"Curse you, Ranma Saotome!" There were secrets all over. People, of course, had all sorts of skeletons in their closets they made sure no one ever find. Places were no different. If one looked deeply enough, they could find things unimaginable in places where they least expected. So it was with Hikaru Gosunkugi who only a few days ago, delving deep in the bowels of Furinkan High school, found what appeared, to him, to be a treasure room. With a candle in hand, Gosunkugi investigated this strange, forgotten area and it wasn't long before he had a wide grin on his face. Arcane symbols were drawn all over on the walls and floors. On the wall farthest away from the entrance, there was a bookshelf littered with half opened scrolls. The center of the room was taken up with a bench of some sort. Gosunkugi figured it was meant for a prisoner...or perhaps a human sacrifice, as each edge of the bench had a restraint nailed into it. But what really caught Gosunkugi's attention was the book that was on the bench. The book looked as though it were hundreds of years old. The pages were written in a language unknown to him, but they seemed to radiate with an unusual power. Apparently, that room used to house a coven or something, where the members would gather and try their hands at dark magic...and this book was the source of their power. Gosunkugi had long dreamt of something like this happening to him. All of his previous attempts at magic had failed. All of his schemes to get that wretched Ranma Saotome out of the way of his beloved Akane Tendo had failed. Things would be different, starting now. With this book in his possession, Gosunkugi would make all of his dreams come true...starting with Akane. It took him countless hours deciphering the language written in the book, but with the help of the scrolls, he made headway at a remarkable pace. He placed unlit candles on the floor around the largest of the arcane symbols drawn and sat himself just in front of it. With the book in his lap, he started his chant. He couldn't wait to see the look on Saotome's face when Gosunkugi's creature attacked. "By the power of the tome of Aternia, I call upon the denizens of the underworld!" Suddenly, the candles lit up by themselves and the circle they were placed around began emanating a bluish glow. Gosunkugi's throat went dry and his heart began to race. It was working. It was really working! "I call you forth and bind you to the words of Aternia! I call you forth to do my bidding! ARISE!" The room was closed off with no means for air to circulate; yet a near gale wind began to blow. The light from the circle grew blinding, forcing Gosunkugi to avert his eyes. Finally, he was going to have his first taste of success! His patience and perseverance were finally going to pay off! And Saotome was finally going to get what was coming to him! The wind had died down. Taking a chance to open his eyes, Gosunkugi noticed the glow had as well. It was finally time to meet his new minion. He turned his head back to the circle and... Nothing. He looked around the room, "Huh? Wha...what's going on?" The circle, he noticed, still had a faint bluish glow to it. From it, he heard a voice... "Thank you for calling DemCo. We're sorry, but all of our agents are busy helping other customers. We value your business and will answer your summoning in the order in which it was received. Again, we're sorry, and thank you for calling DemCo. Your number one source for monster summoning, possessions and tentacle ravaging." Gosunkugi facefaulted. Dreamweaver Studios Presents Ranma½ Legacy Chapter 1 Mousse sighed heavily. He sat with his arms and legs crossed, trying his best to meditate, but he wasn't getting far. It could have been because his mind kept wandering back to the love of his life, Shampoo. Or it could have been because he was 'sitting' upside down, with the crown of his head embedded in someone's roof. Of course, since that was Shampoo's doing, that would cause his mind to dwell on her as well. He couldn't understand why, after all this time, he wasn't making headway with her. Shampoo was no fool. She should've recognized by now that the object of her affections, Ranma Saotome, had no interest in her. Why was she so determined to chase after him? Something in the back of his mind wondered the same thing about his pursuit of Shampoo, but, as usual, he ignored that bothersome voice. His pursuit of her was different. He knew it was just a matter of time before Shampoo could see what a jerk that Saotome was...that he doesn't have any feelings for her. When that did happen, he wanted to be there for her. Once that happened, he knew she would also see what a great person he was. She would recognize how blind she had been all that time and fall head over heels in love with him. Of course, he expected her to have seen all of these things already. Why she couldn't confused him to no end. Finally, Mousse popped his head out of its crater and jumped down to ground level. Meditation was useless. Besides, his work shift was starting soon, and that old woman, Cologne wouldn't be very forgiving to him if he were late. He wondered why he put up with that dried up monkey's abuse like he did. He knew the answer, of course...Shampoo. But with her abusing him just as much, he wondered if it was all worth it. The answer was always yes. However, that 'yes' had been coming up slower and slower lately. Abruptly, Mousse stopped. There was a twinge in his senses, noting incoming danger. Quickly, he reacted by grabbing a dagger from his volumous robes and throwing it behind him. There was a 'twang' shortly after, denoting a metal blade striking another. He found his dagger impaled in the house he was perched on before. There was another dagger sticking out of the ground. Scanning the rooftops, he spotted a figure not too far away...and what a figure it was. It was a woman, with long, blonde hair that was straight on top and curly on the ends. She wore a long, sleeveless Chinese dress with a split that went well up to her hip. However, she had black leggings that covered all the split intended to show. Her arms, which should have been bare, were also covered by long, black sleeves, which were as volumous as his own. "Well, well..." the girls said. "Who would've guessed I'd run into someone here who also uses hidden weapon techniques." "Who are you?" demanded Mousse. "Your next challenger!" she responded. "Prepare yourself. The next time we meet, we will duel!" After laying down her challenge, the newcomer leapt away. Mousse stared at her until she disappeared over the horizon. "What in the world was that about?" ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** The final school bell of the day rang and all of the students of Furinkan High school dispersed to their various homes. Two of the students, the ever popular Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo were among them. However, for some reason, Ranma stopped in the middle of the crowd and looked up into the sky. If Akane didn't know better, she'd swear he was daydreaming about something. If, indeed he was, it was the first time Akane ever witnessed such a thing from him. "It's such a nice day out, Akane," mused Ranma. "Don't you think it's a shame to have to spend it in that stuffy ol' school?" Akane tilted her head to the side, "Sometimes. But our education is important." "What for? I mean it's not like we're gonna need it for anything." "What makes you say that? We'll need what we learn here to make it once we get out in the real world...to support ourselves." "Ain't we gonna run the dojo?" A smile crept on Akane's face. Ranma let it slip that he saw the future with the two of them together. One of the things that always irked Akane regarding Ranma was the way he thoughtlessly blurted out whatever came to his mind. But every once in a while, he would, just as thoughtlessly, blurt out something that made her feel...gushy inside. She wondered if he even realized what he said. "What's with that goofy look on your face?" went Ranma. Akane huffed and turned away, "Nothing. Look, the plan is to run the dojo when we're ready, but we can't base our entire future just on that. Think about it this way...let's say you were challenged to a martial arts duel. Which would be better? Going into it with just one move, or going in with a lot of moves to work with?" "Duh, having a lot of moves." Akane nodded her head. "Why?" "Because you can't put all your hopes in just one move. Your opponent will eventually learn it and learn to counter it. And when that move is taken away from you and ya got nothin' to fall back on, you're beat. But if ya got a lot of moves to work with, you're more versatile and can find other ways to win." "Exactly!" Akane said. "It's the same thing in this case. What if something happened to the dojo and it was taken away from us? Without any other skills to fall back on, we'd be in really bad shape, right?" Ranma's eyes lit up. "Wow...you're right! I never thought of it that way!" Akane smiled. "So, no more talk about skipping school?" Ranma shrugged, "I guess not." "Good. Now, let's get-" "WHY!!!???" Everyone still at the school stopped in their tracks at the loud wail. Gosunkugi appeared, seemingly out of nowhere with his head buried in his hands, bawling profusely. "WHY MUST THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN?" Akane blinked, "Geez...what's wrong with him?" "Probably another hair brained magic scheme of his blew up in his face," laughed Ranma. "Well, whatever. Let's just get home, before something stupid happens." ** ** The day was, indeed, lovely. The sun shone brightly in the sky, with not a single cloud to mar the scenery. A very good thing, Ranma noted; no freak rainstorms to pop out of nowhere, triggering that annoying curse. It was a day for a romantic stroll, if one were so inclined. The birds were flying, singing their happy songs as they did so. The cicadas were buzzing as they feasted on the various plant life. The explosions rumbled softly in the background. ...Explosions? Out of nowhere, one of Ranma's rivals...the one with the most peculiar name; Pantyhose Taro landed in front of them, coming down from the patented martial artist super jumps. Startled, Ranma and Akane jumped back a step. Taro gave the two a glance and with a smirk, he leapt away again. Before they could even wonder what that was about, something else landed in front of them...one of Happousai's coconut-like bombs. No words could escape the couple's lips before it exploded. "Does this count as 'something stupid'?" coughed a singed Ranma. "Yeah. Something like that," answered a similarly overcooked Akane. To add insult to injury, the diminutive martial arts master himself, came down from his own super jump and landed squarely on top of Ranma's head. "Oh, hi there Ranma! Akane! Didn't see you down there. You wouldn't happen to know where Taro went, would ya?" The extra crispy couple pointed to their left, indicating the direction of Taro's escape. Hot on the trail, Happousai bounded after his prey. "Thanks kids! See ya later!" Ranma muttered, "Much later, I hope." "Okay, let's get home before anything ELSE stupid happens," Akane said. As they walked away, the sounds of battle resumed behind them; more explosions along with various, unintelligible yelling. There was one shout in particular, though, that came through loud and clear from Taro, "If you think you're going to get me with that water from the spring of drowned man, you're crazy!" Ranma stopped, his ears perking up. The old freak had