Five friends were gathered around the Hikawa shrine. They weren’t discussing anything really important for once. A few weeks had gone by with no sign of the Dark Kingdom or anything else of major interest. Artemis was curled up half asleep on the steps to the shrine. Luna wasn’t doing much better. She still complained each meeting about the fact that there was something wrong with Makoto’s family, but the others had long ago learned to tune her out when she started on one of her tirades.
Usagi noticed Makoto was rubbing her shoulder while Minako was commenting on some new boy she had seen. “Is your father still working you over, Mako-chan?”
Makoto nodded. “I figured it’d ease up after he ‘got me back in shape’, as he put it. But nooooo, it’s just gotten harder. Oh well, I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.”
“Really?” Usagi couldn’t imagine enjoying being sore all the time.
Makoto smiled. “My dad really likes the martial arts. It’s his life. Training me makes him happy, and I like making my dad happy. Not to mention the fact that, yeah I’m sore, but I also feel real good too.”
“That’s-“ Usagi’s comment was interrupted by a strange warbling sound that came from Ami’s computer. All five girls, Ami included, stared at it in surprise.
“Oh, I’d almost forgotten about that,” Ami commented. “I took some scans of Ranma when we met him in the park. I had my computer analyze the readings, but it’s taken longer than I thought it would.”
“Oh? How long?” Luna asked.
Ami blinked at her with a surprised expression. “As I said, it’s been analyzing the readings since we met Ranma in the park.”
Luna’s jaw hit the floor. “It took the Mercury computer almost a month to analyze?” The lunar cat felt decidedly unwell.
Ami nodded. Looking down at the screen, she began going over the computer’s findings. The other four girls crowded around her. They were all very curious about Luna’s reaction and what the scans would show.
Ami began pointing at various readouts. “He’s human, though he has a life force rating that is far beyond the average person’s. There are a number of energy patterns over him. I would guess this one is his curse. The computer is identifying this field as an enhancement of some kind, but it’s not able to identify the specifics just yet. This field seems to indicate that he has some magical abilities.” Ami blinked in surprise at something on the screen. She held the computer down to Luna and pointed at a particular readout. “What does the acronym for this power field mean?”
Luna’s eyebrow twitched nervously a few times as she read. “F.I.I.K.,” she grumbled. She had forgotten that the programmer for the Mercury computer had a quirky sense of humor.
Ami nodded. “I am not familiar with that term. Can you explain it?”
Luna put her paw to her head as Artemis began laughing. “It’s not a term I’d expect you girls to know,” the white lunar cat commented. “It means ‘F#(<&@ If I Know’.”
Ami and the others blinked at Artemis. “Meaning…”
“That the Mercury computer, the most advanced piece of technology currently in the solar system, doesn’t have a clue.” Artemis looked over the readouts. “Ranma has some kind of energy field around him, but the nature of the field is incomprehensible to the computer.”
Makoto started gripping the railing she was sitting on tighter. “Could it be the Dark Kingdom?”
Artemis shrugged. “Could be, yes… but it’s not really very likely. The Dark Kingdom doesn’t bother covering its energy signatures usually. They’re a bit too arrogant for that. And there’s the fact that most of the Dark Kingdom’s signatures are recognizable by the Mercury computer.”
“So how do we find out about the field?” Makoto wondered.
“Well, you could ask him…” Ami ventured.
Makoto shook her head. “It seems like every time I start to bring up anything about what happened before they vanished, dad finds somewhere else to be or he changes topics. And when I ask about the past eight years, I get a lot of stories about fighting and adventuring, but that’s about it.”
Usagi scratched her head. “Have you tried asking your mom?”
Makoto blinked for a moment before smacking her forehead. “No.” Her friends all giggled in unison. “But how do I bring it up? ‘Hey mom, what’s that weird field dad has around him?’ I don’t think that would work.”
Minako offered her suggestion. “Well, what about asking your mom the questions your dad won’t answer? Maybe you can figure it out from that.”
