Chapter Text
"Boy! It is high time we start carryin' our own weight around here. One day this dojo is going to be yours, and you need to learn how to earn your keep." Genma said, staring at his currently girl-cursed son.
"Finally done freeloading for once in your life?" Nabiki jabbed, poking her head into the room. She enjoyed having Ranma around when it suited her, and her little sister clearly liked Ranma, but Ranma's father was almost always a detriment to have around.
Genma was instantly offended as he quickly replied "I've never freeloaded a day in my life! Tendo and I are brothers in arms, so we take care of each other. Just like I'm takin' care of my son here."
Nabiki rolled her eyes and laughed "Don't you mean your daughter?" she teased as she walked off, planning to reach comfortable eavesdropping range.
While Genma stewed on the insults against his own and his son's manhoods, Ranma finally interrupted. "So what's the scheme this time pops? Free sake if I can win a drunken fist tournament? Yet another fiancée?"
Genma looked offended at the implications his redheaded femininely shaped son was making but quickly waved them off "Everything I've done has been for the sake of the art. You wouldn't be half the martial artist you are today without my training so have some faith in your old man boy!"
Ranma backed off as she raised her hands in submission before playing with her pigtail "Alright, what've I got to do Pops?"
Genma smiled proudly at his son, glad he was still willing to fall in line once he'd gotten his bluster out of the way "There's some secret tournament going on in Shitamachi. Everyone's trying to keep it quiet because the prize pool is huge! Imagine what we could do with all that money... And how impressed Akane would be!"
Ranma blinked for a moment in confusion, looking about the room before leaning in closer to her father "I-is that really it? Just beat up a few guys who think they know martial arts?"
Genma scratched at the back of his head "Well... ya see... You're actually perfect for the tournament. They've made it girls only, I guess because they're afraid some big strong men like us will swoop in and steal that prize of theirs! Bet they've never seen a curse like yours though!"
Ranma frowned at her father but was already in the right body for this idea "Pops, I'm not sure how I feel about this... Shouldn't we just let Akane win the tournament?"
Genma shook his head "I'm doing this for your own good Ranma! Do you really want to be asking her father for date money? Win this tournament and we can split the prize pool fifty fifty, like we always do. Then you can treat Akane to something really nice." As Ranma seemed on the fence, Genma poked at the sore spot he had personally trained into Ranma so he would always do as he was told "Unless you're not up for the challenge. Let me down... Let Akane down... Let your poor mother down. Even after she forgave you for having this dreadful curse and declared you manly. I can't imagine the shame she would feel if she knew you didn't care about your fiancée."
Ranma turned pink, not wanting to outright admit that sometimes she did get along with Akane, but it always felt like some cosmic force was prying them apart no matter how hard they tried. They would make some progress, but then one of them would say the wrong thing and the other would escalate it or some new suitor would show up at the worst possible moment, or sometimes Ranma could admit... Sometimes she could be a great big idiot. Their dads never helped matters either, but this time her Pops was making sense. Win the tournament and use the prize money to treat Akane right, as was her obligation as Akane's future wife. Husband. However the curse worked, Ranma tried hard not to think about it most of the time as she controlled her curse about as much as she controlled the weather.
"Okay Pops! Yeesh, no need to lay it on so thick. I'll make everyone proud, I promise! A normal tournament might be a nice change o' pace. Lemme get changed and I'll head out."
"What's wrong with what you're wearin' boy! I doubt this place has a dress code."
Ranma shook her head "Look, whatever the scheme is, you gotta have a disguise. Secret girls only martial arts tournament? I gotta dress the part. Now what would Akane wear..."
Ranma had made it halfway to the secret tournament location her Pops had given her and she was pretty confident in her disguise so far. The dragon whisker had long since worn off, but her pigtail was so iconic she knew it would give her away so she had instead let her hair fall loosely and tied a ribbon into her hair as a hairband to keep her vision clear. She had then fished out her tennis uniform as something with a skirt that would still be flexible, while having her tennis shorts under it to keep it modest while she battled. After having battled Mariko in a cheerleading uniform, she had seen just how much something like a skirt could change the perception of spectators. Usually when she went begging for sweets, whatever outfit she was in was good enough and people like Ryoga would fall for any disguise she put together, but the entire school had barely recognized her and the only real change was the cute skirt and set of pompoms. Most of her classmates recognized at least some of her disguises, but the ones with skirts or dresses were so far detached from the 'man among men' persona she had carefully curated that nobody would ever believe the cute girl could possibly be her. She doubted hot water would be thrown around randomly during the tournament so her disguise would be perfect once she was out of Nerima.
"Ranma!!" echoed down the otherwise empty street that the redhaired girl had been walking, causing her to freeze on the spot before slowly turning around.
"O-oh! 'Kane! What're you doin' out here? Won't Kasumi have dinner ready soon? I'm just... Running a quick errand then I'll join you!"
"Nabiki told me about the tournament," Akane replied as she stared down her fiancée. "When were you planning on telling me?"
Ranma froze, she admittedly had wanted to invite Akane but her Pops' idea had sounded so good in the moment, surprising her with some fancy dinner at some place she couldn't pronounce... So she punted as she offered up a half-truth.
"I was... You see... I wanted to invite you! But Pops had said it was a secret so I was just gonna check it out first and see what it was all about."
Akane tapped her foot, deciding to give Ranma one chance to salvage the conversation. Nabiki was always intentionally misleading with her information, even if it was credible, and had only really told her that the tournament existed and Ranma had already left for it. She kept her silence but leveled a stern look at the shorter girl.
"I-I mean... it isn't too late to go together now right? You're already here..."
Akane let out a sigh, this was the best outcome after all. She really wished Ranma had invited her from the start, but it was tag along or go home at this point and a chance to fight Ranma in a tournament would be far better training than venting her frustration on her striking dummies.
"Okay, but next time you find me before we leave the house. What's with the outfit? Its from that hot springs resort we went to right?"
Ranma looked down at herself as if she'd forgotten she was in a tennis dress, tugging defensively at the hem of the skirt to make sure it was covering her frilly shorts.
"I wanted something sporty while clearly being a girl! Most of my disguises are bunny suits and fancy dresses, so it was this or cheerleading. And Pops ruined the cheerleading outfit when he splashed me in front of everyone."
Akane rolled her eyes "You realize I'm a girl and I'm just wearing a gi right?"
Ranma huffed and looked away "Well... I was getting into character! I'm not some professional martial artist, I'm just a girl that heard about this tournament and is entering to win the prize money to help take care of her father..."
"And have you thought up a name for this newest disguise of yours?" Akane asked with a smug precision.
Ranma shook her head "Of course not, everyone should know I'm the great Ranma Saoto....oh..."
Akane nodded "That worked with Kodachi, but if Nabiki gets a recording of this you'll never live it down."
"Thanks 'Kane. I mean, how am I supposed to fight in this tournament, at Pops' suggestion, while also being a man amongst men! I just don't get what either of them want from me sometimes and it feels like either way ends with that katana of hers. Either I can't afford to treat you right or I'm letting my curse win," Ranma complained as they walked.
"You could always get a job. You know, like a normal teenager. Really... Your dad should be giving you money but..." Akane knew this sort of scheme was exactly the type of solution that the senior Saotome would offer up.
Ranma flailed her arms in exasperation "Nobody in Nerima'll hire me. Unless you want me spending more time with Ukyo and Shampoo, and you know they'll try to pay me in dates or some cursed artifact or something."
Akane reluctantly accepted the point as she remembered the phoenix pill. Ranma had spent a month juggling school and work as a girl while also training, only to be repeatedly scammed and cheated out of her wins. After the first week, Ranma had seemed more annoyed with Cologne's antics than the curse and had really fallen into being just another girl at Furinkan. That was when she had gotten along best with Ranma, but she mostly blamed the absolute exhaustion Ranma seemed to be enduring for their lack of fights, as the moment she was cured was when Ukyo had shown up and they fell right back into their usual routine.
"Ranma... I'm glad we're friends."
"Woah! Akane don't let our dads hear that or they'll have a tux waiting for us the moment we get home!"
"I'm trying to be serious here Ranma! Rather than saying it after whatever happens tonight, I thought I'd try something saying it before. And nobody is interrupting us for once, so don't go ruining it."
Ranma backed off a step "Okay okay! I'm sorry. I'm glad we're friends too. I mean, we're engaged, so like... I kinda thought..."
Akane shook her head "You're engaged to Ukyo too, and according to Cologne you and Shampoo are already married. And you might be friends with them too, but our dads can't ruin us being friends, no matter how many weddings they throw at us."
Ranma looked confused for a moment before it sunk in "Hey... Yea you're right! And we were friends even before they tried engaging us..."
