Ranma ½ Zero Interface

[goldenarms]

This is the second part to chapter three. Almost struggled for a second with the bridging between the curse revelation at the part I really want to get to -- the challenge. Then I got KISSy with it.

A KISS fixes everything; remember that. B)

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Somehow, despite the interruptions and delays, they managed to get the classroom clean before lunch and RanmaÆs gender restored. Mostly because Louise didnÆt want to look at herself, nor let anyone else find out about the new development.

ôSo, why would I look like you?ö Ranma asked in low tones as he and Louise made their way towards the dining hall.

She thought about it. ôPerhaps itÆs yet another benefit of the Familiar Runes.ö

ôWhat?ö

ôWhen a master has a familiar, he can see and hear what the familiar sees and hears.ö

Ranma thought about that. ôDoes it work in reverse, too?ö

ôI wouldnÆt think so. After all, what would a familiar need to know of the master?ö

Given what Ranma had learned in his two days of being in Tristain, all familiars were some sort of animal, mythical or otherwise, thus, Louise made a valid point. Stillà

ôAnyway,ö Ranma spoke. ôIÆm going over to the kitchen.ö

ôW-wait!ö

ôWhat?ö

ôIàö Louise bit her lip. ôànothing.ö

Ranma looked at the girl, then shrugged. ôAll right. See you in an hour.ö

ôYesà see you in an hour.ö

---

Ranma slipped into the warm, bustling kitchen, deftly side stepping various cooks and maids that flowed through the cooking space.

He had to admit, he knew relatively nothing about this word, so it might be rude as hell for him to just march in and ask for food. Then again, sitting around all those ônoblesö in such a decadent setting didnÆt make him feel very good, either. Thus, he opted for ôrude as hellö and decided to stop the first maid he saw.

ôHey, excuse me, butùô

The young woman gasped, looking at the back of RanmaÆs hand. ôArenÆt you Miss ValliÞreÆs familiar?ö

ôàLouise summoned me, yesàö

The maid smiled sweetly. ôItÆs become quite the rumor, that a commoner was called by summoning magic.ö

Ranma blinked. You know, this maid was rather cute, smiling like that. ôUm, yeahàö He coughed lightly. ôWell, anyway, my nameÆs Ranma. Ranma Saotome.ö

ôWhat an unusual name. My name is Siesta.ö

=GURGLE=

Ranma had the decency to look embarrassed as his stomach decided to talk to Siesta, who chuckled a little.

ôYou must be hungry.ö

ôA littleàö

ôPlease follow me this way.ö

Ranma nodded, falling in line with the girl.

---

The meal Siesta had gave him was delicious. Even moreso than what he had sampled from the dining hall that morning. Probably because it didnÆt remind him of the decadent nature of the ônobliltyö that made up the vast majority of the people here.

Plus, Siesta had gave him a free pass to come back whenever heÆd like, if he didnÆt mind eating what the staff ate.

Awesome.

So awesome that he ended up talking Siesta into letting him help her out with something, not wanting to seem ungrateful. He had to admit, he could get used to seeing her smile.

He handled carrying the large silver tray from table to table while Siesta served up each dessert cake with a pair of tongs. As she served, he observed. It was just a waste to him, the way these students just sat around in gross splendor, all because they could flick a wrist and make something happen.

Like the one guy talking with his friends. Blond curly hair, a shirt bedecked in frills, and a rose sticking out of his shirt pocket. He may be considered a noble. But something about him just irritated the hell out of Ranma. He just seemed like a big olÆ pile of arrogance. Even Louise couldnÆt make him feel this annoyed, and she had to work to get him that way.

ôMy lover? I do not hold just one woman upon a pedestal; after all, a rose blooms for all.ö

Ranma frowned, trying to wrap his brain around that. Was he just comparing himself to a rose? If he had to listen and try to figure out any more of this guyÆs speaking, he might become sick.

As the blonde boy gestured, a small stoppered vial tumbled free from his pocket. RanmaÆs foot snaked out to catch it before it broke on the floor, carpeted it may be. A quick flick and the vial was popped up into RanmaÆs waiting hand.

ôHey, you dropped this,ö he spoke, placing the glass container on the table before the blond.

Ranma blinked as the boy steadfastedly refused to acknowledge its existence, even tried to push it away. He shrugged and turned his attention back to helping Siesta.

Seconds later, a girl broke up in tears. Both Ranma and Siesta looked up to see a younger girl they had just served haul off and slap the blond boy with the rose in his shirt pocket. Ranma thought he was going to spin in his seat. Even he could feel the sting behind that smack.

ôThat perfume in your pocket is more than enough proof! Goodbye!ö

Another girl, with tightly rolled tresses approached rapidly, her face locked in a severe expression.

ôMontmorency. This is a misunderstanding. All I did was accompany her on a long trip to the forests of La Rochelle,ö The blond boy spoke quickly. He worked at being composed and indifferent, but Ranma could see him sweat under the pressure.

"Just as I thought! You've been making moves on that first year, haven't you?!"

"Please, Montmorency the Fragrance!ö

Did everyone here have a weird title affixed to their name?

Montmorency the Fragrance spread a different scent on the blond û the scent of his wine all over his head.

ôYou liar!ö she bellowed before storming off.

The dining hall was deathly quite. The blond, for his part, simply pulled a handkerchief and slowly wiped his face.

"It would seem those ladies do not understand the meaning of a rose's existence,ö he spoke with conviction.

Ranma broke out laughing. What a rubeà

The blond leveled his glare upon the pigtailed boy. ôYou.ö

Ranma looked up, a puzzled look on his face. ôWhat?ö

The blond slowly spun in place. ôThanks to your thoughtlessness in picking up the perfume bottle, the reputation of two ladies has been tarnished. How do you plan to take responsibility?ö

Ranma blinked. ôUm, by calling you a jackass moron for two-timing them?ö

The boyÆs friends broke out laughing. The boyÆs face burned indignant.

ôListen, servant boyùô

ôIÆm not your boy, nor am I anyoneÆs servant.ö

The blond paused, then studied RanmaÆs face closer. ôAh, thatÆs rightà youÆre the commoner Louise the Zero summonedà Shameful of me to expect you to have any sort of proper raising.ö He made a flippant gesture and turned back in his seat. ôYouÆre dismissed.ö

Ranma was taken aback by this. ôÆDismissed?Æ Listen, jerkwad, anyone needs some proper raising, itÆs you. You may call yourself a noble, I sure as hell donÆt see anything like that going on here.ö Out came the middle finger. ôMy finger here has more nobility than youÆll have in your entire life.ö

The hall became silent for the second time that evening.

Siesta covered her mouth in shock.

The boy twitched and purpled. ôY-y-y-you dare!ö

Ranma folded his arms and smirk. ôDamn right, I do.ö

The boy glowered. ôIt seems someone does not understand their place. Allow me to teach you the manners of humility.ö

ôIf anyone needs some humility, itÆs gonna be you.ö

He stood up to face Ranma.

Ranma handed the tray to the shellshocked Siesta. ôHold this, wouldja?ö

She dumbly took, her brain unable to make sense of things.

ôSo, weÆre going to do it here?ö

ôDonÆt be stupid. I canÆt taint the dining hall with blood. IÆll meet you at the Vestri Court. Come once youÆve finished delivering those cakes.ö

Ranma paused a second. Well, isnÆt that considerate of othersà

ôIÆll be there in a minute.ö

With that the boy moved towards the dining room doors, flanked by his excited friends. One remained, as if Ranma would have second thoughts and chicken out.

ôWell,ö he started taking the tray back from Siesta with a smile. ôLetÆs get these delivered.ö

ôYouà youÆre going to be killed!ö

ôBy him?ö Phft! He couldnÆt kill a fly.ö

ôB-but, heÆs nobility!ö

ôAnd IÆm Ranma Saotome, heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. I will not lose to a pompous airbag that canÆt even own up to his own mistakes.ö

Tears started to form in her eyes, and she suddenly ran off.

ôHey! Siesta! What about these cakes!ö When she didnÆt return, Ranma shrugged and helped himself to a cake.

It tasted pretty good.

ôRanma!ö

He turned around to see Louise running up to him. ôYo, Louise, you get a cake already? ItÆs pretty tasty.ö

She swatted the cake out of his hand. ôThis is no time for cake!ö

ôHey! I was eating that!ö

ôHow can you go around promising duels like itÆs no big deal!ö

ôBecause it isnÆt a big deal. I doubt he can even stand up in a good strong wind.ö

She grit her teeth. ôApologize to him.ö

Ranma quirked an eyebrow. ôSay what?ö

ôI said, apologize. If you do that, he may be willing to forget the whole thing.ö

ôOh, please, Louise. IÆll be back in a minute.ö

ôRanma, youÆll be lucky if you come back in a few pieces, let alone alive! Just go apologize already!ö

ôNo.ö

ôRanma!ö

He turned to the guy that had stayed behind. ôWhereÆs the Vestri Court?ö

He thumbed in a direction. ôThat way.ö

ôThanks.ö As he started to walk, Louise grabbed hold of his arm.

ôRanma, a commoner cannot beat a mage! ItÆs two completely different worlds. ItÆs impossible!ö

Ranma threw her a cocky grin. ôWell, letÆs make history then.ö

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[Dumbledork]

I can really see Ranma get along with Siesta. She reminds me a little of Kasumi.

Well, the fight should be easy for Ranma if it goes anything like it did in the manga. Ranma just has to get past the golem and incapacicate Guiche with a single blow. Game over.

Where does he drop perfume? In the anime or the novels? In the manga he drops several letters.

 

[Crusader]

I find it ironic that Guiche was willing to let it all go even if he did so in a haughty manner, but that Ranma's spite still made sure that the duel would take place. But I must admit that it's in-character of Ranma to provoke anger in others.

Considering how often in AU fics that Guiche gets clobbered in a duel for two-timing, when Saito himself becomes guilty of it in canon and that he (Saito Hiraga under his magic sword's influence) in the light novels tried to force himself on a sleeping Louise, people would considering cutting him some slack for being a two-timer. I can't really imagine Guiche of all people trying to do to the first year and Montmorency what light novel Saito tried to do to a sleeping Louise.

Edit: Just thought I'd try to be the devil's advocate for Guiche.

 

[Master of Squirrel-Fu]

I can really see Ranma get along with Siesta. She reminds me a little of Kasumi.

Well, the fight should be easy for Ranma if it goes anything like it did in the manga. Ranma just has to get past the golem and incapacicate Guiche with a single blow. Game over.

Where does he drop perfume? In the anime or the novels? In the manga he drops several letters.

Ranma would probably be show boating like hell in the fight. Perfume thing is in the novels, The anime had Saito blab about seeing Guiche with a first year girl as what started the duel.

 

[Dumbledork]

I find it ironic that Guiche was willing to let it all go even if he did so in a haughty manner, but that Ranma's spite still made sure that the duel would take place. But I must admit that it's in-character of Ranma to provoke anger in others.

Considering how often in AU fics that Guiche gets clobbered in a duel for two-timing, when Saito himself becomes guilty of it in canon and that he (Saito Hiraga under his magic sword's influence) in the light novels tried to force himself on a sleeping Louise, people would considering cutting him some slack for being a two-timer. I can't really imagine Guiche of all people trying to do to the first year and Montmorency what light novel Saito tried to do to a sleeping Louise.

Edit: Just thought I'd try to be the devil's advocate for Guiche.

The attempted rape scene also happened in the manga. Ranma would never try that I think.

 

[Master of Squirrel-Fu]

I find it ironic that Guiche was willing to let it all go even if he did so in a haughty manner, but that Ranma's spite still made sure that the duel would take place. But I must admit that it's in-character of Ranma to provoke anger in others.

Considering how often in AU fics that Guiche gets clobbered in a duel for two-timing, when Saito himself becomes guilty of it in canon and that he (Saito Hiraga under his magic sword's influence) in the light novels tried to force himself on a sleeping Louise, people would considering cutting him some slack for being a two-timer. I can't really imagine Guiche of all people trying to do to the first year and Montmorency what light novel Saito tried to do to a sleeping Louise.

Edit: Just thought I'd try to be the devil's advocate for Guiche.

The attempted rape scene also happened in the manga. Ranma would never try that I think.

No. He would, though a bunch of well time coincedences, end up falling on her half-dress just as she wakes up.

Also it might be my faulty memory but IIRC it was Saito that did the whole thing and was just talking to a confused Derflinger

 

[Tonyloco]

While the story is going fine, I would recommend you to not follow the cannon step by step.

It can be really annoying when in a crossover one character replaces another the interactions change and yet the same scenes and outcomes are repeated over and over.

I have seen this happen many times and it can get quite bad.

While I admit that Ranma has a knack for annoying people he seems to agree to beat up the kid a little too easy, I would have expected to warn him that he is in fact a very skilled fighter and quite able to kick his ass, perhaps as a friendly warning a way to make him avoid further humiliation.

Yet, being Ranma this would look more like a condescending attitude, him being made fun by Ranma and even being taunted.

Now regarding the fight itself, I see it as the first time Ranma gets to see how many advantages nobles have, and how much more powerful than the so called commoners they are.

Still I cannot see him going Saito's way, getting hurt for several days, still I guess we will get to see if his runes activate when he fights with his persona weapon (his body) or if he needs a sword or something like that for it to work.

The last point and one of the reasons I think people always do this scene and most of the time ends with the familiar being hurt.

The outcome of this fight it's usually the first time the familiar gets to see Louise in more than the little bitch act she love to show, they see her as a more caring much more vulnerable and even sensitive girl, the moment when they realize that she spent a lot of money and time getting them back to health.