Rei nodded. “And if all else fails, I can try a fire reading.”
Makoto found her mother sitting in the living room, working her way through a large stack of papers. “Mom, where’s dad?”
Ukyou looked up from one particular form she was reading. “Your father had some errands he needed to run. He’ll be back later. Can I help?”
Makoto nodded slowly. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you. Uhm… why won’t dad talk about certain things?”
Ukyou grimaced for a moment before putting the papers down and patting the couch next to her. After her daughter sat down, Ukyou answered her. “Your father had some very bad things happen to him before you were born and he’s never really quite gotten over them. You see, most of his friends died when we were teenagers, and he blames himself for it.”
“Wh-what? Why? What happened?”
“Your father has a curse on him. Actually, he has a number of curses on him, like that water one. Most of them aren’t that important, though. We don’t know who did it or why, but somehow your father has been cursed to be a conduit for chaos. The chaos in his life builds up, like a crescendo, until it reaches a critical point and then…” Ukyou paused as her eyes took on a distant look. “People around him die.”
Makoto watched her mother walk over to the umbrella that rested on a pedestal in a corner of the room and put her hand on it. “It took us a long time to find out that it was this curse that had killed several of Ranchan’s friends and enemies. His first fiancé died when we were seventeen. Her name was Akane. The whole class was at Tokyo Tower on a field trip, except for a few who were out sick or for disciplinary problems. Nabiki, Akane’s sister, had managed to come along despite the fact that she was in a higher class.” A single tear worked its way down Ukyou’s cheek as a small smile crept to her face. “She tried so hard to come along because she was sure that something was going to happen and she wanted to be there to make money off of it. Irony, it really sucks.” Ukyou paused for a moment before continuing. “We didn’t know it at the time, but the chaos energy from the curse attracted a monster of some kind to the Tower. Actually two monsters, if you count that jerk Tarou. Those two got into a big brawl at the base of the Tower and they destroyed the supports. Up top, all we knew is that everything was shaking and breaking and people were pushing each other and panicking. It was horrible. When the Tower began to buckle and lean over…” Ukyou stopped talking and crossed her arms against her chest as she shivered. “I froze. If Konatsu hadn’t smashed one of the windows, grabbed me, and jumped out, I would have been killed like so many others. He used his ninja training to save both of our lives.”
Makoto was stunned. “How did dad survive?”
Ukyou smirked as she thumped her hand against the umbrella one last time before turning back to her daughter. “Ryouga. You know what’s funny? He always swore that he hated your father. ‘Ranma! Because of you, I’ve seen hell!’ That was his most common battle-cry. And what’s funnier is that Ranchan always saw Ryouga as a friend, one of only three friends he ever really had: Ryouga, Akane, and me. When the tower fell, Ryouga grabbed Nabiki and Akane and pushed Ranchan out the window just as he jumped. He used this umbrella like a parachute to try and save them. What… what no one knew, and I don’t think even he realized, was that he was losing a lot of blood from where a chunk of metal had severed an artery. H-he made sure that Ranchan had a hold of the umbrella and the two girls and then… he lost his grip on the umbrella and fell… oh, gods… I watched him fall all the way down…”
Makoto moved to hold her mother close as the older Kino broke down crying. “I had actually started to develop some feelings for the thick-headed jackass… since it looked like Ranchan and Akane were coming closer together… and the only life Ryouga ended up saving was the man he always swore he hated… Ranchan. Nabiki and Akane had been injured by debris as well and they died in the hospital. And it took them a week to recover Ryoga’s body from the debris.”