Akane spun around to smile at Ranma teasingly "Let's just be what we choose to be, and we can choose to be more in the future. Wouldn't it be nice to just throw away all the pressure this whole mess has caused us? Just two girls off to a martial arts tournament together?"
"Hey who are you callin' a... right. Y'know sometimes I forget which form I'm even in, like Jusenkyo's scrambled my brain or something. Especially if I'm transformin' a bunch I just end up dazed and exhausted. But sometimes my curse makes me feel like I've always been a girl. Wonder if Mousse ever deals with that. Just thinks about turnin' into a bird and flyin' off."
"Well if you ever make plans to fly away, make sure you tell me first dummy. If not, our dads will just send me after you anyway so you might as well save me the trouble."
Ranma's pride shone through as she grinned wide "As if you could ever keep up with someone like me. I'm faster, I'm smarter, and..." But as Akane started looking annoyed, Ranma quickly pivoted the topic to her reveal. "And we're here!"
Though as the pair looked around, by here they were at a heavy steel door with a closed slit towards the top of it. It was part of a much larger building but seemed like a terrible entrance for some big showy tournament. The fact it was a secret tournament made far more sense however as they looked between each other and then back at the door.
"Do you wanna knock?" Ranma offered politely, but Akane simply turned up her nose.
"No way, this is your spooky tournament, if we're getting kidnapped by some Yakuza thugs, you get to be the first one through the door and I'll rescue you for a change."
"This is NOT some sort of trap! You wanted to come to the tournament, this is the entrance! I doubt it matters who knocks anyway!"
"If it doesn't matter, than you should be the one to knock!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
After Ranma gave a few knocks to the door, both girls let out a small sigh of relief as the window on the door opened and eyes peered down at them. It was still unnerving but it was now the strangeness they knew rather than the unknown.
"Whaddya want?" Asked a gruff voice through the door.
"We're... here for the tournament? If that's okay... Sorry about this." Ranma had instantly fallen into the shy girl she had invented on the walk over, but this girl reminded Akane of the girl she had met on the first day with Ranma, before all his macho bluster had shone through.
The eyes looked suspiciously between Ranma and Akane for a moment before there was some sort of confirmation chime on the other side of the door and the stranger replied.
"One competitor and one guest?"
Akane tried to follow Ranma's pleading act, hoping it would work to get them both entered "A-are you sure we can't both enter...? We were really hoping to try our best tonight."
"Device says one competitor and one guest. You guys are clearly parta the tournament, I just needa know which onea ya is enterin'."
Ranma leaned towards the door and pulled her arms in towards her chest as her eyes went glossy. "M-maybe your funny device is wrong? I-I know we both really want to be here tonight... Can't you just give us a chance?"
"Look girlie, this ain't some game. Whichever one of yous is the one with all the magic is free to fight, and the cheerleader is more than welcome to sit in the stands and watch."
Ranma looked slightly offended "I'm a tennis player not a cheerleader! I guess I wouldn't mind being a cheerleader again... but I thought the outfit was obvious!"
Akane rested a hand on Ranma's shoulder "Its fine Ranma, thanks for trying. You cheered me on in the kendo match so I guess its my turn to return the favor. So go out there and win, just make sure you split that prize money with me. I've got some debts to clear with Nabiki so she stops with all those pictures."
Ranma sighed and nodded "I'm the one with all the magic... How do people always seem to know I've got some curse or another on me? I thought my disguise was good this time!"
Akane gave a few pats to Ranma's shoulder before lowering her arm and gently pushing Ranma through the door as it swung open.
"Guest down the left hallway to the stands. Competitor go straight ahead and through the open door. You've got a waitin' area 'til your match is called."
Ranma looked mildly confused "How will I know my number? Is there a bracket I sign my name onto?"
The tall man whose build was more marble slab than human just laughed and shook his head. "You sit pretty in the waiting room 'til the manager points at you and says you're up. You'll battle back to back opponents 'til ya get tired and start losin'. Impress the boss, impress the crowd, and you'll make good money. Try ta make it look good when ya go down though."
Ranma's bravado bled through her act "Don't worry, I don't lose!"
"That's what they all say kid! Now get goin', we got matches to start."
Akane didn't like being split up from Ranma, and really wished she'd been able to at least claim she was a coach or something, but she was safely in the crowd while Ranma was the one locked up in some room with a bunch of girls... Other girls she reminded herself, the idea of Ranma in a room full of strong, beautiful, barely clad women was frustrating to think about, but knowing Ranma was there as a girl helped sooth some of her jealousy. She would be surprised if even one of those girls was some sort of lesbian, and Ranma could barely handle flirting regardless of the form she was in, but she was still hers and Akane dealt with enough girls trying to steal her fiancée as is. Whether she and Ranma worked out or not was something she wanted decided based on their own choices and developments, not because half of Nerima wanted to split them up and the other half wanted them married already.
Akane was surprised at how well catered the event was, as she had expected some amount of sleaze and grime and while there was plenty in the crowds, she had been able to get a free bag of popcorn and large drink on her way to the stands. It only took her a few minutes to find a set of seats more isolated than the rest with a decent view of the octagonal ring. She definitely didn't like the feeling she was getting from being in a place like this, there was an undercurrent of wrongness to it, but that was her punishment for tagging along to one of Genma Saotome's schemes. She would keep an eye out for Ranma and hopefully they would be gone soon enough.
Less than five minutes into getting comfortable however, she was interrupted by a large odangod silhouette looming over her.
"Pervert girl! Where is Airen? Why are you hiding Ranma from me?" Shampoo scolded, hands currently empty of weapons but that never meant anything given Shampoo had mastered the hidden weapons technique, even if her armory was heavily eclipsed by Mousse's even a few swords and hammers were usually plenty.
Akane sipped at her soda for a minute before setting it down. "Of course they let you in too. Are you competing against Ranma?"
"Of course they let me in! They said my very beauty was magical, but I only came to make sure my husband didn't forget about me."
Akane shrugged before patting the seat next to her "Typical challenge truce? We've got an hour or two before Ranma blows up the arena or Kodachi shows up and poisons half the crowd or something."
Shampoo's fury and focus immediately evaporated as she hopped into the seat next to Akane. With Ranma busy and out of reach Akane was no longer an obstacle which meant she was no longer for killing. Shampoo was honor-bound to return to China with Ranma as her husband, regardless of obstacles, but ruining one of Ranma's challenges was a fast way to making herself an obstacle as she ideally needed Ranma to like her. She would wait patiently while watching the fights and be the first to reward Ranma with a victory kiss once everything was settled and if Akane took issue with that, she would be the one breaking the truce.
"Truce!" Shampoo confirmed, reaching a hand into Akane's popcorn and tossing a few pieces into her mouth before giving Akane a teasing wink.
Akane sighed and moved her soda from one arm rest to the other so it would be easier to share with her cheer partner. Shampoo's smile turned playful as she picked it up and took a slow sip before returning it to the holster.
"Akane would fit in so well at the village, shame you won't give up on my Ranma."
"You're one to talk. Besides, that panda of his would just engage him to someone else. He tried to promise one of my daughters in exchange for a meal."
Shampoo nodded sagely "Knew I should've killed the panda back in China."
"Ranma would never forgive you, and you really can't just kill everyone who gets in your way."
"Almost worked with you!"
"Yea well-" but before they could continue bantering, the lights dimmed and the massive spotlights focused on the arena with both girls instantly shushing each other as Shampoo grabbed another fistful of popcorn.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we hope you've all got your pocketbooks handy as we have some lovely girls out here tonight! These are the battles the DSAA doesn't want you to see! No barriers, no limiters, and no weight class restrictions! These girls are going to put on a show you can't believe, just make sure you aren't in the splash zone if things get too wild!" echoed the voice that came from all directions as the announcer began to hype up the crowd.
As the opening speech finished, a young man with a wild moustache made his way to the center of the arena holding a microphone. "Starting us off tonight, we've decided to start with the smallest girls and work our way up! Tonight's main event will be a king of the hill event where the longer a girl can stay on top the more prize money she wins! Which means each match will get tougher and meaner, but let's meet our hopeful sweethearts that are starting us off!"
Two girls approached the stage, one with an immediately recognizable pinkish red cascade of hair while the other also had pinkish colored hair, though hers was leaning more towards brown than red. The new girl seemed even smaller than Ranma, if only barely, though some of that might've been due to their builds as while Ranma was short, she had curves and muscle to her while this other girl seemed far softer. She did however have something Ranma lacked, a large mace with a red and spikey ball to it. Ranma waved to her fans and made herself comfortable through her entrance while the other girl seemed far more nervous, though her nerves settled as she squeezed tighter onto the hilt of her two handed staff-mace.
