Spoiled Brats, Chapter 28

[DarkFyre99]

Spoiled Brats

Disclaimer: I refuse to let little things like technicalities get in the way of a good joke. Or at least what I think is a good joke. Keep that in mind. ^_^;

Author’s Note: It's once again National Novel Writer's Month, so I'm going to try to finish this story by the end of the month. *crosses fingers*

Chapter Twenty-Eight – Homecoming, part one: Saotome

Ranma arrived in the hidden headquarters of the Sailor Senshi in her customary shimmer of air. Only four of the girls were there, and they were involved, one way or another, in a rather heated discussion between Osaka Naru and Kino Makoto. Tsukino Usagi was holding a workbook and staring at Naru with puppy-dog eyes. Mizuno Ami worriedly turned her head from one speaker to another, as if watching a tennis match.

“Friends should help each other,” Makoto said stubbornly, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

“Usagi-chan needs to do her own homework. Doing it for her means she won’t learn anything,” Naru insisted.

“Sorry to interrupt, girls, but have any of you seen Minako-chan?” Ranma asked. “I wanted double check if she wanted to come along to meet some friends of mine.”

“She had an appointment after school, Ranma-san, but she should’ve been finished by now.” Ami said, glancing at the clock. “Congratulations, by the way.”

“Thanks. When you see her, give her my love. I’ve got quite a bit to do before I can make it home tonight.” She paused at the door to the dojo. “Oh, and Usagi-chan?”

“Hai?”

“You really should do your own homework. Warping the laws of nature is a lot easier when you know what they are.”

“I did, but I did the wrong workbook! And the contest is tomorrow!”

Ranma opened her mouth to ask a question, but instead shook her head. “Never mind. I need to give this new computer to Artemis, and then I’m off again. I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

“Bye, bye!” Usagi waved. The black haired girl looked around nervously at her friends, who had gathered around her. “I… forgot to mention the contest, didn’t I?”

- + - + -

“Hey, Artemis! I’m home!” Ranma called out as she entered their apartment, chuckling lightly.

The white plush toy cat peered around the screen of Ranma’s laptop. “Welcome home, Ranma. What’s so funny?”

“Usagi-chan.”

“I see. How’d the meeting with the Musk go?”

“Herb’s wife certainly has mellowed him. He was a real jerk the last time we met. At any rate, he agreed to help, so all we have to do now is corral Kiima.” Ranma placed the heavy case on the table beside cat. “The meeting with the military also went well. They’re preparing the place to meet, and they gave us this.” She opened up the case, revealing a laptop and a number of peripherals, including a small satellite dish. “This will allow you to access some high level government databases, including that of the World Health Organization. It has a satellite link, and high-level encryption for security, since they don’t want us connecting it to the apartment’s wifi, or a physical network.” Ranma walked onto the balcony to set up the satellite dish.

“Yes! This should make tracking Beryl down easier,” Artemis said, booting up the government computer.

“Yeah. Beryl has been so inactive so far, we’re losing our edge. Not only that, I prefer to take the initiative. I just hope Beryl is holed up somewhere accessable.”

“Me too, Ranma. Me too. Ah… we’re online.” The plush toy cat tapped a few keys. “I just wish modern computer’s were more advanced…”

“Well, good hunting, Artemis.” Ranma said, walking towards the kitchen. “Since I’ll be in Nerima anyways, I’m going to ask Toufuu-sensei if he’s decided on where he’s going to live. If he’s agreeable, I’d like to create a link to wherever he’s living. I’d like to know there’s a doctor available in case of emergency.” Ranma walked out, male and wearing an expensive looking suit. “What do you think?”

“Looking good.” Artemis pointed his cell phone at Ranma and snapped a picture. “I figure Minako-chan might want a picture of you dressed like that.”

“Good thinking. Do you know when she’s supposed to be back?”

“No, but no matter what, she’ll be back by 11:35 P.M. sharp.”

Ranma glanced at his watch. “Then I’d better make a point of getting back here by then. I love watching her watch that program, and it’s the finale.”

“Good luck, Ranma.”

“You too.” With a last glance at the dojo door, Ranma vanished into a shimmer of air.

- + - + -

Colonel Richard Anderson glanced from his subordinate to the intricate diagram on the paper in his hand. “Do you understand what this is supposed to do?”

The blonde haired captain nodded. “Yes sir. You see, this particular set of sigils…”

The man wearily held up his hand, stopping the woman before she could really get going. “I didn’t ask you to explain how it works. I simply want to know if you understand what it does.”

