

     "Why do you think you know anything about cuteness?  What
about your crush on ninja-girl Kuonji?"

     "Her name's Kiriko!" Kento-chan returned Kaede's favor of
knocking him (now her) into the pool, and a boy identical to
Kento's male form emerged. "And my relationship with her is none
of your business!"

     "Actually, it is, because I've asked her out on a date for
you." Kaede-kun blocked Kento-chan's punches. "Eight o'clock
tonight.  At Shin-Nekohanten." He ducked a kick from Kento-chan,
and knocked his twin over with a foot sweep.

     "Maybe I should return the favor." Kento-chan
backward-somersaulted, rose to her feet and launched a flying
kick. "How's *your* relationship with Trunks Tarou going?"

     Ranma and Akane laughed.  Kento was baiting Kaede with his
teasing, and their hotheaded daughter (at the moment, son) was,
as usual, swallowing that bait hook, line and sinker.  Ranma's
curse had apparently had a side effect, causing the twins to take
on each other's appearance on contact with cold water.  Unlike
him, though, having had the curse since birth, they were not only
used to it, but actually seemed to *like* it.  Perhaps "curse"
was not the right word for their condition - a curse was, by
definition, something that caused its subject to suffer.  

     "You two had better come and eat your breakfast now, or
it'll get cold!"  Akane called.  By the time she finished the
sentence the two were at the table and eating.

     "You two are lucky Akane's cooking's improved since she was
your age.  She used to be able to ruin cereal - I'll never be
able to forget her mistaking antiseptic cream for milk."  Akane
shot Ranma a dirty look, and Kaede laughed.  Stories like those
tended to get exaggerated over time.

     Kento swept his hand under his sister's arm, causing her to
lose balance. "Kaede, you shouldn't insult your mother by
laughing at her like that."

     "Baka." Kaede rose to a crouching position responded by
punching downward at Kento's hip.  Kento backward-rolled out of
the way, and Kaede's punch slammed into the wooden-plank floor,
breaking one of the suppourt beams and making a sizeable hole in
the verandah.  Kaede scowled.

     "Stupid accident curse!!!"

*    

     Racing each other, Kaede and Kento (now transformed back
into their hot-water forms) headed towards school.  As usual,
despite their early rising, their chances of arriving on time
were precarious, and they had had enough bad experiences with
Hinako-sensei and Principal Kuno Kodachi to not want to be
punished by them too often.

     "KINOMI BAKUHATSU!!!!"  A barrage of various types of fruits
shot towards the twins, exploding as they hit the ground.  The
twins leaped out of the way, barely avoiding the blasts.  Kaede
knew who her attacher was before she even lay eyes on her.

     "Shit, not HER again!  Kento, run on ahead!" Ranma's
daughter turned to face her attacker - a teenaged girl with a
waist-length ponytail of orange hair, turning white at the tip,
dressed in a red kimono.  She stood atop a wall, looked down on
Kaede, and laughed.

     "Mikan!" Kaede shouted angrily "What *is* it with you, ya
damn kitsune witch?  I thought it was bad enough putting that
blasted accident curse on me, but now you're trying to kill me
every time you see me!"

     "Saotome Kaede, for stealing the heart of my beloved
Hibiki-sama, I shall punish you!"
     
     "Since when did I 'steal the heart' of Kaneda-kun? You can
have him, okay?"

     "I'm not listening to your lies!  All I have to do is kill
you, and then Hibiki-sama will be my boyfriend!"

     "Sheesh, you stupid..." Kaede braced herself for Mikan's
attack.  So much for being at school on time.

*    *    *    *    * 
PRESENT DAY

     "Tendo-san, I am most grateful for your allowing me to stay
at your residence!" Kaede smiled.  

     "It's nothing.  Anything I can do for a member of the family
Akane is to be married into brings me   nothing but pleasure."
Soun ignored the way Ranma and Akane looked at him.

     "But since I'm a guest here, I consider it my responsibility
to help you in any way I can.  How about I start by helping
prepare dinner?"

     "And I'll help too!" Akane yelled.  The two had headed into
the kitchen before the others' lack of enthusiasm (to put it
mildly) had even registered on their faces.

*

     "So what are we going to be cooking tonight, Akane?"  Kaede
asked.  She turned the stove on and put a pot of rice on.

     "It's a western dish - tuna casserole.  I'm gonna make a
very special dinner tonight, so try not to interfere too much,
okay?" Akane gave Kaede a gentle push, and she took a step
backward - into the bench.  The shelf above shook from the
impact, and an item fell off the shelf and onto the burning stove
below - a bottle of cooking oil.
     
     Flames flowed from the stove onto the bench, setting alight
the ingredients that had been laid out by Akane.  Kaede turned
the tap in the kitchen sink on full-bore, dunked a tablecloth in,
and used it to try and smother the flames.  Akane rushed out of
the room, grabbed a bucket of water, and threw it in the general
direction of the flames - which was the same direction Kaede was
in.  The flames were doused, and a drenched Kaede-kun stood
facing Akane in the burned kitchen.

     "Gomen."  Akane said meekly.  "If I hadn't pushed you, none
of this would have happened."

     "Kini shinai de.  This is bad enough for you without you
blaming yourself."

     The house's other residents burst into the room, and
surveyed the scene, leading Soun to instantly collapse in a
manic-depressive fit.  Akane quickly explained to the others what
had happened.

     "Well, sis, I figure you've caused around 80,000 yen worth
of damages." Nabiki paused and thought for a moment. "And I think
were owed 50,000 more for the duress."

     "It wasn't completely her fault." Kaede said. "Accidents
tend to follow me around."

     "Hey, Kaede, I think this one was a blessing.  It saved us
from having to eat Akane's cooking." quipped Ranma.  Akane picked
up a wok and hit him over the head.

*

     Akane and Kaede walked along the road.  After the disaster
with the kitchen, the family had agreed to buy takeout, and it
was unanimously decided that having the two who'd caused the
aforementioned disaster away from the house for a while couldn't
be a bad thing.

     "So, Kaede, where'd you get your training?" Akane asked.  

     "My father, and sometimes a few of his friends.  We've been
to various places in Japan and China, and even to India for a
brief while."

     "And, of course, one of those places was Jusenkyo?"

     "I don't think you even need to ask about that." Kaede
smiled. {At least that's what I have to let them think until the
others come back from there.  I wish I was allowed to know what
they were doing in China.  Until then, there's only me and Hikaru
here ... and I don't even know exactly where Hikaru is yet.}
     
     Kaede's thoughts were interrupted by the laughter that she
heard from up the road - an old man laughing with joy.  

     "Hahahahaha!!! Come and get me, cutiepie!!!"

     The two girls lookes at each other, a tone of disgusted
recognition in their chorused voices.

     "Happosai."

     Akane was taken aback for a moment.  "Kaede, you know this
old lech as well?"

     "SWEETO!!!!!!"  Happosai leaped onto Akane's chest, and
grabbed her talents (Author's Notes: Yes, I have been looking
through alt.fan.sailor-moon today).  "Oh, Akane-chan, thank you
for providing your service to this poor old man!"   Akane tried
to punch him into orbit, but he leapt off her chest and towards
Kaede.  "Kawaiiochan! Come to your loving papa Happosai!"

     "HOKKYOKU NO OOKAMI!!!"  A ball of soft white light formed
in Kaede's hands and shot towards Happosai.  Caught in mid-jump,
the lecher was unable to avoid the blast, and was frozen solid,
Ice covering his body.  Kaede grabbed the shocked Akane's arm.

     "That's not gonna hold him for long. RUN!"

     The two raced to clear the area before Happosai recovered.

*    *    *    *    *
FUTURE #1

     Ranma awoke, startles by the scream that coursed through the
night.  Something was wrong with Shabon!  His awakening was
followed only a second later by Shampoo's.

     "Shabon in danger! Ai ren, we must help her!"  Before she
had finished the sentence, Ranma was out of the bed and
half-dressed.  Shampoo rushed to do the same, and by the time she
had dressed, Ranma had already run out the door.  The
purple-haired amazon chased after him.

     Speeding in the direction of Shabon's cry, Ranma wondered
what was happening to her.  He knew that she could handle herself
against any wild animals that may have been roaming about, and
none of the enemies that he knew and were still alive could have
reached this far into amazon territory without guards reporting
their presence.  Compounding his worries was the direction which
the scream came from - the secret cave where the amazons kept
their magical items.  Shabon didn't know about it - only he,
Shampoo, Cologne and a few of the other high-ranking amazons did.
He charged into the mouth of the tunnel that led into the cave,
expertly avoiding the traps that had been set.  As he entered the
cave, he came to a dead stop.

     His daughter lay unconscious on the cavern floor.  At first
he thought that none of the magical items in the cave had been
touched, but then noticed an assortment of items in one corner of
the room had been rifled through.  His priority now, though, was
to attend to his daughter.

     "Shabon!  Are you all right?" The cat girl let out a weak
mew of pain.  "What happened here?"

     "Something bad."  Cologne's voice came from behind him.
"Whatever got in here knew exactly what it was looking for, and
likely how to use it.  And our not detecting its presence
indicates a significant level of power."

     "So we now fight new enemy?" Shampoo asked.  "Shampoo no
forgive anyone hurt daughter!"

     "I'm sure you'll get your chance, child.  First, though, we
need to figure out what it took, and why.  As well as who this
new enemy is and what it can do."
 
     "This new enemy could potentially become more powerful than
you have ever imagined."

     Ranma, Shampoo, and Cologne turned to see another person had
entered the chamber.  She was a girl, wearing a green silk shirt
and pants with ornate white and gold embroidery.  A large sword
with an intricately designed silver hilt that vaguely resembled a
dragon was slung over her shoulder, and the sight of her face
caused the three to stare dumbfounded.  It was the face of the
fifteen-year-old Ranma-chan.

     "What... who are you?"

     "You can call me Akkami.  I'm someone who made a vow some
1500 years ago ... to never let this creature's reign happen
again." 
     
END CHAPTER TWO
________________________________

NEXT TIME: Ranma and Ukyo's son shows up in two time periods, and
Kento's date with Kiriko lands him in posession of an unusual
item ... and in trouble with demons.

COMING SOON:
ICZELION/TEKNOMAN: Operation: Lightphere - Phase 1, Chapter 3
Lance and Sword attack the Space Knights' Asian base, and
Nagisa's going to have to fight or die!  Plus, Blade gets into
the action against Sabre!

SAILOR MOON: Comet Rising - Chapter 1
To save their planet from destruction, the three princesses of
Halia must find the human who holds the Space Crystal. 
Unfortunately, the Sailor Senshi don't know that their purposes
are any different from those of their previous enemies.