"These two hopefuls came out here to win some money tonight folks! Isn't that just adorable! Let's hope we can send them on their way without too many bruises and maybe some money for ice cream! Anyone with the interest in doing so, please use your devices now to place your bets as we meet our fighters!"
The sketchy announcer quickly threw an arm around each of the girls and escorted them properly to the center of the arena, looking each over and deciding to start with the less smaller girl of the pair.
"Now, who do we have here? Is this your first time joining us? And why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself to the audience." The host then held the microphone for the timid girl to talk into before her resolve firmed and she nodded.
"I-I'm Elsa! And one day I'm going to be the intermiddle champion! I'm here to win some money to hire a proper coach! I've been entirely self taught up til now and I've got more than a few wins to my name!"
"And will you be armoring up for us this evening?" he quickly followed up.
Elsa nodded and stepped away from the microphone. "Afërdita! Assault mode!" Elsa then gave a single twirl of her large weapon and as she did it left streaks of red in the air forming a circle. Arcane symbols then filled the circle as it passed over her. She stepped through it like a gate and as she came out the other side she had transformed from a meek looking school girl into a mean looking magical girl. Her general build remained the same but her eyes seemed sterner and she seemed more prepared for combat. Her outfit changed with her as she now had a large bow at the collar of her blouse with a blue gem at the center, small angelic wings peeked over her shoulders and her skirt flared out decoratively with a large ribbon at the back tying the whole outfit together. Her hands squeezed the grip of her morning star again, but this time they were covered in fingerless gloves with large spikes on the back of her hands and wrists.
Much of the audience quickly clapped and cheered once the transformation was complete while Akane sat stunned. Ranma let out a low whistle as she watched which quickly called the announcers attention back to herself. He quickly offered her the microphone as he approached.
"So how about it red. Are you intimidated? Will you be running back to the locker rooms or are did you come prepared?"
Ranma waved him off as she rested both hands behind her head "It ain't nearly as impressive as that whole light show, but I came already transformed or I'd do the same. My dad's always wanted me to be the best martial artist around and now I get why he said this tournament would be perfect for me! Is this whole tournament full of girls with magical transformations? Because I was worried I might have to beat someone up, but with the power bleeding offa her I can tell this is gonna be a great fight!"
The announcer looked stunned as the audience went silent in surprise. "Y-you came already transformed? That must be quite the mana pool you've got there... If you're not bluffing of course! What do you think folks! Do you want to put your faith in this mystery newcomer and her secret transformation or do you want to gamble your savings on the tiny terror of Elsa! We'll give you a few minutes here. Fighters, do you have anything you want to say to each other?"
"I'd be happy to train ya myself after this, 'cause there's no way you're winning that prize money."
"I've never even heard of you before! These matches may be off the books, but any worthwhile competitor would at least have some infamy to them! I'll try not to rough you up too bad!"
The announcer gave the girls a few minutes each to go to their corners and plan while the final bets rolled in. Akane couldn't find any interface to gamble with or she would've thrown whatever allowance she had on Ranma going undefeated the entire night. Shampoo flashed her a confident smile before leaning forward to watch the match as it seemed ready to start.
"Now red, we never did get your name, did you want to tell us about yourself?"
Ranma had failed to actually think up anything that wasn't 'Ranko', but that was the fake name she had used around her mom and would get back to her just as quickly as her real name would so she instead shrugged.
"Red's fine. I'm just here to have some fun and bring that prize money home to my family. My old man lost his job when the local clinic shut down, and I can't stomach another night of waitressin'."
"There you have it folks! Will Red be sent back to the kitchen or will Elsa fail to find some seed money for her championship climb! Competitors are you ready?"
Elsa nodded firmly while Ranma took a relaxed, casual stance, focused more on the audience then her opponent.
"I-I said competitors are you ready!"
Ranma blinked for a moment before pointing at herself. At the announcers nod she answered "M-me? Yea I'm always ready! Whenever pinky wants to get started."
The announcer stared at Ranma in confusion for a moment before rolling with it "Is this some sort of taunt or is she just that distractable! We've only got one way to find out here folks so why don't we get this battle started!"
Akane watched the now-familiar scene unfold. Ranma had nudged Elsa in just the right spots where the girl was eager to get the fight over with quickly, charging Ranma and swinging her massive mace down effortlessly. While she did plenty of damage to the arena, there was nothing she could do to tag Ranma's evasive form with her heavy hammer blows. To her credit, when Ranma retaliated she took the blows far better than Akane had seen most martial artists, wincing from the pain but otherwise unbothered by an attack that even Ryoga would've likely felt. This lead to a strange tug of war between the duo as Elsa could not land a blow on Ranma, but nothing Ranma threw at her seemed to knock her down beyond draining some of her endurance. The strength and stamina of this girl easily rivaled Ranma's toughest battles and it was only the start of the night. Unfortunately however, Ranma was creative enough to stay in the fight even when outmatched.
Anything Goes was a style that often incorporated weapons when they were available, with the core tenants being to use every advantage available, but one of the first things you were taught was to avoid your weapon becoming an opponents advantage. That was a trap Shampoo had fallen into on her very first visit and how the whole marriage mess with her had started. Ranma was able to effortlessly disarm her and she was taken out by her own chui. Similarly with this girl, while she was able to get plenty of leverage and power from the size and weight of her mace, most of the weapon was handle so it gave reach but was useless at too close of a range. With Ranma's speed advantage she was able to completely control the distance the pair battled at and once Ranma had managed to get Elsa overcommitting by staying away from her, Ranma retaliated by stepping inside the deadzone of the mace and wedging herself between it and its wielder.
Ranma, with both hands on the mace's handle and her back to her opponent was able to use the leverage and positioning to flip herself over, bringing her opponent with her as she crashed Elsa into the hard mat. It wasn't enough to knock the girl out, but such a heavy impact meant the first decisive blow of the encounter between the pair. Ranma quickly flipped out of the slam and back to her feet as she watched her opponent slowly stagger up, leaning on her mace for support. Akane saw a momentary flash of anger in Elsa's eyes and knew the fight was clearly over at this point as she sat back disinterested. If the girls were starting at Ryoga difficulty, the future matches would definitely be interesting but this girl had already lost to herself, even if she hadn't lost to Ranma yet.
Ranma continued to bait her into more reckless attacks until finally Ranma was able to get her to charge in frustration, which Ranma quickly circled around before kicking her in the back, throwing her against the ropes and heavily off balance. Ranma then took the opening to swipe her other leg out from under her as she rebounded, finishing her off with a downward kick to spike her into the floor of the arena. Ranma quickly worried she might have used too much force before she got a dizzy groan from her opponent that failed to get back up. At the clear indicator she was still okay, Ranma hopped back two steps and waited for the count.
The girl stirred but the count continued and eventually the fight was called. Elsa was clearly too dazed and exhausted to get back up again, with the crowd erupting into an explosion of cheers.
"And so ends our first battle! We'll make sure Elsa has a safe trip home. Now Red, are you hiding your secret moves for later, or are you only proficient in the basics of fighting?"
Ranma leaned back with her cocky grin "I've got plenty of secret moves, but I can't go showin' em off in my very first battle now can I?"
"You heard it here folks! Some of you might want to place some new bets for round two, but who knows which opponent will come out next! Can our hero from the red corner keep up her streak or will the new challenger put her face down!"
As the battles continued, Akane was surprised by just how heavily the new competitors were pressuring Ranma. She had expected this to be a typical non-Nerima martial arts tournament, but she was now understanding why it was kept so secret. The girls weren't simply skilled, they were fantastical. And with each win, Ranma's endless stamina was tested and pushed as each girl was faster or stronger than Ranma, usually both and it was only through sheer technique and luck that Ranma was staying in the fights.
In the middle of Ranma's third fight, Shampoo leaned over and gently elbowed Akane. "Help me find restroom."
Akane stared at Shampoo for a moment in slight annoyance and waited for elaboration "Yea?"
Shampoo rolled her eyes "This place's creepy. Girls go together?"
Akane sighed and finished off her drink before nodding and leaving her mostly empty popcorn bucket to save her seat. Once they had made their way down the stairs and out of the stadium proper, Shampoo leaned over to whisper again.
"You and Airen have second location?"
Akane tilted her head as she headed in the direction she thought the bathrooms were in, before Shampoo tugged her backwards "Hey! Let go! I thought we had a truce, so if you're just kidnapping me to ambush Ranma or something think again."
Shampoo quickly let go of Akane and held up her hands in surrender "No no! Truce still good! But we should leave."
Akane looked offended for a moment but cooled off as she saw Shampoo meant well "You might be happy to leave Ranma back there but I'm not skipping out just because you're bored Shampoo."
Shampoo offered Akane a serious look and shook her head "Business people were leaving, is usually a bad sign yes? Happened right after I saw the announcer whispering something."
Akane stomped her foot and let out her breath "Of course. If even Genma Saotome has heard about a tournament like this, half of Tokyo likely has. If this is some illegal tournament then the police are probably already on their way. Let's get Ranma and... There's no way that idiot is going to abandon his fight is he?"
Shampoo shook her head sadly "Airen is too too honorable... Wouldn't even hear us."
Akane let out a cry of frustration "Of course our night out goes wrong. At first I thought you showing up was tonight's chaos, but my fiancé getting arrested for having too much fun fighting would be the only way this could end. And by tomorrow Nabiki will have sold the information to half the school. Daddy's going to call off the engagement or Ranma's gonna be locked up and I refuse to pay bail on one of Genma's hairbrained schemes. We already almost lost Ranma to the Chardin's, I'd rather not lose him to prison."
Shampoo pulled out her chui from somewhere with a smile "Could always break him out of prison, but that easier if we not get arrested."
Akane reluctantly nodded and she followed Shampoo down the hall and out through a hole in the wall that she effortlessly blew open. Having seen it from the other side for once, it made sense Shampoo would also know the breaking point if it was a Joketsuzoku technique, she likely also knew the amaguriken as well despite frequently relying on whatever scheme Cologne had cooked up. It explained how she was so quick with the 411 when they had battled. Once they were on the side roads, the pair made for a nearby park to settle into and only then did they start hearing explosions and combat exploding out from the nondescript building they had escaped from as they awaited Ranma's return.
Ranma was in whatever warrior afterlife she dreamed she would one day be granted. Every opponent that came out was stronger than the last, faster, and pushed her even harder time and again as she was forced to find smaller openings and dodge increasingly dangerous blows. They all seemed to transform as well, but she was starting to feel cheated with her own curse. Hers had failed to come with enhanced strength or speed and lacked any special weapons or armor. She prided herself on winning with just her fists and her wits fight after fight, but some of those weapons and techniques just seemed so cool that she would want to experiment with them regardless of how efficient they were.
First she heard the announcer change, as they said something about surrendering, but Ranma simply kept her focus and resolve. There was no way she would surrender to an opponent like this, not when there was glory to win and prize money to spend on her friends. She instead started thinking about which parfait place she would take Akane to and what flavors they would order, instantly reenergizing her vigor. As she continued to dodge the powerful blows thrown her way, something flickered at the corner of her vision. Then another something. And something else.
Ranma was finally forced to look as her gaze flicked to the side and she saw numerous large semi-translucent screens floating in the air. On every single one of them was a furious looking blonde whose mouth seemed to be moving in synch with the announcer voice. Finally catching Ranma's attention Ranma gave a single second of her attention span to what was being shouted at her from all directions.
"Stop this fight and surrender yourselves for questioning at once! This is an illegal fight on an non-administrated planet!"
As Ranma tried to figure out what that meant, while she had no intent on pausing a fight with such a fun opponent for even a moment, her distraction with the strange woman using the strange tech had cost her and no amount of speed could get her out of the way in time as a fist with the strength of ten Ryoga's collided with her chest.
Ranma was flung backwards and crashed into the ground coughing weakly before the lights of the arena went dim and her whole world went black.
Fate Takamachi pursed her lips tightly as she looked about the half destroyed building. Vivio would be graduating from third grade soon, so Fate wanted to get back to her wife and daughter as soon as this mission was over so she could be at the graduation, but first she had to prioritize the mission. She had done her best to minimize the damage by giving notice that she had arrived on the scene, and while those left behind didn't look too hurt, a building full of high power magical girls willing to fight for money were also likely to fight to avoid an arrest record. Fate blamed the men in charge far more than she blamed the girls, even if cadets joined the Time-Space Administrative Bureau as young as twelve, and she herself had joined it at ten under special conditions, any girl here was fighting for money or glory. The church did its best to provide for any who needed and any girl seeking combat could even register through the church to be sponsored for Church Knight training and tutelage at academies like St. Hilde's. The girls here had clearly been failed by the systems in place or fallen through its cracks.
And the men running this illegal gambling den were the ones taking advantage of those failures. Some of the audience had been caught trying to escape and they had managed to catch one of the higher ups of the operation at least, but almost every girl had escaped, most by battling through the officers. The girls were who Fate worried about the most as she never wanted anyone to have to suffer what she had, and any girl coming to an event like this had to be desperate enough to take such risks. She stepped into the central stadium to get a look over at the damages and to look for any evidence she could, before she saw something that caused her heart to beat faster.
They had been so focused on making sure nobody escaped and handling any potential noncombatants that nobody had gone to check on the actual girls fighting. With magical devices and barrier jackets, even without limiters in place to cushion blows and limit injuries, magical girls were resilient. But there on the mat was a girl who was still downed. Fate turned her curious patrol into a sprint as Bardiche flew into her hand, ready and waiting.
"Bardiche!"
"Yes Sir!" answered the small golden triangle in her hand, lighting up as it spoke before magic cascaded across Fate's form mid-stride.
In an instant, Fate's own barrier jacket was on as she entered her Sonic form. It was her quickest barrier jacket as mana-wings formed on her wrists and ankles, leaving her gliding at full speed towards the redhead. The rest of Fate's outfit was reduced to a simple bodysuit with armored gloves and boots completing the look. As she quickly rolled the girl onto her back she felt tenderly about her body, searching for damage.
The girls ribs were soft and she winced at their touch even in her unconscious state, but Fate managed to get a pulse. The girl's heart was strong but fast and already some bruising was peeking out above the top of her dress. Fate pulled up what magic she could and focused it on healing the girl's fractured ribs. Scanning the room she couldn't find any indicators of a barrier jacket or magical device and her mind continued to race. If this girl wasn't a mage then how she had ended up here was even more confusing, but Fate did feel the strong pulse of magic from the girl but it was unrefined and unfocused, and there were no nearby matches for it... Fate swore she had seen this girl in the ring, and her presence on the floor of it only confirmed it, but that meant this girl had been battling other mages without a magical device of any sort, all in hopes of winning some money.
Fate knew what she should do, call for a medic, have this girl investigated while she recovers and have her likely thrown into a wardship like she had been or dumped at an orphanage to be sorted out. She might have a home or family to go back to, but how a girl had gotten to an non-administrated planet without a device was concerning and whatever family she had would be getting a stern talking. Fate worried she knew exactly what type of family this girl had however. As she tended to the girl's crushed ribcage, she found her covered thin white lines. Scars. Dozens upon dozens of scars. Her entire body was scarred over with damage that had clearly come from a very young age, her finger tips were burnt in a way that would make fingerprint matches frustrating, and all of that on the tiny frame of a girl whose vivid hair reminded Fate of Erio and Caro, the two kids she had taken care of for a short time...
If the girl was going to be destined for prison, a wardship, or an orphanage anyway... Lindy had assumed custody of her when she was younger to protect her from the harsher aspects of the legal system. If this girl was so desperate and willing to fight for even a few coins, some time working as her assistant would pay far better than any illegal prize fighting and look better on any reports that had to be made. Fate was torn, this was the only girl they had managed to capture who might have known people involved or seen relevant information, but turning her over to general custody was potentially destroying what little hope there was for the girl's future. If Fate could question her in a more casual setting, earn her trust, and hopefully get her enrolled in a proper school or even matched up with a coach for more official battles then Fate's conscience would feel far clearer.
There was also the matter of finding the girl's family, but given the state and location the girl had been found it, a full report would have to be done on her family. If even half of her injuries weren't documented with a cleric or physician of some sort then even if she had a family, she would be shipped off to the foster system, and any decent cleric could've at least cleaned up the scars to some degree. Fate didn't waste any magic treating them herself as she wanted to get the girl stable and moveable before too many questions were raised, the child wasn't failing and had only seemed to take a few real blows in need of treatment, but she would need at least a day or two of rest before she was moving around again and there was no way Fate was letting her go right back to prize fighting.
With the girl's body healed as best as Fate could manage, she carefully scooped the girl up into her arms and carried her out of the building and back to her team to file for an injured civilian she would be taking into her care for treatment and questioning as they returned with everyone else they had arrested to Midchilda. It was technically true enough until she managed to get more information and could figure out what to actually do with her, but she couldn't leave her on the arena floor and she refused to entrust her to a system someone else had gone out of their way to protect Fate from. She had to imagine her own Lindy-mama knew what she was doing, so she would follow in her footsteps of protecting kids. No girl deserved whatever had been done to this redhead in her arms, and Fate of all people was an expert on terrible parents treating their kids poorly. It was how she had been adopted in the first place.