Ukyou slowly managed to stop crying and gently pulled Makoto back to the couch. “The Amazons, another of your father’s fiancés, renounced their claim on your father and ran back to China. I think that they somehow learned about the chaos curse. I had won the race, but it was the most bitter, hollow victory you could imagine. Your father needed a friend so badly, but two of the three people he considered to be his only friends had just died, and the third one was supposed to marry him. He didn’t need a fiancé or a wife right then. He needed a friend. So, painful as it was, I once again renounced my claim on your father and became the friend he so desperately needed. It took several long months, but we finally managed to help him get past the pain, and then it happened again. I don’t have the details and your father will not talk about it, even to me… but some long-standing enemies of his, the Kuno siblings, went even crazier than before and attacked your father. There was an explosion of some kind and Ranchan’s mother and father were killed, as were both Kunos and Mr. Tendo. Ranchan barely survived and was laid up in the hospital for months. I was so afraid that he would die, not because of his injuries but because he lost the will to live.”
Ukyou stopped and held her daughter close as tears fell down her cheeks again. “It was during all of this pain that Konatsu and Kasumi started getting close. Your uncle had been working for me and I’m pretty sure he had a crush on me too. He didn’t even mind that all I wanted was Ranchan. He just wanted me to be happy. Kasumi had played the role of mother to her family since her mother died when she was young. Now her whole family was gone, wiped out in just a few months. It nearly destroyed her, but Konatsu helped her through it. They were both such gentle spirits who only wanted to make others happy. After a little while, Konatsu and Kasumi fell in love. Unfortunately, due her traditional tendencies, Kasumi felt she had to marry a Saotome in order to fulfill her family obligation. Ranchan was so tired of everyone being miserable because of him that he told her to follow her heart instead of tradition. Kasumi was too intent on fulfilling the family honor, so Ranchan pointed something out to her that he really didn’t want to. The dowry that the Tendos had offered to the Saotomes had been the family dojo. The explosion from the Kunos had wrecked the dojo and the house, so there was no dowry. Kasumi finally agreed to follow her heart and a few weeks later, she and Konatsu got married.”
Ukyou smirked as she thought back. “Ranchan tried to convince me to go and find someone like Kasumi did, but I had no intention of ever leaving his side again. He even tried to use the ‘no dowry’ ploy against me too. I didn’t fall for it though. I reminded him that I was sticking around as his friend, not his fiancé, and what good is a friend who abandons you in your time of need? So I stayed. Well, it was around that time that Rei’s grandfather came to visit us. He said that he kept sensing a powerful evil coming from Nerima and more specifically Ranchan. He performed a fire reading and that’s when we found out about the curse. Mr. Hino recommended that Ranma move to Juuban since it was so quiet that the chaos would take a long time to build up. Ranma was all set to go alone, but I let him know what I thought of that idea. He tried to argue with me, but I refused to give in. When he asked where I planned on living when I got there, I think that’s when he realized that I was still in love with him. And then he really tried to talk me out of it. In the end, he proposed in the only way I think he could. He threw his hands up in the air and said, ‘If yer gonna share my death, ya might as well share my life.’ I said yes, which I still think he wasn’t quite ready for.”
Makoto giggled at that, but then something occurred to her. “Uhm, mom? Why did dad have so many fiancés? Was he a playboy or something?”
Ukyou sighed. “No, sugar. Your father is the most undersexed man I’ve ever met. Who do you think had to initiate the bedroom games, hmm?” Ukyou smirked as she watched her daughter squirm in embarrassment. “A long time ago, your father was on a training journey with his father, who was one of the most effective martial arts instructors I’ve ever met. However, other than bringing your father into the world and training him to be the greatest martial artist of his generation, Genma had few, if any, redeeming qualities. He was one of the most despicable men to ever walk the Earth. He took Ranma from his mother when he was only six so that the two of them could go on a ten year training trip that would take them all over Japan and China. He swore he would make Ranma a ‘man amongst men’ or they would both kill themselves.” She felt Makoto tense up at that. “Yeah, I know. Pretty stupid, but that was Genma.”
“Well, it was hard work, but your father excelled at his task. I met him shortly after he started the trip. I caught him stealing from my father’s okonomiyaki cart. Well, my dad and Ranma’s dad came up with the idea that Ranma and I would spar together and that the best way to do that was to have Ranma keep trying to steal food. If he beat me, it was free. If I won, he had to pay for it… He never had to pay.” Ukyou sighed as she remembered the good memories. “Of course, the jackass thought I was a guy the whole time.”
That surprised Makoto. “He thought you were a guy?”
Ukyou nodded. “I was a bit of a tomboy. Heh, ‘was’. I still am. I used to dress in guy clothes a lot. They were more comfortable. When I saw your father again, ten years later, he STILL thought I was a guy until… well, let’s just say that when your breasts are bouncing free as a bird where everyone can see, it becomes hard to ignore them.”
Makoto blushed as she imagined that. “I know what it’s like, I think… no one at school will date me because I’m too tall, too strong, and too unfeminine, except when it comes to cleaning and cooking.”
Ukyou hugged her tightly. “Sorry about that. It’s gotta be my genes.” She sighed. “Well, after a few weeks, I was pretty much head-over-heels in love with your dad. I wanted him to stay around, but his father wanted to get on with the training so… they came up with a plan. Ranma and I were engaged to be married and I would go along with them on the trip. As a dowry, my father gave Genma our food cart.”
“Wow… so you and dad… wait a minute, you said that you didn’t see him for ten years. What?”
“That is just an example of Genma’s… lack of morals. He took the cart and Ranma and left me behind in the dirt. You see, he had already engaged Ranma to the Tendos before he was born to unite their schools of martial arts and inherit the Tendo Dojo. When he was still a toddler, Ranma was engaged to another girl in exchange for a bowl of rice, a fish, and two pickles. Repeat the same scenario ad nauseum and you have Genma’s standard method of operation. The only engagement, of at least seven that we know about, that Genma ever had any intention of following through on was the one to the Tendos.”
“Mom.”
“Yes.”
“Granddad was a scumbag.”
“Yes, dear. Now quit interrupting. After being left behind, I was teased mercilessly. Everyone said I was no good and that’s why I was left behind. My own father refused to acknowledge that he had a daughter, so he had me legally listed as a boy. He forced me to strap down my breasts, dress up like a boy, act like a boy, talk like a boy, and even go to an all boy school. I practiced my family’s style of martial arts until I felt ready to chase after Ranma and get revenge for everything they had done to my family. I didn’t know at the time that Ranma had no clue. Well, in a way I’m glad Genma didn’t take me with him… it was a little after he left me that the…” Ukyou began shaking in barely restrained fury. “PANDA… gave Ranma his fear of cats.”
“How? And why did you call him a panda?”
“Remember Ranma’s curse? Genma got one at the same time.”
“He turned into a panda?”
“Yep.” Makoto laughed. “Well, this is what Genma did. Dug a deep pit. Took a few dozen cats and tossed them into the pit. Starved them for a few days. Tied up Ranma and covered him in fish cakes. And threw him into the pit.”
Makoto was beyond horrified. “WHY?”
“So that Ranma could learn a martial arts technique called the Cat Fist. It was supposed to make him invincible. What Genma didn’t know, because he didn’t read all the way through the manual, was that it would also make Ranma insane. He kept throwing Ranma back in time and time again until Ranchan finally snapped. He started thinking and acting like a cat. The good news is, he became invincible. The bad news is, he wasn’t Ranma any more. Well, an old lady managed to calm Ranma down and after a long nap he regained his sanity. Since that day he’s only entered the Cat Fist state a few times. Each time he caused a lot of property damage, but so far he hasn’t killed anyone with it.”
“Would he… hurt his family?”
Ukyou shook her head. “Friends and family are perfectly safe from him, as long as they make no threatening gestures. Everyone falls under one of these headings: Enemy-to-be-killed, Family-to-be-protected, Toy-to-be-played-with, Something-to-be-ignored. Most people come under the ‘ignored’ heading. I wasn’t there to see it, but I heard that your father once used a fifteen-foot shark as a chew toy when he was in the Cat Fist.”
