[FFML][Ranma][Fanfic][DRAFT] Childhood of a Modern Dynasty - Chapter 2
[section D]
Okay, here's the last section of CMD chapter 2. Starting with Chapter 3,
I'm probably going back to posting the entire chapter instead of in
pieces. I've had mixed results from readers using the section approch,
plus it's a lot easier for me to post the whole chapter at once.
BTW the final Chapter 1 is on my website now. It'll hit RAAC soon (after
they get to it).
[Ranma][Fanfic] Childhood of a Modern Dynasty - Chapter 2: Broken
Hearts and Legs
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Childhood of a Modern Dynasty - Chapter 2: Broken Hearts and Legs
Ranma 1/2 characters and situations created by Rumiko Takahashi, used
without permission
Ranma 1/2 Copyright by Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakan Inc., Kitty, Fuji,
Viz Communications, etc...
Childhood of a Modern Dynasty series created, written, and Copyright
1998 by Jim Lazar
An ongoing series set after the end of the Ranma 1/2 manga and anime.
Any references to 'Birth of a Modern Dynasty' refer to the fictional
book that the fictional author James Davidson wrote detailing the
events that happened in the manga and anime. It is not an actual fanfic
or book. 'Childhood of a Modern Dynasty' is the title of this fanfic
series written by me (Jim Lazar) and the fictional book that James
Davidson is writing.
<Speech text in angle brackets are thought by character.>
All other speech is in Japanese, although written in English in this
story of course.
=======================================================================
[draft section D]
* * *
A few days after 'P-Chan' returned, Akane and Ranma made another
attempt at a nice quiet dinner. Carefully picking out an Italian bistro
in the next ward over from Nerima, they settled down for a calm
evening, they hoped. Ranma did look a little more nervous than normal,
but Akane put it off as his being worried about another attack.
A cute waitress took their order. Ranma ordered 'Akane Alfredo',
earning a laugh from Akane. Informed that they didn't serve that dish,
Ranma ordered a nice seafood pasta instead.
"Do you think the waitress is cute?" Akane asked, after the
waitress left.
Ranma smelled a trap, unfortunately his lips spoke before his nose
warned his brain and his brain could stop the lips. He said, "Yeah, but
you're cuter." His brain recoiled, <When did the lips get so smart?>
His brain decided to look into this.
"Thank you, Ranma," Akane said and leaned in for a kiss. Ranma
obliged her.
After their meals were served, they enjoyed a pleasant dinner and
good conversation, even with the occasional foot tasting Ranma gave
himself. His lips still had something to learn after all. No Amazons
broke down the walls, no women in leotards attacked, no perverted
freaks splashed Ranma, no poetry spewing jerks stuck a bokken in
Ranma's face. In short, it was a perfect dinner. This did not bode well
for the rest of the night.
* * *
Nabiki approached the shadowy figure in the alley. "I'm here, but
I really don't like to meet like this," Nabiki insisted, squinting to
try and make out the figure in the dark.
"Never mind that. Ranma and Akane have been sneaking out of the
Tendo house many times over the past week," a deep male voice said,
obviously trying to disguise itself. Well obvious to Nabiki at least.
"Maybe."
"Do you know where they are tonight?"
"Maybe."
"How much to turn that 'maybe' into some details."
"One million Yen," Nabiki answered, knowing that no one would be
stupid enough to pay that much just to find where Ranma and Akane were
tonight.
"Sold!" the figure exclaimed and threw some bills at Nabiki.
Counting the bills, Nabiki said, "They were seen at 'Umber's
Italian Bistro' over in Shinjuko, I can't guarantee that they'll still
be there." She turned and walked away. <I guess Ranma and Akane can
handle Kuno easily enough. Who did he think he was fooling anyway? Just
because he didn't recite poetry doesn't mean I can't tell it was him,>
Nabiki thought, as she walked away.
After Nabiki had left, the figure stepped out into the light and
removed it's cloak. Shampoo grinned, then said in a voice that sounded
like Kuno's, "That too easy, magic-" she reached up and removed the
little amulet that was stuck to her throat, her voice returned to
normal as she finished, "-amulet made money girl give info she wouldn't
give Shampoo."
Shampoo walked down the street and got on her bicycle. She rode
off, headed for Shinjuko.
* * *
After dinner, Ranma and Akane walked through a pleasant little
park, found a quiet corner, and sat down on a bench. "This evening has
been great, Ranma," Akane said, looking at his eyes.
Ranma leaned in and kissed Akane. They spent several minutes
making out before coming up for air. "Akane, I'd like to settle one of
the 'other' issues we talked about on our trip," Ranma mentioned after
a few minutes.
"Well, I don't think this is the best time to get rid of any of
our assorted fiancees and admirers," Akane replied.
"That's not what I'm talking about...Um..."
Akane placed her finger on his lips and whispered, "I love you
Ranma, just say whatever you want. It won't change my love for you."
"Well, I'm talking about our...engagement. We never really
accepted it officially," Ranma said. Akane's eyes grew wide. Ranma
reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring, actually a handful of
rings. "Akane, will you marry me?" he asked, without hesitation.
"Ranma? I...this is so sudden," Akane said, shocked. Then she
thought a moment, then said, "Well, sort of sudden....two years or two
weeks, depending on how you look at it, but then we have been heading
in that direction for so long, even almost getting married, several
times I guess, I didn't even think of the engagement as being an issue,
I guess I've just been taking it as a given, and then there's..."
It was Ranma's turn to silence Akane's ramblings with his finger.
After a brief pause, he removed it and looked lovingly into her eyes.
He only waited a few seconds for her answer.
"Yes."
They pulled together and kissed deeply for quite some time. When
they finally parted, Akane blinked, then asked, "What's with all the
rings?"
Ranma grinned and then answered, "Well, our fathers have been
forcing them on me ever since I arrived at your house. They seem to
forget that they've given me so many. I almost picked one to give you
tonight, but thought you should choose two yourself."
"Two?"
"One for an engagement ring and one for a wedding ring," Ranma
replied, smiling.
Akane grinned and looked at the rings in his hand, then jokingly
suggested, "Maybe we should get them appraised first?"
"Are you Nabiki in disguise?" Ranma asked back.
Akane just stuck her tongue out at him, examined the rings
carefully, and then picked up one of the rings. "This one for the
engagement ring, I'll choose the wedding ring later," Akane declared.
<I hope this is real, hard to tell with our fathers.>
Ranma pocketed the other rings and slipped the selected ring on
the finger Akane offered. They leaned in for a kiss, their lips never
met. Instead, their lips kissed rubber.
"Nihao, Ranma!" Shampoo sang, as her bicycle tire landed on
Ranma's face. Looking around she noticed the ring on Akane's finger.
"Where ring for Shampoo?"
"Urk," replied Ranma, as it was hard to talk with a bicycle tire
on your face.
"Shampoo, you're not wanted here!" Akane yelled.
"Un-cute fiancee go home now, Shampoo's turn now," Shampoo
insisted.
As he freed himself from the tire, Ranma stood up and said,
"Shampoo, please go home! I don't feel like dealing with you tonight."
"No you give Akane pretty ring, Shampoo get one too! Only fair!"
Shampoo said.
<She doesn't understand the significance of the ring...good,>
Akane thought, relieved.
"Shampoo, that's an engagement ring!" Ranma explained, without
thinking first.
Akane slapped Ranma mentally. <Dummy.>
"It means I'm going to marry Akane. ONLY Akane!" Ranma declared.
Akane smiled at Ranma's declaration.
"Why Ranma sound like scratched CD? Shampoo only real fiancee for
Ranma," Shampoo said confidently, although internally she was starting
to worry.
"Shampoo, I should have done this a long time ago, but..." Ranma
began, then pulled Shampoo off her bicycle. "I DON'T LOVE YOU! I NEVER
WILL!" Ranma yelled then threw the bicycle over the horizon. "And I'm
sick of getting run over by that damn bicycle!"
"Guess Shampoo have to get ring off Akane's finger after beating
her up!" Shampoo declared, then pulled out her bon-bori.
Both Ranma and Akane flipped backward from Shampoo and took up
ready positions. "Shampoo stop! I won't let you touch Akane!" Ranma
yelled.
"Ranma, let me deal with her! She's in for a surprise," Akane
pleaded. Ranma moved to step in front of her, but he met her eyes and
backed off. <Thank you, Ranma,> she thought, as she appraised her
opponent.
"Shampoo, I'm Ranma's ONLY real fiancee and I always have been!
Give it up now or I'll have to hurt you!" Akane declared. She
punctuated the statement by putting the fist with her new engagement
ring out in front.
"Akane should realize by now, that stupid tomboy no match for
Shampoo!" Shampoo replied and thrust one of her bon-bori at Akane's
head. Akane easily avoided the thrust, and flipped to one side and
kicked out at her opponent. Shampoo managed to avoid the kick and
knocked Akane in the side with one of her bon-bori.
Akane leapt away as the blow hit her and avoided any major damage.
She dodged in between bon-bori blows to land a few fist blows into
Shampoo's stomach. Shampoo back peddled and swung out at Akane's head.
The bon-bori connected with a loud crack. Akane was thrown to the
ground. Ranma started forward, but Akane got back to her feet before
Shampoo reached her again. A few more blows to Akane's legs by the
bon-bori caused Akane to leap away to the top of a nearby building. She
may not have the reach of Ranma's leaps, but she was getting better at
roof hopping.
<Damn, have to get those bon-bori away from her,> Akane thought as
she leapt up to a taller building. This was the first time she had ever
used the 'Saotome Anything Goes Martial Arts Final Attack-Ready, Set,
Run Away!', but since she was officially engaged to Ranma now she felt
she was entitled to use the Saotome family techniques. She wasn't about
to shout out the name of this particular attack though, she still had
some dignity.
"Running? Good choice, but Shampoo beat you no matter where you
go!" Shampoo yelled, as she followed Akane.
Ranma followed them both, still fighting his urge to step in and
finish the fight before anyone got hurt, but he trusted Akane's
abilities. Akane would ask for help if she realized she couldn't win.
He hopped.
Akane finally found the rooftop she wanted, of course she only
knew that she wanted it when she found it by accident. It was a
building of about thirty stories high with a big water tank on the top.
She turned around and got ready for Shampoo's attack. She didn't have
to wait long for one of the bon-bori to strike at her head. Quickly
side-stepping it, Akane grabbed Shampoo by the wrist and twisted, hard.
Determined not to let go of her weapon Shampoo ignored her other hand
for a split second and then realized her mistake when Akane broke the
top of the bon-bori off with a well placed kick. Akane followed this by
flipping Shampoo up and over her back. Shampoo landed hard against one
of the wooden support legs of the water tank.
"When Akane get so good?" Shampoo asked, amazed. Getting back to
her feet, she transferred her remaining bon-bori to her other hand. She
winced as she performed the move since her wrist was badly sprained by
Akane's twist. She advanced back to Akane.
"Give it up Shampoo!" Akane shouted, then did some quick flips to
avoid Shampoo's attacks with her only remaining bon-bori. Akane landed
a few kicks on Shampoo, through the holes in her defense caused by the
missing bon-bori. Even though, Shampoo managed to force Akane back to
the edge of the roof. Akane started to worry since she couldn't see any
nearby rooftops on this side of the building. Then as Shampoo thrust
her bon-bori at her, Akane saw an opening and did a high flip over
Shampoo's head. Shampoo quickly spun and used the force of the spin to
drive the bon-bori into Akane's back. Akane went flying and slammed
hard into the support leg.
Ranma winced in pain as he saw Akane hit the support. <I know she
want's to do this herself, but even with our recent training they are
about an even match. Shampoo has more experience too, either of them
could still win,> Ranma worried internally.
Shaking her head and wiping the trickle of blood from her lip,
Akane got to her feet in time to block a bon-bori blow with her arm. A
loud crack was heard. Akane hoped it was just the sound from the
bon-bori hitting the support leg behind her, but suspected her arm was
broken. She didn't have time to check. With a savage yell, Akane put
the last of her strength into one last kick that connected with
Shampoo's stomach. Shampoo flew away from Akane and ended up falling
over the edge of the building. Akane gasped and then ran over to the
edge, not hearing the wooden support behind her crack loudly.
Ranma started towards the edge as well, but Akane reached it first
and managed to grab one of Shampoo's arms, just as Shampoo lost her
grip on the edge of the roof. Unfortunately, the momentum of Shampoo's
fall caused Akane to start to slide over the edge as well. Akane tried
to grab the edge of the roof with her free arm, but found that it was
indeed broken and growing numb. Akane slid closer to the edge, she had
nothing left to stop her from falling over the edge.
"Akane, let go. Shampoo loose. No need to save me now, I must meet
my death honorably," Shampoo declared, with tears in her eyes.
Akane just barely registered Shampoo's sudden use of 'ME' and 'I'
before she slid completely off the roof with the Amazon. She shut her
eyes tight. Expecting the ground to smash her skull open, she was
surprised to find she was still alive and looking down at Shampoo when
she opened her eyes again. "What.?" She gasped.
"Hang on, Akane!" Ranma screamed. His legs were wrapped around
Akane's waist and he gripped a round vent pipe in desperation.
Apparently, Akane had one more resource available to her than she
thought. <No, she has had that resource for over a year now,> she
realized.
Ranma looked like he would be able to hang on long enough for
Shampoo and Akane to climb up. He then heard a loud crack of wood and
looked up in horror. "Damn! Hang on tight both of you! This is not
going to be good! The wat-" Ranma screamed in panic, just before the
wave of water hit him, cutting off his warning and turning him in to a
girl.
The wooden support had broken, causing the water tank to tip over
and send a huge wave of water towards the three martial artists
fighting for their lives. Akane suddenly found her hand empty as the
cat's paw slipped from between the human wrist sized grip she
previously had on Shampoo.
With a quick lunge, Shampoo-cat managed to dig her claws into
Akane's hand. Akane winced in pain, but still tried to get a good hold
on the cat. Shampoo-cat looked up and saw that Akane's attempts to grab
her was causing her to slip from between Ranma's legs, the fact that
those legs were now female didn't help Akane's situation any. With a
last painful, "Meow," Shampoo-cat retracted her claws and fell to her
death.
"NO!!!!!!!! Shampoo!!!!" Akane screamed, helplessly.
Up on the top of the roof Ranma was having trouble hanging onto
the vent pipe. Her hands were smaller now and the water rushing over
them caused her to loose her previously tight grip. She made one last
grab at the edge of the roof, but could not gain a purchase as the
water pushed her over the edge with Akane.
Quickly, Ranma flipped her body over and came face to face with
Akane. He held her tight and they looked into each other's eyes. No
words were spoken. None were needed. They already knew they loved each
other. They both knew they wouldn't survive the impact.
Ranma looked down and shouted "No! I won't let our love die like
this!" Ranma twisted his body so that he could look down, but at the
same time oriented their feet towards the ground.
Akane thought that Ranma was trying to get between her and the
ground. Akane yelled, "No Ranma!"
"Just hang on tight!" Ranma screamed back. Feeling Akane's
unbroken arm tighten around her neck, Ranma held her hands down towards
the pavement below. "Moko Takabisha Rapid Fire!!" Ranma screamed, then
a continuous stream of flaming chi balls formed between her hands and
blasted the pavement into small chunks below, almost liquefying it.
Then Ranma looked into Akane's eyes, hated what she was about to
do, but then she yelled loudly, "Akane, I really hate you! You're ugly
and a bad cook! You don't even look good in that dress! Flat-chested
tomboy! I'm glad you're going to die tonight, one less fiancee for me
to worry about!!"