“Yes sir.” Captain Tapping said, nodding. “I may not have the ability to work magic, but the general concepts are quite easy to understand. Ms. Black says she's enjoying the challenge of securing a room to hold four powerful individuals, two of which blew the top off a mountain when they last fought.”

“Right... it's easy to forget how powerful these people are. Do you ever feel obsolete?”

“No, sir. Given how rare magical ability is in the first place, and the amount of training necessary to harness even the weakest magics, we’re far from obsolete. Especially given how easy it is get magic to work with technology. Speaking of which, any response about your request to the Pentagon?”

“Yes. Two more magi-op teams, MO two and three, are mobilizing to deploy to Japan, and they’ll be bringing specialized armor, ammunition, and equipment. Teams four through seven are on standby, for deployment once Saotome and his kids are able to locate Beryl’s location. Plus they agreed to hire Mr. Judge. I want a trained mage on hand, and I've worked with him before.” The colonel frowned. “They still don’t want to release the Artifact, though.”

“Even though they’ve had twenty-three years, and have failed to get it to work?”

“Especially because they’ve been trying for twenty-three years. After all, as near as they can tell, the Artifact is working perfectly. The interface even adapts to the user’s native language.” Colonel Anderson snorted in amusement. “The big brains simply don’t like the fact that something as simple as a password is all that’s keeping them from the secrets of the Ancient's civilization.”

- + - + -

Ranma appeared in the alleyway near Ono Chiropractics and Acupuncture in Nerima in a shimmer of air. Taking a quick glance up and down the street, he quickly slipped into the clinic.

“Hello, handsome,” Ono Kasumi greeted him with a smile. “You’re running a bit behind.”

“Sorry. The meeting with the military ran a bit long.” Ranma shook his head, sighing. “There never seems to be enough time for what I need to do, let alone what…”

Kasumi’s friendly smile changed into a frown. “Don’t you dare go making two of yourself again!”

“Don’t worry. I won’t be using the instant twin powder again,” Ranma smirked, “Unless it’s under the supervision of a qualified doctor, of course.”

Kasumi rolled her eyes. “You’re visiting your parents first?”

“Yes. Is the Doc home right now?”

“Right here, Ranma,” Ono Toufuu said, stepping into the waiting room. “What’s up?”

“Have you guys decided on where you’re moving to?”

Toufuu gave an embarrassed laugh. “Actually, given everything that’s been happening, we decided I should turn down the job. That’ll keep us out of the area of conflict, plus that’ll give you access to a doctor 24/7.”

“Really?” Ranma blinked, smiling. “Would you mind terribly if we created a link to the clinic? It’ll give you guys access to a dojo and an artifical onsen… not to mention a karaoke parlor-slash-clubhouse.”

The pair exchanged a glance. “Of course, Ranma,” Kasumi said. “Will we get to meet the rest of the Senshi?”

“If they agree. I’ll contact Artemis, and he and Luna will arrange things. Well… I’m off to my parents.”

“Good luck, Ranma. I’ll let Akane and Ukyou know to expect you.”

“Thanks!”

- + - + -

Ranma shimmered into existence near a small two-story home in Nerima. He stared at the building for a few seconds, before sighing. ‘Even after all these years, this place doesn’t feel like home. My parents may live here, but it’s not home.’ He reached into his pocket to make sure his cell phone was on and open. 'Well, here we go...'

As he opened the gate to the small front yard, he smiled fondly as he realized that the former Tendo dojo no longer felt like home either. Home was the apartment overlooking Prince Arisagawa park that he shared with an animated stuffed toy cat and an old beyond her years teenager.

Before he reached the porch, the front door opened, and an elegant older woman stood framed in the doorway. “Welcome home, my son.”

- + - + -

The first thing Aino Minako and Hino Rei noticed when they arrived at the Crown was the three girls gathered around Usagi. Feeling a bit of tension in the air, Minako called out, “Hey, everyone. What's up?”

Usagi's eyes lit up when she saw her friend standing at the top of the stairs. “Minako-chan!” She broke free of the crowd and ran towards the brunette, a workbook in her hands, calling, “Minako-chan! Minako-chan!”

Minako saw Naru frown at her friend. “Usagi-chan! Don't you-”

“You just missed Ranma-san! If you hurry, you might be able to catch him!”

“-dare,” the tall girl finished. “Sorry, Usagi-chan.”

“Thanks, Usagi-chan,” Minako said, “But I really don't want to go with him on this trip. Even though his reasons were good ones, he basically ran away from home. This reunion is going to be awkward enough as it is.” The girl plopped into a chair, and dropped her head onto her folded arms on the table. “I really don't think dragging his jail-bait fiancee along will help matters.”

Minako felt an arm drop across her shoulders. “Minako-chan? What's wrong?”

Rei took the seat on the other side of Minako. “Minako-chan had a bit of a nasty shock today. She isn't as old as she thought she was. Plus she had what she called a 'spell.' Scared both me and Father Dominic half to death.”

“Minako-chan?”

“It's nothing to worry about, Usagi-chan. Just my little friend being overly dramatic.”

Rei snorted. “Minako... it's called a micro-stroke. One of these days, you'll wake up from one of these paralyzed... if you wake up at all.” Rei wiped furiously at her eyes. “We've got to find the princess and get you healed up before that happens.”

General silence filled the room as the remaining girls settled around the table. After several minutes of awkward silence, Minako sat up and asked, “So... what did Naru-chan think you were going to ask me?”

Usagi glanced at her workbook on table, blushing. “It's silly.”

“Right now, I could really use some silliness, Usagi-chan.”

“I really wanted to enter the Nako-Nako costume contest, but I did the wrong workbook, and I don't have time to make a costume and get the right workbook done in time for the test tomorrow. And I was really looking forward to it.”

Minako frowned. “I thought they cancelled those things when I decided to scale back my appearances.”

“Yeah, but the grand prize is a signed Nako Nako doll!”

Minako smiled at her friend. “Usagi-chan, if you really want one, I can get one for you.”

Minako blinked when Usagi looked at her like she was an idiot. “Where's the fun in that?”

- + - + -

Ranma sat uncomfortably across the table from his two parents. Even though he had rehearsed what he would say when the time finally came, he still found it difficult to break the silence between them.

Unfortunately, his father didn't have any problems keeping his mouth shut. “So, boy... you finally came to your senses and decided to marry Akane, eh?”

Ranma sighed and reached into his pocket. 'Why did the first words out of his mouth have to be those?'

“Genma!” Nodoka's voice stopped his hand. “We agreed that we wouldn't put any pressure on Ranma when he returned. You broke the agreement between our clan and the Tendos by engaging him to Kuonji, so he is free to marry whomever he chooses.” Nodoka smiled at her son. “Besides, Akane is a married woman with two children of her own. Even if Akane was willing to divorce, it wouldn't be fair to the children. So there will be no more discussion about the subject. Is that clear?”

Genma hung his head. “Yes, Dear.”

Ranma smiled at his mother. “Thank you, Mama. Even if Akane was single, I just proposed to a wonderful girl of my own. I'm not about to break her heart.”

Nodoka perked up. “Oh? What's her name?”

“Aino Minako.”

Ranma became wary when his mother's expression changed to what he privately called her “honor-bound” look. “Ranma, are you aware of significance of the Aino name?”

Ranma started when his father barked out, “Nodoka!”

The woman held up her hand. “I know, Dear. But this is entirely different. Answer my question, Ranma.”

Ranma's hand returned to his pocket. “I am quite aware of the significance of the Aino name, Mother.”

Nodoka's bright smile returned. “Good. A man shouldn't let antiquated traditions stand in his way.” She glanced at her husband. “Don't give me that look, Dear. While I agreed that I wouldn't insist that Ranma be 'manly,' it's quite clear to me that Ranma is a man, despite...” Nodoka blushed. “Forgive me, Ranma-chan. I didn't mean it that way. I know you've accepted your curse. I'm just relieved that in gaining a daughter, I didn't lose a son.”

“Forgiven and forgotten, Mama.”

“Thank you. Now, to important matters. Do you have a picture of the young lady?”

“Of course.” He handed her his favorite picture of Minako, sitting on the couch clutching Artemis tightly to her chest as she watched her favorite program, a notebook forgotten on her lap because she was too enraptured by what she was watching to take notes. 'What kind of anime makes you to take notes just to figure out what was going on? A good one, I suppose.'

“Oh, she is quite the beauty.”

Genma looked over his wife's shoulder. “Damn... she doesn't even look old enough to be in high school. Robbing the cradle, boy?”

Mother and son sighed. “I believe that Aino Minako is in Junior High, and it wasn't that long ago that that was old enough to marry, Husband.” Nodoka looked at her son. “I would love to know how the two of you met...”

