Ryoga : Crossover by Mark Latus A Ranma 1/2 fanfic in nine parts The Quick Guide to Ryoga Hibikis Ryoga 1 - The only Ryoga who belongs on this world. The guy you've seen in the anime. Ryoga 2 - Engaged to the Nabiki of his world. Has the same curse as Ranma. AKA Ryoga 1/2, Ryoga-chan. Ryoga 3 - Married the Shampoo of his world shortly after meeting her. Normally lives in China. Trained by Cologne. Ryoga 4 - Engaged to the Ukyou of his world. Ryoga 5 - Forcibly engaged to Kodachi of his world. Slightly paranoid. Ryoga 6 - Briefly married to "Ranko Tendo" of his world. Bitter & self destructive. Ryoga 7 - ? Part 6 : The Magnificent 7? 9:57 pm local time. The basement of a vacant officeblock. Perrier materialized feeling more nauseous than she'd ever been in her life. It seemed human beings weren't designed for time travel. Still she stayed conscious enough to yell, "Everyone clear, second group due in two minutes." Morph, Wilde, Dekker, Assengai, Traven, Inaba, Sharma and Moltov crawled clear. Fighting sickness Inaba and Wilde began assembling the DNA trackers from their equipment packs. Thirty seconds until arrival, Perrier got everyone else to start assembling their weapons. Knowing full well that if a Hibiki strikeforce appeared they were all dead. A flare of light then Sadu and his team appeared. Despite the sickness he screamed, "Heavy weapons on this spot! They'd breached the complex when we jumped." His team crawled clear as Traven and Assengai set up the plasma cannon. They locked in on the insertion point and waited. A minute passed, another, after five Sadu relaxed slightly. "Lopez was going to use the thermals soon as we were gone. Guess he did it. Melted the system so they couldn't trace us." "So everyone's dead up the line. We're the only chance to stop Hibiki." A shout from Wilde, "We've got a trace!" "OK, Inaba, Sadu get us some vehicles quick. Everyone else prepare to move out. This is the only shot we get to change history. They can't be everywhere." "At least I sure as hell hope not", she thought. 10:00 pm local time. The Tendo home. Things were rather subdued at the Tendo house. Ukyou had departed shortly after Ryoga 6's monologue. Besides the way Ryoga 4 kept looking at her made her uncomfortable. Ryoga 6 was sitting in a corner drinking. Everyone hoped he'd be a quiet drunk. Just the Saotomes, the Tendos and the Hibikis left. No one was quite sure what to say next so the room was silent. Which meant everyone heard the splash from outside and the voice saying, "Blast, misjudged the landing zone." Ryoga 2 sighed, "Not again, how many of us are out there?" Akane went to open the door but it was opened from outside. The new Ryoga ditched his wet shoes and took Akane's hand, "Sorry I'm so late dear, I got lost on the way back from school. First time in months." "Getting a little forward there pal!", Ranma said heading toward the newcomer. "Ranma? What are you doing back here? Did Ukyou kick you out?", the puzzled newcomer asked as he released Akane's hand. "I'm here to tell you to take your hand off my fiance", Ranma replied. "Your fiance? You broke the engagement and picked Ukyou, remember? I'm Akane's fiance now and if you think you can just walk back in and Akane will forget the way you treated her ..." His voice trailed of as he caught sight of the other occupants of the room. "Maybe I'm going crazy but it looks like there's six of me already here." Ryoga 3 looked at Ryoga 2, "Here we go again. At least we're well rehearsed in our explanation." Ryoga 2 nodded but he was thinking about those wet shoes. "He landed in the pond and didn't change. Either he was never cursed or he's got a cure." He wasn't alone, Ryoga 5 was thinking the same thing. A little while later, after the explanation and the newcomer accepting being called Ryoga 7, Ryoga 2 approached him. "Listen you know about Jusenkyo?" "The place Ranma, his father, Shampoo and everyone else got cursed? Sure, glad I've never been there. What about it?" "Nevermind". No cure, pity, it would have simplified life. Ryoga 7 shrugged and went back to telling the Tendo's his version of history. He was a good storyteller, bright, witty and interesting. Akane and Kasumi were fascinated by him. Even Nabiki was listening closely. "Maybe", Ryoga 2 thought, "That's why I've taken a dislike to him. Like Ryoga 1 I resent meeting a version of myself who seems more competent. But there's something about him that doesn't ... fit. I wish I knew why I felt like this." He took the camera from his pocket and looked around the room. Might as well get a few shots of his multiple selves. He'd want some kind of proof this happened when he got home. If he got home. He took a few shots getting as many