Arisugawa's Locket (part 10 of 88)

a Ranma 1/2 fanfiction by Shanejayell

Back to Part 9
Ready? Fight!

"Hey, Juri," Haruka said with a smile, settling down into a seat 
beside her at the bar. She was dressed as stylish as usual, her short 
blond hair done boyishly cool, a man's suit tailored to hug her slim 
form. Juri tried not to laugh at the small crowd of pretty young 
ladies that were following Haruka around with hearts in their eyes.

Juri raised her glass of colored ginger ale in a small toast to her 
before pleasantly asking, "Are the others here with you?"

"Michiru's stuck in violin practice tonight, but she'll be by later," 
Haruka said with a shrug. She looked over at Juri searchingly, "Has 
Shiori been by again?"

Juri looked at her in honest surprise before sighing softly, "I see 
the rumor mill is running as fast as ever." She shrugged a bit, 
"Shiori's been by a few times, trying to talk." She took another 
drink, suddenly wishing that there was something stronger in her 
glass.

Haruka shot back her glass in a single smooth movement. "You're going 
to have to deal with her eventually, you know," Haruka said to her 
quietly in return.

Before Juri could form a reply, something got her attention. She 
faintly heard the sounds of a scuffle, and then a soft cry came from 
down the hallway. Juri sprinted down the passageway to the outside 
door, throwing it open to see what was going on outside. Bones the 
bouncer lay sprawled on the pavement, a livid bruise on her temple.

A small, compact man, heavily muscled, stood right above her, his 
fists clenched. He had a cold sneer on his face, eyes narrowed as he 
looked towards the building. His hair was his oddest feature, spiked 
straight up and nearly adding a foot to his height.

He looked up, noticing Juri standing there, and smiled slightly. "With 
some training," he said to her harshly, nodding to Bones "she could 
actually be a good fighter." He looked down at her, "But she tried to 
bar my way, and that can not be tolerated."

Juri quickly knelt down at Bones' side to check her over, then she 
rose to face him, her expression one of cold fury. "She stopped you on 
my orders," Juri said, forcing her voice to stay calm, "this is a 
ladies' bar." She looked him right in the eye as she continued, "And 
you will regret hurting one of my people."

The man looked at her incredulously, barking out "I am Vegeta, prince 
of the Saiyan race, and I am here for my woman!" Juri was suddenly 
buffeted by a wave of force, watching Vegeta crying out to the sky as 
energy built up all around him. Suddenly, his hair shifted from black 
to gold, energy arcing around him.

"I'm not impressed," Juri said calmly in reply. She took a guard 
stance, her eyes narrowed in concentration, and suddenly a battle aura 
sprung up all around her as well. Her body glowed a fierce orange, 
shimmering in the darkness, and Vegeta found himself blinking at her 
in surprise. "You are not coming inside," Juri continued.

Before he could say anything else, two figures came outside to flank 
Juri. Minagi glowed a sky blue, her energy blade firmly held in her 
hands, while Ryouko blazed blood red, a eager smile on her face. "You 
weren't going to leave us out, were you?" Minagi said to Juri with a 
cool smile on her scarred face.

"Or me," Ranma said, coming up beside them. She swept her red hair 
back, making it clear she was ready to fight, her own battle aura 
shining.

The rest of the bar patrons began to emerge, in ones and twos at 
first, then in groups, all of them assembling against the threat to 
them all. Vegeta looked the mob over, his eyes narrowed as the 
combined power they had began to wash over him, and realized that he 
might just have bit off a bit more than he could chew.

His eyes narrowed in anger, Vegeta snarled out at them, "You will pay 
for thwarting me!" He rose into the air and in a final burst of power 
flew off into the distance.

Juri waited until he was gone before letting herself slump in relief, 
the battle aura fading. She bent down, helping a groggy Bones to her 
feet, before she noticed the admiring glances she was getting from 
many of the bar's patrons.

A little smile tugged at Ryouko's lips as she said, "I didn't know you 
had it in you, Boss." She stepped up to help carry Bones inside.

Several other volunteers stepped up, and in a few moments they had her 
inside on one of the reading couches. "Sorry, Boss," Bones sighed 
softly, "I didn't even see the punch coming."

"I probably wouldn't have seen it, either. Congratulations," Juri said 
with a smile, "You get the rest of the night off." Bones tried to 
protest, but in a few moments she was sitting at a table with several 
ladies fussing over her.

"I volunteer as bouncer for the rest of the night," Ranma spoke up 
quickly, waving her hand. At Juri's slightly surprised look she added 
with a smile, "I'm almost hoping he does show up again." As an 
afterthought the redhead added, "Could someone put a kettle on, just 
in case?" With that, Ranma headed outside.

"Thank the kami he didn't call my bluff," Juri said with a little 
sigh, "my battle aura is mostly for show."

There was a soft snort of laughter from Nabiki, "Don't be modest, 
Arisugawa." She grinned, adding, "By the time you left the dojo you 
were a very formidable fighter."

"My sister has a point," Akane quietly added, "I certainly couldn't 
lay a hand on you before you decided to leave us." Juri actually 
blushed a bit, under those compliments, and Nabiki smiled at her 
knowingly.

"I'd still like to know who he was chasing though," Minagi said with a 
little sigh.

A woman's voice coming from the upstairs rooms sighed softly, "That 
would be us." Juri turned to see a older woman with blue, kind of 
poofy hair and a blonde haired younger woman coming down stairs 
together.

"Bulma, you couldn't have known he'd follow you here," the blonde said 
to the other girl.

"Maybe," Bulma sighed, "but I should have expected it, 18."

"18?" Sasami echoed, stepping out of the kitchen a moment. "Is that 
your name or your age?" she asked with a smile.

18 just laughed softly in reply.

The Staff: The bar's owner is Arisugawa Juri, from Revolutionary Girl 
Utena. Minagi, Ryouko and Sasami are from the series Tenchi Muyo. And 
finally, Tendo Nabiki is from Ranma 1/2.

Our Cast This Episode: Shiori is from Revolutionary Girl Utena. Ranma 
and Akane are from Ranma 1/2. Haruka and Michiru are from Sailor Moon. 
And finally, Vegeta, Bulma and Android 18 are from Dragonball Z.

Authors Note: I was considering using Goku at first, having him here 
looking for Videl and 18, but I couldn't see him being mean enough to 
be a credible threat. So, I decided on Vegeta. 

Onwards to Part 11


Back to Arisugawa's Locket Index - Back to Ranma 1/2 Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction