A Divine Daughter Part IV. Undercurrents By: Targhan targhan_aga@yahoo.com www.geocities.com/targhan_aga ================================================================== www.beeftrapeze.com/challenge/ Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters used. =============== The story thus far in a nutshell: During a day in which Ranma was actually left alone for a bit, the Goddess Relief Office sends Skuld down to grant Ranma a wish. Upon learning of this, Ranma explains that he isn't too terribly fond of wishes, and tries to refuse. Naturally, this didn't fly, as the story may have very well ended right there. No, Skuld insisted, and Ranma thought of a very silly wish: Divine intervention in everything until it's all fixed. Oops. Things are supposed to get better with a little divine intervention, but they just didn't quite go as planned. When Skuld is assigned to be Ranma's daughter, everything goes to hell. A house full of the Tendo girls and some overeager fathers add to a dysfunctionality of the best of plans. Akane blew up over nothing, and Nodoka engages Ranma to himself! During an actual attempt by Skuld, the assigned goddess, to correct a problem in Ranma's life, she transfers the Jusenkyo curse to Nabiki. Then things get interesting, as the next few days wear on. Skuld recounts the actual wish process, the memory changes, and the timeline shifts. Ranma is further tormented by Nabiki who plays the role of Ranko to the hilt in front of his mother, and Akane shoves the marriage pledge to Nabiki out of spite. As Ranko, Nabiki attends a funeral with the Saotomes, and meet Skuld's caseworker, Yumi. Complicating matters further, Yumi isn't a case worker; Yumi is a form taken by Urd to help maintain contact with Skuld during her stay with Ranma. What could possibly happen next? ================================================================== Part One: In a Pig's Eye! The park in Nerima was finding itself the center of another martial artists' brawl once again. Swinging low to avoid a counter-strike, Ranma planted three punches in Ryoga's midsection. Noting that the bandanna clad boy had turned away from his attack, Ranma vaulted into an aerial somersault in an attempt to catch Ryoga off guard. Neither of the combatants had dipped into their reserve of special moves, so the park was spared the more destructive aspects of the fight. In a way, Skuld observed, these fights were almost like the ocean. They would roll and swirl, like currents in the water. Skuld normally appreciated the artistic movements of Ranma's fights, but this time it was different. She was annoyed, very annoyed. This guy came out of nowhere screaming things at Ranma that he had no business knowing. Further, they were on their way back from her special "school" when that guy attacked. Backing away from the fight before her, she tried to put things together. Ranma's attacker wore a bandanna, he had black hair, and was calling Ranma "Fem-Boy." If she remembered her notes correctly, this was Ryoga. "Oh yeah," she thought, "he is supposed to have unnaturally bad timing." As frustrated as she was, she never noticed the oncoming danger. Kodachi. Appearing from seemingly nowhere, Kodachi, in her leotard, gracefully leaped to where Skuld was. Quickly she snapped her ribbon tightly around Skuld, and hoarsely laughed, "Oh-hohohohohohoho, what have we here? My, it's Ranma's little darling! Let mother-OH-Ho-Ha-Ha-HA-Kodachi take you for a home cooked meal, while Ranma-darling plays with that ruffian!" Before Skuld could manage a full "Eep," a giant spatula slashed through the ribbons. Ukyou's eyes glistened, as she spoke, "Get away from her, you whacko hussy! If my Ranchan's daughter is going to be eating something--it'll be *MY* okonomiyaki!" "Degenerate servant girl," Kodachi began, "how dare you compare your street vending to my culinary art!" As she saw the two female combatants facing each other above her, Skuld was getting a sinking feeling. In protest, she finally tried to speak her mind, "Excuse me, but I would like to go home now." The goddess-child's voice was not heard, due to the arrival of yet another fiancé! "What you two do with Skuld-chan? She try Shampoo too-too delicious noodles," the amazon stated happily, as she bounced off Kodachi's head. By this time, Skuld had one thing on her mind, escape. These nut-cases were definitely out to crack each other's skulls, and Skuld wanted no part of it. Nearly every fiancé was accounted for, so she started to sneak off... --- "C'mon Akane, hurry up you're walking too slow," Nabiki requested of Akane. Akane replied, "I'm coming. I'm coming. Why do I have to be your personal body guard for anyway?" "Really," Nabiki rolled her eyes, "it's not obvious? Ranma isn't here to do it." "Well, he should be. After all, he's your fiancé, in both forms," Akane spoke with a venomous drawl. "Dear little sister, if you want him back--all you have to do is say it," Nabiki said grinning evilly. Akane had about enough of this conversation, "Look you, I will not be subjugated to that curse just to satisfy your twisted.... Hey! What's going on over there?" "I do believe that's a