- + - + -

Artemis stretched, feeling stiff after a marathon session of learning the software on the computer. 'This thing may be state of the art for the 21st century, but I miss how user friendly the Moon kingdom computers were.' The stuffed toy cat glanced at the clock. 'It's almost 7:00 already. I'm surprised Minako-chan hasn't come home for dinner yet. I suppose she's still at the Crown.' Artemis jumped off the table, and passed through the door too the dojo. A minute later, he entered the space they had borrowed in the Crown, and froze at the very unusual sight.

Tsukino Usagi was doing homework. Granted that wasn't too unusual, but the girl was easily distracted, especially when there was interesting things going on around her. And what was going on behind the girl was definitely distraction worthy.

Hino Rei was standing on the stage, a bored look on her face. Around her were the rest of the Senshi and Osaka Naru. Those that weren't draping cloth or bits of foam around the girl were off to the side, sewing and gluing. Completely confused, Artemis padded over to where Luna was watching the goings on, an amused look on her face. “Hey, Luna. What's going on?”

“That's a long story...”

- + - + -

“I really wish you didn't have to leave so soon, my son.”

“Me too, Mama, but I think I owe it to both Akane and Ucchan to visit them tonight. Don't worry, I'm not planning on disappearing again. And you'll get to meet Minako-chan on Friday.”

Genma snorted. “Why'd you'd you leave in the first place, boy?”

Ranma grimaced. “When the past life woke up, I not only inherited a lot of power, but way too much anger. I... was afraid I'd kill someone I liked by accident.”

“But that's in the past, right boy?”

“You bet ya, pops.” Ranma smirked at his father. “These days, when I kill someone, it's quite deliberate. Well, I'm off.” Ranma grinned at his father's expression right before he vanished with a pop of in-rushing air.

Genma looked at his wife worriedly. “He wasn't serious, was he No-chan?”

“He said he was a devil hunter, dear. What do you think?”

Author's notes: Well, it's day one of NaNoWriMo, and I've already had to break apart the first new chapter into smaller, easier to handle bits. I'll be very glad when this in-story week is over, and I'm sure Ranma will be as well. It's a very busy one for our hero, but once its over the pace of the story can accelerate once again. It's important to the story that Ranma reunite with his family and friends, but it's taking a lot longer than I thought.

Next Chapter: Homecoming, part two: Tendo

[Dumbledork]

I absolutely love it and I'm happy that you're working on it again.

[genhoss2]

the word mama doesn't fit with this scene. If it's truely a reconsiliation after several years of not seeing his parents mother should be used. Mama implies that ranma is remoresful over leaving and has come crawling back, Since your ranma already stated to himself that the place never felt like home and that his home was his apartment the term mother or mom if he was relaxed and comfotable should be used.

But who knows, it just so happens that i despise the term momma becuase it sounds so childish and is a term only a child or overly affectionate adult would use.

sorry if i offended you with this but i just think someone in ranma's position and his age in this fic should not be using the term momma.

[Cheb]

but it's taking a lot longer than I thought.

That's Ok. The quality of the story is so much more important.

[bissek]

Why is the military referring to Ranma as Saotome? They all know him has Takeda Megumi, not Saotome Ranma.

[DarkFyre99]

the word mama doesn't fit with this scene. If it's truely a reconsiliation after several years of not seeing his parents mother should be used. Mama implies that ranma is remoresful over leaving and has come crawling back, Since your ranma already stated to himself that the place never felt like home and that his home was his apartment the term mother or mom if he was relaxed and comfotable should be used.

But who knows, it just so happens that i despise the term momma becuase it sounds so childish and is a term only a child or overly affectionate adult would use.

sorry if i offended you with this but i just think someone in ranma's position and his age in this fic should not be using the term momma.

No offense taken. The idea behind C&C, after all, is to get fresh eyes looking at what you wrote, because you can never think every thought. So thank you for taking the time address what you thought was a problem.

When writing that particular part, I wanted Ranma move from a warm, familiar manner to a colder, formal manner, and back again, when he thought Nodoka might disapprove of Minako, solely because of tradition. I thought of using Okaa-san and Okaa-sama, but I decided using Japanese wouldn't have the effect I wanted (-sama is both formal and respectful). I definitely agree that given Ranma's age in this fic (I'm used to thinking of him as a teen) mom would be more appropriate than mama.

[DarkFyre99]

Why is the military referring to Ranma as Saotome? They all know him has Takeda Megumi, not Saotome Ranma.

Because the military are not idiots, and I already established that Col. Anderson a) got far more information from Ranma than vice versa at their first meeting; and b) Ranma is pretty sure that the Colonel knows his real identity.