water from the spring of drown man? Golden opportunity for a cure! It would be a shame to waste it on Taro. He dropped his bag and started back towards the fight. "Hang on, Akane! I'll be right back!" Akane stopped also and rubbed her temples. As always, the stupid stuff was unavoidable. "Come back here and take your bath like a man!" yelled Happousai. "Once I lock up that nasty curse of yours, you'll never be a thorn in my side again!" "It doesn't matter what you do to me!" returned Taro. "I'll come back again and again and I'll NEVER stop, until you change my accursed name!" "We'll see about that!" Happousai procured another cluster of his coconut bombs and tossed them at his opponent. With the bombs falling towards him in every direction, Taro covered up to protect himself from the resulting explosions the best he could. Unfortunately, the blasts took their toll, leaving the young, Chinese man stunned. "This is it, my boy!" Before Happousai could launch his final, liquid assault with the cursed water, Ranma jumped between the dueling warriors. "Hey!" went Ranma. "He don't want that water! Why doncha give it to me?" He made a grab for the vial of water Happousai had in hand, but with his other hand, Happousai used his pipe to snare Ranma's outstretched arm, tossing him away with ease. "Go away, kid! Ya bother me," said Happousai. Turning his attention back to his real opponent, Happousai found himself with Taro's fist buried into his face. "I'll say one thing about fem-boy," Taro started, with his usual smirk, "he makes a wonderful distraction." The force of Taro's punch dislodged the vial of cursed water from Happousai's hand. It began to fall... …Towards Akane. Time slowed down. The entire outside world disappeared. Akane couldn't perceive anything other than the vial plummeting towards her. Her eyes widened and her heart pumped so hard, it felt as it would burst through her chest. Suddenly, everything became clear. She had always wondered why Ranma hated his curse so much. 'What's so bad about being a girl' she would ask him. With the possibility of being cursed herself, she understood. It wasn't necessarily about being a girl. It was about being something other than she really was...looking in the mirror and not recognizing yourself. With the nature of the curse, it was also about the embarrassing times...the inopportune times the alternate form would pop up. Before, she couldn't really understand the negatives to Ranma's curse, but now, facing the possibility of being cursed herself, Akane recognized just about every negative there was to being cursed. And, she was facing the possibility of experiencing every one of those negatives unless she moved. She wanted to move. Her mind screamed for her body to move, but her legs felt as if they were made of lead. Her mouth went dry and her blood ran ice cold as the vial came closer and closer. Unable to actually pick her feet up, she drug one behind her just enough to be caught in one of the cracks of the sidewalk. She tumbled backwards just enough so that, save for some splatter that fell on the lap of her skirt, the cursed water fell harmlessly onto the ground. The danger had passed, but the fear hadn't. Akane hadn't noticed she was holding her breath until she was panting heavily. She also hadn't noticed when Ranma came to her side, but there he was, a look of terror on his face that, surely, mirrored her own. "Speak to me, Akane!" "R-Ranma?" "A-are you okay? Y-you ain't a guy or anything, are ya?" Akane checked herself. Everything that was supposed to be there was still there. "N...no. I'm still me..." Ranma breathed a sigh of relief and stood up. His fear ebbed, replaced by an unimaginable fury. His teeth were clenched tightly and his whole body trembled. His aura came to life and danced about, as bright and as hot as fire. The look he held in his eyes was like that of a wild animal. As much as the thought of being cursed scared her, this frightened her even more. Ranma was one of the strongest fighters she knew. He going off in an uncontrolled rage with his ability...who would be able to stop him? She knew he would be upset about losing his cure, but to this extent? "Damn you..." Ranma growled. He turned back to the two combatants and his ki flared. "YOU STUPID JERKS COULD'VE CURSED AKANE!!!" Focusing his considerable aura into his hands, he fired, blasting Taro and Happousai back to wherever they came from. "Wha...me?" Akane stuttered. Ranma turned towards her and the stared intently at each other. Her fiancée had a look on his face like he was an officer in the military who had just failed an important mission and was begging forgiveness. "Ranma..." He helped her to her feet, picked up his schoolbag and began trudging homeward. "Let's go..." ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** Home at last. Akane flopped down on her bed and just sat for a moment. Even with everything that had happened to her since she started attending Furinkan High, she had never been that frightened before. The thought of being that close to such a life-altering event still unnerved her. She took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself. She was also very concerned about Ranma. He couldn't bring himself to look her in the eye after the incident. She could tell he was very distraught over the whole thing. She couldn't believe that he would get that upset...not at losing his cure, but because she was almost cursed. It wasn't like him. Akane looked at her desk, towards the picture they took on Togenkyou...the one encased in the frame Ranma got her as a Christmas present. 'That's not true,' she thought. 