fight," Nabiki answered while holder her index finger in the air. Then, Nabiki's face grew more serious. "My god, they're fighting over.. Damn it, Akane. Wait for me," she said excitedly. --- Out of breath, Nabiki showed up just in time to witness Akane entering the fray. Noting that Akane, just like the others, never stopped to get Skuld out of the way. Feeling like there was a three alarm fire in her chest, Nabiki began to run towards the battle in front of her. Skuld could hear her father's battle in the distance, and she guessed that Ranma had been leading his fight with Ryoga away from her. Unfortunately, his strategy had the flaw that he was out of eye-shot of her current predicament. She had all but decided to pull upon her abilities to get out of the way of the fight, when she felt a hand grab her arm. "C'mon, lets. Get. Home," came the voice of Nabiki who was obviously out of breath. Skuld was quickly pulled from the cat fight, and was being led away from the park. Skuld was glad to be away from the mess, but wondered what would happen when Ranma didn't find her where she was left. However, her worry was unfounded, as Nabiki found a park bench near the exit of the park. Skuld looked up at Nabiki, and she smiled in relief. Nabiki's sidelong smile cracked as she spoke, "I guess someone is going to have to teach you how to disappear from these fights, huh?" "Actually, auntie Nabiki--I have something more important to talk about," replied Skuld. Noting the smile fade a bit from Nabiki's face; she continued, "I don't know what business deal you had to take care of last week, but I need to talk to you about my case worker. I also need to talk to you about Daddy.." "Nope. Sorry. I can't talk about that," Nabiki replied with a tone so cold that Jack Frost would be jealous. "Why not," Skuld began, obviously irritated. Then, when she saw no answer forthcoming, she pushed the advantage, "You're scared!" If Nabiki's face could have grown a more neutral expression, it would have. Unfortunately, it was already in a stone-cold featureless expression that provided no clue to what she was actually thinking. Then, she answered, "I simply have no idea what you are talking about, Skuld. What is there to be scared of?" Imitating Nabiki's expression, Skuld replied, "You are afraid that I may tell you something that you don't want to know!" She was satisfied with her response; auntie Nabiki would just have to face Skuld's challenge! Instead of providing the response that she knew she was goaded Nabiki into, Nabiki just pointed out the obvious, "Ranma is done with his fight; let's go meet him." Skuld jumped up with Nabiki, and the two of them walked around the current all girl melee. While doing so, Skuld asked, "How do you know that the fight is over?" As they walked in the direction that Ranma's fight had taken them, Nabiki answered, "Simple, I'm a redhead now." Skuld was about to ask why, but it dawned on her rather quickly. Ranma's fight landed them in water, so this Ryoga would be a piglet about now. Instead of asking her original question, she pointed at the newer more difficult question, "How long have you known about Ryoga's curse, and why haven't you said anything about it?" Laced with honey, Skuld's question was followed by her best set of puppy-eyes. Nabiki sighed, rolled her eyes, and answered, "Ranma drops enough hints about it, so I've know for a while. I'd like to just throw that bit of information out on the table, but the collateral damage would be incredible. They both would blame Ranma, and we wouldn't have a roof to sleep under anymore. I'm afraid that everyone will just have to figure that one out on their own." Satisfied with the answer, Skuld walked with Nabiki to find a rather worse for the wear Ranma on his way back. Skuld was also the first to react, "Daddy!" With a slight grin, Nabiki watched in amusement, as Ranma stumbled quicker towards them. She noticed the distracted look in Ranma's eyes when he picked his daughter up. "Hey Ranma," she stated, "What *are* you looking at?" Ranma looked towards the ongoing war then back at Nabiki. Finally, he asked, "What are they doing over there?" His question was punctuated by pointing in the direction of the fight with his thumb. "Ranma. Ranma. You know as well as I do, that sooner or later they would have an Anything Goes Martial Arts Mother Competition," Nabiki stated with a monotone voice. "A what?!!?" Ranma asked in an utterly confused voice. Skuld tried to spell it out for her father, "They are fighting over who is the best mommy! I think it's so cool that they all like me so much!" Mentally she added, "Except that they are all nuts." Nabiki wasn't about to let that fly, "Cool, huh? I think that they were putting you in danger, young lady." "Danger?" Ranma asked with his smile dropping. Ranma didn't like the idea of Skuld being in danger; although, he knew that if worse came to worse she could probably take care of herself. Well, he knew that his daughter was a goddess after all. Skuld threw in her two-cents before Nabiki could come up with a less direct way to say the same thing, "Yeah, they started fighting right over me. I