“What makes him get like that?” Makoto’s mind was staggered by the story.
“Well, if he’s exposed to a cat, he’ll run away. I’ve seen him go through walls to get away form a cat. If he can’t get away, then after a few moments he’ll enter the Cat Fist. The only ways to get him out of it are to splash him with cold or hot water to trigger his curse, get him to calm down and ‘sleep it off’, or for a loved one to let him take a nap in their lap. Hopefully that won’t be a problem for us. You’re father has gotten very good at escaping cats these days.”
Makoto shuddered. “I just can’t imagine…”
“I know. And it’s good that you can’t. Well, I finally caught up to him in a town called Nerima.”
“That nuthouse?”
“Ah, it’s nice to see it still has its reputation. Yep. Your father and I and a bunch of others all contributed to that wonderful den of insanity known as Nerima. Well, it was ten years after he left me and… details are mostly unimportant. I dropped my quest for revenge when I found out it wasn’t his fault, and I reinstated my claim as fiancé. He was engaged to Akane Tendo and living with her, her two sisters, and her father. Genma and Soun Tendo kept trying to force Ranchan and Akane to get married, but she was steadfastly against it… you would have had to be there, really, to understand what was going on. Actually, being there might not have helped. Insanity seemed to be a plague that was caught by simply entering the town. There were three constant contenders for Ranchan’s affections: Me, Akane, and this psychotic, violent, deranged, tramp of a purple-haired floozy Amazon… sorry, I never really got along with that one. I’ll be honest. I was second in Ranma’s heart. Somehow Akane always seemed to be one step ahead of me, and she wasn’t even trying. I’m beginning to think that’s why she won in the end.”
“But, if she and dad were… wait, you keep saying ‘Saotome’, but our family name is Kino.”
“Your father’s family was named Saotome. In order to make a clean break, since a lot of people were still after your father’s head for a variety of reasons and to try and possibly, even if it was unlikely, throw off the curse, he changed his last name to Kino. When I married him, I took his new name as well. And nine months, two weeks, three days, seventeen hours, fifty-two minutes after the wedding was born one Makoto Kino.”
Makoto blinked. “You counted?”
Ukyou laughed. “Well, I used to suffer from an obsessive compulsive disorder that was directed towards your father. Now I don’t suffer, I enjoy every moment of it. And you are every bit as important to me.”
Makoto snuggled in close with her mother. “I love you, mom.”
“I love you too, dear.” Ukyou sighed contentedly. “Just one thing, though. Try not to bring up too much about what I told you when your father is around… since it’s his curse, he blames himself for everyone who has died because of it. He also blames himself for the fact that you had to grow up without us.”
“And that’s why you left me?”
Ukyou nodded. “Your father felt the chaos building again and he wanted to get as far from people as possible. He wanted to go all by himself, but there was no way I was going to let that jackass suffer alone, not after everything I’d already been through, but neither of us was willing to risk you. So we left you with your aunt and uncle and hopped a flight to China. We’d hoped that we could find someplace nice and out of the way and maybe the curse would just fizzle off if there were no victims. Unfortunately it went off on the plane, which is something else your father blames himself for.”
Makoto nodded slowly in understanding. “But it’s not his fault, is it? It’s whoever gave him the curse, right?”
“Precisely. And one day, when we find out who it is, we’re going to make him pay dearly.”
Ranma shivered as he and his family walked into the new skating rink with his daughters’ friends. “Why am I doing this again?”
Ukyou elbowed him gently. “So that you can have fun with your family, and that Minako and Usagi found out that there will be free lessons from Olympic skaters today. It’ll be fun, Ranchan.”
“Fun? Ice skating ain’t fun,” Ranma grumbled.
“Oh, come on… one bad experience and you’re ready to hate it for life!”
“You didn’t have some guy kiss you!”
Ukyou managed to keep from snickering at that. She glomped onto his arm and gave him big, doey-eyes. “If it was a big, strong man like you, I wouldn’t have minded!”
Ranma rolled his eyes and sighed as Makoto blushed from her mother’s embarrassing behavior.
“So, who are these two Olympic skaters that are giving the free lessons,” he asked as he grabbed a seat near the rink. He noticed that a large number of parents were also seated nearby. His eyes drifted over to the cluster of girls all getting on ice skates, his daughter among them.
Ukyou picked up one of the brochures and managed to stop from laughing out loud. “The gold-medalist team, the ‘Golden Pair’,” Ukyou glanced at Ranma and noticed that he had gone completely rigid. She continued with a smirk, “Azusa Shiratori and Mikado Sanzenin.”
Ukyou could almost see the ice melting from the intensity of Ranma’s glare as he scanned the ice for the instructors. Ukyou kept a restraining hand on his shoulder as she tried to get him to calm down. “Ranma honey, it’ been fifteen years. I’m sure he’s no longer the hormone crazed teenager you knew.”
Ranma just stared down as the two Olympic skaters made their entrance. “If he even remotely begins to think about trying anything with her, he’s gonna get a double-sized order of whoop-@$$.”
On the ice, most of the girls were barely standing up while a few others managed to skate with some degree of competence. Mikado and Azusa flowed in and out, offering mildly arrogant advice to the girls. Usagi was tripping, falling, and sliding her way around, but what really caught most of the people’s attentions was Makoto. She moved with an almost eerie grace as she glided across the ice. He may have hated ice-skating, but watching his daughter enjoying herself with such skill warmed his heart. He didn’t notice the strange look that came to Mikado’s face.
Ranma did notice when the arrogant womanizer slid up next to Makoto and asked her to be his partner for a moment. Ranma started to grip the armrests of his seat tightly when Mikado attempted to lift her into the air. He relaxed a little when he failed to do so. A smirk came to Ranma’s face as Makoto slipped around behind Mikado and lifted him up over her head. Everyone, with the exception of Ranma, made surprised and excited sounds at the rare sight of the female partner lifting the male. Ranma’s thoughts were more along the lines of, ‘Okay, now shift your grip a little, arch your back just so, and you can plant that perverts face right into the ice. What are you waiting for, Mako-chan?’ Ranma felt disappointed when Makoto gracefully put him back onto the ice and finished a few routines with him.
As Mikado bent towards Makoto to kiss her hand to thank her for the wonderful time, there was a sharp cracking noise from further up in the stadium. The armrests of the chair that Ranma was sitting in parted this realm of existence in a rather gruesome manner. The enraged father started to stand up, but Ukyou slapped her palm against his chest. Before he could do anything else, a metal band encased his arms and locked him to the chair. Ranma glanced down at the restraining device Ukyou had planted on him chest for a moment before glaring at his wife.
Ukyou just shook her head at him. “Let’s try watching how our daughter handles him before we fly off the handle and maim him.”
Ranma glared down and saw his daughter blushing fiercely. “Oh yeah, she’s handling it REAL well.”
Ukyou started to reply, but a loud yet cute voice suddenly declared that the lessons for today were over. Most of the participants complained, but considering that the lessons were free, there wasn’t much they could say. Ukyou took the restraint off of her husband and they went down to speak with the girls.
When they got down to the edge of the rink, Minako informed them that Mikado had asked Makoto to stay just a little longer. Ranma nearly blew his top, but Ukyou managed to keep him under control. “Come on, Ranchan. I’m sure she’s smart enough not to do anything like what you’re worried about. And don’t forget that you’ve been training her to defend herself.”
Ranma finally relented and the group followed the rest of the people out of the rink. Ranma twitched and almost bolted when he saw two cats sitting on a low wall outside. Keeping his eyes averted but his senses focused, he, Siofra, and Ukyou moved to the other side of the stairs while Minako and the others surreptitiously made their way towards Luna and Artemis.
A short while passed quietly. Just as Ranma noticed the fact that Usagi wasn’t in the group his senses went into high alert. Suddenly emergency barriers dropped over all of the entrances and windows. As the steel shutters slammed down, Ranma, Ukyou, and the girls all stared in shock. “What’s going on?!” Ukyou punched the barrier with no effect. The girls began to worry about what they were going to do as Ranma closed his eyes and focused.
“I’ve been wondering if I’d ever have to use this technique. Everyone, stand back.” The deadly serious tone of his voice made them follow his instructions without hesitation. A red aura sprang into existence around Ranma as he slowly opened his eyes. All of the energy suddenly flowed into his hand as he reared it back and yelled, “FIST OF THE RIGHTEOUS FATHER!” He slammed his fist into the steel and there was a bright flash and a loud roar. The barrier vanished in a spray of confetti, as did the glass door behind it. Ranma nodded his head as he surveyed his handiwork. “No door can stop an angry father intent on defending his daughter’s honor!” ‘They don’t need to know that I got the idea from watching Robotech…’
The girls sweatdropped as he and Ukyou ran into the arena. Ukyou called out over her shoulder, “Take Siofra home!”
The girls waited until Ranma and Ukyou were out of sight before looking at Siofra. The redhead nodded to them and they transformed, much to a surprised Luna’s outrage. “She already knew!” Venus informed the cats as they started to follow the Kinos.
It took a little bit for them to find their way back to the skating rink. By the time they got there, they could make out Makoto and her parents dodging a variety of attacks from two skating youma, one male and one female. They also saw Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask pairing off to engage the enemy. The Senshi were a bit surprised to see that Tuxedo Mask was helping Moon, but they were more surprised to see her skating well, considering the fact that she hadn’t been able to stand up on the ice for more than five seconds earlier.
Just before the Senshi joined the fight, they watched as Ranma took a nasty kick to the stomach from one of the youma. He flew across the rink and impacted on the side, sending spider-web cracks through the concrete.
“FATHER!” Makoto screamed in fear. Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she glared at the laughing youma. ‘$(%&# this, they’re going down!’ The Senshi watched in shock as she pulled out her transformation wand. “Jupiter Planet Power, Make Up!”
Ranma shook his head as he pulled himself out of the dent in the wall. “Stupid metal weapons,” he growled. “Those Jade aura techniques just don’t work right against ‘em.” He looked up just in time to see Makoto’s transformation begin. His jaw dropped in surprise and he only barely managed to duck as the female youma was sent flying into the wall near his head.
“SUPREME THUNDER!” Jupiter blasted the male youma with a powerful lightning bolt that sent him spinning out of control. The rest of the Senshi landed next to Jupiter and struck a pose.
As the two youma stood back up, they found themselves badly outnumbered and outgunned. Their arrogance refused to let them feel fear, but they were considering a strategic withdrawal when a new player appeared.
Laughing in a mocking way, Kunzite appeared floating in the air to one side of the rink. “Now that you are all in my trap, it is time to end this game.” He raised his hand towards the ceiling and a strange device in the rafters began to glow. “Feel the chill of death as your bodies are frozen!”
Before anyone could react the air conditioning vents began to pour out super-cooled air. In moments the temperature dropped over fifty degrees and was quickly falling lower. The Senshi and the youma began to collapse as the cold beat through their magical protection. Tuxedo Mask was next, followed by Ranma and Ukyou.
Ukyou threw one of her spatulas at the glowing object embedded in the ceiling, but the weapon shattered like glass when it struck. “T-t-too c-c-c-cold…”
Ranma tried figuring out what he could do as well, but the numbing cold was so far in the extreme that he couldn’t focus an attack strong enough to damage the device. Tuxedo Mask was reaching for something in his cloak, but his movements were slow and pained. Suddenly there was a sharp whistling noise and a brilliant burst of flame covered the dome-like object. A second later it shattered and the waves of cold ended. As everyone slowly recovered, they looked up to see Siofra standing to one side of the bleachers with a small crossbow in her hand.
Tuxedo Mask teleported away as the Senshi and the Kinos began to pick themselves up. Before the two youma could do anything, Sailor Moon nailed them with her Moon Healing Escalation, restoring the Golden Pair to their human forms. Ranma moved towards Mikado, pulling a marker out of nowhere as the others checked up on one another.
A few moments later, Ranma put the cap back on the marker as he turned away from Sanzenin’s unconscious form. Written over the unconscious skater’s entire face and body were various comments, such as ‘Womanizer’, ‘Child Molester’, and a warning that if he ever came within a hundred yards of Makoto again, he’d make sure to break every bone in his body in alphabetical order. As he turned away, his eyes came to rest on Sailor Jupiter.
The Senshi of Thunder gulped nervously as she felt her parents’ gazes upon her. “Makoto?”
Jupiter nodded nervously.
Ranma’s eyebrow began to twitch as Ukyou started chuckling. A few moments later she broke into hearty laughter. Jupiter glared at her mother as Ranma slowly turned towards her. “And just WHAT is so funny about that pervert’s wet dream she’s wearing?” Ukyou was still laughing so hard that tears were coming to her eyes. Jupiter felt her flush of embarrassment slowly becoming anger. “That’s our daughter after all!” Ranma pointed out.
Ukyou finally managed to recover a little bit. “Lighten up, Ranma honey… and besides, that outfit, while sillier looking, is not as revealing as Master Bound’s uniforms, so I don’t really see a reason to complain. You remember Master Bound’s uniforms, don’t you dear?” Ukyou said in a sickeningly sweet voice.
Ranma blushed fiercely. “Don’t remind me. And yeah, I guess it doesn’t show off as much of the cleavage or other parts as those uniforms… I just wish the skirt were longer, or better yet had some pants.”
Ukyou ribbed Ranma. “And you have no room for getting all high and mighty, or have you shown your daughter just how skin-tight your mage suit is? Or should I mention the last time you went skating? Or a certain gymnastics competition?”
Ranma shut his mouth with an audible click. Ukyou, smirking at her victory, turned back to Jupiter. “Now dear, we really must talk…”
Jupiter gulped. “I hope you don’t want me to quit fighting, because I won’t. I’m one of the Soldiers of Love and Justice and it’s my duty to protect the world from evil and my friends are counting on me.”
Ranma was still trying to get his eyebrow to stop twitching so Ukyou spoke up. “Not at all dear, but we ARE going to insist on stepping up your training. If you’re going to be fighting, we want you to do it right.”
“Stepping up?” Jupiter said quietly, wondering just how much worse it could get.
Ranma snapped his head around to look at Ukyou. “I don’t want her risking her life!”
Ukyou gave Ranma a very level look. “Ranma, it’s her choice. Or would you have liked it if your mother told you to quit practicing the martial arts because it was too dangerous.”
“That’s different!”
“No, it’s not! She wants to do this. She’s shown she’s at least decent at it, especially considering her age! So we can either forbid her and have her go behind our back and do it anyway and end up resenting our interference, or we can support her, teach her how to fight better, and maybe have a happy family!”
Ranma never stood a chance. As he gave a slow nod, he considered how nice it would be to fight alongside his daughter. A slow smile spread across his face. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“Oh, and Ranchan? If you even consider taking her on a training trip that’s longer than two days, you’ll never see our bed again. And no Breaking Point training. And no Cat Fist. And-“
Ranma threw up his hands. “Ucchan, who do you think I am?! Pops?! I’d never do that to her! Besides, I expect you to be there training too, Mrs. Weaponmaster.”
Ukyou tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Now that you mention it…” Ukyou gave Jupiter an appraising look. “Add a mage-suit to that outfit and I think it’ll be much more acceptable… I’ve got someone I want you to meet, and I think it’s about time we had that picnic…”