Akane's heart shattered and her battle aura sprang to life, she
looked ready to kill Ranma. Akane shot mallets at Ranma from her eyes.
As Akane's anger reached it's peak, Ranma twisted her body so that
they began to fall in a spiral and screamed, "Hiryu Shoten Ha!!!" A
whirlwind of debris from the pavement spun up and encircled them,
cushioning and slowing their fall. <I hope it's enough,> Ranma thought.
Just before they hit the ground, Ranma twisted her body to take the
brunt of the impact. Even as she did so, she knew that she wouldn't
take the full force of the impact. She hoped it would be enough to save
her only love.
Akane's anger died as she realized what Ranma had done. She
squeezed him tighter. <I love you, Ranma,> was Akane's last thought
before they hit the pavement.
<I love you, Akane,> was Ranma's last thought before they hit the
pavement.
[End Chapter 2]
***********************************************************************
>From the personal journal of James Davidson:
Akane collapsed into tears, I wrapped my arms around her and
comforted her. "I'm sorry, Akane, maybe I should just get this
information from other sources," I said, holding out a tissue for her.
"No..." Akane said, then wiped her nose and eyes, then continued.
"It's okay. Guess I'm just an old lady stuck in the past."
"Nonsense, you're the most active and lively seventy-six year old
I've ever met."
"It's not nice to remind women of their ages," Akane said, with a
slight smile.
"Sorry," I said, then dropped my head.
"It's okay, I know I could still kick your ass if I wanted to, so
I'll forgive ya," Akane said.
"You're an amazing woman, Akane."
"Ya, I know...been told that too many times in my life. Just don't
fall in love with me, it's dangerous to your health," Akane said,
trying to smile, but I could see the pain in her heart.
"Too late, but I'll just have to settle for the love of a friend,"
I replied and kissed her on her cheek.
"That you are," Akane said.
I helped her back to her room, then Hanaki showed me out. As we
reached the gate, I asked, "Hanaki, would you like to have dinner with
me tonight?" I had finally decided that it was best not to put off such
things till later, because later sometimes never comes.
"Yes, James, I'd love to," Hanaki said, giving me one of her
beautiful smiles.
"I can pick you up around seven then. I have to visit a couple
other people and get some background information for the book, but that
should only take a couple more hours this afternoon," I said, gazing
into her eyes.
"That would be fine. See you then," Hanaki said, smiling broadly.
I returned her smile, then walked down towards the Kuno mansion. I
wasn't looking forward to this meeting, but I needed the background
information.
Coming soon: Chapter 3: What We Did This Summer
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Email me at: mailto:jimlazar@earthlink.net with comments, criticisms,
or if you would like to join my pre-reader list.
Make sure to check out my Childhood of a Modern Dynasty website for the
latest CMD stories, graphics files, and other information:
http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlazar/anime/childhood.html
My other fanfiction can be found at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlazar/anime
Revision 0.4
June 28, 1998
The real author's (Jim Lazar) notes/ramblings:
I saw the idea of using a real pig to replace P-Chan in another fanfic,
but I'm not sure what the name of it was. I used it here out of
necessity for the rest of the series to work correctly (I hope). Plus,
I didn't want Akane to spend the rest of her life in jail for killing
Ryoga. My apologies to that author for borrowing his or her idea.
While chapter 1 covered several months, this part only covered a couple
weeks since the events were more tightly packed and more central to the
ongoing story.
Unlike the other characters in this fanfic, I created James Davidson,
Hanaki Ono, Daijiko, and Takma. I claim full ownership for them. They
are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons (living or dead) or
other fictional characters (animated, written, or live-action) is
unintentional.
R.I.P. Shampoo - You deserved better from me.
Revision 0.3 - Pre-reader draft
Revision 0.4 - FFML draft
--
Jim Lazar
E-Mail - mailto:jimlazar@earthlink.net
Home - http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlazar
FanFiction - http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlazar/anime
"You made Akane whose daughter?!?!"
"Genma's."
"Has she hit you with her mallet yet?"
"Several times, actually."