was getting worried, until auntie Nabiki pulled me out of it." Nabiki's tone wasn't as emotionless as normal, "It was nothing. I did what was necessary, Saotome. We need to get home." For her part, Skuld was finally enjoying something here beyond spending time with her new mortal Daddy. Watching Nabiki fidget was neat. She mentally hummed, as she stated, "She took a chance of getting hit herself, Daddy." Ranma put his hand on Nabiki's shoulder and smiled. He followed that by saying, "Hey, thanks Nabiki. I guess, you won the competition." Nabiki felt something stir from the bottom of her gut, and she didn't like it. Determining that it must be time to eat, she bellowed, "Akane! Let's go home, you can play later!" Unseen by anyone, the Skuld's angel (Noble Scarlet) frowned at this. She was going to have to get more serious; only, she would have to be careful not to get caught by Skuld! --- Ukyou felt bad for her part in the day's foray into mindless combat. Within two days of returning from her trip to Kyoto, she had been involved in a melee that should not have happened in such proximity to a noncombatant, and the guilt weighed upon her shoulders. Skuld seemed like such a nice little girl, but to put her in that kind of danger was wrong--even if the Chinese hussy started it. Flipping an okonomiyaki, she made a determination, "I will make it up to Skuld! I'm going to bring her the best okonomiyaki ever made, and I'll teach her how to cook it too!" From across the room, Konatsu stared at her in wonderment. He simply thought, "Ukyou-sama has finally lost all of her marbles." --- Back at the Tendo dojo, Nabiki was feeling ill. In fact, she was down right annoyed. Nodoka appeared with baggage, which meant only one thing--further expenses. Never mind the fact that Mr. Panda was going to have to explain the curses soon, there was another mouth to feed at the dojo. Even though Skuld came with a slight inheritance, another potential destructive occupant may drain too much even with the extra capital. She was on the verge of a breakdown; this mess had gone on far too long! Excusing herself, she proceeded to leave the house for a while. In the kitchen, a whole other matter was currently under discussion. Ranma managed to corner Akane, "What is wrong with you?" Akane replied, "There's nothing wrong with me; what's wrong with you?" Ranma was visibly frustrated, "I didn't ask for any of this, ya' know. How was I supposed to know that a rodent broke the thermal-transucer-thingy-whatever would leave Nabiki stuck with my curse? I don't see why you can't just take the results of my curse if you want to be my fiancé, Akane." Akane's face began to feel hot, as she replied, "Why not? Because, I don't want to be a pervert like you--that's why not!" Then, she stormed off. Akane regretted her words almost immediately, but she wasn't going to become a freak. She may have made up with Skuld during the past week, but making up with Ranma was going to be difficult. Ranma sighed as he watched the retreating back of his former fiancé. He still cared for her, even if he couldn't admit it to himself. Lowering his head, he thought about it, "Akane seems like she could be a good mom, but she keeps losing her head whenever the other girls show up. Skuld and the tomboy are getting along better now, but why can't she take the curse? I mean it won't be like she'll turn into a guy." Ranma didn't know whom to be frustrated at. Nabiki was the one who insisted that if Akane wanted him back that she would have to take the curse too. Then again, his mom wanted him engaged to Ranko, so it would be easier that way. Yet, Akane didn't want to take the curse for any reason whatsoever. Finally, Skuld didn't seem like she could find that whatever crystal it was she needed to cure the curse all the way. The curse was stupid; it was attached to a person, so it could only be transmitted to another person. Ranma felt a migraine coming on; he hadn't been this aggravated since before Skuld arrived. Ranma's various considerations were abruptly halted by the sound of a scream. Taking note that it wasn't Skuld, who was currently up to something with Nodoka, or Akane, he looked about to see just what was amiss. The scream wasn't directly in the yard, but a few meters away. It didn't take too long to figure out that it was headed towards the dojo, and it was Nabiki. Ranma bounded past the shogi-fest in the living room, as he made his way to intercept whatever (or whoever) was after Nabiki. --- Breathing heavily, Nabiki ran for all that she was worth. Kuno, her former source of income, was now chasing her. She screamed desperately to get him to stop, "Damn it, Kuno I am not a sorceress!" "Trick me not, oh wicked woman!" Kuno exclaimed, as he was finally gaining ground on Nabiki. He assumed that there was a reason she was able to sell him photos, and he finally knew. Thus, he pushed the point home, as he was about to make a strike, "You could sell pictures of the Pigtailed Goddess, because you work for Saotome!" Running and breathing was all that Nabiki was capable of, while she passed buildings, houses, and streets. Her breathing had become incredibly ragged, and her head felt light. Nabiki was at the end of her ropes, but her mind couldn't register the fact--it was busy trying to move her feet. Finally, much like in a horror movie, she lost her footing, and fell unceremoniously to the ground. While she was only a couple of meters from the house, she might as well have been in a lonely cabin. Expecting to be beaten within an inch of her life, she closed her eyes; tears found their way to a seldom used corner, the corner of Nabiki's eyes. The beating never rained down, though. Instead, she felt hands and a sudden jerk into the air. This was about all that Nabiki could take; she lost her cookies, "Urk." "Nabiki!" Ranma exclaimed as he landed in the Tendo's yard, after using Kuno's head for a launching pad. Then, Ranma added, "That's gross!" Ranma mentally added, "You need conditioning bad, really bad. No fiancé of mine will be outrun by Kuno." Then, he looked at his clothes, "Aww, man." Watching the commotion from afar, Mr. Panda and Mr. Tendo were slightly worried about Nabiki. They both knew that Akane was in far better shape for this sort of thing. Catching a glimpse of Ranma bounding over the wall, Genma stated, "Growwf. Grawwf Gruff." Mr. Tendo replied, "tis a duty to protect one's fiance." Without warning the conversation was interrupted, "What do you mean fiancé?" The source of the voice was none other than Nodoka, who was standing with her hands on her hips expecting an explanation. When no one immediately answered, she questioned further, "I said, what do you mean fiancé. That was clearly Nabiki, and it was not Ranko. Tell me what is going on now, and where is Ranko?" All present in one single motion turned to look at Mr. Panda, who's sign read, "What did I do? I'm just an innocent Panda!" --- Nekohaten --- "But, Shampoo no want to kill Ranma's daughter," Shampoo pleaded with her great-grandmother. "I'm sorry child, but she is as great of an obstacle as another wife," Cologne explained, hoping to get her point across. "Then there only remains one choice," Cologne continued, "we must take her to China, and make her of our tribe." "Shampoo no think this going to make husband happy," Shampoo silently objected, earning herself a bop on the head from a cane. "Hush, child," Cologne chided, as she began to formulate a plan... --- Urd, wearing her hair in a bun and a too short white lab-coat, clears her throat at Keichii. "Listen up Keichii, I'm only going to explain this once," she began, while still wearing her Yumi disguise. Noting that Keichii was rolling his eyes at her, she threw a high velocity chalkboard eraser in his direction. Then she continued, "Now that I have your attention, I am going to explain why Ranma doesn't just get his curse back." Appearing from nowhere, she used a pointing stick to point at a diagram on a chalkboard, which also just appeared. Then she proceeded, "Now, Skuld's contraption requires a specific gem-transducer to act as a vessel for Ranma's curse. When the connection was severed by the bug and Nabiki stepped into the appropriate spot, the curse didn't just transfer to her. No, the transducing-crystal imploded. This particular gem is a difficult to find item, and it may be a year before another one is found." "I said pay attention!" Urd screamed directly into Keichii's ear, when he started to doze. Then, Urd adjusted her coat to allow a bit more cleavage to show, as she decided to keep Keichii on his toes. Finally, she continued, "In theory, Nabiki could have a reception seat built in the place of the Crystal's location. Doing this would allow for the curse to go back to Ranma; however, it would be dangerous to both of them. While they both asked Skuld about this, Nabiki decided to at least wait until she sees Nodoka's reaction to Genma's curse. That, Keichii, sums it up in a nutshell." In a flash of light, the chalkboard and its accessories disappeared into a small puff of white smoke. Then, Urd slowly used her arms to let her hair down. When her long white hair draped over her dark shoulders, the lab-coat was replaced with a pair of jeans and a pink blouse. Then she looked back at Keichii, and she said, "Ja Ne!" ================================================================== Next time: What happens when Nodoka discovers the curses? What are the Amazons planning? Does the world need a Goddess who practices The Art?!!? All this and more, "When Yumi makes a house call!" Notes: Unlike the other angels in OH! My Goddess, Noble Scarlet was realized before Skuld was really old enough to handle her. Thus, Noble Scarlet is certainly capable of trying to tinker a little bit on her own. ================================================================== Pre-Readers: Aleh Morgion N&R Targhan Email: targhan_aga@yahoo.com Homepage: www.geocities.com/targhan_aga Ranma1/2-SM Crossover Generator: www.beeftrapeze.com/challenge www.geocities.com/targhan_aga ================================================================== New! The Crossover-Generator will work from a single click. Soon on BeefTrapeze! ================================================================== www.beeftrapeze.com/challenge/