Ryogas as possible into each picture. The other Ryogas had broken up into small groups. Ryogas 1 and 4 were talking together. They seemed to feel they had the most in common with one another. Ranma and Ryoga 3 were discussing fighting techniques. It seemed their aborted battle had given them a mutual respect for each other's skills. Ryoga 6 was still slumped alone in the same corner projecting his "everyone else can go to hell" attitude. Ryoga 7 was still charming the Tendo sisters, he'd also got Soun's and Genma's attention. As for Ryoga 5 ... he was also observing Ryoga 7 closely, while scribbling something down in a notebook. Ryoga 5 stopped writing and walked over to join him. "Do you always carry a camera?" "Nabiki's idea. She always carries one herself. Like she says, 'You never know when you'll see a financially rewarding scene to save for posterity'." "You mean for blackmail?" "If you want to be crude about it ... OK if you want to be honest about it, yes." While Ryoga 5 considered this answer Ryoga 2 asked him, "I've been meaning to ask you something. If ninjas keep trying to kill you why do you dress like one?" "Initially it was necessity. The first time they attacked I wound up heading through the bedroom window naked. One of them got ahead of the pack and rushed me. I knocked him out, grabbed his clothes and dressed on the run. Later the advantages of that type of outfit occurred to me." "You mean camouflage at night?" "That and ninjas hold their fire when they think you may be one of them. They see someone in the distance dressed in black how do they know it's not one of their own people. So I have fewer arrows to worry about dodging." Ryoga 2 looked at him, "With all the trouble you get I can't believe you're still engaged to Kodachi. The other's choices I can understand. I mean Nabiki obviously, Akane of course, Ukyou why not, Shampoo I can understand that ... " By unspoken agreement they skipped Ryoga 6. "...But Kodachi?" "She's not all bad." "Name one good thing about her." Ryoga 5 always hated having to respond to that challenge. Probably because it was so hard to answer. "Uhh ... she never hurts anyone accidentally, it's always deliberate." "Right." "Look if you got to know her ..." "I know her well enough thanks. She nearly killed me during the Rhythmic Gymnastics Martial Arts Contest." Ryoga 5 stared at him, "Nearly killed you?" Ryoga 2 nodded, "Yeah. That was before I got involved with Nabiki. I still had a crush on Akane. Anyway she was supposed to represent Furinkan in the contest but hurt her ankle during training. I figured this was a great chance to show her I was a great, dependable guy. So I turned female and announced that I'd fill in for Akane." "Clever." "Actually no. I'd forgotten that Kodachi had said if she won the match Ranma was her fiance. Which would have meant I had a chance with Akane. Unfortunately in those days I tended to acting without thinking things through." "You could have lost the contest on purpose." "But that would have meant letting Akane down. Anyway once the contest started I had the choice of fighting for real or face severe injury." "Who won?" "I did. I sliced the cornerpost Kodachi was standing on with the ribbon. She went out of the ring, which started moving to catch her. I panicked and punched the canvas. The shockwave knocked the girls hauling it from underneath off their feet. So Kodachi landed on the arena floor and the contest was over. She's never forgiven my female self and is still looking for revenge. Luckily like her brother she seems incapable of understanding the girl she's looking for is me. "Sounds like Kodachi, although she did figure out my curse eventually. Like all the others I got the pig curse. Everyone but you, and him", Ryoga 5 said as he pointed at Ryoga 7. Ryoga 5 continued, "Jusenkyo was a major turning point in all our lives. Before the cursed springs I just wanted to beat Ranma up for skipping our duel. After I got cursed I wanted to kill him. In fact .. I remember our first real fight when I learned Ranma was cursed. He's standing there in his girl form making this speech about how tough life is for him. The whole time he's saying this I'm thinking, 'you think you've got problems? I turn into an animal that gets cooked and eaten over most of the world.' Then I resumed the fight. It must have been a bit different for you." Ryoga 2 nodded, "It was." "I'm curious, mind telling me about it?" "Well as I recall it happened this way ..." Ranma-chan watched as Ryoga broke down laughing. She was getting angry. She'd told Ryoga to laugh at him (her) if he felt like it having seen the curse. However she now realized she hadn't actually meant it. Ryoga managed to choke off