So while I don't this this will go that route I do think that they will need some way to bond a little more, even if I think that rather than a love interest Louise needs a friend more right now.

So what if she and others get so impressed about the fight that she comments that she would wish to be as good at magic as he is at fighting or that she could have his confidence while doing his art.

basically while Ranma cannot reach her how to use magic I do think she tries too hard and she has little to no control over her magic, so he could try to teach her how to be more confident perhaps to try magic in a less enthusiast way to learn to walk and then try to run basically to give her more confidence and control in order to try and do better at magic, if not at least that should earn him more respect and hopefully have her rein her temper a little more.

I hope this helps.

^_^

 

[elric]

It would be hilarious if Ranma somehow wound up engaged to people here too.

 

[daniel_gudman]

Guiche needs to play Kuno and hit on Ranma-chan without realizing that it's really regular Ranma.

But better than Kuno, because when he finds out, he shrugs and says "A shapeshifter's fine too."

 

[Seed00]

snip

 

[Master of Squirrel-Fu]

Guiche needs to play Kuno and hit on Ranma-chan without realizing that it's really regular Ranma.

But better than Kuno, because when he finds out, he shrugs and says "A shapeshifter's fine too."

Ranma-chan is a clone!Louise in this fic.

 

[goldenarms]

@ Crusader: Derflinger didn't have anything to do with Saito's decision to "ravish" Louise. In fact, he points out "This is the first time I've ever seen a familiar ravish his master!" Derflinger admits to not understanding male-female dynamics at all and so agrees with everything Saito says on the basis that he must know what he's talking about, and when asked to praise him, he does so obediently.

IOW, Saito deserved everything that event stirred up and probably more.

@ Tonyloco: Admittedly, following the general storyline up to this point seems to be a necessary evil fin order to set up for future events. One of the things I've come to realize is that while Ranma's the guy here, some events are going to still occur, regardless of his presence. He can only influence so much. Fouquet is still going to go for the Staff of Destruction, Albion will still get invaded, Princess Henrietta is still going to turn to Louise for retrieving her love letter, etc.

Well, not unless Ranma does something extremely drastic or takes out a major player much earlier.

I've no intentions of following everything to the letter, though, but a few things would happen to further my own story. As noted, earlier, I've got more in store for the curse, and certain events are going to happen to produce the desired result.

 

[daniel_gudman]

Guiche needs to play Kuno and hit on Ranma-chan without realizing that it's really regular Ranma.

But better than Kuno, because when he finds out, he shrugs and says "A shapeshifter's fine too."

Ranma-chan is a clone!Louise in this fic.

Yeah, that just makes it better.

 

[Dumbledork]

Guiche needs to play Kuno and hit on Ranma-chan without realizing that it's really regular Ranma.

But better than Kuno, because when he finds out, he shrugs and says "A shapeshifter's fine too."

Ranma-chan is a clone!Louise in this fic.

Yeah, that just makes it better.

Guiche doesn't seem to be interested in Louise. Or at least there's no indication in the manga.

 

[Crusader]

@ Crusader: Derflinger didn't have anything to do with Saito's decision to "ravish" Louise. In fact, he points out "This is the first time I've ever seen a familiar ravish his master!" Derflinger admits to not understanding male-female dynamics at all and so agrees with everything Saito says on the basis that he must know what he's talking about, and when asked to praise him, he does so obediently.

IOW, Saito deserved everything that event stirred up and probably more.

Thanks for clearing that up about Derfflinger's ego boosting for me, goldenarms.

Can't say that I like Louise much in the anime, even though Saito's no saint either, but I must admit that the light novel revelation about Saito lowered my opinion of him as well as dissolved some of my sympathy for that character.

 

[Tonyloco]

@ Crusader: Derflinger didn't have anything to do with Saito's decision to "ravish" Louise. In fact, he points out "This is the first time I've ever seen a familiar ravish his master!" Derflinger admits to not understanding male-female dynamics at all and so agrees with everything Saito says on the basis that he must know what he's talking about, and when asked to praise him, he does so obediently.

IOW, Saito deserved everything that event stirred up and probably more.

@ Tonyloco: Admittedly, following the general storyline up to this point seems to be a necessary evil fin order to set up for future events. One of the things I've come to realize is that while Ranma's the guy here, some events are going to still occur, regardless of his presence. He can only influence so much. Fouquet is still going to go for the Staff of Destruction, Albion will still get invaded, Princess Henrietta is still going to turn to Louise for retrieving her love letter, etc.

Well, not unless Ranma does something extremely drastic or takes out a major player much earlier.

