Well, it’s been a while, but here is another snippet
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Needless to say, Ranma was quite dumbfounded at the sight of the Tendo homemaker as some sort of fairy out of legend. With some hesitancy, Ranma said, “K-Kasumi…”
The eldest Tendo daughter interrupted him. “W-What a-are you, Ra-ranma?” There was clear fear in Kasumi’s voice as she pressed herself against the wall of the cell and as far away from Ranma as possible.
The martial artist looked confused at her declaration. Narrowing his eyes briefly, he took a short step forward. When Kasumi flinched at the sight, a frown appeared on his face. ‘Kasumi really is afraid of me.’ Since his appearance was human, that meant… Facing his hands outwards as a sign of peace, Ranma quietly stated, “Kasumi, we need to get out of her. I’m not gonna hurt you.”
“I-I…” began Kasumi. Swallowing, she started again, “I-I’m sorry, Ranma. It’s j-just your not…right.” The homemaker was twisting a piece of cloth in her hands and her eyes darted from side-to-side, seeming to look for an avenue of escape.
Sighing, Ranma relented since he did not have time to argue. “Okay, Kasumi. I let Nabiki out. Join up with her across the hall while I check for the others.”
Still nervous, Kasumi nonetheless nodded in acceptance.
Racing out the door, he noted that Nabiki and Yukiko, the former was standing behind the latter, were now out of the cell and walking towards them. Giving his own nod at the middle Tendo sister (who seemed relieved at the acknowledgment of her sister’s presence), Ranma ran down the hall towards the next cell. Quickly unlocking it, he examined inside, but no one was present. With even more speed he went to the next room, but it was empty as well. Growling in frustration and panic, he continued to examine the cells, but no one else was present. With each empty room, Ranma’s anxiety in finding the others grew.
As he was about to turn the corner to continue his search, he almost ran into a group of people. Ranma was about to get into a fighting stance, but relaxed after seeing who was there.
“Ranma!” screamed almost simultaneously Yuka and Sayuri. Without thinking the two raced towards him and engulfed the teenager in a hug. And almost immediately, the two realized what they were doing and quickly released Ranma; a slight blush was now present on both girls’ cheeks.
Happy that some of the others escaped, he saw an older man, with somewhat spiked hair and an unshaven chin, was carrying…Yuka!?! ‘What the hell!?!’ was Ranma’s dominant thought.
Seeing his stare and surprise, Yuka started, “Oh, Ranma, that’s…”
However, her explanation was cut off by ‘Yuka,’ who was struggling to remain awake, ‘R-Ranma, wh-where is U-Ukyo-sama?’
The manner of address clued Ranma to the identity of the person since there was only one individual he knew who would do so. “Konatsu?” tentatively asked Ranma.
‘Yuka’ nodded and closed her eyes, concentrating deeply. Eventually, ‘Yuka’ slowly morphed into the form of the cross-dressing ninja who worked and lived at Ucchan’s. Indicating to the man holding him that he was fine now, Konatsu was gently allowed to stand-up, although the ninja still needed a bit of help in remaining balanced.
Shaking off his surprise, Ranma bitterly answered Konatsu’s question. “No. I haven’t.” The shapeshifter looked down at the floor with this information, but did not reply.
Ranma examined the rest of those present. He noted a blond swordswoman was guarding the back of the group, facing towards the hallway from where they just came. Sensing his stare, she glanced at Ranma and turned back her attention. Standing near her and also almost hiding behind the man was Shampoo. Her head was cast downward and she seemed to be depressed as well as lost in thought.
“Shampoo, you alright?” asked Ranma with concern. The Amazon hesitantly glanced his way. For a brief moment, Shampoo’s nails sharpened and her eyes slit like a… ‘Oh, great,’ thought Ranma with a small shiver.
The purple-haired girl looked away from Ranma and nodded. “Shampoo okay, Aire…Ranma.”
The pigtailed vampire winced at the change in address. He could make a few guesses as to why. ‘She must have seen Cologne too. Maybe she feels guilty somehow.’ However, he did not have time to reflect on those issues now. Looking again over the group, Ranma’s knuckles began to tighten as he realized the lack of certain individuals. If some of the other rescuers did not find them…Ranma did not want to complete that thought.
Yuka started talking again. “Ranma,” she began and then pointed at the older man, “This is Takamichi Takahata,.” Shifting her direction to the blond woman, she added, “And that’s Toko Kuzunoha. There part of the group that came to rescue us.” Hesitantly, she added, “Did, Did you find anyone else?”
After giving a nod, Ranma replied, “Nabiki and Kasumi.” With a slight growl, he included, “Also that bitch doctor.” Worrying over Akane, Genma, Ukyo, and the rest was eating away at Ranma. Not able to take it, he smashed his hand into the wall next to him, which cracked under the assault. The teenagers present were startled by the action. Toko again glanced in his direction at the noise.
A few moments later the group saw Nabiki and Kasumi were running down the hall. Yukiko was being dragged by Nabiki and almost stumbling with each step. Kasumi was behind the two so that they would not bump into her wings. Reaching everyone else, the group except for Ranma was startled by the eldest Tendo’s appearance. Still casting a nervous eye towards Ranma, Kasumi almost blushed under the scrutiny.
Nabiki searched through the group and scowled, “Akane and Dad aren’t here.” Turning towards the scientist, she glared. With an icy voice, Nabiki said, “Where is everyone else?” A cold aura was once again building around her.
Yukiko snorted and answered with a smirk, “I do not know since I was not authorized to have the escape coordinates.”
The middle Tendo daughter used her past business skills to search her eyes for any signs of deception. Growling in frustration, she exclaimed, “Dammit!”
Shortly after the sounds of footsteps along with moving wheels were heard from the hall Yuka, Sayuri, and the rescuers were previously. Toko relaxed her guard after seeing a familiar face. A dark-skinned man who had a knife in one hand and a gun in the other ran down the hall towards the blond woman.
“Gandolfini,” Toko nodded to the newcomer and then continued, “Report.”
The man looked at the group and was also surprised by Kasumi‘s appearance. Shaking his head, he replied, “It seems that the captors have abandoned the facility. Resistance is pretty nonexistent at this point.” Looking over his shoulder, he then pointed to the approaching cage. “We found this animal in one of the cells. It seemed pretty suspicious with its magical aura and so we brought it along.”
The two who were pulling the cage stopped and wiped off the sweat from their brow. One would be described as bishonen, while the other seemed somewhat heavyset.
“I think that’s my exercise for the month,” joked the bishonen. The portly man nodded his agreement.
It only took a moment for many of those in the group to recognize the individual inside the cage. “Pop!” cried out Ranma as he ran to the cage.
Grabbing onto the bars, the pigtailed teenager called out again, “Damn, Pop, am I glad to see your lazy ass again!” However, instead of grunting in response, the panda ignored him and continued to eat the bamboo in its paws.
Shivering slightly from the lack of intelligence in his cursed father‘s eyes, Ranma tentatively said, “Come on, Old Man. These guys came here to rescue us. You can quit the act.”
Receiving no acknowledgment from the panda, Ranma lowered his head and gripped the bars tighter. One more, Ranma weakly spoke, “Pop?” Yuka and Sayuri both looked at the spectacle on the verge of tears. Nabiki gritted her teeth in frustration while Konatsu and Kasumi bowed their heads in sadness.
Suddenly, the vampire roared and dashed towards Yukiko. Roughly grabbing her from Nabiki, the Tendo daughter struggled to maintain her balance. The scientists was roughly shoved against the nearby wall, knocking the air out of her.
Looking down at the arm which was easily lifting her, Yukiko saw the black sclera eyes of Ranma Saotome. Toko narrowed her eyes at the sight while Takamichi frowned slightly.
With barely contained rage, Ranma ground out, “What happened to my father?” However, Yukiko was paralyzed with fright, the memories of her brother’s and comrades’ deaths came back to her at the sight of those eyes. Pushing her harder against the wall, the vampire screamed, “I said, what the hell happened to my father!?!”
Apparently, the force was enough to shock Yukiko enough to speak. “F-F-Failed ly-lycanth-thropy ex-per-iment.”
When it seemed that Ranma was going to apply even more force to the woman, a hand was placed upon the cursed teenager’s shoulder. The vampire looked over to see Takamichi staring at him.
The man calmly stated, “It won’t do to hurt her anymore. Right?”
In his rage, Ranma almost attacked Takamichi for interrupting, but a flashback of the laboratory slaughter brought a moment of clarity to him. And so Ranma fought to control his rage. Eventually, he was able to calm down enough that he dropped the woman, who immediately began to gasp in restoring her proper breathing.
Looking down at the floor, Ranma growled out in frustration and exclaimed, “Shit!”
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Roll Call of Those Rescued: Ranma, Yuka, Sayuri, Nabiki, Kasumi, Konatsu, Shampoo, and Genma.
-ranmafan1