'It was the same then too. Ranma had his cure right in front of him, but chose me over it.' He was always like that; so protective of her...usually at his own expense. And she was usually so unfair to him in return. Well, that wasn't exactly true either. They were protective of each other from everyone else, meanwhile, they got on each other's nerves. Akane knew what she felt for Ranma and with the little slip at school, it was clear to Akane what Ranma felt for her as well. If they cared for each other so much, why are they usually at each other's throats instead of in each other's arms? Maybe it was for the benefit of everyone around them. If their fathers knew, they would force the two of them to get married immediately. Even though she did care deeply for him, she knew they weren't ready to be married yet. She figured Ranma thought the same. Beyond that, there was everyone else in town who were after their hearts. She could just imagine what a disaster a wedding would be with Kuno and all those girls around. She wished the situation were different; that they could be more honest to each other about what they felt. Akane lay back in her bed and closed her eyes. Her mind wandered, imaging what that openness would be like. That part just after Ranma blasted Happousai and Taro to kingdom come and they looked each other in the eye. He helped her to her feet and held her in a firm embrace. He would whisper how he was sorry he didn't protect her better, to which she would placate his guilty feelings with a soft caress of his face. After telling him that she was alright and he didn't have to worry about it anymore, she would lean into him and place her lips onto his for a soft kiss... "..." Akane eyes popped open. Something was wrong...very wrong. She looked down at herself. Past the two bulges on her form that were supposed to be there, she spotted a third that...wasn't. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!" Akane stomped out of her room and down the stairs. The rest of their family was in the living room, but Ranma was nowhere to be found. "Where is he?" she demanded. "Ranma's taking a bath right now..." answered Kasumi. But before she warned Akane that she couldn't go in, she charged through the bathroom door. Knowing what was coming next, the rest of the family found themselves outside. "It's been a long time since we've been on a training trip, ay, Tendo?" Genma said. "Right you are, Saotome," Soun agreed. "We can't just sit around, playing games all day! We must stay in top form to face whatever dangers lie ahead!" "I just remembered I borrowed a book from Dr. Tofu," Kasumi chimed in. "I better see to it I return it to him before I forget again." They all turned to Nabiki. She shrugged, "What? I just don't want to be in there once they start up." ** ** This was just what he needed to get over the stress of the day. Clad only in a towel, Ranma waited for the bath to fill. If he never saw Happousai or Taro again, it would be too soon. In fact, at that moment, he didn't want to see anyone. He just wanted to enjoy his relaxing bath, get some food and go to sleep, putting an end to the day. It was bad enough those jerks were throwing those stupid bombs around, but the way they were cavalierly waving that water around...didn't they know how dangerous it was? If Akane hadn't fallen over when she did... Akane...she seemed very distraught over the whole incident. He couldn't blame her. He reacted the same way just before he was cursed. He was just glad that she wasn't afflicted. Of course, now, he had to face the fact that he lost yet another opportunity to be cured. "Feh...it just seems to be the way my stupid life goes," Ranma mused. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!" And there it goes again. Sounded like Akane finally got over her shock and was royally POed…and of course, she was looking for her favorite punching bag. Ranma had to think quickly. She had already thumped her way downstairs. It wouldn't be long before she barged in. He looked at the window right above the tub. He didn't like the idea of traipsing around town in nothing but a towel. What if Shampoo or...heaven forbid, Kodachi found him? Oh well...better the unkown than the pain he knew for sure was on its way. He made one step towards the window, when the bathroom door flew open. Ranma knew it. Akane was fuming. It was too late. He wouldn't be able to make it out the window before she could reach him. Akane looked him over, as if to figure out what to stomp on first, but as she did so, something in Akane's features changed. Akane looked him over again, drinking in every detail. The way his pigtail lazily dropped around his neck; his broad chest and shoulders glistening from the steam of the hot water; his lithe, muscular arms and legs; and that towel that covered so many other interesting tidbits. Involuntarily, Akane licked her lips. Unaware of the change, Ranma stood there, wondering where the beat down was. He knew she was still upset by how red her face was...or was that a blush? Nah...not from Akane. She was very, very mad. That had to have been it. But usually, she would've attacked him by now...or at least started yelling. All she was doing was looking at him like...like he would look at dinner? She crept closer, trying to make up her mind about exactly what to do with her visibly confused fiancée. As she got closer, Ranma did notice something out of the ordinary...a small protrusion sticking out the front of her skirt that got larger with every step she took towards him. Ranma may not have known much about how to interact with girls, but he had intimate knowledge about female biological functions...this was definitely not a functions associated with girls. "A-Akane? Wha?" Now standing toe to toe with Ranma, Akane finally made up her mind. With a wry grin and a lustful look in her eyes, she pounced. ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **