Millennial Panic C6 - Artemis' Plight

[Shadou]

Just a fragment of the nearly finished Chapter 6 of Millennial Panic. I wrote it mostly as a reminder to the readers that this is still taking place in the Ranmaverse, that more of the characters from the Ranmaverse still exist in this story, even if it's been a while since we've seen any of them. Also, the notion of telling this joke tickled my fancy until I couldn't NOT write it in.

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A scratching at the window drew her attention, and she saw Artemis sitting there on the windowsill. “Hey Minako! Could you let me in?” he asked.

Minako walked over to the window and opened it, allowing an exhausted and soaked Artemis to drop into the room. Rei saw the condition he was in, and yelled at him indignantly, "Hey! Dry off before you come in here! You're getting water all over my carpet."

Ignoring Rei's outburst, Artemis took three steps toward the girls, noticed Ranma wasn't there, and flopped over. “Where is she? Where's Ranma? Curse you Ranma, this is all your fault! Because of you, I've seen HELL!”

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Meanwhile, Elsewhere:

A bandana'd martial artist was sitting and cooking his dinner when suddenly he felt as if the universe had skipped a few beats, like a bicycle whose chain had jumped its gear and freewheeled for a moment before the chain caught again. He didn't quite know how to describe the feeling, but it was almost as if someone, somewhere, had done something that had confused the universe.

Along with the feeling, he also had the inexplicable urge to strangle a white cat. Looking around and not seeing any white cats to strangle, he shrugged and went back to cooking.

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“She just left. What happened to you? Weren't you with Luna?” Minako asked.

“I was with Luna, but I left with Ranma to pick you up at school. Then Ranma left me behind when she ran off to help you against the youma,” Artemis said.

“Well, that doesn't sound so bad. So you had to run a ways to get here. You could use the exercise anyway,” said Minako.

“That's not even the end of it. While I was on the way here, I met some short brown haired girl in some kind of ballet outfit. She picked me up and tried to put some collar on me. I don't like being picked up by strange people! That collar looked too small for me too, I don't think I'd have been able to get it off without choking myself. And she had a KEY for it!” Artemis whined.

“So a strange girl picked you up and tried to adopt you. That sounds horrible, Artemis,” Rei said with a touch of sarcasm.

“That's not the end of the story,” Artemis continued. “After I squirmed out of her hands, she chased after me, calling me Francis. She cornered me in a drainage pipe, and waited there for me to come out, calling me Francis all the while. Then she started picking flowers and naming them, and telling me they wanted me to come out and play with them. I was stuck there for an hour, Rei. An HOUR. And there was WATER running out of that pipe!”

“Oh, stop being so melodramatic, Artemis,” said Minako. “Honestly, you can't blame Ranma for any of that. What kind of self-centered idiot blames someone else for all their problems, anyway?”

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Meanwhile, Elsewhere

The same bandana'd martial artist suddenly sneezed while he was stirring his dinner, the sudden movement knocking his pot of stew over and spilling most of it into the fire it was cooking over. “No, no, no!” the martial artist said. “Dammit, my dinner is ruined! CURSE you Ranma! This is all your fault! Because of you, I've SEEN HELL!”

At that declaration, something in the universe snapped back into its place, the temporary confusion having been resolved. The universe continued on, secure in the knowledge that one Ryoga Hibiki is the undisputed master of blaming Ranma for all his problems.

[khammel]

At that declaration, something in the universe snapped back into its place, the temporary confusion having been resolved. The universe continued on, secure in the knowledge that one Ryoga Hibiki is the undisputed master of blaming Ranma for all his problems.

One little thing popped out at me... Shouldn't the 'is the master' here be a 'was the master' since prose is usually past tense?

[Shadou]

Due to changes to certain parts of the story plot, this scene is going to be cut. I really wish I could leave it in, but this scene no longer fits within the continuity of the story.

[Spokavriel]

You mean you can't have Artemis get dumped on like this? Why not?

[khammel]

Due to changes to certain parts of the story plot, this scene is going to be cut. I really wish I could leave it in, but this scene no longer fits within the continuity of the story.

I know how that goes. Good luck with your story!