his laughter and wiped his eyes. "Oh this is good, heh, heh, heh ... there is some justice in the world after all." Ryoga started chuckling as Ranma tried to work this out. At this point the crowd who'd been following the fight showed up and surrounded Ranma, Ryoga and Akane. "Where's Ranma?" "Who's that girl?" "Why's Ryoga just standing there, he's supposed to be off fighting Ranma?" Comments buzzed around the crowd, Ranma felt panic building. Ryoga was was about expose his secret before everyone. Ryoga stopped laughing and told the spectators, "Ranma remembered a dental appointment and had to leave. We agreed to postpone our fight until later." Various cries of outrage came from the crowd. They intensified when Nabiki announced that since the fight had ended without an undisputed winner all bets were forfeit to the house (her). During this commotion Ryoga looked at Ranma-chan and smiled, "Miss, please be sure to tell Ranma we'll conclude this fight later. That's a promise." Ryoga sauntered off. Akane whispered to Ranma, "Why didn't he either expose your secret or finish the fight?" Ranma shook her head, she had no idea. Ryoga 5 broke into the narrative, "So the fight ended there? In my world we kept going until I pulled the 'belt sword' trick. Ranma kicked it out of my hand and gave Akane an involuntary haircut." "So that's why Akane has short hair. And why Ranma and the other Ryogas got nervous when I asked her about it." Ryoga 5 nodded, "Right. So you did continue the fight later?" Ryoga 2 continued, "It was a dark and stormy night when I arrived at the Tendo Dojo ..." Ryoga 5 broke in again, "You snuck in the house, tried to wake Ranma and failed, then yelled at him until Ranma's father, in panda form, tossed you both outside?" "Right. Do you actually need me to tell the story?" "Yes. I'll bet what followed was different." "It must have been", Ryoga 2 said. "So here's what happened ..." Ranma spluttered awake and sat up. He'd turned female, hardly surprising considering he'd landed in the pond. The rain would have done the job anyway. "Ryoga? What are you doing here?" From underneath his umbrella Ryoga answered," I told you I'd be back to finish our fight." "I don't believe this", Ranma-chan replied as she climbed out of the pond. "It's the middle of the night for crying out loud. Why are you so mad at me anyway?" "You'll find out before the end", Ryoga told her. "I promise you that." "I have no idea what you're talking about." "No more words, defend yourself!" Ryoga launched his assault, hampered by needing his left arm to hold the umbrella overhead. Ranma retaliated. Inside the house the noise of the fight woke Akane, Nabiki and Kasumi. They began looking for prowlers. The fight seemed a stalemate but Ryoga had a plan. He'd remembered how Ranma had taken him off guard when he turned female. You don't expect your opponent to switch sex in the middle of a fight. He had to time this just right, this trick would only work once. Now! Ryoga folded his umbrella and hurled it like a spear. Ranma-chan dodged and it embedded itself in the garden wall. Ryoga charged Ranma following it. Ranma prepared to block, but it wasn't Ryoga. It was some girl he'd never seen before. Ranma hesitated briefly, that was long enough. Ryoga-chan slammed into Ranma-chan, the strength of her punches dazed Ranma. She drove two more piledriver punches into Ranma and saw her drop. Perfect, now for the final blow! The barbell bounced off the back of Ryoga-chan's head. She looked down at Ranma in amazement. "How'd you do that?" Then her eyes rolled up and she collapsed on top of Ranma. A bit shakily Ranma pushed her off and stood up. A lightning bolt bolt illuminated the scene. "Oh it's just Ranma and a friend", Kasumi said. Ranma-chan looked down at the unconscious girl. She didn't know her but those clothes ... could it be? She picked up her fallen foe and walked inside. The Tendo sisters were waiting for her. "So Akane", Nabiki said, "Why do you suppose your fiance was rolling around in the mud with another girl? Particularly while he's in his girl form." Akane ignored this and asked, "Is she all right? I thought she was a prowler." Ranma-chan examined the injury. "She'll have a nasty lump but I think she'll be fine. She probably needs some hot water though." Kasumi looked a little surprised by this request but went to fetch the water. Akane studied their unexpected guest and asked, "Who is she? She looks sort of familiar." Nabiki nodded, "Funny, I was just thinking the same thing." It was more than the face Nabiki realized. She'd seen that outfit before, when she was setting up bets on its wearer vs Ranma. She glanced at Ranma-chan. Could it be ...? Ranma-chan was wondering if asking for hot water had been a good idea. Exposing Ryoga's secret before everyone could be considered a violation of the warrior's code of honor. Kasumi re-entered carrying the kettle. It was time for a decision. The decision was taken out of Ranma's hands by Nabiki. She grabbed the kettle and poured its contents on the girl. "Uhh, hot!", Ryoga groaned as he revived. His eyes focused and he saw Ranma. "Ranma prepare to aargh!!" Ryoga's forward lunge was interrupted as pain seared through his skull. "Better take it easy for a while", Ranma told him. "You took a heavy blow. Guess your head's not as thick as I assumed." Ryoga glared at her, "So now you know why I hate you." "Why'd you fall in Jusenkyo anyway?" "I didn't fall, I was pushed!" "How?" "When you ran out on our duel (Ranma groaned) I vowed to follow you to the ends of the Earth. I heard you'd gone to China with your father so I followed. After weeks of searching for you I arrived at Jusenkyo. I was on a cliff overlooking the springs when this panda came charging at me. I managed to avoid it but there was this red haired girl chasing it. She ran into me and knocked me off the cliff. I plunged into one of the springs and when I emerged ... well you saw the results. Not surprisingly I panicked. Luckily I ran into a local guide. He gave me some hot water along with the news that, while I was back to normal now, for the rest of my life I'd change sex if I touched cold water. This is all your fault Ranma!" "My fault? How is it my fault?" Behind Ranma Akane, Nabiki and Kasumi looked at each other. Something about the story had struck them. Ranma continued, "It was a girl chasing a panda who actually knocked you off that cliff, right?" "Right, so?" "So you shouldn't be mad at me, you should be mad at the panda and the girl." Brief pause. "Panda and a girl?!" With exceptionally bad timing Genma (still in panda form) slid open the door and held up a sign. The sign read, "Quiet down, there are pandas trying to sleep!" He turned and went back to bed. Ryoga was thunderstruck. "Panda", he whispered. He looked at Ranma-chan. "Girl ... now I get it! You got cursed so you decided to share the misery with me. I'll kill you!" "Wait a second ... whoa." Ranma dodged Ryoga's strike, his anger was greater than the ache in his head. Ranma dashed outside followed by Ryoga. Ryoga's threats changed in tone as his voice and body altered. Akane decided to ignore the commotion outside. "I'm going back to bed. Far as I'm concerned Ranma brought this on himself." She left. Nabiki studied the scene outside. "The pig tailed girl fighting another girl, both with soaking wet clothing plastered to their bodies. I wonder what Kuno would pay for photos of this." "I doubt you an get a clear picture with the rain, the darkness and the lightning", Kasumi told her sister. "I suppose so", Nabiki sighed. "Two guys who turn into girls, there have to be lots of really great ways to make money off this. WHY CAN'T I THINK OF ANYTHING?", she shouted in frustration. "That's quite a story", Ryoga 5 commented. "How'd you hear the ending if you were outside fighting Ranma?" "Simple, Kasumi told me later", Ryoga 2 said. "Now I have a question for you. You mentioned earlier that Kodachi forced you to become her fiance. Why not break up with her? Especially if it's endangering your life on a regular basis. Have you fallen in love with her?" Ryoga 5 sighed, "I've never discussed this with anyone else, but I can rationalize this as talking to myself. Frankly I'm not sure how I feel about Kodachi. Maybe it's just the sex, maybe I feel I owe her since she's taught me to start thinking. Admittedly most of the stuff I think tends to be paranoid and/or unethical, a side effect of her influence, but still ... I don't know." "That's the positive side. On the negative side she does a lot of things I'd rather she didn't, she's got a real dark side. As for her family, her father's a nut and Tatewaki ... would you want him for a brother-in-law?" Ryoga 2 smiled, "I'm engaged to Nabiki, remember? I'm facing getting Ranma as a brother-in-law." "A grim prospect. But at least he's not actively trying to kill you." "True." "Also I suspect if I broke up with Kodachi she'd be serving suckling pig for dinner. Anyway leaving aside personal matters the main reason I wanted to talk to you was I recognised a kindred spirit." "A Ryoga who thinks?" "Right", Ryoga 5 agreed. "And what I think is that number 7 over there doesn't fit. I drew up this chart showing where we started varying from each other. 'Ryoga prime' is the point at which we were all identical. Take a look." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ryoga Prime | \|/ Jusenkyo ---------------->Spring of Drowned Girl | Ryoga 2 \|/ Spring of Drowned Pig | | \|/ First meeting with ------>Kodachi obsessed with Ryoga Kodachi Ryoga 5 | \|/ Kodachi obsessed with Ranma | | \|/ Arrival of Shampoo ------>Shampoo falls for Ryoga | Ryoga 3 \|/ Shampoo falls for Ranma | | \|/ Ranko Tendo incident ---->Amnesia | Ryoga 6 | | |---------------------->Ranma declares Akane his only | true fiance. | Ryoga 4 | | \|/ Ryoga 1 Still obsessed with Akane but hasn't said anything to her. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ryoga 2 studied it. "Interesting but I already knew this. What's your point?" "The point is I can see how we branched off from one another. What I don't see is where Ryoga 7 fits." Ryoga 2 considered, "He must have differed from us before the Jusenkyo incident. That was a major turning point ... no wait I see your point. We didn't act like him before Jusenkyo, he must have branched off earlier. His personality is quite different from the way we used to be." Ryoga 5 nodded, "It's more than that, how does he even know Akane? Before Jusenkyo when I was wandering around China my obsession with Ranma was fading. I figure a few more weeks and I'd have decided I had better things to do than hunt for a coward. Then I got cursed and my obsession was stronger than ever. It was no longer enough to fight Ranma, I had to track him down and kill him." Ryoga 2 agreed, "Yes, my experience was similar. But Ryoga 7 comes across as a charming, well balanced person. Not someone who'd go to another country to fight over a relatively minor matter. But we only met Akane because we came here hunting Ranma. If he never did that how'd he meet Akane? Let alone get engaged to her?" Ryoga 5 nodded again. "All the other Ryogas I can see how they developed into the people they've become. How they branching points changed us. Him I can't figure out. He must have changed radically from the rest of us years ago. Which is strange because the rest of us varied inside a timeframe of about a year." Ryoga 2 considered, "That's right, it's almost as if ..." His voice trailed off as a brainstorm struck. "Almost as if?", Ryoga 5 prompted. "Almost as if he's the Ryoga I wanted to be after meeting Akane. Clever, witty, fascinating, everything I wasn't." Ryoga 5 thought this through, "Yes, you're exactly right ... in fact there's more than that. When he arrived Ryoga 7 'accidentally' landed in the pond. Showing everyone who knew about our various curses that he didn't have one." Ryoga 2 frowned, "But if he was never cursed it should never have occurred to him to demonstrate his normality." "Unless he was once cursed and is now cured. In addition to which he's playing the part of the way he wants people to think of him." "Maybe, but again how'd he know to act that way. Unless he already knew who and what he'd find when he got here." "If he did already know we were here maybe he knows how we got here." "I think we should ask our other self a few questions." "I think you're right." Ryoga 7 smiled inside. He'd heard the whole exchange while he charmed the Tendo's. Those two were definitely the pick of the litter. For all the good it would do them. He heard three vans pull up nearby and focused on the faint voices outside. "He's in there commander, but I'm getting multiple readings." "How's that possible?" "If he had a twin brother the scanner would show two signals. Six? Could he have been one of sextuplets?" "Maybe, he purged a lot of records about this era. Didn't want his image tarnished by a less than glorious past. We know he rewrote a lot of records about his personal history." "So he wiped out his brothers to keep them from duplicating his achievement?" "Maybe. Anyway people, this means we can't target one man. We go over the wall and shoot everything in the house. Anyone who can't deal with that I understand. Just stay out of the way of the rest of us." No one volunteered to step down. A voice said, ""Hell Perrier, if nothing changes they all die in a few years anyway. We've come to far for any of us to turn back. Like you said this is the last chance for freedom we get." "OK, take up positions around the grounds. We go over the wall on my signal." Ryoga 7 smiled, almost time. Ryogas 2 and 5 strolled over. "We'd like a word with you", Ryoga 2 said. Ryoga 5 nodded in agreement. Ryoga 7 looked at them, "I'd be happy to answer your questions gentlemen, but I'm afraid we're out of time." Outside the commandos vaulted the wall, landed in the garden, then opened fire on the house. end of part 6 Next episode: The secret of Ryoga 7 and the plan behind the crossover are revealed as things get serious. Terminally serious. Part 7 : For Whom the Bell Tolls, or, A Farewell to Arms.