I've no intentions of following everything to the letter, though, but a few things would happen to further my own story. As noted, earlier, I've got more in store for the curse, and certain events are going to happen to produce the desired result.

I don't think you got my whole point, I'm not complaining about situations outside their own capabilities, I'm quite aware the Fouquet will still go after the staff, but for example I can see Ranma knowing that it's a weapon from his own reality but perhaps not fully knowing how to use it, since he doesn't has as much knowledge of the modern world as Saito.

Let me use this as an example, I saw another very good SNT/full metal panic crossover in the forum where Guiche and Souske fight, lets be honest Souske is way better than Saito and one would expect him to do way better than him and yet the fight was more or less the same in the end Sagara had a technical victory where one would have expected people traumatized of the things that Souske would have done to Guiche, and ended the same way with Louise spending money on healing potions and watching over him for days.

The story is quite good but things like this cheapen the plot IMHO.

Different characters mean different skill sets and different outcomes.

For example later in the series Agnes trains Saito in the use of a sword and overall how to fight.

I would expect this fight to go very different with Ranma, with either Agnes using dirtier tactics or getting her ass handed.

and that means in my opinion that you will have to make things work in different ways at times for example showing that Louise can be a caring and sensitive girl with self stem issues if she doesn't has to spend money and time healing him back since the most logical outcome is that he will either not get hurt, not very hurt or his damn healing ability gets makes him better way faster.

Remember Ranma loves his art, and challenges is some mages challenge for Kirche's love for example he might just keep taunting them to keep having good fights and extra training.

Saito for example is a horndog and does tries to get some with the girls, well Ranma is different, he would probably try to get a good friendship first like in the manga when he tried to befriend Akane, and yet for example Ranma would be seen much more desirable than Saito for example, he's better build and better looking.

All I'm saying is do not try to have different characters go with the same scenes with different skill sets and have the same outcome if it doesn't makes sense, because that cheapens the story.

 

[sytang]

I can see Ranma knowing that it's a weapon from his own reality but perhaps not fully knowing how to use it, since he doesn't has as much knowledge of the modern world as Saito.

If Ranma has the Gandalfr runes, then just holding the rocket launcher would give him knowledge on how to use it.

And yeah, Ranma should be able to kick Guiche's ass all over the place using just his martial arts.

 

[daniel_gudman]

So... if Ranma defeats Guiche with his own skill, without using the power of the Gandalfr, then... then how is Dumbledore going to react?

 

[sytang]

then how is Dumbledore going to react?

"Huh... this isn't Hogwarts."

Seriously though, I don't think the Headmaster actually observed the fight, so he might assume that Ranma used Gandalfr's powers even when he didn't.

 

[Master of Squirrel-Fu]

then how is Dumbledore going to react?

"Huh... this isn't Hogwarts."

Seriously though, I don't think the Headmaster actually observed the fight, so he might assume that Ranma used Gandalfr's powers even when he didn't.

He did observe and actually was disbeleiving in the claim of Saito being the Gandalfer until Saito picked up the sword. Though since Ranma will be dominating the fight I think that might change, Osmand was sceptical because Saito seemed weak but since Ranma is a comoner handing a Noble his ass he might just believe the claim even without the weapons demo.

Actually now that I think about it Ranma wouldn't even notice the weapons mastery until he touches the Staff of Destuction. The powerup (if there is one) maybe but he's already well versed in impovised weapons.

 

[shioran toushin]

it would be amusing if Ranma used the rocket launcher mainly as a big club

 

[PCHeintz72]

It is one thing to recognize a rocket launcher, another to know how to use it.

It is canon that Saito instantly knew how to use it... he also instantly recgnized both it and the plane on sight. But until touching it, Ranma should not know how to use it unless some needless background explanation is given.

 

[l3fty]

One of the first things that popped into my mind about Ranma having Gandalfr rune is that it would empower him the moment he goes into a fight, what with him being a human weapon in a sense.

 

[PCHeintz72]

Minor correction:

He had to admit, he knew relatively nothing about this word

'word' s/b 'world'

 

[lcpoketoon]

One of the first things that popped into my mind about Ranma having Gandalfr rune is that it would empower him the moment he goes into a fight, what with him being a human weapon in a sense.

I doubt it as Ranma doesn't think of himself as a weapon. Ranma tends too think of himself as a artist, or atlest that's how it always seemed too me from what i've read in the manga an seen in the anime. Also keep in mind that Ranma unless his temper flares is a rather gentle person. He never hurts anyone he fights beyond their ability too quickly an easily recover from, save for Saffron but that was a life or death battle.

JMO